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REVIEW: Oshi no Ko GN 1


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ThatGuyWhoLikesThings



Joined: 04 Jul 2013
Posts: 1010
PostPosted: Tue Jan 31, 2023 12:05 pm Reply with quote
Correction: The artist for Oshi no Ko is actually the same one as Scum's Wish. Aka only does the writing here.
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AnimeFan617
Collector Extraordinaire



Joined: 12 Jan 2008
Posts: 70
PostPosted: Tue Jan 31, 2023 12:05 pm Reply with quote
Actually, Aka Akasaka did not create the art for this manga. The art was done by Mengo Yokoyari. It even says so on the front cover. Akasaka only wrote the story.
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09jcg



Joined: 19 Sep 2006
Posts: 524
PostPosted: Tue Jan 31, 2023 12:18 pm Reply with quote
That spoiler warning should probably be placed at the top in front of the synopsis. The synopsis itself spoils the whole thing
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Princess_Irene
ANN Reviewer


Joined: 16 Dec 2008
Posts: 2612
Location: The castle beyond the Goblin City
PostPosted: Tue Jan 31, 2023 12:38 pm Reply with quote
Fixed! Sorry about that!
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dm
Subscriber



Joined: 24 Sep 2010
Posts: 1367
PostPosted: Tue Jan 31, 2023 12:53 pm Reply with quote
I wouldn't have given this series a second glance given its alleged premise, but (a) Aka Akasaka and (b) a lot of really positive chatter in the forums here made me get the first volume and read it.

Wow. Was that unexpected --- in the best way possible. I'm really interested in seeing where this goes.

Ai's early emphasis on "it's all a lie"/"deception is what makes the industry work" was intriguing; the use of interstitial "talking heads" interviews with people looking back on the events that are unfolding in the series from some unknown vantage point in the future; the vantage point of a narrator more-or-less off stage (an adult mind in an child's body); all make for surprisingly effective storytelling.
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Kiwi93



Joined: 08 Dec 2022
Posts: 318
PostPosted: Tue Jan 31, 2023 1:02 pm Reply with quote
I’ve been reading the manga on Manga plus and it’s one of my favorite manga’s currently, I am beyond hyped for the anime.
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wolf10



Joined: 23 Jan 2016
Posts: 906
PostPosted: Tue Jan 31, 2023 1:22 pm Reply with quote
This is an easy series to avoid based on premise, thanks to deliberate similarities to Mushoku Tensei and that whole genre. It's very much not. (Stop reading the comments and go in blind! Now!)

I honestly don't think it's possible to come out the other side and not love Ai. She's probably the best possible version of her character type, and that's really important for everything that follows. The mystery setup is really strong, even from the first chapter, and looking back on this first volume has only given me more theories. (But wait, if that's true, then...) I'm usually wrong, but it's still fun to play along, and that's also really tough to pull off.
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Shay Guy



Joined: 03 Jul 2009
Posts: 2131
PostPosted: Tue Jan 31, 2023 1:55 pm Reply with quote
Oh dang, I didn’t think we’d get a review two weeks after release! I guess that’s probably something that happens a lot more often around here than I’ve noticed (I’ve never anticipated a manga release date enough to put it on my calendar before). And of that day’s many volume 1 releases, Honey Lemon Soda was certainly a good choice for the same-day review.

I've been reading this manga since chapter 1, and one theme I really like that's already being developed in this volume is the messy nature of celebrity identity and the facades people have to put up. Hence the tagline: "In show business, lies are a weapon." This fits really well with the Narou-isekai-esque reincarnation premise, and in particular just how confusing and contradictory Aqua's own position is -- he's simultaneously Ai's fan (who doesn't do anything inappropriate but still avoids answering when a colleague asks if he'd date Ai -- a girl maybe half his age -- given the chance), her doctor, and her son. When people ask what OnK is about, my favorite answer is "It's about the main character's complicated relationship with his favorite idol."

Hell, he was supposed to deliver himself. How many fictional characters can you say that about?

(One neat thing about that tagline that I saw when the anime was announced: The kanji meaning "show business" are written with furigana showing they're to be pronounced sekai, making it "In this world, lies are a weapon." Normally they're pronounced geinoukai; both terms use the same character for "kai". For me, it underscores how the twins have been isekai'd into the fantastical alternate "world" of the entertainment industry.)

Quote:
When Gorou is reborn as Aquamarine, he has all of his intellectual faculties perfectly intact, and he has to really work at not using them in front of others. The same is true for his twin sister Ruby


Though her intellectual faculties are, uh, a bit more dubious. Very Happy

Quote:
By the time they reach the age of four, their precocity is a little less bizarre, but watching it throw the adults for a loop doesn't get old.


I'm pretty sure they're three in the latter part of this volume, though the manga's timeline in general has given me enough headaches that I posted a 1700-word rant on Reddit about them. (One of the weirder implications in this volume is that the child actress who appears in one chapter should be only two or maybe three, given later information, and acts like she's a few years older.)

Quote:
I probably shouldn't have to mention this, but it is also worth noting that the breastfeeding scene is completely devoid of sexual overtones, something that isn't always a guarantee.


It’s not framed sexually for the reader, but the way it plays out might be worth going into: Aqua still feels it’d be inappropriate for him to receive it, and insists on being bottle-fed. Ruby agrees that a grown man shouldn't do such things, despite the fact that she’s, uh, very enthusiastic about being breastfed herself, and in general a much more manic fan of Ai than he is. (The whole dynamic walks a fine line, and I think an intentionally awkward one; I think it helps that Ruby was as young as she was in her last life.)

One more note: There's an detail early in chapter 1 that I suspect was fairly clear to Japanese readers, but that pretty much none of the English-speaking fandom caught on to until much later, and that the translation notes don't spell out. Specifically, it has to do with spoiler[where exactly the hospital is].
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TheSleepyMonkey



Joined: 11 Jul 2022
Posts: 902
PostPosted: Tue Jan 31, 2023 3:35 pm Reply with quote
Had high hopes for this one after finding out it was written by Akasaka, but ended up being extremely disappointed after he decided to use the Mushoku Tensei route when it comes to the main characters. Dropped less than 10 chapters in.

Maybe the anime will give me a better impression, but considering Daisuke Hiramaki's other directiorial works are pretty forgettable, I doubt it.
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JustMonika



Joined: 17 Jan 2022
Posts: 986
PostPosted: Tue Jan 31, 2023 11:21 pm Reply with quote
This was my first manga to purchase and read and I absolutely loved it. Probaby the best thing I've read in 40 years. Can't wait for Volume 2 in May and the anime adaptation.

Last edited by JustMonika on Wed Feb 01, 2023 5:49 am; edited 1 time in total
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Cho_Desu



Joined: 27 Dec 2022
Posts: 196
PostPosted: Wed Feb 01, 2023 3:23 am Reply with quote
One of those series that was hyped up to the highest of heavens, but then I read through the first few chapters and could not see anything special about it. I guess my main issue was I couldn't care about the characters much. Also probably just extremely tired of any kind of "reincarnation" story at this point, not to mention rather tired of idols...
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Alan45
Village Elder



Joined: 25 Aug 2010
Posts: 9853
Location: Virginia
PostPosted: Wed Feb 01, 2023 8:46 am Reply with quote
I bought it and tried it. It is not for me. Too grim and I found the artwork irritating. Food for the recycle bin.
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Gem-Bug



Joined: 10 Nov 2018
Posts: 1216
PostPosted: Wed Feb 01, 2023 10:58 am Reply with quote
Alan45 wrote:
I bought it and tried it. It is not for me. Too grim and I found the artwork irritating. Food for the recycle bin.


You should always donate books you don't want!
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Kendall TV



Joined: 02 Feb 2022
Posts: 43
PostPosted: Thu Feb 02, 2023 3:54 pm Reply with quote
I'm a little bit of a latecomer to Oshi No Ko. I heard a lot of buzz about it from people who read the scanlations but I didn't bother looking into it at all.

When MANGA Plus licensed it, I still didn't know anything about it but I decided to give it a shot anyway given how often I see its title mentioned. I read through the first few chapters and I admit that it didn't captivate me that much. I almost dropped it.

It wasn't until around chapter 9 when that thing happens that I became interested. A few chapters after that and I was hooked. Now I understand why there's so much buzz about it, and I continue to read the simul chapters when they go up.

So for people who might be hesitant about Oshi No Ko, I say go check it out on MANGA Plus (it's free) and at the very least read until you get to the point where that thing happens. You'll know what I mean when you see it. If you still don't like the story at that point, this is probably not for you. Otherwise, fun reading.

By the way, the manga produced by MANGA Plus and by Yen Press are different. Different translators, different letterers. I haven't checked out the Yen Press version so I can't comment on its quality, but seeing Gorou in the review is really annoying.
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Shay Guy



Joined: 03 Jul 2009
Posts: 2131
PostPosted: Thu Feb 02, 2023 7:21 pm Reply with quote
Kendall TV wrote:
By the way, the manga produced by MANGA Plus and by Yen Press are different. Different translators, different letterers. I haven't checked out the Yen Press version so I can't comment on its quality, but seeing Gorou in the review is really annoying.


"Gorou" is the spelling Yen Press uses. I had no problems with the translation myself (compared to MP's, which clearly suffered from having to crank out four chapters a week).
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