Forum - View topicEP. REVIEW: Oshi no Ko Season 3
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Wizardizar
 Posts: 206 |
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That usually represents someone telling lies, which, yeah, is pretty fitting for where her character is going. And yeah, that OP is absolute dynamite. The song is fire, it's slick, it's dripping with meaning and it looks absolutely gorgeous. I have a very complicated feelings about this show, mostly because I think it would be stronger and more consistent if it wasn't beholden to the reincarnation/revenge/murder plot that runs through it. But looking at it now, maybe the problem is that Aqua is not a very compelling character when you compare him to Ruby. She had two seasons of being a relatively normal girl, only to break when finding about her doctor's murder. Aqua was kind of an edgy manipulative dick from episode 2 onward, and without the revenge thing he's even less interesting. He's by far the least interesting point of the love triangle, that's for sure. |
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jdnation
Posts: 2499 |
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Alright! My favorite show from a manga I haven't read is back!
And we've got a killer OP once again! I love it! Very music-video-y versus anime-y! Very symbolic and Lady Ga-Ga-ish! If any show had an obligation to nail it's OP & ED (pretty good too), it's this one! 
I like the little detail in the ED, where they cut from a shot of Serina looking at the Doc to Ruby and Aqua in the same placement, but Ruby begins to look up at Aqua as if wondering... Will they or Ruby discover who they are this season? Aqua applying for med school sure would flag her interest! With the killer/father finally being revealed to the audience, this is now the biggest ongoing story plot point of the show to be resolved! Anyway, we're off to a great start! I like that the love triangle keeps living on the edge! If I had one critique, it's that Akane's 'knowing' that Aqua might've settled for her primarily from motivations of protecting Kana was not delivered to us in the best way... It would've been better if she didn't internally monologue it to us so directly, especially when Ep 1 delivered that implication very well with Mem. Akane could have kept in denial and lying to herself in order not to think about it, because she doesn't want it to be true, for several more eps, until it erupts alongside the other ticking time bomb about Aqua's pops, which would make for great drama! But now here, it feels that she's already resigning herself for an inevitable amicable break-up... 
Aqua's busy celebrity life gives him less time to keep tabs on Ruby, but you know he is scheduling solving that mystery in on his nexy day off. 
In a way, unlike Aqua who only lost his mother/celebrity-crush Ai (and his own life... but he was grateful...), Ruby has a larger motive for vengence! She not only lost her beloved idol/mother, but also her father-figure/first-love/only-one-in-her-previous-life... So her abrupt change makes a lot of sense. The difference between them, however, is that while Aqua may deceive and use people, he seeks a way where everybody benefits... But Ruby may be willing to use and lie to people in a way that potentially puts the other party at risk. Ep 3 may indicate to us where the lines are drawn for Ruby... Though I suspect she thought ahead and has a solution for the Tokyo Blade cosplay rights, through knowing 3 of the cast members of the play and reaching out to sensei, who she might've even invited to the shoot to get approval after-the-fact. As Aqua is also a reactor on the show, he might be willing to make it happen, if only to find out what Ruby's up to. |
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IronWish
 Posts: 234 Location: Ukraine |
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Not sure it's even possible with something as fundamentally broken on a storytelling level as Oshi no Ko. The ending is a generational blunder, yes, but my main issue with OnK is that starting somewhere with the middle of S2 material it keeps doing same thing over and over: some plot development happens, it gets teased as Something Big Which Will Have Long Terms Implications For The Story, then we meander a bit, then move on to the next plot point with previous one being mostly inconsequential. To story's credit "then we meander a bit" part is often quite good, it only slowly gets less substantial over time, but it doesn't really weave together into a coherent overarching narrative. Non comprehensive list of stuff it happened to: spoiler[Akane's mentalist shtick; entire current "dark schemer Ruby" arc; all the supernatural things, especially Tsukuyomi; twincest stuff], and there is likely more which I don't even remember, because guess what - it amounted to nothing in the long run. With S3 feeling even stronger visually than previous seasons I'm quite confident in team's ability to make it an engaging watch on a minute to minute level, but hindsight make it so hard to be excited about this story.
V-Tubing was there to stay, but mentioning the Metaverse dates corresponding chapters in a hilariously precise way. |
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Key
Moderator
 Posts: 19138 Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley) |
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Had the exact same thought. I look forward to watching these each episode to see how viewer understanding of each evolves. |
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tintor2
 Posts: 2701 |
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Honestly, I'm not sure what to feel about the opening. I remember when it was first released, everybody in twitter started spamming Akane in bikini with quite some interesting movements that feels weird to me in terms to how it was handled. How is Akane related to Bkomachi enough to make that? It feels as an excuse to do fanservice.
The first video the animators made for the first episode felt more fitting about how the cast works though. Also, Aqua being dressed in white like he was being carried by red strings felt weird. Still, it seems these episodes might focus more on Ruby which feels like fresh air after how season 2 was almost fully focused on that play and poor Ruby was just the "Fatal" meme of the dance until the final episode. |
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Tanteikingdomkey
 Posts: 2459 |
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Okay can someone explain the symbolism of the op and ed to me it is very beautifully animated and drawn.... but given what I have heard of the ending, I am not seeing the meaning.
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Shay Guy
 Posts: 2653 |
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This season seems to be moving through the material faster than before — these first two episodes both covered about four full manga chapters, and the most natural ending spot for episode 3 is another four chapters in. Season 1 did three chapters in every episode after the first, and S2 only did four chapters like twice, totaling 40 chapters in 13 episodes.
If episode 3 and one other episode cover four chapters, and the rest do three apiece… we’re looking at the chapter 123 ending I’ve been hoping for. |
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IronWish
Posts: 234 Location: Ukraine |
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***Taking a deep sigh*** Ep3 is a good sample of things to come as far a choppy writing goes. What are we even supposed to make of this mini-arc's conclusion? It looks like it's played straight but that would be purely bad, it plays up how jaded, burned out, and borderline incompetent director is, only to back off immediately with all the "oh, he's highly professional and is willing to repent". Better read on it would be that special episode is completely staged and Meiya rolls with it purely to bring public attention to ethics expected in a cosplay culture and to receive a proper public apology instead of "pwetty please can we sweep it under the rug". That would fit overarching themes of OnK much better but I don't think that anything in the actual show presentation really supports this interpretation of events. Of course, there is a secret third option: Aka didn't put much thought into it and neither should we, but that's sad in its own way.
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SaiyanHeretic
Posts: 108 |
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I think an important point to consider when it comes to Episode 3's events compared to how the real-life Me Too Movement played out is a fundamental difference of culture. In Japan, the appearance of impropriety is often a bigger deal than actually doing something "bad."
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Wizardizar
Posts: 206 |
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I was ruminating on overall issues with OnK and I think this episode really encapsulates it, probably in a worse way than most of the episodes so far. The problem is that the episode is structured like it's a sitcom/rom-com like Love is War. Things happen but at the end we are back to status quo. Works in a comedy where you advance the plot once or twice per seasons, but for a drama/mystery, you need to constantly build it up upon itself. Aka just makes thing happen in the story and they may or may not get brought back when needed, like Akane mind palace-ing her way into figuring out Ai had kids. Which is why I'm worried Kana will be stuck being the loosing heroine the entire season until her character is needed to advance the murder/revenge plot. |
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Aerdra
Posts: 554 |
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I think you're both missing the point of Oshi no Ko's subplots. Sure, the overall goal is to find Ai's killer, but along the way we get to see what goes on behind the scenes in the entertainment industry. Each arc explores a problem in the industry, its causes, and what might be done to fix it. That each arc concludes with a (sort of) happy ending might be seen as the author's own wish-fulfillment, especially in the case Tokyo Blade, or it might be commentary about how much better the industry could be if a few people were willing to act. |
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Joe Mello
 Posts: 2559 Location: Online Terminal |
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There's that, and also while the Johnny's stuff didn't come out until 2023, the peak of the Stormy Daniels scandal was 2018 and I have to imagine had enough international attention that it could inspire some "ripped from the headlines" ideas in Japan. Unrelated, but it's funny when talking about putting "a TV show in jeopardy," I'm reminded that a TV show that was affected by MeToo was, in fact, Jeopardy. |
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Wizardizar
Posts: 206 |
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Yeah but see, that's part of the problem in my opinion. The industry sub-plots are the strongest parts of the show, especially when centered around the Ruby-MEM-Kana-Akane quatuor. But then the murder plot needs to progress and it often feels clumsy how they connect. Also, as far as this mini-arc is concerned, I don't feel the commentary is particularly good because the author is, at best, interacting on a very surface level with sexism in the industry, and, at worst, doing some both sides-ism. |
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Aerdra
Posts: 554 |
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I agree that most of these side arcs are only surface level. The only one with any amount of depth is Tokyo Blade, probably because the authors had personal connections and experiences regarding multimedia adaptations of source works. Personally, I would've liked to have gone even deeper into the inner workings of the entertainment industry, as well as the problems embedded in it, but I'm not sure the average viewer would've put up with that. |
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tintor2
Posts: 2701 |
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The Oshi no Ko official twitter account posted the commentary about illegal marketing rather than cosplay https://x.com/anime_oshinoko/status/2016521340245962780
Still, the episode made a good effort of showing the pressure the cosplayer faces. Then again, I wonder if I would be more disgusted if the questions had voice acting. Still, the cliffhanger of Aqua suddenly suspecting that Ruby planned this controversy from the getgo is interesting to say the least. Is Ruby's group obtaining more popularity by orchertrating this event? The scene they put Kana did feel forced at first trying to distract the viewer just by showing Aqua's obscure face but after ending the episode it got me thinking into this. |
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