I guess it’s good to know that Oshi no Ko can still crank up the “what the hell did I just watch?” factor.  The bonkers premiere triptych had it in droves, but the last three episodes have been quite conventional by comparison.  Still quite good, but much tamer and less wild.  This one somewhat splits the difference, which I guess is a pretty good development except that I’m not quite sure what I thought of this ep even in hindsight.

We start with the kind of low-key disturbing scene where Aqua “persuades” Kana to team up with Ruby as an idol.  In the first place he LINE’s her to come to a meeting after school, which quite naturally gives her the wrong idea (I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt and assume that was accidental).  Naturally Kana is highly skeptical of this notion.  She can’t stand Ruby for starters, and she’s a smart cookie – she knows that if she tries this hail Mary pass and it fails, her already foundering “serious” acting career will likely be doomed.

I’ll just come right out and say that Aqua manipulating Kana into doing this is a seriously warped thing to do.  This is her career we’re talking about here, already in trouble – and he’s using his skills as a master manipulator to make her a tool for his own ends.  It’s not like Aqua is necessarily set up to be super admirable, but the extent to which he’s willing to use people is a little disgusting.  He probably cares about Kana as much as he does about anybody, though that’s not saying much.  Maybe he even genuinely believes this could be a good career move for her.  But it wouldn’t matter even if he did – that wasn’t his motivation and it’s not his priority.

Then we get to the first of two real freakshows, as Oshi no Ko continues it’s rather catty look at the Japanese pop entertainment trade.  “My Love With a Star” is pretty close to the bottom of the barrel, even for Japanese TV, a gathering of six eye candy teens pretending to be “unscripted” in a high school setting designed to pair them off by the end.  They come from all sides of the business – a YouTuber, a singer, a couple of actors, an idol.  I guess if there’s any defense of Aqua’s actions is that in addition to potentially wrecking Kana’s career he’s at least willing to subject himself to this vapid nightmare.

The second is even more bizarre, as Pieyon (Murata Taishi) enters the scene.  Naturally the new idol group has no work – they have no songs or even a name, as Kana refuses to make this all real by adopting one.  Hiyako informs them that their best bet is to build an online following – that’s how it’s done these days (it’s striking how little Ruby knows about the business, for an idol otaku).  Pieyon is a “masked workout trainer” who brings in a hundred million Yen a year and a Strawberry contract player, so he gets the orders to feature this new group on his channel.

It’s all very strange and very cynical, as the girls have to finish a one-hour workout in order to reveal their faces – the method chosen because Ruby rejected the fake “wake-up prank” idea.  Pieyon is a businessman who knows exactly what he’s doing, and he’s probably making more money than the girls will even if they become highly successful idols.  In the end Kana caves and lets Ruby choose a name, which she does – “B-Komachi”, which of course was the name of her mother’s group.  Is that even legal (I guess so), and either way, it’s a risky move for someone trying to hide the fact that they’re Ai’s daughter.

I’m still puzzling over what angle Akasaka Aka is coming at all this from.  I’ve called Oshi no Ko “bitchy” in its attitude towards its subject and I think that label fits.  But my current inkling is that this isn’t coming from someone who hates the industry for its hypocrisy and the lives it destroys.  Rather, it comes from someone who loves it and wants to call out its shortcomings to provide a contrast with its ideal form (which we’ll be shown sooner or later).  Whether that guess is true or not is a pretty pivotal question it seems to me – basically the one on which the long-term fate of Oshi no Ko largely rides.