Rating: A-
Oshi no Ko has quite the reputation for the plot twists it throws out, but nothing which happens in this episode really counts. That each of the big events in this episode would eventually happen was fully predictable, and that they would all converge is both logical and fits the series’ presentation style. And the consequences will run deep.
We knew from the end of last episode that Aqua was going to confront Ruby over her recent change in behavior, but Aqua finally being at peace with himself has (for better or worse) caused him to lose his edge. Ruby ran circles around him as she leaned into a manipulative villain kind of role; even his best attempt at rebuttal – the point about how Ruby once hated artifice – swiftly gets shot down. Ruby was someone he used to support and help along, but she’s now well capable of getting ahead without his help. And that’s only the first big blow he takes.
The second is his conversation with Saito. It’s only natural that Aqua would eventually figure out that Ruby was seeing him and go to confront him, and now Saito’s explanation allows his motives to make more sense: he saw Ai as a daughter (which was heavily implied way back during episode 1 of season 1), and so wants revenge every bit as much as Aqua did. He left Miyako because he didn’t want to involve her in his dirty revenge quest (much like Aqua tried his best to leave Ruby out of his), and is helping Ruby now as an apology to Miyako. The difference between him and Aqua is that he wasn’t seeking a way out of the revenge quest, and so didn’t let his desire for freedom from that crusade blind him to the logical inconsistencies that Akane picked up on herself. Aqua may not want to accept that the director’s right, because that means he will again be dragged back into his ghost-fueled revenge fixation, but he’s too smart to deny this.
I do feel somewhat bad for MEM-cho and especially Kana, though. The former realizes that she’s gradually being outstripped and left behind by Ruby, while the latter has been left behind by Aqua – and on top of that, she gets unwittingly slapped by Aqua when she tries to help him during his freak-out moment. Her umbrella pattern is telling on where her heart still lies and Aqua can’t have failed to notice that. Have to wonder how much of his funk during his call with Akane was because of that as because of realizing that he may be forced back into Revenge Mode.
Akane, meanwhile, has her own concerns. While her career is also skyrocketing, she finally gets the final puzzle pieces to figure out who Aqua and Ruby’s real father probably is. That Akane would be the one to do it makes complete sense, but this is also likely very dangerous information and she likely knows that; the resemblance between Hikaru Kamiki and Aqua is great enough that it’s almost inconceivable that no one in the entertainment industry has noticed, which means there’s a continuing cover-up. And as Akana realized herself, why Ai never talked about him is also understandable, since her was too young at the time. But that also must mean that Hikaru was quite the playboy from quite a young age; assuming Taiki’s mother did have an affair with Hikaru, that was some much more serious cradle-robbing than what Ai did. And if the last scene of season 2 is to be believed, he apparently fathered at least one other child back in his teens, too.
There are three points I’m not yet clear about, though. First, if Hikaru is being protected, then why? Second, why did Hikaru seek to eliminate his former paramours but not his first three kids? And three, is he trying to get himself caught with stunts like the white roses, or is that his idea of a sick tease (given that he almost certainly has to know that Aqua is dating Akane)? Curious to see where the series goes on a logical front with all of these, and how everyone’s going to react to all of this next episode.
The production effort also deserves some call-outs here. Did you catch the star emblems blowing in the wind on the fence at the beginning of the episode? The way Ruby is framed in those early shots, especially the way the camera draws back on her at one point, set the ominous mood nicely, and Takeru Iga’s musical effort her absolutely kills it. For all of the entertainment industry minutiae, the series is at its most fun when it leans heavily into the drama, and thanks to the great production support, it certainly does that here.
USA Anime 