Oshi no Ko Season 3

Episode 9

It's a season of change on Oshi no Ko 3 this week, as the not-quite blooming cherry blossoms frame Kana's high school graduation and a cast in flux. Following Aqua's big reveal and Aqua and Akane's breakup, the show's teenage characters are reassessing how each of them fit together. This episode dutifully navigated the storybuilding bits that come from transitioning from one story arc to the next, but “Greed and Passion” felt a bit like a puzzle whose pieces didn't quite match up. The story's low-level primer on the entertainment industry rubbed up against its supernatural elements and were held together with not quite enough comedy. It was a reminder that for all that Oshi no Ko claims to expose the truth behind the lies of showbiz, what it's really doing is weaving together the ultimate tall tale—and its success depends on whether it can make it feel believable.

The curtain rises on two very minor characters: Director Gotanda and Producer Kaburagi, barely recognizable in their uncomfortable-looking formalwear. They are shopping around a very risky film project indeed—the story of a real idol killed by a real person in the industry—and at least for this stage of the project, they aren't concealing their true identities. I imagine this part about how investor money is essential for converting a film into a movement would hit harder if I knew more about Oshi no Ko's operating budget first when it was a manga, and now as a Studio Dōga Kōbō project. It's a cliche for ignorant US reviewers like me to say a show surely has a big budget if the show has beautiful animation—and Oshi no Ko certainly does—but we know from Answerman that some of the finest sakuga, like that seen in Satoshi Kon's Millennium Actress, can be the result of a shoestring budget. I would absolutely call Oshi no Ko, a show with 3 seasons, viewers around the globe, merch tie-ins, and tons of fan art, fanfiction, and cosplay, a movement in its own right. It's safe to say that many of the times Oshi no Ko claims to be generalizing about the industry, what it's really doing is talking about itself.

Meanwhile, it's all going according to keikaku for Aqua (keikaku means plan). By which I mean: Akane's out of his life, Kana can't stop tripping on rakes long enough to wedge her way in, and Ruby won't even acknowledge his presence. It's such a tense situation that Kana's self-own and Memcho's wiggly-armed attempt at levity barely last a minute before they get extinguished by Aqua's black star stare. These are not the eyes of a mentally well person. In other words, he's firmly planted in the perfect mindset to hear what Crow Girl has to say in the cemetery. Oh yes, she's back—and I spent the rest of the episode waiting for her to come back, to no avail. This one sparse cameo is all we are getting for a week, apparently. It's one of those times (apart from the elephant in the room that is the Oshi no Ko manga series conclusion) where I wouldn't mind if the show veered off course a bit more. I think it would have been useful to receive more than just that teaser. The supernatural elements of Oshi no Ko are so few and far between, I sometimes forget that these fantasy elements hold up the most important parts of its plot. It's not an interpersonal drama about performers navigating a double-edged industry; it's a reincarnation wish fulfillment fantasy gone wrong. And at this critical point in Aqua's second go around at life, he (and the rest of us!) could use some answers right now.

Just like with Crow Girl, the most tantalizing parts of this episode are the things we didn't see. Let's talk about what's happening slightly out of frame. What's in Ai's video letters to her kids? Have these videos ever been mentioned before, or are they a brand new Macguffin? Why did she make a different video for each kid, and how did they differ? Why didn't Aqua give Ruby hers, once again taking a decision into his own hands that isn't his to make? Is filming a video letter for my kids to watch as teens something I should be doing to be a good mom, or only if I seem to be tripping a lot of death flags? It is interesting to see that Gotanda sides with Aqua and thinks Ruby is being unreasonable for not being ready to forgive the brother that revealed their shared secret without so much as asking her. We love to paint teenage girls as unreasonable when Ruby, if she knows only as much as the audience does, is fully justified in her feelings.

Who should play Ai? Seems obvious doesn't it? Multiple times during this show, Akane has channeled Ai so thoroughly that she develops starbursts in her all-seeing eyes. Paired with her intuitive brain, Akane figured out the father of Ai's children before anybody else. Kaburagi might want Frill to appease the stakeholders, and Gotanda might want Ai's daughter Ruby for sentimental reasons, but in my opinion it's a no-brainer that Akane is a shoe-in for the role. For maximum drama, the girls choose to have a three-person showdown after which they will, apparently, tell the suits who they've decided should be the star (breaking the kayfabe that Oshi no Ko is supposed to be an instructive text about how the film industry really works). But once again the scene cuts off just as it's getting good—when Ruby is about to show everyone her impression of a liar. This was a bookend episode focused on getting us to next week, but it mostly made me wish next week was here already.

Rating:

Oshi no Ko Season 3 is currently streaming on Crunchyroll and HIDIVE. Lauren is a freelance journalist with a focus on anime fandom.