I’ve made this point before, but in a funny way a series pissing you off isn’t necessarily a bad sign. If you care enough to let it upset you, things could be a lot worse. And there is a threshold below which if a series falls, you just don’t care enough to be bothered. Indifference is the last phase of the relationship before abject dissolution. Obviously I wouldn’t be typing all that if that’s where I was with Oshi no Ko. But it doesn’t mean I’m happy about the way things are going.

The funny thing is that it’s clear that with a lot of the awfulness Akasaka depicts in this series, he’s fully aware it’s awful. He just doesn’t mind that enough to let is shake his core identity as a fanboy. Every element of the story is dripping in depressing depravity at this point, and there’s no way Kana could escape it. Kana is one of those characters it seems like the author takes special pleasure in putting through hell (they tend to be my favorites). And she always seems to be relegated to the periphery of the narrative. The character herself is aware of this, and rage, rages against the dying of the light. She doesn’t want to go gentle into that good night, and this causes her to make bad decisions.

The revenge plot is simmering, of course. Akane has figured out that Kamiki must have been 11 when Aqua’s half-brother was conceived, giving her some idea of just what a piece of work he is. Because Akane is naturally a Svengali wannabe, she decides only she can know what she knows – she’ll keep the truth from Aqua for his own good. He’s confused and at her mercy at the moment, and that’s just how she likes him. She wants to be in control, and keeping everything a secret reinforces her sense of being in control.

As for Kana, she’s increasingly irritated and helpless about being an accessory to Ruby. She never wanted to be an idol in the first place, so the gig has to stink like last week’s natto to her at this point. She accepts an invite from an older acting colleague she knows is bad news because a director is going to be there, Shima-san. Acting is Kana’s refuge – in that realm she still feels like she belongs. But her acting career has been going nowhere, and it’s obvious Ichigo is not especially interested in changing that. It’s obvious this is all going to go badly, but Kana is clearly desperate.

Shima is no fool – the stuff he tells Kana about SAG and the difference in the way actors are treated in the States is spot-on. And when he’s describing how the drama business model is unsustainable and screws talent because distributors have too much power, he’s absolutely 100% talking about the anime production committee system. Don’t kid yourself, Akasaka knows exactly what he’s doing here. On some level Shima probably believes the stuff he tells Kana about his professional ambitions. But mostly he wants to get in her pants. She knew this in her heart all along, and allowed herself to be drawn into a terribly dangerous situation in spite of it.

Kana is fortunate that while Shima is a scumbag, he’s not a complete psychopath. And because Akasaka loves to have it both ways, he probably thinks we should think Shima is an OK guy all things considered. But he’s not – he’s a married guy in his 30’s trying to use power harassment to get an 18 year-old (perfect – just legal) girl he fancies to let him screw her. Kana deservers better than all this. And she deserves better than Aqua, who unfortunately she can’t get over despite the deplorable way he’s treated her (no matter how he’d justify it). At least she managed to escape Shima’s love nest, but she didn’t do so unscathed.

Because this is Akasaka and Oshi no Ko, it’s Kana who’s going to be punished for this, not Shima. Her “friend”, who was obviously interested in Shima herself, tips off the paparazzi that Kana is going to his “studio”. If this is what finally liberates Kana from the idol mafia it might not be the worst that could happen in the end, but it’s still going to be a huge ordeal for her (as usual). It would be nice to think that Aqua would come to her aid when she’s at her low ebb (which seems likely to be soon) but he’s always most concerned with himself, so that seems like a long shot.