There’s no point in sugarcoating it – I’m bored with Oshi no Ko at this point. “Water always seeks its own level”, they say. Almost invariably when I think a series I know doesn’t fit my profile has won me over, it reverts to form and drives me away. If I were in this mindset mid-season I’d certainly drop a series, but I’m obviously not going to do that with one ep to go. But I used the fast-forward button a few times this week, and once that happens the fat lady is already singing.
None of this idol stuff interests me in the slightest, which is the most obvious problem. I don’t think it’s cute and funny that “horrible” singers can make it big as singers as long as they’re hot, and I don’t think any fiction that whitewashes the idol industry is doing the world any favors. Maybe it’s asking too much for a series to really be unsparing in deconstruction of the industry that’s bankrolling it, but it’s still depressing to see this one slip back into genericness right on cue.
Beyond the thematic disconnect, Akasaka Aka’s writing isn’t generally on my wavelength either. So the odds were always stacked against OnK clicking, but there was enough that’s interesting here to make me disappointed to have it flame out. I still think those interesting bits are in there, but they’re being pushed further and further into the background. The equation was always whether I was willing to wade through all the other stuff to get them, but the balance is shifting further and further in the wrong direction. I’ll watch the finale but without much in terms of expectations, and anything after that seems like a real longshot.
SeijiSensei
June 22, 2023 at 9:23 pmThe supposedly biting expose of idol world that was promised at the outset never came to pass. Like you, I’ll finish the season, but the series overall has been a big disappointment.
Bob
June 22, 2023 at 9:56 pmThe headliner image is oddly blurry.
The inevitable second season of OnK has a lot more material that you would be interested in than not.
Guardian Enzo
June 22, 2023 at 10:13 pmWell, you’re the second person to tell me that today. I’m sure I’ll at least check it out (it’s already greenlit) but this final arc has been a real snooze.
Marty
June 23, 2023 at 2:52 amIf memory serves me right, Girlish Number came the closest to criticizing a toxic industry rather than smoothing out its edges (it didn’t FULLY commit, but it did go further than anything I can remember).
Its a shame tho, considering Kaguya and OnK were pretty hyped up by manga fans before their respective debuts.
Guardian Enzo
June 23, 2023 at 6:50 amGN did have some fairly edgy criticisms, though like everything else it largely sold out in the end.
Raikou
June 23, 2023 at 9:39 amI’m curious, are you expecting for Chitose to quit the seiyuu business at the end of GN?
Raikou
June 23, 2023 at 9:38 amI think Oshi no Ko only works for you when it’s Aqua-centric, Enzo (even then you always takes precautions about where the plot would be headed).
Season finale would be a disappointing finale, but I hope you would at least try season two when it comes out.
Llinos
June 24, 2023 at 8:33 amI have a feeling that this shift in tone to genericness is largely effected by Ruby. I’m not a manga reader, but I think she is largely set up as a foil. Her enthusiasm and hyperfixation on “truth” is supposed to be not only a contrast to Aqua, but her mother who viewed everything as a lie until the very end. I wouldn’t be surprised if as Aqua begins deeply pessimistic, he turns to hope and love like his mother, but Ruby also will begin as a champion of truth until the realities of the industry wears her down. If she is pure trope like optimism, it means that her sections won’t have any grit in the early stages. She is too devoted to idealism and romanticism of the idol industry to be reflective otherwise. This might explain your feelings of boredom, since everything plays as you would expect. For now at least. I’m in it for the music and the sweet eye animations. I assume it’s going to be a pulpy romp, so when its generic like this. I just hope this is one of those “be patient for the long game, when shit hits the fan.” That being said, I fell off kind of early in Kaguya-sama as well, so maybe there is nothing here after all.
Guardian Enzo
June 24, 2023 at 1:19 pmI just can’t shake the sense that in the end Akasaka’s writing is a tale of sound and fury, signifying nothing.