Oshi no Ko is an anime series that aired on April 12, 2023. It’s based on a manga of the same name written by Aka Akasaka and illustrated by Mengo Yokoyari. The manga is a seinen series first published by Shueisha’s Weekly Young Jump on April 23, 2020, and later collected into volumes. There are currently three volumes of the Oshi no Ko manga available.
What Is Oshi no Ko About?
Oshi no Ko is a manga and anime series about a doctor (Dr. Garou) and his patient (Sarina) being reincarnated as the twin children of their favorite pop idol. The two are reborn with memories from their past life as well as a natural affection for their new mother, Ai Hoshino. Now living as Ruby and Aqua, the twins live a relatively quiet life out of the public eye to ensure that their mother can continue her idol career without anyone knowing she had kids at 16 years old.
This all comes to a screeching halt when Ai Hoshino is murdered by a disgruntled fan, leaving Ruby and Aqua to try and live out their lives without a guardian. A bitter Aqua decides it’s his job to find the real mastermind behind Ai’s death and kill that person.
Oshi no Ko’s Title Hides a Double Meaning
Japanese is written in three types of scripts, one of them being kanji, a writing system composed of Chinese characters. This lets Japanese convey a lot of meaning in a short phrase and even hide double meanings in the same phrase. In the case of “Oshi no Ko,” it’s written as “推しの子” which, according to the author, can be read as “suki na aidoru wo osu,” meaning “supporting your favorite idol” or “oshiteiru aidoru no kodomo” meaning “children of the idol you support.” Depending on how the title is interpreted, it can refer to either the twins or their mother.
Oshi no Ko’s Story So Far
Oshi no Ko’s latest arc starts after Aqua reveals his and Ruby’s true identities as Ai Hoshino’s children to a reporter in exchange for the scandal about Kana Arima and Masanori Shimato not being published. This causes a fight between Aqua and Ruby and a movie about Ai Hoshino’s life entering production starring many of the show’s characters. The story continues to ramp up even more as the manga reveals the true identity of Aqua and Ruby’s father and the mastermind behind Ai’s death.
Aqua and Ruby’s father
While there’s still no confirmation about who Aqua and Ruby’s father is, it’s heavily implied that the twins’ father is Hikaru Kamiki.
In chapter 96, Akane Kurokawa finds flowers gifted to her for winning the New Actor award from Hikaru Kamiki, one of Lalalie’s best performers. Later, while reviewing Hikaru’s performance tapes, Akane notices an uncanny similarity between Hikaru and Aqua.
In the following two chapters, Akane attempts to track down and kill off Hikaru behind Aqua’s back. Later on in chapter 98, after her call with Aqua, Akane gets startled by a random passerby and falls down the stairs of the footbridge she’s on. Aqua catches her and then reveals that he was following her with a GPS tracker. After a fight between the two, Aqua’s mission to take revenge for Ai continues again as he sets his eyes on Hikaru Kamiki.
Ai Hoshino’s Killer
Ai Hoshino may have been killed in a stabbing incident by a fan named Ryosuke, but the real brains behind her murder is none other than her children’s father, Hikaru Kamiki.
Hikaru Kamiki is properly introduced in Chapter 109, where we see him accompanying Yura Katayose, who is the top nominee for the role of Ai in the “15 Year Lie” movie. Later on in the chapter, Hikaru kills Yura during her hiking trip. There haven’t been any more appearances from him in the manga throughout chapters 109 to 119.
Where to Read the Oshi no Ko Manga
There is a website dedicated to translations of the Oshi no Ko manga where you can currently read the series from the beginning all the way to Oshi no Ko’s most recent chapter, chapter 119.
Where to Watch the Oshi no Ko Anime
Oshi no Ko is currently streaming on Netflix, which may be confusing to fans who expect Crunchyroll to have the anime show available. Though Crunchyroll specializes in anime shows, the streaming platform wasn’t able to get the streaming rights for Oshi no Ko.
