#at least she has Miyako :)

[omuri]

Oshi no ko manga spoilers under the cut!

Can we talk about how relatable Ruby, as a character, is? In chapter 121, when she figured her mother is now happy with two more kids that aren’t her, she admits that she’s known she couldn’t have a mom who would love her and so she pretty much wanted Ai to be a replacement.

Unlike Aqua who first found his situation awkward, Ruby was elated to be Ai’s daughter and at first i thought it was just bc Ai was her favorite idol and she was fangirling hard but after reading that chapter it became clear she was desperate to have a mother figure in her life, someone who would pamper her and cater for her emotional needs.. things which she didn’t really receive from the person she cared about the most. And so many people i know can relate to that, heck even i do

When you’ve been deprived of something, you tend to want to experience that thing the most (not always but often) and that is exactly what Ruby wanted, just someone who’d love her and whom she could make happy

I feel really bad for Ruby, she was denied two chances of having a mother that would support her.. that’s just cruel

(Notice how she calls Marina ‘Mother’ but calls Ai ‘Mama’ 😭)

[atsoraasayoma]

The Digidestined Guessing Game. Thanks to Firedragon1321 I’m going to continue doing this.

Let’s talk about Miyako now. She also really has to contend with the drama of a full household and siblings and really has to take advantage of vulnerable situations to get what she wants.

Whether this is fighting at the dinner table for a dessert orbasically stealing from her self employed mom’s store to ‘buy’ snacks (that poor mom losing all that revenue to the bottomless pits of in training Digimon!) she has to scratch and claw her way to get what she wants otherwise she was left with nothing but scraps.

I believe that this aggression is how she bonded with her family and in turn she saw aggression as respect in a familial way. That’s why when she has conflict but there is no anger she seems a bit lost at first emotionally. And for her to lose in essence is her pride and standing being lost.

I find her dynamic fascinating. She’s like a clunky Mimi who has to manipulate her way to get results but she is not as smooth or gentle about it so just kind of comes off as being too aggressive even when being nice. (Probably why she adores Mimi so much. She is the older sibling she always wanted).

I think her most iconic moment for me was when she was arguing with Hawkmon who was very politely trying to tell her to be careful climbing down a steep slope to get to the Digimon emperor’s base, and she is so psyched up like a manic bear starving for food she listens for a moment, gets offended and then starts ripping into him asserting her dominance as an independent young headstrong woman (if I remember that right).

It sums up her character nicely. It’s not a detriment to her, but it was a moment where she learned that being that headstrong and forcing her own way could bring pain for those she loves.

Back in the day I used to hate this character. I hated her design, her attitude, and even her relationships and how she gets jealous easily and is so dam flirtatious and outspoken about it. (But underneath it I was mad Hikari and Takeru were not DNA digivolving partners. I still am lol).

I came to realize over time that she is basically a mama bear grizzly. She learns from Hikari when to be gentle and Hikari learns from her when to be grizzly. They play off each others strengths quite well.

Although she is still my least favorite I can respect her character development and how she really has carved out a path for herself growing from an immature prideful pushy sister you would hate to have in any situation except when someone is trying to hurt you to a reliable friend who can recognize and act appropriately and quickly to any situation. She still has fits of anger but really that’s only when someone is making really stupid decisions.

I liked her character growth. I liked how I hated her before but then really saw her change and adapt and I am all the more impressed by just how cool a character she used to be now.

Sometimes I think we get the impression of a character as so unsettling we can’t see just how much they changed because their original traits just grate on the nerves.

So now let’s see if you can guess which Digidestined she is talking to based off of these situations.

Digidestined A: There is no way we can do that! We got to just rush in and get it over with!

Miyako. (Two Digidestined holds her back). Are you stupid or just dense?! Just think about it! If we don’t do this then x, y and z no thanks to your boneheaded mistake!

Digidestined B: I think we should consider the situation. There are a variety of factors we have not seen. And from my dark history it could benefit us in this battle.

Miyako: That’s our Ken! Always helping us see the other side. We should go over this at the coffee shop later. You’re buying, right?

Digidestined C: I wish I could be more headstrong as you Miyako. At least a little.

Miyako. Heh, you will. Trust me. I’ll show you the grrr in girl power.

Digidestined D: Assess the situation. Think calmly, rationally and then get everyone’s input. Then you can make your decisio-

Miyako: No. we were taking about dating advise not a general rule for every day living. You’ve got to make time to get out more.

Digidestined E: You’re right about being cautious, but from what I’ve gone through sometimes you have to make the hard decisions even if others may not like it. When things are just so murky and grey you have to be able to risk making a judgment and it may not always be the right call.

Miyako: Never quite thought about it like that, but yeah I agree! So let’s get going! I’ll handle this part.

[jariten]

Recurring themes in 2023: my year of lesbian and yuriful manga

Doing this a little different when summarizing 2023. Since I stuck to my decision to not start buying any new licensed series and mainly did cultural catchup for both english and japanese manga I didn't really read enough hot new releases in 2023 for them to warrant a list of their own as they usually do. So to catch up on the months without a roundup as well as a year end summary I will do some themed lists!

The first came to easy since a noticeable trend was how much lesbian and yuri manga i made time for. For clarity I make a subjective distinction of lesbian and yuri works, just as some works I'm more inclined to describe as a Gay or LGBT story rather than a BL if it wasn't published in a BL imprint or invests time to do cultural or social commentary. Now to the list:

Among my favorite lesbian manga read in 2023 are: The Girl That Can't Get A Girlfriend by Mieri Hiranishi Moonlight Flowers by Mutsumi Tsukumo Indigo Blue by Ebine Yamaji Umibe no Kain by Minori Kimura

I won't reiterate too much as I already talked about it in a roundup but Hiranishi gave an extremely refreshing perspective on being a woman who loves masculine women, the dark story of her first heartbreak and the path forward. Love that Viz took the initiative to give her a graphic novel edition and promote her platform by licensing The Girl That Can't Get a Girlfriend. I've always found women's manga to be a not that secret treasure trove of lesbian stories yet I hadn't read the classic that is Moonlight Flowers... Just a truly suspenseful and romantic story of lesbian love as liberation and freedom that I can't recommend enough. Just with a clear warning of depictions of intimate partner violence that could be upsetting.

Yamaji has a well known track record of exploring lesbianism as well as bisexuality and I think Indigo Blue was extremely interesting in its explooration of the protagonist and her journey to figuring out what she wants as she's caught between two relationships. Another story of a woman's journey to confront who she is and what she wants: Umibe no Cain was a rather heartbreaking story of a young woman seeking refuge with a woman older than herself and as they start forming a frienfdship she begins to face the hurt and trauma she faced from her mother. But as the two women grow closer their relationship might take a turn that they can't come back from.

In the yuri-ish category: Kimi no Kureru Mazui Ame by Kaiko Fuyumushi OL to Ningyo by Mai Shiba

Won't reiterate too much of Kimi no Kureru Mazui Ame as I already talked about it in a roundup but love bite sized depictions of a miserable adolescence and toxic yuri but not quite. And if you found yourself taken by the more supernatural stories in this collection then may I recommend OL to Ningyo? Described by the author themselves as yuri-ish this collection depicts the bonds of human girls and their non-human counterparts. Humans, vampires, tengu, mermaid, and oni all face their own challenges and conflicts both romantic and otherwise.

In the Now That's What I Call Yuri category: Natsu to Lemon to Overlay by Ru & Miyako Miyahara Ki ni Natteru Hito ga Otoko Janakatta (The Guy She Was Interested in Wasn't a Guy At All) by Sumiko Arai Sukeban to Tenkousei by Fujichika

Natsu to Lemon to Overlay is the manga adaption of a yuri award winning novel novel that I picked kind of at random. An aspiring voice actress struggling to make any career moves are requested by a mysterious woman to read the obituary at her own funeral. What happens next will warm your heart. The Guy She Liked is one where I'm just going to assume most if not all of you are aware of so I'm just going to say that I like it and am looking forward to the next volume 👍 And last but not least: an adorable 80's throwback with some truly heartwarming moments and developments not to mention very funny: Sukeban to Tenkousei by Fujichika

[wyrmmaster]

Discussing Blue Archive Lore and going progressively insane has been an experience. The Mystics, for example:

Each academy has its thing, right. Abydos is ancient Egyptian pantheon, Trinity is Christianity (+English/Irish/Scottish myth), Gehenna are the 72 demons, Valkyrie and SRT are Norse, Hyakkiyako is Japanese myth, and so on. So it's easy to establish a framework: "They're representative of cultural figures from x place".

So:

You have the ones that are Obvious: Shiroko is Anubis, Hoshino is Horus, Mika is the Archangel Michael, Seia is Gabriel, Hina is Baal, Wakamo is Tamamo no Mae, Niya is Ootakemaru, Kazusa is Cath Palug, Ako is Astaroth, among others

Then you have the ones that are "Obvious" as in "probably": Serika as Bastet, Saori as Lucifer, Nonomi as Nephtys, Nagisa as Uriel, Suzumi as Sariel, Koharu as Metatron, Hasumi as Sandalphon, Hinata as Jegudiel, Kanna as Odin, Miyako as Mimir, and so on.

Now you start getting a little out there, as you have to expand your the concept of "figure from x place" to "the concept from x place".

Shit like "well, Rin's family name is Nanagami, "Seven Gods", she's currently the highest authority at least on paper, so what if she's The Seven Holy Names of God per Jewish faith? If we assume the GSC President was capital G monotheistic God it'd make even more sense" "What if she's the seven heavenly virtues instead?" "Also possible but I think it's the former".

Then you get to fucking Millenium.

"Yuuka's halo is a simple perfect circle that looks artificial. Her birthday is 3/14. She is insanely good at math. She's pi. Stop laughing. Look at her twintails. π. Come on, keep up."

"Rio is either the Theory of Relativity both as a relation to Himari's potential Quantum Theory of Light and as an important foundation of our concept of physics, which would fit with her being MIllenium's president OR as she's the President of Millenium and created the city of Eridu, she's supposed to be the Sumerian Deity Enki, God of creation, knowledge, and water and patron deity of the ancient city Eridu." "Maybe she's both." "SHE'S PROBABLY BOTH, THANKS."

"Himari could be the Quantum Theory of Light in relation to Rio - being a more modern and complete concept, or she could be Isaac Newton, who had a mild obsession in the paranormal, like her." "What if she's also got a Mesopotamian-" "It'd be Ishtar, both because of her antagonism towards Enki in some myth her interest in the stars and as a riff on her whole conceit about her beauty. Further backed up by Eimi being her assistant that handles all the physical work, making her the Bull of Heaven. Eimi even had horns in her concept art." "Someone just put forth Euler's Identity, because it's considered a representation of mathematical beauty, like a sonnet is for poetry."

"The Game Development Department are Eroge Company references. Yuzu is Yuzusoft, Aris is Alicesoft, and the Saiba twins are Cyberworks's Wendybell and Tinkerbell. We can maybe assume that's just what they are." "Oh, thank god something stupid to end this post on-" "Aris's whole universally loved hero thing with an almighty weapon integral in saving the world might make her Gilgamesh-" "FINE OUR DAUGHTER IS GILGAMESH."

[oshinohoshi]

God, I'm so not OK with Oshi no Ko ending in 4 chapters. It's bullshit.

Things that I think absolutely need to be squared away (besides if Aqua lives and he better):

Hikaru's fate (he's toast I'm afraid)

Nino's fate

Aqua not returning Ruby's romantic affections. Ruby likely came to terms with this offscreen. WHAT WAS THE POINT OF THE KISS? It was a fever dream, wasn't it

Kana's confession

Akane and Aqua having a talk about where they stand and where they go from here

Aqua calling Miyako mom (this, at least, is simple and easy)

The future of B Komachi. Who replaces Kana, Dome, etc.

The reaction to the release of 15 Year Lie and if Ai's DVD was included in the end

Things I'd like to see but will likely never be touched upon:

Confirmation of if Hikaru wanted Ai to die. This is my major burning question and I think the answer the manga wants us to believe is that he manipulated Ryosuke into it while never actually saying the words "please hurt Ai," but I want this spelled out to me like I'm 5 because it just needs an explanation, dammit

I can see Hikaru lashing out in a moment of pain and grief after Ai's phone call, but if the manipulation is true then this was planned for a long time and I just cannot square this with a Hikaru who desperately needed Ai in his life, who would kill for her or die for her, and who may have felt she was cruel in her handling of the breakup but also sadly felt her rejection of him was only natural. If he did not intend to kill her, which I sincerely hope is the truth, then what on Earth was he manipulating Ryosuke into doing by rubbing in his face that he and Ai are/were together (I think the panel with Ai's toothbrush was supposed to be him saying "we're together and she stays at my house and has sex with me")

God, it's a mess

ANYWAY other things include:

Ichigo and Miyako's relationship

Ichigo's relationship with the twins

What the hell Nino and Ryosuke were doing dating each other (jk that will never be explained)

If Hikaru was at the hospital when Ai gave birth. Crow Girl claimed a middle school boy was there with Ryosuke and didn't mention Nino. Hikaru said only Nino and Ryosuke were involved

Oh yeah, and how did they even know where Ai was giving birth?

How Akane and Aqua knew about Yura (yeah right. We'll never know)

Taiki's reaction to whatever happens with Hikaru (also a joke. Taiki who?)

LOOK AT THIS LIST. I'm sure I forgot things. While most of the details I'm looking for aren't necessary for a satisfying emotional conclusion, it's still frustrating for this to be left up to the reader's imagination.

I think we need at least 8-10 more chapters. Aqua leaping into the sea should have been pushed back to cover some of the above ground beforehand.

[rascheln]

The thing I find both hilarious and infuriating about Oshi no Ko is actually the adults and how they know Aqua is scheming and using and manipulating the girls and all they do is essentially just stand by and watch and simply tell him "you know that's wrong" without actually doing anything about it at best or helping him at worst.

Miyako seems to have made it pretty clear that while she thinks of Ruby as her daughter, the same can't be said for Aqua. She acts like his legal guardian first and foremost, but apart from telling him off for manipulating the girls, she doesn't do any actual parenting. Maybe that's because she thinks Aqua needs to make his own mistakes or that she can't control him anyways, but it still makes her an onlooker to his actions. (Though to be fair, due to her lack of involvement with him she also misses a lot of the shit he pulls and probably thinks he's still relatively harmless. It also doesn't help that he acts much more like an adult and has done his best to hide his trauma, which makes him sort of invisible as a 'problem child.')

Mem-cho in a way tries to subtly get involved when she realizes both Akane and Kana have feelings for Aqua and that he's using both of them. Her conflict is over the feelings of her friends, though, and so she tries to slightly counteract Aqua by helping both girls... But that means she spreads herself too thin. She can't have it both ways, for one girl to be happy the other is going to be miserable and she doesn't have enough of a close relationship and access to Aqua to influence him in a meaningful way.

At the same time, she hides a lot of this drama from both Kana and Akane. She can't tell either of them what she knows about the other, least of all what she's observed about Aqua, without hurting their feelings. She's an outside observer who doesn't have the courage to speak up.

And then there's the director, with the most insight into Aqua's mental state, who could overlook Aqua trying to keep Ruby from becoming an idol because he knows how much that scares Aqua. He knows probably most of the background shit Aqua has been pulling and the connections he's made over time and instead of recognizing Aqua's plans as self destructive, he enables him.

Maybe he does this because just like Miyako he doesn't think he could stop Aqua. Or because he wants revenge, too. But ultimately I find him helping Aqua the most egregious, because what Aqua is doing is reckless, is destroying his still existing personal relationships and is leading him directly towards someone who is clearly very dangerous.

(There's also something to be said about Akane withholding her insights into Ai's murder/Aqua's father multiple times to "protect" Aqua, which technically would have been the right choice in order to keep him from spiraling further but was an incredibly naive thing to do since it was impossible to keep those secrets for long. So it just had the opposite effect of delaying a much worse emotional reaction and heightening Aqua's desperation to get his revenge and making it clear to Akane that while he never trusted her anyways, he now especially doesn't have any reason to confide in her.)

[all-of-her-light]

Ruby and the Unplayed Role

(Warning: Long analysis post.)

In Chapter 115 of Oshi no Ko, as Ruby is preparing to take her turn in the interpersonal acting audition, she reflects on her relationship to acting itself – and describes it as running very deep.

And by "the whole time", she seems to mean the whole time. As Sarina, she "played the role" of a girl who faced her circumstances bravely and bore no grudge against her parents for their neglect, because rebelling against those miserable circumstances would have been futile. Upon her reincarnation, "Ai's daughter" too was a role she played, and after Ai's death, she acted as the bright, innocent, non-grieving idol that she believed Ai wanted her to grow up to be. At this point in the story, we've already seen black-starred Ruby hide her vengeful anger behind a smiling facade, but this monologue suggests broad artificiality in Sarina/Ruby's self-presentation even before her vengeance arc.

Notably, Ruby also wonders here whether Ai's bright persona was an act in the same way that hers was:

This helps set the stage for later story beats like the end of Chapter 134, where Ruby again deepens her insight into Ai by personally relating to her.

And then, as if to drive home the point about her own acting, Ruby's turn in the audition consists of her expressing raw, acute grief over Ai and Gorou's deaths...

...before putting on a bubbly mask and acting like the grief isn't real.

Later on, the scene in Chapter 123 where Ruby spills her guts to Aqua seems to elaborate on the nature of the act that she's been putting on:

Ruby has been burying all of her sadness and anger and frustration, seeking to "smile all the time" in order to be loved. She's been performing a sanitized, idealized version of herself out of fear that no one would love the real her. Just like Ai did. Which, again, gives Ruby a powerful avenue for understanding Ai.

But there's an issue with this analysis. If you look back at Ruby's behavior in the manga's early chapters – before she discovers Gorou's corpse, meets the Crow Girl, becomes vengeful and all that – you'll notice that she doesn't actually express unfailing cheer, optimism, kindness, confidence, or generally Ai-like behavior. She doesn't even seem to be trying, really. She's bright and cheerful sometimes, sure – but other times she's unapologetically not, for understandable human reasons.

For instance, there's that time in Chapter 19 when she begs Miyako to hurry in starting an idol group for her to join, openly expressing insecurity about fitting in with her celebrity peers:

Or that time in Chapter 37 when she approaches Kana to confide in her about her stage fright:

(It's hard to imagine Ai seeking out support from a groupmate like this, at least without them opening up to her first in the same conversation.)

Ruby is also not above being rude or hostile to people, even when it's against her own interests, as can be seen in her bickering with Kana in Volume 2:

And then there's Chapter 23, when Ruby gets on Aqua's case about neglecting family time in favor of LoveNow-related activities:

(This is also one of those things Sarina/Ruby does that takes on a new meaning once you learn about her relationship with her original parents.)

There are more examples of pre-vengeance Ruby expressing various negative emotions to others, but I won't belabor the point. In general, I think perceptions of pre-vengeance Ruby as acting consistently cheerful or positive come largely from exaggerating/simplifying the contrast between her and her gloomy brother, or between her and her "darker" future self. They don't reflect her actual behavior.

Now, speaking of Sarina/Ruby's relationship with her original parents, I think it makes sense that a badly neglected child like Sarina would develop a tendency to avoid behaving in any potentially unpleasant ways around her parents, implicitly hoping that they'll want to spend more time with her that way. I also think it makes sense that she would extend this strategy to other relationships, given the formative role of one's relationship with one's parents – especially in Sarina's case, due to her isolation.

Importantly, though, we don't see Sarina trying to perfectly sanitize herself in her interactions with Gorou. Indeed, they both seem quite comfortable teasing each other (in flashbacks both from earlier chapters and from more recent ones):

The fact that Sarina doesn't walk on eggshells with Gorou suggests that she's relatively secure in her relationship with him, rather than fearing that failure to get along with him flawlessly will drive him away. I think this means Ruby's characterization in the early chapters is compatible with Sarina's later-revealed backstory if we understand Sarina's relationship with Gorou as also having been formative, teaching her that she doesn't need to act perfect to be loved. I also think this interpretation helps elucidate why Gorou means so much to Sarina/Ruby: his robust, reliable love and care for her gave her a level of confidence and security in herself that she didn't have before.

Now, what about Ruby's grief over Ai's death? Don't Chapters 115 and 123 imply that to be the single most prominent feeling that pre-vengeance Ruby was burying beneath her acting? How do the early chapters portray the effect of Ai's death on Ruby? Is that portrayal compatible with 115 and 123 (interpreted the way I did earlier)?

I am again going to argue: not really, no. 115 and 123 have Ruby recall "[acting as if] overcoming my mother's death, becoming a bright and innocent idol" (115) while secretly thinking "it'd be easier if I could just forget about her" (123). They seem to portray Ruby's past coping strategy for Ai's death as avoidant in nature; she tried to avoid letting the tragedy affect her or ideally even thinking about it at all. However, the early chapters portray Ruby's coping strategy for Ai's death as distinctly un-avoidant. Allow me to explain.

Starting off, Chapter 10 shows us Ruby's behavior in the days following Ai's death. We first see her reading social media reactions to Ai's murder and expressing anger and distress at people saying she was asking for it if she had a secret relationship, while Aqua listens silently:

A while later, though, after Ai's funeral – in fact, starting in the very next panel – Ruby and Aqua have the following conversation:

This conversation is echoed in Chapter 12, after the post-prologue timeskip, when Ruby, Miyako, and Aqua talk about Ruby joining the underground idol group:

In both conversations, Ruby doesn't deny her family members' claims about the hardships of idolhood, but she expresses a desire to become an idol anyway, not wanting to let the hardships stop her. After all, Ai sparkled, and Ruby wants to be like her.

(To reiterate, by the way, pre-vengeance Ruby's desire to "be like Ai" does not seem to involve never showing any negativity in her personal life. And it's not even as if Ruby never saw any negativity from Ai to begin with; see e.g. Chapter 4.)

But what does this drive of Ruby's have to do with her grief over Ai's death? After all, Ruby has wanted to be an idol – and to be like Ai – since before she was Ruby. She didn't need Ai to die to want those things. And how would her idol ambitions even psychologically relate to processing her grief?

Well, I think we get a pretty good look at a relation between them later on, starting in Chapter 41. This chapter opens with Ruby talking in her thoughts to "Mama in heaven", telling her about developments in the twins' lives from the past few months (which also serves to fill in and recap for the reader). After the recap, Ruby reassures Ai that she's doing well, and then we get these panels:

Ruby believes that performing at a dome – the elite opportunity that Miyako in Chapter 8 told us was "everyone's fantasy" – was also Ai's fantasy. But Ai's dreams of soaring to maximum fame as an idol were dashed by her murder. And now Ruby has taken it upon herself to fulfill them in Ai's stead, giving her another major reason to pursue idolhood.

We see Ruby visiting Ai's grave again and giving her more updates a couple in-universe months later in Chapter 72. Ruby tells her about the upcoming trip to Miyazaki, Aqua having become more cheerful lately, and then:

All of this implies that Ruby has been visiting Ai's grave and connecting with her memory in this way every few months for who-knows-how-long, and she has no intention of stopping.

This is not the behavior of someone who is trying to avoid giving mental space to the death of a loved one. On the contrary, pre-vengeance Ruby repeatedly confronts herself with the concrete fact of Ai's death and responds to it with mental fight rather than flight. The dark side of the idol world may have killed Ai's body, but it hasn't killed her spirit. Ruby copes with the tragedy of Ai's death by turning it into motivation – to preserve Ai's memory, to take up her mantle, to defy the darkness to ensure that her spirit lives on.

So what should we make of these discrepancies in Ruby's characterization between the earlier and later chapters? Honestly, I'm not completely sure. Maybe there's some way in which all of this makes sense after all. Maybe something got lost in the translation from Japanese to English? Maybe some of Ruby's recollections in Chapters 115 and 123 that we've assessed are meant to apply specifically to her vengeful self, or to the times when she was making public appearances? Maybe Akasaka deliberately wrote some of those recollections to be wrong to show that Ruby's awful present mental state is distorting her memories and sense of self? It seemingly wouldn't be the only case of that happening; Ruby appears to claim in Chapter 122 that the reason she became an idol in the first place was to avenge Ai and Gorou, which we know isn't true (and which Aqua also refuses to believe).

However, I think we should also consider the possibility that Akasaka just changed his mind about how he wanted to write Ruby partway through the manga, and the discrepancies in her characterization are artifacts of that without a good in-story explanation. For instance, maybe Akasaka only nailed down the details of Ruby's role in the Movie arc relatively recently, and the things he wanted to do with her required her to be able to personally relate to Ai in ways that didn't line up with her established characterization. So Akasaka tried to reframe what he'd written before to make Ruby more similar to Ai in certain ways, without complete success.

If this hypothesis is true, then Ruby isn't one fully consistent character throughout the whole manga; we have to distinguish "Old Ruby" and "New Ruby" at a minimum. And that idea disappoints me; Ruby is one of my favorite OnK characters, and inconsistencies of this size in her character progression interfere with my ability to appreciate it as it continues into the future. I also just kinda like Old Ruby better than New Ruby; I think Old Ruby better distinguishes herself from Ai and contrasts her in an interesting way. Old Ruby (pre-vengeance) is a person who knows the feeling of loving and being loved, values living authentically, and largely succeeds at it from day to day, but is nevertheless building her life on a couple of big lies and misunderstandings. (Ai didn't dream of the dome; Ai didn't want her children to remain a secret forever; the Ai who Ruby has dedicated herself to honoring is not the real Ai.) I think a character like that is a valuable addition to a story like OnK, and I'm disappointed at the idea of Old Ruby's arc never getting a proper, non-retconning second half and conclusion.

[seventeenlovesthree]

So, as I had pointed out in numerous posts before, the way Daikenyako is framed - or rather Miyakensuke, to keep the correct yearning order -, is pretty damn insane to me.

I still haven't decided whether I find it "too simple" or "just right", because while the framing was incredibly obvious in my opinion, it was still done in a way that didn't feel overbearing. Not only did a big chunk of animation budget go into their scenes specifically, but the dynamics were also played rather consistently.

I had once made a "joke post", implying how the order of yearning basically goes like this: Miyako > Ken > Daisuke > Ramen. And while it was meant to be a joke... Upon rewatching it, it is rather accurate to be honest.

The main theme of these three is usually the following: Daisuke does something brash - like interrupting Miyako, screaming, complaining - OR something inspiring - like giving friendship speeches - and Ken and Miyako react to that in some way. Mostly verbally - but also through physical touch. Miyako and Daisuke have quite a bickering theme going on; Ken is usually softer, but he ALSO has more opportunities to touch Daisuke...

They are literally acting as his "voices of reason", who add to the discussion. In general, Miyako is very responsive to basically everything that Ken says and does, so she is almost always framed next to him - or at least close to him in some capacity. I will outline how Miyaken in particular is framed in another post, just know that she is very obviously and actively trying to reach out to Ken, calming him down, reassuring him, getting his attention.

That becomes even more blatant by the fact that she is getting in between Kensuke moments TWICE - usually to tell them to get their grip together or focus. Technically, this could be seen as her being well aware of how focused Ken is on Daisuke - and that a tiny bit of jealousy may have been involved here. On the other hand, she may just enjoy teasing him/them gently, because, "ya know how the boys are".

Either way, most of the time, whenever the group is together - and Daiken aren't off on their own with Rui -, Daisuke, Ken and Miyako will be together in the same frame 90% of the time.

It's interesting too, because Miyako - while obviously being more thought-driven in comparison to Daisuke's heart-driven actions- uses very similar terms to reach through to Ken. As mentioned, she is actively flirting with Ken through the course of the movie. And Ken, while being mostly oblivious to that - while still being thankful for the reassurance - is trying to reach through to Daisuke on his own behalf. (This is also very nicely framed visually by how much "hand on shoulder" moments there are, with Miyako being very inclined to touch Ken, whereas Ken - as mentioned - is very often seen touching Daisuke.)

Miyako herself notices how Ken had been flirting with Daisuke and acknowledges that by calling them out.

Who does not acknowledge it though? Right, Daisuke doesn't. Either because he simply isn't aware of the blatant flirting - or because he may or may not want to get in between.

I had already lost my mind in the cinema during one of the Miyaken focus moments in which Miyako told Ken that they shall not stop thinking and will find a solution - just to see Daisuke walking out of the frame.

One may argue that this means that Daisuke's true love simply is Ramen - as he keeps bringing it up time and time again -, or that he just wants to give the other two some space, as he may have felt like a third wheel before... Who knows.

To sum it up: I feel like the creators did a very interesting job here. Not only did they acknowledge and portray Kensuke's very ambiguously romantic-platonic relationship, but also committed to making Miyaken more obvious - a ship we know will end up together eventually, but hadn't gotten that much focus previously. Not to mention the blatant use of bisexual lighting here...

On a more light-hearted note: Ken is either caught in a bisexual triangle or we can just assume that this is a very fun depiction of a poly relationship in which all parties allow each other some space - or actively tease each other about it.

[yuseirra]

**Onk 163 spoilers**

Since that chapter is out, I guess I can talk about it more openly, right!

In short, I cannot resonate with either Aqua and Tsukuyomi. I don't feel a single ounce of pity for either of them, which is saddening because I used to care for Aqua so much when I first picked up the series. He's the first one I wrote a long character analysis for way back even before hikaai grabbed me by the collar and pulled me in, (I did a splendid job with it, I really cared about him) he was a fav. I already know he's selfless and suffering and has a good soul but I am not convinced what he's done is the right choice. Aqua's right about himself. He is a fool. Nobody wanted him to die except maybe him and Tsukuyomi (I'm being twisted but I seriously feel like her tears are crocodile tears rn because isn't SHE the one who caused him to be reborn and assigned him a mission?? Isn't she the one who kept urging him to walk that path of vengeance? And now it's suddenly about saving Ruby all along?? ? Did Kamiki want Ruby to die from the beginning? What's going on?) Tsukuyomi is the one that caused Gorou to be born as Aqua in order to fulfill something. Aqua put his life following what Tsukuyomi assigned him and now she pities and cries when he can die. Hey, then you should have just let him live his life as an 18 year old? Isn't this the outcome you wanted? Or is Kamiki really THAT evil? I have a feeling it was Tsukuyomi who found Kamiki a problem THUS, she made Aqua go after him to take him down on her stead. How else would things play out this way huh?

Back to the "nobody wanted Aqua to die" bit, yeah? Ruby wouldn't have wanted it, Ai wouldn't, Kana, Akane, all his friends and acquaintances, Miyako and the president, EVEN KAMIKI, did not want Aqua to make this choice. That's why I just can't agree with what he's done. Kamiki looked so visibly startled and shocked when he saw Aqua stab himself and try to kill him. Kamiki told him Aqua has so much to live for so he should go back and enjoy his life, Aqua didn't listen and he goes ahead and tries to kill them both, even crafting up a fake lie that would degrade his father's reputation.

Kamiki praised the movie. He funded for it, even. Aqua wanted to lie Kamiki tried to kill him over it, that's just something I can't support. It's cruel and I'n not sure if those measures were so necessary. There was that about Kamiki turning themselves in?? What was that? Was he really going to do that after Ruby's concert or was that him just manipulating Nino but HOW CAN THAT LOGICALLY LEAD NINO INTO TRYING TO ASSAULT RUBY?? I JUST?? This guy really is a god or something if he can make that possible GUYS he really must be Sarutahiko. Ai(Amenouzume)'s husband. Goodness.

Honestly, I'm so frustrated about this situation, it resolves nothing. Doing this doesn't bring about anything meaningful and if Aqua dies here, he... Brought it upon himself. I don't like it being posed as some noble sacrifice because it isn't. So what is the truth?? So what does he know?? What was his divine mission then, was he really assigned to kill his father and that's how things turned out to be this way? Did Kamiki really do all those horrible things? But he looks so, so bright and happy when he was with Ai and he says he didn't do anything. He never once admits that he's done those things. It's vague. That chapter where Aqua dunks him was all about lies and the public not caring about what the truth is. So Aqua is going to lie about his dad and frame him as a murderer when it's really HIM trying to kill him and not the other way around. But I CARE about the truth, I, as a reader who's followed the series deserve to know what's going on, at least two major character's lives are at stake and we don't have a clear idea of what's what, this isn't right, is it?? So, what is it, Aqua? You know, if you're going to take someone's life, isn't it only fair of you to base it on the truth??? I just can't support him on this one unless I see it being justified. Besides, not a single thing is changed for the better if HE dies. It has no meaningful message, no resolution, just two broken people suffering to the death with everyone around them destined to too if they do. At least, no one would mourn Kamiki besides Ai (he's so alone), I think he himself knew that, but Aqua had a lot to live for. If he decides he must still go through and make a choice as dire and dramatic as this, it needs to have a strong base but... What I saw of Kamiki, he was so kind. If you look at all the things he says and the way he treats Aqua, Aqua keeps telling him all these harsh remarks but he doesn't show so much aggression over it. He smiled at him and.. I'm not sure if that was him being manipulative?? But none of the things he say are actually wrong. He has a point, and it actually relates to what the character went through as a part of his life. Aren't those two both victims of the nature of the industry? Is Kamiki the real evil behind it all that must die? That cannot be it. I wouldn't be so confused if he weren't someone Ai's truly loved. He really loved her too. From what I see, he's someone who took the biggest toll when she passed and he threw his entire life away to feel her again because he couldn't bear Ai doesn't exist anymore, to the point he broke down and lost his originally good nature. He's someone who's suffered immensely, I just don't see him as the guy who would have hurt Ai...he can't. He just.. Looked so happy with her and she always smiled back too, Ai wouldn't choose a person that'd do that to her and say she wanted to love them forever, won't they.

Aqua won't die guys. I'm not concerned about his life AT ALL. Him and Ruby are like a set, what would Ruby do without him if he dies like that? I just don't see that happening. He will be fine and we'll see him reunited with his precious beings. Because, it's.. Very dumb and underwhelming if it isn't. If they still go through with it, okay...I guess. I should be thankful of how the piece is saving me of the sorrow I'd have felt, right now.. I'm confused and even a bit angry towards Aqua for having been so reckless;; I'd feel sorry for everyone around him, and I'd slap Aqua's back. Tsukuyomi, I really don't know what to feel about her. What's her deal? Why is she here and what's she in this for? If she's the god of fate, she's so helpless, I do have an idea why she exists and what she's in this for actually, but, her crying won't help anything. She should stop being so ambiguous and do something if she's a god and the one that's brought the two souls to live again as Ai's twins, none of this would have happened without her intervention, I'm pretty sure what's currently happening to Aqua is an aftermath of what she assigned him to do.

What I feel is at stake, really, is not Aqua's life but the message of this piece. There is no way that can be saved if the rest of the pacing is this slow. That's what I want to be saved somehow though, three chapters left, if they are not going to to a good job with Hikaru and Ai and write them in a convincing way in depth, I just hope they focus on/do a spledid job with the twins. Just don't ruin them anymore.. I never wish I had to feel or say that. They built these perfectly good characters, why aren't they bringing out what they can be when they have? I'd be so proud of them, wouldn't they be too?

The songs though...omygod the songs though?? Guess that'll explain things miles better than the manga itself at this rate, I'm glad they exist, at the same time I wonder why they'd make it like that if they're not going to discuss just what the those intriguing lyrics there are supposed to mean

If the message is saved, then this work will remain so meaningful to me! There are too little chapters left...it'll be hard to have my hopes high though. What I can hope for, then, is to wish the work be less messy any further. If they aren't going to tell us what's actually going on and drag on like this when there's a mere 3 chapter left, there really isn't so much to look forward to.. This is my selfish wish but what I want now is for them to not make Ai's love look fruitless. I'm too distracted about that to feel anything about Aqua rn, so what was her wish?? Why did Aqua give up on that? And why is being a liar suddenly a negative thing, when the work started on a sentiment that lies are love? I really liked that idea. I thought it brought about a good insight of the nature of the industry. The "lie" here in some cases, can be interpreted as being considerate for the other party actually, it doesn't actually actively conflict with loving someone, you can lie for someone out of love, that's what Ai's done... It didn't have the best effect, but her feelings were there. I feel Kamiki may be similar, he could also be that guy who lies out of love and pretends he's the bad guy? Anyhow with Tsukuyomi branding them both as liars, I wonder what they want to do with this concept of "lies" as well. Are they going to make it seem like it's bad, at this point of the series? That also isn't a good message from the way I see it. I really love that liar couple, I literally drew 400+ pieces of them since July!! ;-;)99 so let me rant about that a little.

That's all for now! Don't know what to expect but I hope things don't go for the worse!

[greatwyrmgold]

The thing that really gets me about Oshi no Ko's ending is that I don't get the point. Who is this for? Why are we supposed to feel anything about this?

We see people grieve Aqua, but we don't see them recover. Eventually, the Grief debuff expires and they go back to normal. Okay. Who cares?

Ruby is now a world-class idol, just like Ai! But Ruby says she's having fun at the job Ai treated as a way to get money for her kids' education, so I guess we're supposed to ignore the unpleasant complexities of that parallel. Somehow.

Did you want to know any details? How Ruby recovered? Her initial reaction, or something like Kana slapping Aqua? Hell, even whether she was mourning her doctor, her brother, or her idol? No luck! She was really sad, then she wasn't.

Kana slapped Aqua's corpse and cried, and then she body-blocks paparazzi for Ruby and goes back to acting and attends Ruby's dome concert. But everything after she recovers is shown to us in dialogue-free single snippets of one or two panels, and the actual recovery is something we have to assume happens between the slap and the concert, somewhere.

Akane weeps for Aqua, then she spends the last two chapters mostly standing in the background and narrating everything, because Crow Girl was unavailable for the role. She's acting, too. Not that that was ever in question for her.

MEM-Cho has always been the least important of the "main characters". She's crying, if you care. Of course, if you cared, you'd probably want more than that.

Ruby says something to Miyako, tears in her eyes, and Miyako starts maniacally working on something. Maybe it's about her return as an idol. I guess Ruby took a break? Sucks that this is the last we see of the Saitous.

B-Komachi has new members, faces in the crowd. Fills out the stage like the old B-Komachi did. Hopefully this ends better than that.

Taiki Himekawa visits his family grave with flowers. I dunno enough about Japanese funerary practices to know if he's mourning his parents or if that's where you'd honor a secret half-brother or what, and I don't think I'd care much either way.

Everyone is fixated on Ruby's story, "interpreted her tragedy as a drama". Remember when people turning personal tragedy into a media spectacle was treated as another layer of tragedy, not a neat little tidbit to support someone's rise to fame?

I don't hate everything about this chapter. I like the couple panels of Gotanda working with a photo of Aqua in the background. It's a little detail that supports the idea of moving on after someone's dead while still remembering them, and unlike all the other characters, Gotanda is minor enough that he doesn't need more than that. He didn't have a deep or complicated relationship with Aqua that needs to be unpacked. And that one girl in the concert audience, the one with messy hair? I like her page and a half enough that I want to care about the concert.

But I don't, because OnK isn't a story about idol careers. It's a story about idols, and their human core. I think that got lost at some point.

[aihoshiino]

The other day, I had a random thought about VTubers and OnK.

In Japan, VTubers are often considered a variation or splinter of idol culture. Hololive fans recognize that as a custom more honored in the breach than the observance, but the cultural connection is still there. (Look at the drama preceding Uruha Rushia's termination for a well-known example.)

VTubers also have a pretty obvious element of false persona, both in the typical "this performer is performing a marketable version of themself if not outright pretending to be someone else" sense and the "this performer is not literally an AI with a pink bow" sense.

The point I'm meandering towards is that VTubers have significant overlap with the substance and themes of Oshi no Ko, particularly since both B-Komachis are at least moderately familiar with streaming. (The new more than the old, but I'm sure we've all read 45510.) So it seems like a lot of the OnK cast would develop strong opinions about VTubers once they learned about them.

Do you have any thoughts about that? Whether Ai would envy their ability to cleanly separate their persona from their actual flaws, or Ruby would get snobbish about them being fake idols, or something?

So like the ask about streamers in general, this comes with the caveat that I don't really know shit about VTubers in general apart from things I pick up from being adjacent to VTuber enjoyer friends and also that I have HimeHina songs on my Spotify playlist lol. But I think in terms of least to most Opinionated:

Akane and Kana are probably equally Offline about it in that they know VTubers Exist but that's about it. Kana has like 2 seconds where she considers giving it a try now she has that fat ass gaming PC but the idea just slides right out of her brain because she doesn't really care that much. 

Aqua is also in the "sure, that exists" category but he's probably done editing and clipping work here and there just for some extra cash (since he says he was doing extra work online) and if clips or shorts come up on his feed he might watch one or two in a row but the rest of the time he literally forgets VTubers exist until reminded of them. 

Ai thinks VTubers are pretty cool but in a slightly befuddled 'gosh what will they think of next!' sort of way LMAO. I think it takes her a while to really understand what's going on with them because she gets a bit confused by the avatars and all the wild-ass lore, but when she eventually gets her head around it, she thinks it's a pretty effective way to split your public and private selves.

Mem and the StrawberryPro crew have a healthy respect for them as fellow creators! The agency probably manages a bunch since Miyako mentions them mostly pivoting to net talents and Mem's always on that grind and actually has had IRL collabs with VTubers on the official OnK youtube channel. LMAO

Ruby's last because I think she feels the most strongly and the most positively about them! For all the issues there are with the corpo structure, VTubing at its core (at least in the circles most adjacent to idol culture) is a space that afford opportunities to people who have what it takes but whose barrier to entry is that they don't fit into strictly defined 'mold' of idolhood - but most specific to Ruby, there are lots of 'idols' so to speak in the VTuber space who have disabilities that stand in the way of their taking more traditional roots to idolhood - IronMouse is one of the most famous, but there are plenty of others. I think this would be an incredible thing to see for Ruby who herself was cut off and robbed of her own dreams as Sarina and had absolutely no outlet for her passions or ambitions. I think she'd wholeheartedly support everyone and want to see them succeed! OnK AU where she wants to audition for Hololive or some shit WHEN

[otakween]

Digimon Frontier - Episode 1

Woohoo! New series :D And I...already don't know how to feel. No digimon partners? Yet another goggle-boy whose name starts with "Ta?" Stereotypical characters? Well...I'll give it a chance. Let's find something to like about this lol.

Notes:

Beginning of the episode gave a mixture of Future Diary and isekai anime (especially with Truck-kun making an appearance!) I guess it's good that the kids had more agency than the Adventure kids in getting to the digital world, but I hope they explain all of this well later. Why are they being called to the digital world? What is the threat this time?

Speaking of Adventure, I wonder where this fits into the continuity. Is it its own thing like Tamers? They've gone back to saying "chosen children" and "digivice" so it seems to lean closer to Adventure, but the lack of partners seems to go against Adventure's definition of what it means to be chosen.

It makes sense since Digimon came from the v-pet toys, but they really like to lean into youths' fascination with technology. In this its the chunky Nokia phones. I'm pretty sure there's a digimon series where smart phones feature too.

Animation wasn't mind blowing, but it was nice and fluid. The sequence of trying to make the train was probably the most exciting/intriguing part.

Kind of already annoyed at the cast: generic rival boy who's a dick for absolutely no reason (the Sasuke, I like to call it), generic fat stereotype who is always eating, whiny little kid, and token girl who says things in Italian randomly. The girl character reminds me of Miyako with her "bingo" catchphrase -eye twitch- Let's see where the show takes them.

Visually the only character I really like is Izumi. At least she has a cute outfit. Okay, I guess Junpei's jumpsuit is kinda fun too...

Hey! Those monkey and rabbit looking mons are from the Wonderswan game I just played, D-Project. I guess they've been recycled. They're less partner digimon and more exposition characters. I like the yellow dude and his floppy feet.

Hard for me to buy that Tomoki would be such a crybaby but then be brave enough to walk out onto a train track hovering over an abyss?? Guess he's just that desperate

Why are there swarms of baby digimon everywhere? Are they continuing the weird tradition of digimon villages only being inhabited by babies?

The spirit digivolution sequence was fun but I don't really like Agnimon's design :/ It just looks like a jumbled mess of patterns and colors to me.

So a lot of the fun in the previous series was digivolution reveals. Do these spirit digivolutions have levels to them?

I have no idea what to make of this show yet. I read the comments on the site where I watched it and everyone was saying "MY CHILDHOOD!" so it at least meant something to someone out there!

Did you care about this show? I wanna hear people's thoughts! (Spoiler-free of course).

[digitalgate02]

It's a miracle i managed to color this one because I was also almost not coloring everything in it LOL

So here's the baddies' outfits... On Daisuke. Yeah. If you read the previous post about this AU, you will remember he just starts as one of the lackeys of the big bad (which is Daemon and the Demon Lords) -- but the twist here is that... He wasn't aware of this at all, he believed the lab he was working at was some sort of digimon vet clinic/lab.

Well, you can see the color palette for the outfit is using the same ones from Daemon’s cloak :) 

And why the heckie does he appear wearing that getup in a vet clinic/lab? Well, he didn’t know either, but they claimed that it was for protection against certain digimon abilities (a lie, yeah) – but it makes no sense when he gets in touch with Chibimon and the digimon is not even that dangerous as he was told about. The digimon are some sort of critters from another world like in the canon, but I'm picturing them like the critters from Gaim (the Inves), as in, having their own world and the humans using them for some selfish purposes (eh, this is a bit of Cyber Sleuth/Hacker’s Memory too… Yup)

Oh yeah, Daisuke is not working alone in the “vet lab” apparently. He got coworkers. Some are nice, some are just so ready to dunk Daisuke into the trashcan because of him fooling around (he only does that when he’s BORED, y’know?? his job is really BORING!!) but I’m not sure who they are, if they are my OCs or if they are other characters from the canon or even from… the franchise in general. The other kiddo in the getup screaming at him there is… [drum rolls]

Himekawa Maki.

I know, this sounds really funny to think about… I want to just re-use all my ideas for Maki and Daigo so bad you can’t even. And I think I’m de-aging her a little and she’s only 3 years older than Taichi/Yamato/Sora/Meiko/Menoa here. She and Daigo are the same age tho.

Maki is Daisuke’s supervisor btw. Daigo… Well, he does not work here, but I’ll leave him for another post in the future.

And speaking of Daisuke’s circle of friends, who’re none than the same group he got in the canon universe… They all want him to quit that job for his own sanity. Ken, Miyako and Iori are way more vocal about this, meanwhile Takeru, Rui and Wallace try their best, but are not muuuuuuuuuch vocal. And Hikari? Hikari’s a mystery. She doesn’t like him working for that “vet clinic” and then thinks he should quit, but she’s the least vocal about it. I wonder why…

He didn’t quit it yet BECAUSE he claims he needs the money and this is the only job he got.

(and yeah, Daisuke’s backpack has a certain hedgehog’s keychain.)

[bluestarjay]

I love T.K. from digimon. He's my favorite from the original 8 digidestined, and he's so underrated!!! A year or two ago, I had a thought about t.k being genderfluid or at least gender non-conforming because I think that's so interesting. We get to see all of them grow up, and in T.K, I see a lot of unconformity in both his personality and style, and it really got me thinking. Idk where the genderfluid thing came from specifically tho,,,

In 02, he relives a lot of his trauma from devimon, and he kind of switches back and forth between a really nice kid and then a revenge focused fighter, yk? And of course, it's much more than just that, but Iori mentions that he doesn't understand T.K. and the kind of person he is. To me personally, I think that kind of behavior could be translated into their gender as well. I love how sassy he is and how perfect he and Kari work together. Just imagine how perfectly androgynous he could be??? Matt is literally in a band, and in Tri I feel like fashion is such a big topic,,, idk I just saw that in his personal style I could see them wearing skirts and dresses, lots of jewelry, yk? And with the hats?? Ugh, just imagine T.K. in one of those Rockstar girlfriend outfitsssss A long denim skirt, the chunky docs, a very slightly cropped shirt, chains, and to top it off a kind of newsboy cap (the cute kind obvi)??? Like, guys, T.K. is literally part French. Obviously, he's some kind of queer!!! /hj And then another day, cargo pants, baggy hoodie?? Like guys, the reason he's not genderfluid or gnc in canon is bc they knew he'd slay too hard ‼️‼️‼️

And when he realizes he doesn't totally feel like a boy, he immediately goes to Sora bc Sora is obvi the mom friend of the group and has the best advice, so she tells him that it's ok, and to talk to mimi about how to express himself better. So he goes to mimi and they talk about it, and she does his nails, and he's like " 😧😧😧😧" (IN A GOOD WAY) and she gives him some old things from her closet to try on bc how else is he supposed to find out what he likes?? BTW, guys, I hate mimi in s1, but in 02, she's literally the sweetest and most supportive person. And then when he comes out to the new digidestined, Iori and Daisuke are confused asf but 🤷‍♂️🤷‍♂️🤷‍♂️ and miyako is a tad bit offensive but without meaning to be, and then Kari is so super supportive especially bc she once accidentally walked in on Tai and Matt kissing or smth. Patamon does NOT understand human gender, especially since digimon don't technically have genders, but loves him sm he'll do whatever to make him happy

[reliablejoukido]

Digimon LOST AU Headcanons part 1/? - Early Taichi-centric stuff

There are character details I've left out regarding other people, because I tried to only focus on the situation from Taichi's POV. Also, more happens to him after this, but this would be equivalent to a first half of a first season. Some of this is subject to additions and changes in the future, based on what I come up with for other characters. Eventually I'll make a masterpost

General info at the start:

Flight from Los Angeles to Tokyo

They crash on an uncharted island somewhere in the Pacific

The survivors that land on the beach are Taichi, Yamato, Sora, Koushiro, Mimi, Jou, and a dozen background characters (I haven't decided if any of the background people are relevant yet)

The tail section of the plane broke off as the plane was falling to the Island and the people on it (including Takeru and Hikari) are presumed dead

There is some sort of unknown "monster" on the Island that kills a few of the background characters

There are people already on the Island (the Others). Among them are Daisuke, Miyako, Iori, and Ken, who capture survivors from the tail section

Taichi:

Age: 26

Flight main section/beach camp

Tries to be a positive person, but is stuck with a difficult situation. Has to figure out the difference between being impulsive and being courageous. Butts heads with Yamato and Jou. Makes friends with Koushiro and Sora.

Flashback: Taichi and Hikari fly from Tokyo to Los Angeles to have surgery for Hikari’s super rare terminal cancer by a world renowned surgical oncologist (Dr. Kido Sr.). When the doctor does tests, he changes his mind and says he cannot operate because she will die. He suggests they go back to Japan to see his son, who is a prodigy and has successfully operated on this type of cancer more recently, but is currently reclusive and nobody can find him

Flashback: Hikari is too sick to take the flight home, so Taichi has to go back to Japan to find this guy’s son and beg him to do the surgery. Taichi is haunted by the fact that he has to leave her in LA. But he’s determined to find Dr. Kido Jr.

Has no idea his sister Hikari was secretly on the flight, in the tail section along with Yamato’s brother Takeru. Also little does he know that the Island has healed her (à la John Locke and Rose). He won’t discover Hikari is on the Island for a while, as she has been captured by the Others (02 kids)

Taichi tries to relate to Yamato’s obsession with finding his brother, as Taichi is a brother himself. But Yamato doesn’t let him in. At least not in the beginning

Taichi preoccupies himself with trying to get off the Island, because Hikari’s prognosis was not good. He gets frustrated when Koushiro, who is deeply entrenched in the Island’s lore, believes they should stay and study the Island. That there’s a reason they were chosen to come here.

Sora secretly does not want to be rescued either, so she sabotages Taichi’s plans to get off the Island without him knowing. Jou finds out and keeps her secret, for now

When Taichi realizes Jou is the doctor he is looking for, he becomes irrationally obsessed with getting both himself and Jou off the Island. Jou is depressed and unmotivated and tells Taichi that no, he doesn’t think he could save his sister. He’s worried he can’t save anyone. He wants to die on the Island and wishes he wasn’t a survivor. This angers Taichi.

Mimi, who gets upset and leaves the beach camp one night, has a dangerous encounter with some sort of unseen monster. She is saved by a strange glowing vision of a young woman who tells Mimi she is Hikari Yagami and that there are other plane crash survivors on the Island. Mimi tells Taichi this and he doesn’t know whether to believe her… but he wants to. Koushiro warns them that it may be a trick, that the Island is digital, somehow, and could be projecting holograms or illusions

Taichi has to make the decision to venture deeper into the Island where there are potential monsters that could kill him, just to see if his sister might be on the Island. Or to stay back and heed Koushiro’s warning/keep trying to get off the Island

Eventually Taichi decides to hike deeper into the Island. Yamato offers to go with him, thinking his brother is alive based on Mimi’s vision. Sora also goes with him, hoping to learn more about what the Island wants for her

[oshinohoshi]

Oshi no Ko Chapter 162 thoughts

Putting aside my issues with the story and characterization, I like this chapter. It makes me feel things which is a strong suit of Oshi no Ko.

Sorrow, horror, and sweetness... it has a little of everything.

As an avid Ai stan, the parts with Ai hit me right where it hurts

Ai's smile below is everything. She loved those kids so much

I'm reminded of the bottom right art. Ai never did get to see their red backpacks but at least the little Hoshino family made happy memories together

Aqua looking after his sister is so sweet. It would hit harder if we had more of the twins interacting past vol 1 but it's still nice

I'm not sure how I feel about Aqua deciding he was reincarnated to protect Ruby. I can't quite put my finger on what's bothering me. Perhaps it's that he's once again making his life's worth revolve around someone else

Or that this disregards one of my favorite lines in the manga: "[God] brought two people who never had a mother in a real sense and a mother who gave birth to soulless children together"

There is a crucial element missing to Aqua's apparent life's purpose and her name is Ai

@aihoshiino's post explains this better than I ever could (thanks @insertusername99 for pointing this out to me)

LMAO I just read Claire's thoughts on the chapter after typing this and she brought this up too. Bc it's so true!

The art is so good. Mengo is amazing

HIKARU

He gets his own damn section because he's just so... AUGH

I'm baffled as to how killing Ruby would bring him closer to Ai

How does "the weight of his sin" help him manifest Ai's presence? Maybe his guilt over his involvement in Ai's death brings her into sharp relief through suffering and embracing his dark side amplifies that? I'm grasping at straws here

I still think his reaction to the DVD was genuine but if so, it feels like he should have had a change of heart

After learning Ai wanted to love him, why would he turn around and try to off their daughter?

Of course his logic is twisted, but it should work with what we know about him!

If you have thoughts, please share

Anyway, I want to compare Aqua's memory of Ai (left) to Hikaru's vision of her (right)

She looks ethereal in both. A fragile being. Ai looks over her shoulder smiling gently in Aqua's mind. She might turn away at any second but she's not gone yet. However, she has her back to Hikaru, beyond his grasp

In both panels Ai is not dressed as an idol. Those who love her remember her as she was when she wasn't on stage (or uhh that's what I want to say but I don't know what to make of Hikaru's view of her anymore)

Moving on...

Shadow Gorou. Until now he's been a manifestation of Aqua's guilt and self-hatred yet now he's dragging Hikaru to the bottom of the sea. Sure, I guess?

I'm probably wildly off the mark here, but it almost shows how harmful Aqua's attempt to kill Hikaru is. Shadow Gorou is scary

And despite Aqua's white stars, he looks horrified and in pain choking his dad. It doesn't look like a triumphant finishing blow

Given the giant moon behind Crow Girl, I guess we should stop calling her that as it seems that Tsukuyomi is not a stage name. But she'll always be Crow Girl to me

Next chapter (3 week break!!): Miyako is not having any of this dying to save Ruby bullshit. She will roll up on a motorcycle and pluck Aqua out of the sea using Ichigo's fishing pole. I have been predicting the fishing pole being a major player in the Hikaru/Aqua conflict for dozens of chapters and I know I cannot be wrong.