What's the deal with isekais lately? There was a time when Truck-Kun was busy running down salary men and transforming them into overpowered badasses, but that has slowed down considerably. Now we come to "Oshi No Ko", an anime that is pretty unique in its existence and exactly what I wanted (more or less) out of the isekai genre...if you can call this isekai. I can't really talk about the series without going into the major plot of the story, but this is all in the first episode, which is an hour long (yes, it takes that long to set up the plot). Despite the colorful art style and the beautiful character design of "Oshi No Ko" and the seemingly wholesome plot, this is actually a dark tale of revenge and murder. Confused, I hope so. Welcome to "Oshi No Ko".
Without getting too far into the weeds, our story centers around a doctor named Goro Amamiya, who, after caring for a 12-year-old cancer patient named Sarina (who recently passed), becomes a fan of her favorite idol, Ai Hoshino. Ai, now 16 years old, becomes pregnant, and much to his surprise, Goro becomes her doctor. Japan isn't like America, so a 16-year-old pregnant pop star is quite a scandal in Japan. Ai's pregnancy is kept secret, with only her manager and his wife in the know. Days before the delivery, Goro is murdered by a crazed fan and suddenly reborn as one of Ai's children, children, plural, because she actually gave birth to twins, a boy and a girl. Goro then becomes Aquamarine Hoshino, and Sarina becomes Ruby Hoshino, unbeknownst to them. What I love about this is that both of them are able to recall their previous lives in perfect detail and are able to function accordingly as babies when they're developed. What I mean Aqua and Ruby can think clearly, speak clearly, walk, talk, and do all the things any person is capable of doing, even as a baby. This is something I've always hated reincarnation stories for, and that's if the character is an adult at the time of death and is reborn, they should still be an adult mentally, and therefore should be capable as an adult.
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| Ruby (formerly Sarina) and Aquamarine (formerly Goro) |
"Oshi No Ko" addresses this right away. Goro died when he was in his 30s and therefore is still in his 30s even though he's a baby, Sarina died at 12 and therefore is still 12 as a baby, this is perfect! Goro and Sarina, not being aware of each other as Aquamarine and Ruby, I have mixed feelings about, cases of mistaken identity are fine...But I hoped they'd have had the conversation about their past lives when they realized they both could talk. I understand that Ruby lied about having been an adult in her past life, but c'mon. "Oshi No Ko" starts off wholesome enough and has some real heartfelt moments, but don't get it twisted, this story is dark and pretty twisted, and I'm only 2 episodes in, but already this is starting off to be an interesting murder mystery.
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| Ai Hoshino, seriously an interesting character... |
I mentioned this is a tale of revenge, and I won't exactly spoil how or why this is the case, but it's a revenge plot wrapped in a murder mystery. Whose murder? Watch it and find out. With the stage set after the hour-long 1st episode, the next episode plays like a first episode, the first official episode, with the 1st episode being a prologue, and while this is unique, I'm actually fine with it because it establishes everything you need to know. Likewise, I love the way "Oshi No Ko" ignores its supernatural side; Goro and Sarina being reincarnated is almost an afterthought by the 2nd episode. I liken it to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, because as much as people hated the 3rd movie because it has time travel, the fact that there are walking, talking turtles who are ninjas is weird in and of itself, so time travel shouldn't be the weirdest thing. I'd definitely recommend "Oshi No Ko" IF you can actually pay attention. I have a feeling this is a slow burn, and I really need to take my time with it, if/when I continue with it. As it stands, I can't really dedicate time to an ongoing anime until "My Hero Academia" comes to a close (which it will soon and SHUT UP! Yeah, I know I'm a Basic B*tch! I LOVE MY CAPES!). Catch you guys on the floppy-floop. Until next time.
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