Oshi no Ko Season 3

Episode 4

Like father, like daughter? This episode of Oshi no Ko Season 3 made a disconcerting choice of framing when it bookended the episode between Ruby's schemes and her maybe-father's role as the architect of Ai's murder. It was an unsettling reminder that the entertainment industry has been a ready playground for anyone unhinged enough to take advantage since long before Ruby was born. And while Oshi no Ko has tended to portray the industry in an overly simplified way, this shocking return to the central plotline has pulled me right back in. I wouldn't describe the previous three episodes as peaceful, but in retrospect, I see them as merely the opening act before all hell broke loose. Aqua, for one, is having an especially bad time as the grief he'd assumed was behind him crashed down more powerfully than before. Ai's presence is with us now more than ever as the story returns to its roots. Painted in a neon-twilight color palette with plenty of style, this anime's good looks and dramatic flair make it easy to forgive its faults.

The best part of Season 3 has been its focus on Ruby. Though she's just as important to the story as Aqua, she didn't appear in the Tokyo Blade stage play, which meant she took a backseat for most of Season 2. Now, Ruby is making up for lost time by kickstarting her villain arc, complete with a devious monologue recounting her schemes to her big bro. Ruby claims she's no mastermind, but in this case, she was shrewd enough to make the TV industry her chessboard. Apparently, she also had some information about Meiya that we didn't: that Meiya has used tweets to vent her anger in the past, and Ruby suspected she'd do it again. (Like I wrote last week, posting a tweet is about all somebody in Meiya's line of work has the power to do.) Aqua listens to her boasting with dread (the fisheye lens angle excels at making this feel like a scene in a horror movie), but he has no right to be disappointed. “I learned it all by watching you, bro!” Ruby basically says. Aqua may have thought he was keeping Ruby pure by getting his own hands dirty, but what actually happened is that Ruby saw Aqua as a role model. It's easy to assume Aqua is the cynical schemer he is because he has a full adult lifetime behind him. But Ai was an accomplished liar at just 16, and this is Ruby's second time around as a teen. But is she her mother's daughter, or her father's?

I should have expected Akane to figure it all out. In season 2, she demonstrated that through method acting, she could fully assume Ai's mannerisms to the point that she could make inferences about Ai's private life that only Ai would know. This season, she's leveled up her game even more. On the same night that she acquires a major acting award, Akane proves her intellect a second time by collecting all the pieces she needs to solve the mystery of Ai's death for good. It's easy to see why the story never told us about Hikaru Kamiki before: he's a dead ringer for the twins! At the same time, it's easy to swallow the story's explanation for why people previously overlooked him: he was a middle schooler when he knew Ai, making this more of a Padme and Anakin situation. But now that it's out in the open, is it really that surprising that a 16-year-old and a 15-year-old might hit it off? It hasn't been confirmed that this new candidate is really Aqua and Ruby's dad, but the physical likeness is certainly there. Now the real question is: when will Akane tell Aqua what she's learned, and how will he react?

Because right now, Aqua is probably not ready to hear it. He's not just upset, he's “breaking down on a public bench in the pouring rain with no umbrella” upset. And now I'm upset too because the narrative deemed this as the perfect time to pile on Kana some more. She only wanted to offer Aqua an umbrella! Now he's upset, she's upset, and sweet Ai in heaven, why didn't Aqua say anything to her? I already know the answer, and so did Ichigo when he tried to walk back his theory about Aqua's dad. Aqua's brain had grown so accustomed to insulating itself from any alternative possibility to his dad being dead that this new possibility was giving him a full-on mental breakdown. The title of the episode, “Blind,” is no doubt referring to Aqua getting completely blindsided by this new possibility. He's going through it now, but whenever he emerges from his fugue, Ruby won't be the scariest twin on the show.

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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.