when i first started watching oshi no ko, i thought it was fucking weird like fetish content poorly shrouded behind “society is bad” messaging. but after finishing it… i am sad to say that its good and i understand the hype.
first off, i read asakasa’s interviews about kaguya sama and oshi no ko, which made oshi no ko make way more sense. the premise was based off of a whim. he made the start and the finish at the same time, while the rest is just the rest. its common for people to think “i wish i had been born as a celebrity’s child,” which was the offhand statement that was the springboard for oshi no ko. going back to my initial thoughts, i thought it was going to be another shitty isekai (considering the current anime/manhua/manhwa industry trends, you cant really blame me for being skeptical, right?). but i think the manifestation of this idea was really good and really bad timing, depending on who you ask.
on akasaka as a person, it seems like he is the type to focus more on writing a story that targets a wide variety of people rather than creating something profound. which is not a bad thing, just an observation.
asakasa is a formulaic mangaka. he knows how to write and knows how to write for an audience. oshi no ko had extremely good build up. the characters are well developed and the plot makes sense. theres a bit of mystery and darkness while staying hopeful and enjoyable. its extremely interesting and i really look forward to the next season. the animation is also really fun and dynamic, making it nice to watch. the colors are garish, but not in a way that is distracting or bad.
i do think that the theme of “industry secrets, what its really like to be a celebrity” is vapid and overdone. our world is so oversaturated by celebrity news that any ~secret truth~ about the entertainment industry is already widely talked about and loses that appeal of being something kept as whispers behind closed doors. which i could get into about how asakasa could have taken this to a whole other level by bringing in this idea of voyeurism and entitlement to access. though, i must remind myself that japan is a completely different culture and the way that they treat celebrities is vastly different than here in the US. perhaps if i was born and raised in japan, oshi no ko could have been more appealing to me in this way. alas! i am cynical and jaded. having experienced being an influencer and knowing people within the industry. but i digress, as this is my own personal bias.
What do you wish from the princess? hime [hee-meh]: Japanese suffix for princess
anarchy [an-er-kee]: confusion and disorder; lack of obedience to an authority
