Oshi no Ko Season 3

Episode 3

You can still see how cutting-edge this Oshi no Ko mini-plot must have been back when it was published as a manga chapter at the height of the Me Too movement. As you recall, Me Too was about turning the tables on sexual harassers when harassed women gathered the courage to speak out about the abuse they'd faced—and for once in history, they were believed. But time dulls our memories, and the pieces didn't fall as neatly as this episode would lead you to think; in fact, the movement boomeranged back to a global right wing backlash. None of that is reflected in “Correctness,” which provides a sanitized version of how things went down and how, if you really think about it, both the harassed and the harasser are victims here. The central conceit of this subplot was flawed, but at the same time I saw glimmers of hope in the way it showed a genuine appreciation for the art and craft of cosplay. The episode has its moments of sincerity, but is overall a preachy After School Special that provides nothing new.

After the first few chapters of Oshi no Ko came out, do you think writer Aka Akasaka and illustrator Mengo Yokoyari got a sternly written letter from the kitchen knife industry? It certainly wasn't considerate of them to have a character get stabbed to death with such a convenient and affordable cooking tool, available for just $49.99. On the other hand, there's no doubt Mother Nature was suspiciously silent about Aqua's cliff-fall death in his previous life. This is the kind of meta conversation that arises when a character in a piece of media rants about industry interference in pieces of media. As “Correctness” delved into the nitty gritty of the many levels of rights acquisition and so forth, it was impossible not to be aware that it was talking about itself. For a story with such an outlandish premise as a gynecologist being reborn as the child of the idol whose pregnancy check-ups he oversaw, Oshi no Ko can veer hard into reality, even if it's the reality reflected in the distorted funhouse mirror of the entertainment world.

This episode is based on an unlikely premise: that a sex worker's tweet would be taken so seriously, it could put a TV show in jeopardy. But even during the height of Me Too it's a rose-colored rewriting of history to say sex workers had that kind of clout with the general public. Despite my overall criticisms, I have nothing to complain about with Meiya's portal. The detail that Meiya used sex work to provide for herself after she got too sick to work an office job is a real-life scenario that I've anecdotally heard from sex workers. Plus, the decision to portray Meiya as a hardworking fan who truly loves the properties she is cosplaying is great. There's an incorrect assumption that cosplayers who provide 18+ photos in cosplay are somehow lesser fans and that's not implied here in the slightest—and effectively disproven when Meiya recounts pulling an all-nighter to create her Tokyo Blade cosplay. Racy material comes up again when Abiko-sensei explains to Kana why she wants to personally approve all Tokyo Blade partnerships. Abiko has a big problem with the fact that brands always bring female representatives to make the sexy stuff seem like less of a big deal. The part where Abiko explains rights is dense, esoteric, and ultra-meta when you consider its vehicle, a manga that was by then was cosplayed often as well as the subject of doujinshi.

At first there's a clear-cut hero and villain in this episode. This is the second episode in a row that Yoshizumi has undergone the director's constant abuse, cementing him as a not-great guy. After undergoing the indignity of being asked to swap cosplays on the day of like it's nothing, Meiya is subjected to the director's sleazy questions and insinuations. (If Ruby was the mastermind behind this entire snafu, she would not have had to work very hard. She was well-aware of the director's proclivities.) I hate the way the director and Meiya, the abuser and abused, are portrayed as having equal power to one another. Meiya has very little power here; posting a tweet about how poorly she was treated is just about all she can do. And it's sheer luck that people took her vague tweet seriously and even recognized what TV show she was talking about. Her message miraculously turns the tables and the studio is left brainstorming ways to get Meiya to delete the tweet (how this will help now that the cat is already out of the bag is beyond me). Even after Meiya's tweet, the director berates Yoshizumi for asking a “crazy chick” for an interview. The director claims he's “breaking taboos” and “I do what I do knowing I'll be called a problematic sexual harasser.” But there's a fatal flaw in this defense that is supposed to redeem him: sexual harassment isn't pushing the envelope; it's the status quo. He's not some maverick, he's upholding the old order. He also manages to get a few jabs at Yoshizumi in, when it's clear that Yoshizumi has been breaking his back to keep this show together despite the director's incompetence.

One thing leads to another, and in the end there's a really sweet moment when the director spends a week hand sewing a cosplay of his favorite character, who happens to be Princess Saya, and apologizes to Meiya while he wears it. The director in drag is played for laughs while at the same time criticizing the viewer for laughing when the emcee and Aqua both question Ruby's choice to bring out the director in cosplay as a female character. But Meiya recognizes a handmade cosplay when she sees one, and wholeheartedly accepts the director's apology. I hate that he's redeemed. I hate that we have to see the director as a complete human instead of a strawman abusive sexist who confirms my biases. But at the same time, I love the sincerity this episode extends to the cosplay community. When the director refers to cosplay as a “culture,” that's about right. It's an extremely time-intensive expression of fandom that isn't always taken seriously, especially when 18+ photos come into play. But in the midst of this flawed “fine people on both sides” fallacy, cosplay came out as the clear winner.

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Oshi no Ko Season 3 is currently streaming on Crunchyroll and HIDIVE.

Lauren is a freelance journalist with a focus on anime fandom.