Oshi no Ko

[Ryllharu]

Even if they are registered, now, under the Saitou name, the government obviously would know the truth. I believe privacy laws actually are pretty strict in Japan, despite lots of scummy yellow press,

They still use the Hoshino surname, but they would be in the Saito Family Registry instead of the Hoshino Family Registry now. That said, we don't actually know if Ai was also in the Saito Family Registry as she was abandoned and Ichigo was her official guardian already. I don't believe the public knew Ai's surname, or if they did, it wouldn't matter.

Their family name all has the same Kanji and reading. Ai's stage name was the same katakana as her real name. Aqua and Ruby have Kanji real names and katakana stage names and neither includes their surname.

Japanese laws aren't just strict. Even if something is TRUE, but damaging to someone's reputation, they can sue for damages. In the US, libel (printed slander) is only awarded if lawyers can prove the journalist/author knew what they printed (or said) was false. If it was true, libel/slander laws do not apply.

But Aqua, Ruby, and Miyako are currently hiding that the twins are Ai's children. No one knows Ai had children except for the senior staff of Ichigo Productions, the dead murderer, and the twins' father. Possibly not even the police.

[DarthEnderX]

So I assume the plot about the twins tricking her into thinking the gods sent them was just dropped.

[Kraco]

So I assume the plot about the twins tricking her into thinking the gods sent them was just dropped.

Only a religious fanatic would bother to keep believing such a thing. It was a shock in the beginning, with really small kids speaking like that, but when years roll by without anything else happening, who would keep thinking about it? Especially after Ai was murdered shortly after. You might say that Miyako grew up as well and the advice she gave Ruby is actually something she follows herself.

[DarthEnderX]

Only a religious fanatic would bother to keep believing such a thing. It was a shock in the beginning, with really small kids speaking like that, but when years roll by without anything else happening, who would keep thinking about it?

But...what's the alternative explanation? The kids talked like full-grown adults before the age of 1 because...? That doesn't just go away.

That's like being like, "Well, I met an alien 10 years ago. But I haven't seen an alien since then so...I guess they don't actually exist." No, you'd remember that shit and wouldn't just let it go if it didn't ever come up again.

In fact, it would be weird that she wasn't constantly bringing it up! Like "Hey! Where's the famous boyfriend you promised me! I thought you were sent by gods or something!"

Even if they eventually got tired of pretending and come clean, the truth is JUST AS RIDICULOUS as the lie they told!

[Kraco]

That's what I'm saying. When the years went by without anythings special happening, she probably also downplayed the whole incident in her mind. Like, sure, the little kids talked very fancily, but perhaps not quite as remarkably as she thought. Maybe she was just so shocked that their talk sounded far more profound than it was. Aqua aside, Ruby has probably been acting exactly her age for many years already, and at this point Aqua isn't anything unimaginable anymore, either. Furthermore, Miyako has probably been exceedingly busy with running the shaky business, so she's likely lacking the energy to think about it anymore.

[shinta|hikari]

I actually think she still believes they are sent by God, but since God hasn't complained yet, she figured she is doing a fine job so far. She hasn't thrown them out for a hot dick yet, at least.

[Death BOO Z]

In fact, it would be weird that she wasn't constantly bringing it up! Like "Hey! Where's the famous boyfriend you promised me! I thought you were sent by gods or something!"

Even if they eventually got tired of pretending and come clean, the truth is JUST AS RIDICULOUS as the lie they told!

I don't think she believes they remember that, she probably thinks they were possessed at that time, and some outer being was talking to her through them, rather than them being conscious as babies.

BUT... they did continue to talk with her later on (that's how they got her to bring them to the show where they did the light sticks dance), so she might believe they are aware of that talk.

of course, another explanation is that she failed. she was tasked by the gods to protect Ai and her babies, and she failed. Ai is dead. she squandered her chances (and lost her husband), she is lucky to be alive after such transgression towards the heavens. maybe she even took the twins as her kids to show the gods she repents and protect her life. maybe she believes that her second marriage will come eventually.

I don't believe either of those explainnations.

[DarthEnderX]

she squandered her chances (and lost her husband), she is lucky to be alive after such transgression towards the heavens.

To be fair, she didn't want her husband.

[Death BOO Z]

episode 3.

I'm having trouble with Arima's cutesy voice. it's too childlike, and there isn't enough of a difference between when she turns it on and off. I liked how they depicted the "bad acting" scenes with very flat audio and without any punctuation in the dialog.

[David75]

Most of the ep was built around the need to see Aqua and Kana blow the stage with an amazing performance, probably making that last episode something to move the internets and maybe even start a reboot of the show futher down the line.
But of course, it was the cliffhanger, saw it coming.
Ok that's my interpretation with what I felt...

I have to say they use several tones of humor, from light to dark, stereotypes and everything. Caustic depiction of the acting and idol business, but very nice to watch and enjoyable.

That dedication, 4 years to get to the correct pin number...

Loved the intro movie, was afraid the rest of the show would be stale, it is actually without Ai, but it is enjoyable. So let's see what the cliffhanger is about.
Might also be some kind of trap: scene happened, fans loved it, but we the audience will never see it.

I'm not super interrested in the detective part of the show. But it is a driving force for Aqua and the story, so deal with it.

[DarthEnderX]

I'm not entirely sure I'm going to keep up with this. I originally watched this because it was by the same author as Love Is War. But it doesn't actually have any of the things that I like about Love Is War.

That first episode WAS a crazy roller coaster. But I'm not really invested in what's going on now, and the show isn't really funny at all.

[Kraco]

It seems to me Arima is actually teaching Aqua lesson, not in acting but in living. Aqua has dedicated his life to hunting down the biological father and on the side is trying to prevent Ruby from falling into the traps of the idol industry, but it means he's not living for himself at all. Arima, however, despite having the fall of her reputation and poor success in the entertainment industry as a result of that, is still trying to push forward and actually enjoy her life. It would be easy to start hating the acting world when subjected to cheap projects where nobody else gives a shit, but considering how she chased after Aqua and kept tryint to talk to him, I'd say she's not letting it get under her skin. How life treats you often depends on how you treat life. That's the lesson Aqua should try to learn. Unfortunately nobody can tell him that he only lives once, so he needs to take everything out of it.,

[Ryllharu]

Arima is the premiere teen actor. She's a pro, she downgrades her acting to make a successful production instead of acting to her limit to the point of making the rest of the mediocre cast look even worse, and she facilitates and smooths out collective egos and personalities on a working set. She would be a joy to work with on any production, good or bad. She has clearly developed a lot of techniques and professional philosophies that make her successful on her own to the point she went freelance.

But...she's horrible at personal management. She's getting abused by the producers in fulfilling filmset roles they're supposed to be doing. She's not putting her all into performance to challenge others to match her. She's being underpaid. And she eats horribly at her dank and depressing home life. She's managing herself, so that also means she's really just taking any job instead of pushing for the great roles, like Japan's promotion-heavy industry works. She's probably getting other roles stolen from her by worse actors. She implied her mother used to do the same to her superior-actor competitors when she was younger, because that's the way Japan's industry does work.

She said her parents retired to the country. But that sounded like a lie. Did they take a good chunk of her trust fund money? Did they separate so they wouldn't have to interact?

[Death BOO Z]

episode 4.
I liked how Arima's inner voice sounded, and there was some difference between the good and "bad" acting. the knife licking was a bit too much.

School ruby was kind of funny.

[Kraco]

Yeah, Aqua having been a physician with a career in his previous life, how could he possibly be too afraid or embarrassed to approach some high school students to talk to them. Of course he already has kind of a career in this life as well, even if it's just a cover for his investigations. But the fact it's a cover for him to be able to hunt for the biological father would only make him bolder. Ruby might actually already be a minor, rank-and-file idol if Aqua hadn't kept stopping her, so that whole scene was a little bit unfair.

One ruthless thing about the episode was Aqua acting the role of a stalker attempting to stab a girl. That hits pretty close to home, huh.

[Ryllharu]

I like when Ruby is particular blunt with how socially awkward Aqua is. She cuts right to the bone when she does, and they end up having a nice back and forth tease going on that feels like siblings.

At least in some ways, it does show that they've grown closer with each other and consider each other family, even though as far as we know, they've never shared their former identities with each other.

They have their secrets, but care for each other nicely.

It's also funny that Aqua keeps getting work while not wanting any, but Ruby needs time to launch her career.

[Kraco]

I like when Ruby is particular blunt with how socially awkward Aqua is. She cuts right to the bone when she does, and they end up having a nice back and forth tease going on that feels like siblings.

Ruby herself is plenty socially awkward, due to her nature of wanting to worship the ground a little bit famous people walked on.

[David75]

weak idea: Ai's lover (father to Ruby and Aqua) is related to Sarina.
Why, just a hunch, for some reason Sarina felt like she had a complexion of a blond haired girl.
That could explain why Ai ended up in that clinic, Ai learned of the place/area from the father or connexions.
Related to Sarina: familly ? not mandatory, just a circle of friends or acquaintances but from the same origins is enough.
Again, just a weak idea.

[Kraco]

weak idea: Ai's lover (father to Ruby and Aqua) is related to Sarina.
Why, just a hunch, for some reason Sarina felt like she had a complexion of a blond haired girl.
That could explain why Ai ended up in that clinic, Ai learned of the place/area from the father or connexions.
Related to Sarina: familly ? not mandatory, just a circle of friends or acquaintances but from the same origins is enough.
Again, just a weak idea.

Yeah, at the end of the day, those two were quite random people. They were Ai's fans, but that's about it. Doc's death was related to Ai, but Sarina passed away earlier due to her illness. Of course if the villain in the shadows was Sarina's father, and thus a much older man, perhaps in some twisted manner the man might have had something against Ai, because Sarina was such a big fan. But yeah, I don't really see it. It could be something more complicated, but for the time being I expect it to be just some media mogul, who couldn't resist having sex with a rising idol, but later started to fear for his own reputation. The kind of man who would have attented Epstein's parties.

[DarthEnderX]

Yeah, at the end of the day, those two were quite random people. They were Ai's fans, but that's about it. Doc's death was related to Ai, but Sarina passed away earlier due to her illness.

The other thing they have in common is the proximity of their deaths to wear the twins were born. It was all in/around the same hospital.