What to watch: Review of the anime “Oshi no Ko” (2023)
Today to your attention is a review of the anime “Oshi no Ko” (2023), an anime adaptation of the seinen manga of the same name by Aka Akasaki and Mango Yokoyari of the drama genre with an admixture of the supernatural, although further than the “transmigration of souls”, or, as they say with the current mangakas – “rebirth ”, this most “supernatural” did not enter here. On our manga reading sites, this masterpiece was translated as “Oshi no Ko”, which, in our opinion, is even more suitable in terms of the meaning and surroundings of the story, since it draws a direct parallel with the very stars in the eyes of the main characters, which is peculiar and, apparently, imperceptible for whom, other than viewers or readers of the manga, replace their pupils.
What is the anime Oshi no Ko
To begin with, let’s look at what they told us in the trailer, and then, as always, we will discuss the plot of the plot.
From the trailer, of course, absolutely nothing is clear. And so, let’s proceed to the “introduction to the plot.”
In the yard – the 2000s. Dr. Goro works as a doctor in the gynecological department of a Tokyo clinic. But even while at work, he does not cease to be an ardent and simply crazy fan of the idol group B-Komachi and especially its main vocalist, 16-year-old Ai-Hoshino. He comments and praises his idols out loud even while in the patient room, which for the most part look at what is happening with goggle eyes. The nurse, apparently, not for the first time, was forced to besiege the doctor’s “fanatic seizures”, after which he reveals to her, and at the same time to the audience, the “nature” of his so furious “worship”.
It turns out that not so long ago he had to be the doctor of a teenage girl with terminal cancer, who was also a fan of Ai Hoshino. For days on end, lying in the ward in front of the TV, she caught every word and every movement of her idol, simultaneously realizing that she herself would never run, jump and frolic just like Ai Hoshino. But despite all her terrible situation, the girl had neither the jealousy inherent in patients in her condition, nor anger at the whole world or at some individual personalities. She just wanted her idol to do well. And, of course, the girl dreamed of someday being reborn into a beauty, not bent by illness, in order to be able to also become an idol, bringing happiness to her fans.
Dr. Goro was rather skeptical about such dreams. Being a man of science, he did not believe in all this nonsense about rebirth. But he supported the girl. And he also tried with might and main to instill in her hope for a better outcome and that she is quite a beauty in this life, and she will still jump in plenty. Yes, but soon the girl still died. And it was then that Giro promised himself that in memory of this brave girl who did not lose face in the face of death, he himself would continue to root for her favorite, Ai Hoshino, instead of her. Only at some point, the worship of his idol turned into almost a fan mania for him, which he was unable to cope with. And to be honest, I didn’t really want to.
And at this very time, our hero suddenly gets the news that his idol Ai Hoshino suddenly decides to take a break from his concert activities for a while. But he did not have time to be properly saddened and bored about this, when in the office of his clinic, the president of the Strawberry Productions agency for the promotion of pop idols, Ichigo Saito, and the same Ai Hoshino, who was already at a significant pregnancy, appeared before him.
In general, he did not understand who was able to knock up his beloved underage pop idol. Yes, and none of his business. But he promised that he would do his best to ensure that the girl gave birth to healthy twins. Yes, according to the results of the examination, it turned out that Ai was pregnant with two children. But at the insistence of Ichigo Saito, pregnancy and childbirth had to proceed in complete secrecy, otherwise it could adversely affect the career of his idol. So, Dr. Goro tried very hard to make everything happen incognito. Registering Ai under a false name, he personally oversaw her pregnancy. But he did not succeed in accepting childbirth from his beloved singer.
One dark evening, on his return from the clinic, he was hailed by some strange type, hiding his face under the hood of a sweatshirt. At another moment, Dr. Goro might not have stopped. But the guy called Ai’s name and asked if he was the same doctor who oversees her pregnancy. In general, our hero did not have time to be amazed and ask how he knew about the girl’s pregnancy, when everything should have been sewn-covered, as the type took it, and pushed him off the cliff.
So our doctor Goro and lost his life. Or rather, with your past body. Since both his soul and mind were somehow reborn in the body of one of the babies of his idol and patient Ai Hoshino – a boy whom his mother immediately named Aquamarine. Moreover, he remembered his life experience, all the skills acquired in a past life and all the ins and outs about himself from the very birth.
And, most interestingly, Ai’s second child was a girl named Ruby, who also hid a “settler”. As everyone probably already guessed, in this girl was reborn that very old patient of Dr. Goro, who died of cancer.
So, it is already clear that growing up this couple side by side will be very fun, interesting and entertaining. Children from the earliest years, for obvious reasons, turned out to be very advanced geeks in all respects, who from the age of one and a half began to help their mother increase the number of subscribers in social networks. But, unfortunately, not everything in their lives, and the life of their mother will turn out as rosy as it might seem at first glance.
Pros and cons of the anime Oshi no Ko
Let’s say right away that the plot is unusual, so it looks with interest. We haven’t read the manga based on which the anime “Oshi no Ko” (2023) was filmed, so we still have seven seals about what will follow in the ongoing in the future. Yes, rebirth itself is a favorite technique of mangaka, whose favorite meta-genre is isekai. The same creation is isekay to call the language does not turn simply because a couple of adult individuals from this world were reborn not in a parallel world, but in the same and at the same time (for a girl, maybe with a slight delay), moreover, in twins, born of their common idol.
This is the first title of its kind, in which, although casually, but honestly drove through the real ins and outs of the life of any idol. It honestly shows how much you have to work to “meet”, and how much you get for it, and how because of some shitty comment on the network (or even earlier pregnancy!) Your entire career can suddenly flush down the toilet without a trace.
On the other hand, we slightly touched on the subject of the “crowd” itself, that is, fans who at one moment love, love and idolize you, but on the other hand, if something happens to you, do something or blurt out something wrong , they will immediately cheat you, spit, forget, and after that they will also stick all sorts of memes, trampling them into the mud up to their ears. This is not shown directly, but the hint is thick.
Technically, the anime Oshi no Ko also looks quite solid. Arranged and drawing, and musical accompaniment, and quite discreet, but not sketchy background.
But with all the pluses, this masterpiece still has its minuses:
- Firstly, rebirth itself, although it has original nuances, is already quite enough for itself. So everyone who has already “ate” all sorts of rebirths can stop watching in the very first episodes.
- Secondly, the characters here are drawn exclusively by handsome men, to the point of cloying. It might as well not be emphasized. I especially didn’t like the stars in the eyes, for my mother – in each, for the children – one for a couple. Immediately wonder what would happen if triplets were born? Would everyone have half a star in half of their eye?
- Thirdly, the heroes, as usual, after being reborn in the bodies of babies, behave completely differently than “adult uncles and aunts” would behave if they turned out to be babies overnight. I will suck boobs! And I won’t! What kind of nonsense is naive?
- Fourthly, the death of one of the significant heroines (we won’t spoil which one) was played up here to such an ineptly dramatic degree that associations with idiotic soap series of sunny Brazil and Mexico, or “super-dramatic” action films of Indian production, simply automatically arise.