Man, this shit’s fucked up. Oshi no Ko certainly goes down some squicky back alleys at times, but there are enough long gaps between trips to let you sort of forget. This was an episode that certainly reflected on not just the first season, but on the prequel “movie” more than anything else this season. While that was the best part of the series so far, it was edgy too, beyond any shadow of a doubt. And all of a sudden a lot of what happened this season seems kind of unimportant in the big picture.

There were some gaps filled in here too, like Gorou’s backstory. His mother dying in childbirth and him living with the guilt of that may or may not bee extraneous detail, but it fills in some of the blanks with his personality at the very least. He’s an interesting guy, whatever body he’s in. He had a whole life where he could theoretically have headed back to Miyazaki (well, once he was old enough to travel) and revisit his old haunts. But he never chose to do it until it was more or less thrust on him by Mem-cho’s invitation for the “business” trip.

Of course Kana was seriously pissed that Akane got invited along, and in fact it was pretty tone-deaf of Aqua to do so in the first place under the circumstances. Be that as it may, the events which follow are a reminder that he shares an intimacy with Akane that he doesn’t with Kana. That doesn’t mean Akane is the one he desires romantically (if indeed he does either of them). But it does mean he shares a part of himself with the one and not the other. He’s protecting Kana from that side of him to be sure (and in fact, Akane plants another seed of doubt by reminding him about the risks to Kana’s career if they’re seen together – promoting him to think even darker thoughts).

You can draw your own conclusions about whether Akane had ulterior motives for that conversation (in point of fact, she had a point either way). Aqua’s trip down memory lane doesn’t really reveal much of anything to him, but it strikes me that it was dancing pretty close to revealing everything to Akane. Akane is also bonding with Ruby (much to Kana’s irritation), who goes so far as to presume she and Aqua will eventually tie the knot. Since the minors have a 10 PM shooting curfew in the studio and Ruby decides she wants to room with Akane, the pair of them head off together on what will eventually be the much more illuminating journey

Obviously, OnK is a fantasy series – the premise is built around reincarnation after all. But it slow-plays that so much of the time that it’s hard to know how literally to take the really out there stuff. Like strange little girls on tree branches talking about Ai having soulless children. And crows stealing room keys to lead people to dead bodies. Presumably we can’t be expected to call that one a coincidence, so I guess we’re supposed to take all this at face value more or less. There was also a crow association with the man presumed to be the twins’ father, of course.

The whole thing with Gorou and Sarina always danced a very thin line between tragic and creepy. Obviously he knew she’d never be around to hold him to that promise he made, but it’s still an icky notion anyway. The fact that she and he are now “siblings” makes it ever weirder. And on top of all that Ruby has been carrying a torch for Gorou all these years, with no idea he was actually dead. Until now that is, and for her that’s going to be a game-changing realization. Is this going to lead to Aqua revealing his true identity to her at last, or will he continue to carry that secret in isolation?