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[iniyaas]

I watched that part where he appears!! and

it was way too extra I couldn't take it seriously.. why does he have to be so dramatic.. it was sweet though. I think Ai would have appreciated it coming from him

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One more!! since I may not be able to use this color palette for him again if the official is different;v; I REALLY WANT HIS EYES TO BE GOLDEN THOUGH because "god of light"! It'd be such a missed opportunity if his colors don't match that name of his.

I find it really bittersweet how he reacts whenever something reminds him of Ai...his smile breaks which means his mask is gone (Ai was always able to have that sort of effect on him)

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it occurred to me that this could be my last chance to draw him with this color scheme...

I want their story to have this kind of resolution at the very end!

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What's behind the smile?

A Hikaru Kamiki expression analysis.

This character has fascinated me for quite a while and today I want to try to understand the expressions that he makes in the manga and theorise a bit (the pictures below are subjectively classified and could be incomplete). I want to mention that I separate Kamiki and the Kamiki that Aqua portrays in the movie.

I found that Kamiki smiles 60% of the time and 40% of his expression are non-smiling, which I personally find quite suprising. I thought he smiled more.

Quite interestingly, in Aqua's portrayal of Kamiki, he barely smiles and is quite expressive in other emotions. He only smiles 14% of the time which is interesting to analyse. I would like to start with that since it is more straightforward.

In chapter 139, Aqua as Kamiki smiles 4 times while spending time with Ai. The other 4 smiles could be classified as not that genuine considering their context. In the 5th picture he smiles yet looks nervous while telling Airi that she is more beautiful than Ai. In the 6th picture he smiles while he says he can’t get an allowance. In the 7th picture he smiles while telling Ai not to make fun of him. In the last picture he says he is totally fine, yet Ai says that’s a lie. These pictures (mostly 5,6,8) seem to allude to a connection between smiling and lying. Because it’s around 50/50 (genuine/not genuine), I can’t conclude that correlation with certainty, but it is interesting that the movie alludes to this. It could also allude to whenever he faces a situation, he wants to get out off, he resorts to smiling to maybe try to soften the situation or maybe to unconsciously self sooth.

Aqua as Kamiki smiling:

Aqua shows through the movie that Kamiki is someone that could have been quite expressive with his emotion, before Ai broke up with him at least. A quick scan through the panels and it seems to me that shock, neutrality, disagreement and a few panels of despair are the most prominent presented emotions. Is this to show that Aqua does not know his father or is this more closely to the feelings of the real Kamiki?

To further expand the first option: I’ve read interpretations that the relationship between Ai and Hikaru share similarities with both of Aqua’s relationships with Akane and Kana, where Hikaru shares the position of Kana in her relationship with Aqua and the position of Aqua in his relationship with Akane. This could reflect Ai and Hikaru’s actual relationship or is a sign that Aqua has influence on the script. Thus that the relationship between Ai and Hikaru is not that accurate to what actually happened. However Aqua says that the movie is not fiction, so it most likely is closer to how their relationship was actually like, in contrast to what Kamiki says.

I personally think the intention of the movie arc is the second option. I think it represents that Kamiki felt a wide range of emotions during his youth. This portrayal of him could serve a similar function as the portrayal of Ai in the movie arc. To humanise him and show us how he felt during those times. Ai is not an invincible idol and Hikaru is not an evil psychopath. They’re both more human than that and feel a multitude of emotions.

Aqua as Kamiki not smiling:

The first time we see Kamiki smile, is when he talks about his daughter Ruby to Ai’s grave in chapter 72. Was he happy to see her?

In chapter 109, 74% of Kamiki’s expressions are smiles. His other expressions are appropriate to look more engaged in the conversation with Yura. He does look quite serious when Ruby’s name is dropped. He could smile to be polite or to get other people’s love or approval. I don’t have much else to say because we still don’t have a precise motive why he involved himself with Yura. It could range from him wanting her dead so he feels his life’s weight, to her having a star in her eyes, to her surpassing Ai or even wanting Ruby to have the role of Ai in the movie. But at the same time he humanizes Ai in chapter 153, so it would be weird that his motive is the idolisation of Ai. We’ll see what future chapters give.

In chapter 138, he smiles while Kaburagi insinuates that by calling him boy A (an anonymous name for child criminals), he will be criminalised. Does he want that? Is that the reason he smiles?

In chapter 147 he smiles to Ruby 76% of the time and all the time to Nino while talking about the movie.

-> he smiles while asking Ruby her wish and assuming her answer. And then again when reflecting on her true answer (while having white stars). Is he smiling to be polite, is he happy to talk to her and to hear her wish or is it something else?

-> he’s serious when Ruby talks about not forgiving him and her true wish and also while meeting Akane. Could this mean that he is genuinly considering what Ruby says?

-> he smiles while talking to Nino about how the movie will affect him. He tells her that he will rot. Is he happy that he will for the sake of Ai? At this moment, he still thinks the movie is an extension of Ai’s wish, so I assume that is the reason for his expression of happiness. As Ai, as seen in chapter 153 and 154, seems to be a very important figure in his life.

In chapters 152-154, he smiles around Aqua, while talking about the movie and Ai’s death, until he expresses shock due to Aqua saying that the movie is not fiction and showing Ai’s video. Could he smile because he still thinks he was fulfilling Ai’s wish? The shock would then be genuine as it was not expected by him. Most of his expressions are concealed though, I’ve read somewhere that it could be that he has white stars in his eyes during some of these moments, but nothing is confirmed yet.

During the flashbacks only 2 of the 22 panels have genuine smiles and they’re with Ai yet the rest of them aren’t genuine or have a more shocked or desperate expressions portrayed which is more in line with the Kamiki the movie arc depicted. The non-genuine smiles are probably there once again to soften the blow of what is to come or to self sooth, like Ai’s breakup.

In the conversation with Aqua in chapters 159-160, he actually has a majority of non-smiling expressions (53% non-smiling). This is the first time his adult self, more closely resembled the movie’s portrayal of him. He smiles watching the B-Komachi concert. He also has a smile when Aqua calls him a liar yet looked weirdly sad or pained at the same time. When Aqua accuses him of putting Ruby in danger, his expressions are mostly shocked or serious.

During the flashbacks (which have no black background), he only smiles, which can be seen as manipulative but can also be genuine or be a call back to him smiling to soften serious or painful situations, such as Ryosuke’s death or his breakup with Ai. It's hard to tell with how little context we have.

Smiling:

Non-smiling:

I want to conclude that he noticeably smiles when he thinks he’s fulfilling Ai’s and his kids’ wishes. Maybe, he knows that Ai would have wanted the kids to be happy and that that is her wish, so he sacrifices himself for that. He thought the movie was Ai's wish so he sponsered that. Revenge is Aqua’s wish so it makes him happy that Aqua is fulfilling his wish and plays the role of someone who need to be revenged on. The same goes for Ruby for being an idol as her wish and feeling happiness for her as she is fulfilling it (same as her not forgiving him, so he acts as someone who cannot be forgiven). I think he cares about the twins in some way, because that is what most of his actions seem to allude to and every interaction, we see of him has something to do with the twins. I think his paternal feelings are true (he blurted that out so randomly, makes me think he really wants to express his affection more openly). Wishes also seem to be really important to his character (and is in the title of this last arc), which makes me wonder how that would manifest in future chapters. He also smiles if it would help temper a troublesome situation, which could be a habit that he picked up from his youth, making it harder to pinpoint the meaning of his smiles. I still feel quite unsure about him and hope that the further the manga goes the more things clear up, but I really like his connection with wishes and hope that that will be further explored in the manga. Of course other interpretation of him are possible since so much is left unclear and maybe the panel compilations can help you theorise.

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HOSHINO RUBY... YOU'VE GROWN TO BE A REAL BEAUTY. I'D EXPECT NO LESS... SINCE SHE'S OUR CHILD.

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I absolutely LOVE the choice of va and the voice acting itself. He speak so softly and with a palpable nostalgia and fondness???? AMAZING. Also they're brilliant for making Ruby hum a song, it's so unsettling and the vibe omg I can't even explain it.

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hikaai is such a funny ship. I feel like I'm defending someone in court for being wrongly convicted... pleading "Oh, there is no way he could have done it, your honor!" with the basis being.. my hunch (but there IS more than that) So it's... not exactly about being happy and excited at this point(I love drawing them btw), it's more about being unable to overlook some things.

Either the guy is so good at lying and his entire life that's been described so far is a lie, or it's that he's extremely hurt and timid (he couldn't even go visit his gf giving birth and go see his own kids because he got nervous if what he claims is the truth PL EASE Hikaru.. oh, goodness. But I think this DOES fit his character... it's oddly realistic. And he treats his children quite lovingly after that? The way I see it?)

but even if he can fool ME, I doubt he would have been able to fool Ai. She's the better liar, her whole story revolved around her lies and love and there's a scene where she literally reads him like a book within the story. If Ai and he fights, he does not have even the slightest chance to win. He does not stand a chance against Ai. That's what happened regarding the 15 year old lie as well, he didn't have a clue when it came to HER lies. I like that about them. They're very tragic, but you know, the way Ai steps in and leads him is sweet. That part of it is kind of cute. That's EXACTLY why she's worried about him, everyone, he's so vulnerable and so easy to be taken advantage of. It happens OVER AND OVER. I'D worry if I knew a person like that.

Am I the only one who feels this way? This character is being bullied. I shouldn't have to care about that, he's just a drawing, he can go to jail or HELL if he needs to be punished, I won't care about him if HE'S the one who's killed Ai (he's still good-looking but my feelings for him would change a whole lot) but don't people see?; Ai decided to help him because he was bullied as a child!! She couldn't bear seeing the guy she found endearing being in pain! I think that's happening again! And Ai's dead now so she can't help him anymore... their children have to do it in her place... This whole situation makes me feel like I'm watching a bullying incident in school but being unable to do anything about it... I feel really bad. Why are these things happening to him? It'd be better for HIkaru's sake if he really IS evil and is some sort of god that drives people crazy, that's the other way this could make sense but would that be a good story? It won't be, so I don't think that's it.

By the way I've been rereading ch 1 a lot because Ai-

and if I had a gf like that who'd risk everything they had going because of their love towards me (that's EXACTLY what she's doing there) I could give my life. She's so lovely?? I'd love her with all my heart. Yeah she's hurt Hikaru so much from that lie she told him but, it was an action so full of love, I get it so well. She's that sort of character, she's the embodiment of love. So I think Mephisto must be the boyfriend's song. Ai risked everything for him, and I don't picture the guy she loved acting any different for her sake. He wouldn't have fretted over giving his own life for someone like that, in fact, he'd wish to do MORE if he could. Being the super.. timid person he used to be, he's probably been pushing himself really hard. However, I don't even know how much he's capable of doing because I feel like 'Huh..with this personality, can he really even go that far?;; CAN he actually do something for Ai in a drastic manner?;'

yeah.. this ship is stressful.. it's golden though! I just hope things get resolved somehow and soon. nervous laughter

I should go play my game too~ I wish I had several bodies, there's so many things I want to do and have to as well..!

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@rosaniruby ahjgkj sorry for the late reply, got busy over the week ;_;

me being stupider than ai (affectionately) that I am today years' old when I realize that aquamarine is a JEWEL, and not a color *massive facepalm*

I always assumed she named the babies after their eye colors but Ruby is a jewel so it works; but Aquamarine is a color, so it is too obvious and doesn't work, because my dumbass didn't know that Aquamarine is also a color named after a jewel just like ruby, so yeah I don't know where i am going with this anyway ahgkjkdk your reply made me google this so thanks lmao

ooooh I haven't really followed Oshi no Ko outside of the manga (kinda on and off reader sorry; I am religiously following this only ever Ai or Hikaru show up lol) but that info's too cute! ai is a star in the sky and hikaru is a jewel on the land (like in that one mythology lore comic by yuseirra <3)

either way, I just know Goro-sensei is fondly rolling his eyes anyway at their stupidity dumb and dumber

@insertusername99

oooh good point! I never thought about this but yeah, in Japanese it would be way worse to spell/pronounce lol no wonder everyone calls him Aah-kun ghkfjk if Hikaru isn't good at English to pick up the meaning immediately, he would think Ai chose ✨Insert Fancy English Name✨ for their kids and then she would sit him down and translate the meanings for him/why she chose the names etc gkjkshj cute mom-dad-babies bonding time hhaha

in a happy au, where everyone lives and nobody dies, where it is hikaru who went with a bouquet of white roses (no knives here, please) what do you think would have been his first reaction to knowing his kids' names are Ruby and Aquamarine?

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hikaai in Ame-no-Uzume and Sarutahiko's attires!

I really would like it if they have something to do with them and their lores~

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The problem here is that he never gets angry. He needs stop putting up with this mess COME ON

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ive seen people online saying they're disappointed because shidou isn't being freaky and horny in pxg like he was in u20, or that his personality has been watered down or something..

come on everyone lets rub our braincells together and think what was in u20 that isnt here

its sae itoshi!! he isnt horny for everyone he meets and has only been shown actively down bad for one character in the series.. its almost like.. shidou is actual character, and not just a bundle of sex jokes

crazy stuff

[iniyaas]

Oshi no Ko Ch 160 thoughts

I think I'll start this out with a jump scare.

Imagine this guy showing up at your door trying to sell you a nice new set of kitchen knives. I'd take ten.

The above image is so ghoulish that I'd be tempted to see it as just Aqua's distorted perception of his father, not a mask off moment where Hikaru morphed into Slenderman

But I have no confidence that this chapter didn't just toss Hikaru's character development in the bin

A well-executed twist following a twist should be satisfying but rather than getting a nice "aha" moment, I'm just getting whiplash

Even though I don't like it, I guess I can buy a heartbroken and jaded Hikaru who subtly manipulated Ryosuke into becoming more unhinged and later influenced Nino to do his dirty work

Although I don't think Ryosuke needed any help being a dumpster fire of a human and Nino really has nobody to blame but herself

But then what were chapters 154 and 155 about?

The mess that was HkAi is so compelling to me. I find their relationship sweet and tragic. It was a disaster that could have become something lovely if they weren't such fragile people already deeply wounded at a young age

In order for Hikaru's realization that Ai loved him to be as impactful as it is, then "I'm going to do what I can for Ai" can't be a lie

Which means he can't have wanted to hurt Ruby after watching the DVD

Which means that we're gonna keep spinning in circles about Hikaru's culpability and motives until Akasaka lets us off this ride

We've gone from "Aqua delivered a revenge worse than death to an already self-destructive man" to "oh, I guess that meant nothing. Time to have a knife fight"

And then there's the below panel. The worst thing Hikaru said about Ai was that she was a normal girl who could be cruel. Now she's standing next to a very accusatory speech bubble

"Make people obey you?" Hikaru wouldn't think that of Ai post 154

I wouldn't be surprised if he's just winding Aqua up because he has a death wish, but I think that's just me trying to cope

I've been waiting a very long time for "you're just like me" from Hikaru to Aqua but it would have been more effective if the panels supposedly showing Aqua's power to charm didn't seem to have been chosen at random

Can I just say, this panel makes me uncomfortable:

It's hard to think of Ruby wholeheartedly singing love songs to sweaty 20-something men, and the way Ai and B Komachi started doing so when they were just children, and not feel weird

OnK does a wonderful job portraying the good things about idol fandom alongside the heinously toxic things, but it's so heavily weighted on the good side with Ruby that it sometimes makes me think Ai's death at the hands of an obsessive idol otaku who believed she couldn't be a real person because she sang love songs to her fans was a fever dream

And I know this is Aqua's image of Ruby, but it just seems like we're completely ignoring the arc where she went into full on manipulation mode (like father like daughter, I guess)

Anyway, the standout moments of this chapter were that Ai drew a heart on her toothbrush and the below panel. The little Hoshino family melts my ugly, deceptive heart

Christ. I haven't even mentioned Aqua's big ass knife

Aqua won't stab anyone. Just maybe do some light slashing

There is a blatant retcon about Nino and Ryosuke at the hospital because Crow Girl said there was a middle school aged boy there. The only ways this could not be a retcon is if Hikaru lied, Crow Girl lied, or crows really can't see well at night

Next chapter: Hikaru lets Aqua stab him but it bounces off because Nino, who wanted to protect her buddy, secretly made his suit knife proof. Ai's toothbrush turns out to be pivotal to the plot because if only she had used an electric toothbrush as dentists recommend, none of this would have happened.

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What baffles me the most in this chapter is that Ai's toothbrush is still there like didn't my girl took her bursh with her while casually breaking up with her mentally ill boyfriend

The fact that I noticed this is going to make me sound like The World's Most Normal Person but I'm pretty sure that panel with Ryosuke is set before the breakup because Ai's toothbrush is different. In 153, it seems to be an electric toothbrush but the one we see here is just a regular kind. That and baby Hikaru is just kind of visibly chilled out and content in a way I don't think he would be that soon after the breakup. So it's more likely that Ryosuke was coming over while she wasn't there and going all eyes emoji (evil version) at the inductions of her presence.

Actually hold the fuck on. This was supposed to be a relatively jokey ask at my own expense for paying way too close attention to a minor detail like that but like.

Ryosuke hanging out at Hikaru's apartment for the seemingly explicit ulterior motive of preying on Ai from a distance means there was a period of time where Ai's literal stalker and eventual murderer was lurking around one of her safe, private spaces without her knowledge while she was absent and snooping through her personal belongings.

Fucking hell. An actual chill just went down my spine imagining that. Ryosuke has always been an effective character but that just made him like ten times as frightening to me because that's just. So much more real and mundane as an expression of that kind of obsession. What the fuck.

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But i think that Hikaru met Ryosuke after his break up since he said that he met Ryosuke and Nino and then told about his heartbreak?

The timeline is a little vague but the biggest indicator to me that it's pre-breakup is just that like I said, Kamiki seems really happy and chill when we see him with Ryosuke & Nino in a way I don't think he would be so close to the breakup. Like, timeline wise, this would've been less than a year after it happened and with how dependent on her Hikaru was, it's hard for me to imagine him being like yay <3 okay <3 so soon after it happened.

So in my head it's like:

KamiAi start dating -> Ryosuke and Nino creep on Hikaru -> KamiAi breakup -> Hikaru tells them about it bc those are (seemingly) his friends -> Ryosuke and Nino at Miyazaki -> etc. etc

That's what makes the most sense to me based on the info we have, anyway.

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in a happy au, where everyone lives and nobody dies, where it is hikaru who went with a bouquet of white roses (no knives here, please) what do you think would have been his first reaction to knowing his kids' names are Ruby and Aquamarine?

[iniyaas]

I'm keen about emotions, I know where Ai's coming from when she's said all the things she wanted to do with, and do for Hikaru. Those were the most loving words you could give towards someone and you cannot say things like that without having conviction about the other party. It's so genuine and strong. Especially for someone with her character who feels such a strong desire for love, and was curious about just what it was but was so wary about it at the same time.

If this is a story about "love", that cannot be a thing that's left in vain or unattended. If this is about a girl who's name literally means love and has eyes that tell of love, she can't be ever wrong about it in a story that has it as a device.

What she said really got me. If I were to say the same things she said about Hikaru to someone, that'd mean they're the one. That's something so, so difficult to have Ai of all people to have felt and obtained, but she really got it. I felt so happy for her thinking, 'Oh, you really did it, Ai, you really were able to find someone who you were able to give your love to. It was him all along... Your boyfriend. He was it.'

You don't make Ai's "the one" be a psychopathic murderer who uses people for their own gain.

It got me hooked, so I examine the guy intently and see some behavioral patterns he has and the types of language he uses, the way he expresses himself and I surprisingly come to the conclusion that he really is someone that's worth it for Ai to try doing all the things she's done. I'm right about this. At least, this is what I'd do if I'm the writer. You just DON'T make a character like Ai say all those things for it to be proven wrong. It can't happen and besides, there is no point in doing so either except for maybe some mere shock value that'd soon fade over a couple chapters.

It's...right. Ai is right. You need to see that boy through her eyes. Interpret him through the way she's felt, and it all works and fits in like a puzzle piece. This is like a mystery where you fill the pieces to make sense of, but in a psychological sense. You have to believe her. What she's said isn't wrong. What Ai says holds weight and it makes so much sense for her to achieve all the love she's wanted by the end of the story. He's a person worthy of her love and that actually means he can be a saint;; the bar Ai has for people can be so high and he somehow made through it. The more I look, I come to a conclusion that it REALLY can be that way. He was that good and sweet. I see how he actually acts and he's really... So kind? That I get surprised, he could have done a lot of reckless things and tainted himself after Ai's death still but seeing how Ai wanted to "help" him?? And wanted the protagonists of this very story to do it with her? When the story is heading towards its finale?? Then he actually may have some room to be saved. That's why 154 pulled me in. I felt there would be no way this story will head otherwise.

So don't worry about Ai and don't worry about this ship. It will come through. Give it time!

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What I picked up from the lastest ep was that Ai really loved being around her man.

Could have been out of habit but she drew a cute heart with her name on that toothbrush of hers she left in Hikaru's place right? That made my heart flutter a bit. It's a really cute and playful gesture, they must have really been so happy when they were together. Hikaru's visions of him and her smiling while they held hands in Ch 153 must have been an accurate depiction. Those little details speak "happiness" to me... It really works with how she's commented that she's wanted to live forever with him. She really wanted to stay...

Think about it, would you draw little hearts around your name when you're with a person you're not happy with? Ai must have been really comfortable with Hikaru. Those were her expressions of having felt joy and love. She really did find someone she wanted to make family with, and knowing how defensive her personality could be at times, that really is a lot. He must have been REALLY good to her that she's warmed up to him. Everything she did regarding their breakup was for his sake, and even after that, Hikaru wanted to send her a bouquet with a blush and a smile. I think he became happy that he could go meet her again if she accepted it, and meet up with his kids too. He had all the reason to be careful about it because Ai made it really clear during the breakup that she DIDN'T want him(it was a lie, but). If anything, he was being very careful and considerate with his precious girlfriend who'd been raising their children(he should have just went though). He's been the shy, mild and timid type.

His consideration backfired terribly. That happened because he trusted people who he considered as friends. He trusts people too much but how would he have known? He was going to be happy if Ryosuke and Nino were just normal, sensible people. How can what's happened be anything that's he desired or have predicted? He lost everything.

They were happy. I feel their relationship was one that was mutual and gave both of them both the strength to go on about their lives even after. Ai adored the children she had with him, and Hikaru did eventually recover a bit to wish to send Ai a bouquet to congratulate her concert at the dome. He still loved her and she did too. None of this is something that can be brushed off as toxic or metally ill. They could have really had it. Become a nice family together...