Rating: A
The foundational truth of Oshi no Ko is that, in an industry built on lies, Ai was the biggest liar of all. It’s the key to the series’ emotional core and any understanding of who Ai was. And that, rather than because she’s Ai’s daughter, is the real reason why Ruby should be the one to play Ai in The 15 Year Lie rather than the more talented Frill or Akane: because the second-biggest liar in the series may be Ruby/Sarina herself.
We’ve known that Ruby has begun to lie more as she’s gotten more deeply-invested in her revenge scheme, but one thing that’s long been overlooked is that she’s been putting up some degree of front ever since she was still Sarina. Back then she had to be the brave little girl who could weather her illness and parent’ with a smile, no matter how she actually felt about it, and she never felt that was her real self. Even though being Ai’s daughter is exactly what she wanted, she still feels like she’s playing a role even now. At least partly because of the trauma of Ai’s death, Ruby/Sarina has never fully been able to accept her current identity or the pain and self-loathing which comes with that. Akane may be the better actress and have a more insightful profile of Ai, but what even she doesn’t fully appreciate are the emotions behind Ai’s façade, and that’s the one critical area where Ruby has the edge.
Frill seemed to understand from the beginning that the portrayal of Ai is going to go beyond portraying her personality – that it’s going to involve channeling Ai’s will towards her killer (whether Aqua and Gotunda actually intend that or not). Her desire to see Ruby in the role instead of her shows that she recognizes that as being more important here than who’s the better actor or the more effective box office draw. Little gets by Detective Akane (she figured out what the movie’s subject matter and lead role had to be just from who was assembled for this audition), so she likely realizes this, too, which is why she doesn’t fight Ruby taking over the role. (Well, that or she’s just too polite to refute Ruby under the circumstances; her inner doubt was a well-timed comedic breaker.) But how will Ruby tackle the biggest challenge of the role, the one Frill mentions? That’s arguably the juiciest hook for future developments to come out of this.
Kaburagi didn’t get where he is by being dumb, either. He’s got a sense of the real intent behind the movie (and how could he not, when the much less experienced Frill could interpret that every scene is “dripping with malice”?) and knows that Ruby being pushed forward for the lead role smells fishy. But, significantly, he’s not stopping it, either, despite being in a position to put his foot down. This reaffirms he, too, seems to sense bigger forces at work here.
And one of those “bigger forces” shows up again later in the episode: Crow Girl is back for Round 2 with Aqua. While she seemed to be pushing Ruby into action, she’s clearly trying to cut Aqua off by quashing any vain hope he might have about Ai’s post-death disposition, and she doesn’t mince any words about it. In fact, she seems to be making the point that Ai didn’t reincarnate (like he did) in as harsh a manner as possible, probably because she knows (like the audience does) that nothing less than that will get through to Aqua at this point. His interactions with Akane were certainly as chilly as could be, though notably, this time Akane isn’t backing down, either.
And again like last episode, that makes Aqua’s scene with Kana all the more of an interesting contrast. He’s so much gentler with her, even to the point of being what passes for playful with her over the panda analogy. Did he truly not understand the impact that the “you’re special to me” comment would have on her – or, for that matter, probably any other girl around his age? Kana’s absolutely the right person to play an idol who was jealous of Ai, though; it will allow her to play into her naturally sharp mouth. This scene also provides further evidence that she’s meant to represent the alternative Aqua didn’t take. Her announced graduation from B Komachi – which now parallels her high school graduation – shows that she’s ready to push forward with her life rather than let herself be tied down to her troubled past. Good for her! But how is MEM-cho going to react to this?
And all of this great drama is capped by a big twist in the last post-credits scene: the introduction of Tendouji, the female advertising expert. I thought she looked familiar, then it hit me: the flashbacks earlier in the episode made a point of mentioning that Tendouji was Sarina’s last name. Given the very similar appearances and the way Ruby was practicing a scene where she calls out “Mother” repeatedly right before this introduction, this has to be Sarina’s mother.
Wow. Her being introduced almost certainly means that one or both of the twins will cross paths with her at some point, or at least see her name in paperwork related to the movie. (And both should recognize her, since Goro would certainly at least pick up on the name even if he doesn’t remember her by appearance.) That has massive potential impact, and makes me respect the episode design – which perfectly set up this surprise without tipping its hand in the slightest – all the more.
One episode is left to go, and apparently it’ll be an hour long season finale. This series is firing on all cylinders right now, neither rushing nor dragging out a single thing. Will we get a phenomenal season send-off, too?
USA Anime 