I have to say that upon first hearing that the opening episode of Oshi no Ko was to be a 90-minute-long one, I wasn’t totally sure what to think. I know some other shows have done something similar in the past, in an attempt to build the story and reel the viewer in. The most recent one I can remember is a show I covered here on Otaku Theater: Remake Our Life!. Instead of the main protagonist dying or being murdered, he is sent back in time to his college days so he can reevaluate his career choices. Well I think that in order to hook the viewer in, Dogakobo thought it necessary to have this first episode be extra-long. But how did it fair?
It goes without saying but this is going to be very spoiler heavy.
The studio Dogakobo have only dabbled in drama shows a couple of times, and have mostly missed the mark on them. Instead they’re better known for putting out cutesy school and comedy shows. When they agreed to adapt this very complex and well-praised manga story, they knew there was a high bar, and that there were a lot of expectations to live up to.
We begin with meeting Gorou, a doctor working in obstetrics and gynecology in a countryside town. It comes as a real shock to him when he finds his beloved idol, Ai Hoshino, arriving at his clinic heavily pregnant. He understands the potential scandal she could face if she delivers her twins in the big city, especially considering she is still only 16. I thought that discovering this from the start of the episode really meant something. This was promoted as a show where we are meant to expect the unexpected, and so teenage pregnancy comes as a surprise considering it’s a topic that is seldom covered, especially in anime. Who the father is is something that isn’t raised in the show…just yet.
In the time we spend with Gorou, we get to see a flashback of him earlier in his residency, when he was taking care of a terminally-ill idol fan, Sarina. The fact that she was able to cheer her favorite idol on despite knowing she will die very soon (of a rare malignant brain tumor, as we find out) is something that changes him. Unfortunately when Ai’s delivery date comes, he himself is murdered by a crazed stalker…
…only to wake up in the arms of Ai, reborn as her son Aquamarine. The plot idea of reincarnation is certainly not anything new, considering how many isekai shows come out every anime season, but somehow it feels fresher here. Aquamarine is able to keep his old memories and, like his twin sister Ruby, is able to walk, talk and think like an adult. It isn’t long before we discover that her circumstances are similar to his, having been reincarnated herself, and being Sarina at that. But that isn’t the singular gimmick of the show; it’s for the most part irrelevant, in fact. Who the twins were is no longer important, as what matters now is making sure their favorite idol, who is now their mother, succeeds in her career.
Despite the unique and cute artwork we are treated with, the story is far more mature than we initially thought, and gives us a far more logical and down-to-earth look at idol culture. Ai’s agency isn’t very big, and the idol group she is a part of isn’t that well-known outside of the hardcore fans. It’s nice and fine to have big dreams of looking pretty, singing and dancing, and being on the stage at the Budokan, but like pretty much everything in this world, money comes as a massive factor. If the performances Ai gives off aren’t as well-received, she gets a lower paycheck, which in turn gives her less exposure, and even less of a chance to get future gigs. Ai eventually gets tiny parts in TV shows and low-budget movies, where the very mature Aquamarine and Ruby get angry when scenes of her are lost in the final cut.
In an industry like the entertainment industry, there will always be someone younger and prettier, and who puts on a more ‘pleasing’ performance. That’s a subplot that has worked in one show I recently covered here: Girlish Number. The lead protagonist is unable to pull off the performances her producers want, and so bring in someone younger and prettier. But here in Oshi no Ko, even though she makes out to be this dense and inexperienced girl who has suddenly been given the role of mother, Ai was more on-the-ball than we initially thought.
We get to see a flashback when Ai was recruited, and she doesn’t understand why someone would want to hire someone like her, who has actually grown very bitter with the world. Her mother abandoned her and she was raised in a children’s home, and has trouble understanding what it is like to love. Idols are meant to be praised and so should understand what it means not only to be loved, but to love in return. Ai thinks that telling her fans that she loves them would be a lie, and would make her even more unsuitable for the job. But as the scout tells her, that isn’t really all there is to it. Idols in the spotlight put on a performance for the people that go to see them, cheer for them, and worship them; who they are in real-life doesn’t matter. There was also one line the scout, who would go on to be her manager, says that I thought was very interesting, in that the lie would eventually become the truth. That becomes a line that resonates with her, and motivates her to take the job.
So would becoming an idol and lying to her fans help her understand what it means to love again? Perhaps. Maybe as she got bigger and got accepted for bigger roles, she would understand then. Maybe as she really did make it to the Budokan, she would understand then. But in something I didn’t even expect (or maybe I did, but was still surprised when it came), Ai would only truly understand the meaning of love as she approaches death.
Murdered by the same stalker who killed Gorou, she is finally able to say “I love you” to her two children – something she realizes she has never been able to say before. Not because she doesn’t love them, but because she has been unable to understand love herself. There is that old adage of how we are only able to appreciate things when we can no longer have them, and this definitely applied here. I won’t lie when I say this final part of the episode was the part that got to me the most. Not just the art direction, but Rie Takahashi’s performance as well. We get to feel every emotion in the scene, including the murderer who didn’t expect Ai to forgive him for doing what he did. This is going to be a moment that many fans and followers are not going to forget. It is after all the main motivation for the older Aquamarine and Ruby to do what they do now. Without the idol they looked up to for so long in their former lives, and with no father, they have to be raised by her former manager and wife.
I really liked how this 90-minute-long episode played out. We jumped from scenario to scenario all taking over the space of around 3 years. From meeting Gorou and a very pregnant Ai, to Gorou’s murder, to Aquamarine’s and Ruby’s reincarnation, to them becoming more aware of the world, to Ai’s own murder, and to what will be the present day, as the twins are high-school age, and Aquamarine now dead set on who was responsible for his mother/idol’s death. One would think that the sheer length of this opening episode would be a turn-off, but it really acts as the perfect prologue of what is to come. It keeps us hungry and yearning for more. Will Aquamarine be able to find out who is responsible, and will this obsession turn him into a monster himself? Given the way this episode ended, I really don’t know how the next episode will play out. Will it give us the same happy-go-lucky themes we saw in episode 1, or will it do a 180? Also how will future episodes deliver a similar impact that this one did?
As I mentioned earlier, Dogakobo are taking a gigantic risk in adapting Oshi no Ko, and this could potentially be a show that could make them bigger. Like K-on! was for Kyoto Animation, Angel Beats! was for P.A Works, and the Monogatari series was for SHAFT, this could well go on to be Dogakobo’s magnum opus. They were keen on making sure we anime-only folk expect the unexpected, and they have done just that. The story of Oshi no Ko has firmly been set, and I have no idea on what kind of show this will be and what darker themes will be addressed…and that’s precisely why I want to keep tuning in.
Oshi no Ko releases on Wednesday, meaning the upcoming Otaku Theater post will have no episode 2 coverage. For that, you guys are going to have to wait another week. The shows I picked for this season really did have awkward start times, didn’t they?