#onk 163

[tenebriskukris]

Oshi No Ko Chapter 163 - My Thoughts/Analysis

Three chapters before the end. I don’t expect anything more than a horribly written, badly paced mess of a final few chapters by this point, but maybe the manga will surprise me. By being even worse than I’ve come to anticipate.

Interesting way to start off the chapter. We’re back with Goro for some reason? And Sarina after what is likely some surgery? This definitely didn’t actually happen. It almost reeks of a happy “what-if” scenario right here.

The next few panels seem to solidify that. It’s some sort of delusional happy ending for Sarina and Goro. Neither of them were so lucky in their fates so as to almost get everything they wanted.

Sarina recovering and becoming a B-Koamchi idol alongside Ai…it’s cute and all, but I’m more interested in the why this is being shown rather than marvel at this pitiful attempt at moving the reader’s heartstrings. I’d be more willing to engage with the narrative and have more sympathy for everyone involved here except for the fact that all these recent chapters have just eroded my ability to care with some of the worst writing that I’ve seen in a piece of media since the later seasons of Game of Thrones. Actually no, that’s an insult to GoT—at the very least the earlier seasons of that show were actually good, while as much as people harp on about the earlier parts of OnK, that much is mostly because the anime carried its mediocre story.

Is this a dream? And now we’re back with Aqua and Crow Girl. Are we deus ex machena-ing now?

The world is a virtual image created by observation. Not everything is true. It’s like the world looked completely different before and after you were reborn. Crow Girl is Literally Just Saying Words. It’s so unsubstantial that it feels like I’m chewing on air. These words don’t even fucking relate to this entire dream sequence at large!

In the end, who was I? Are we going to finally get the nail in the coffin for people who don’t want to believe that Aqua=Goro?

Was this actually the wrong choice? AQUA YOU LITERALLY HAD TIME TO CONSIDER THIS POSSIBILITY WHEN YOU PLANNED THIS DOUBLE SUICIDE BULLSHIT. If you were hesitant in leaving everyone else behind, you could’ve, you know, not fucking went after Hikaru after Nino was captured? If he feels sad over leaving people behind there are so many ways for him to survive these contrived series of events that I’m sorry, Aqua you’ve done fucked up. He’s had more than enough time to plan out a series of events that doesn’t end with him dying, so Aqua “regretting” that he might’ve caused more trouble with his actions is just so stupid that it kills my suspension of disbelief faster than Goro falling to his death in the first chapter. 

Through reincarnation, you possessed Goro Amamiya’s memories and will [...] however within your body there are genetic factors that were inherited from Ai and Kamiki. Interesting that she doesn’t mention the concept of a soul here, but everything related to Crow Girl is just a nonsensical thematic mess half the time. Considering that she said that Ai’s children were soulless in one of her first appearances I’m surprised that people take these words to mean that Aqua=/= Goro when the rebuttal to that argument is given so early on in the manga.

This entire bit of Crow Girl hugging Aqua and holding his face and such…I dunno. I don’t quite know how to feel about it? What’s with all this sympathy for Aqua when she was sitting on the fence and giving out breadcrumbs to Aqua and Ruby? If she cared enough to stop this scenario she could’ve easily pulled enough strings as a fucking god to save him, since she is Right There to keep Aqua from dying. I would say that it’s almost out of character, but that gives this series too much credit because Crow Girl is more of a plot device rather than an actual character.

The rest of these scenes are nice except they feel too much like throwing a pity party when Everything that came before it was just so shite that this payoff tastes cheap. I’m supposed to feel emotions coming from this scene, but all I can think of is how fucking stupid these last few chapters were if this was the end result of that entire clusterfuck. It doesn’t hit its mark by a long shot. 

That was all of you, Aqua Hoshino. And with that, all that is left is the keychain. I’m sure that Ruby’s going to be holding onto that keychain for dear life alongside Aqua himself soon enough.

That’s it??? There are—were—four chapters in this blasted manga to get through and THIS is one of those chapters??? As heartbreaking and or heartwarming as this chapter was, it could’ve easily been folded into the last one simply because there wasn’t much substance from this chapter or the last! Hell, even putting that aside, with only a handful of chapters left in the series this chapter should’ve been focused on something more substantial rather than deal with character beats that should’ve been very well established beforehand!

Let’s get down to business. Do I think Aqua is going to live after this chapter? My answer hasn’t changed since the last chapter, but I do have more thoughts to give on it now that this chapter’s dropped.

There are only three more chapters left in this bloody series. Three chapters to wrap up the story as we know it so far. As much as I greatly dislike the way Aqua’s revenge plot has panned out, with Hikaru pretty much down for the count as of this chapter, I think plotline that much has been dealt with. That only leaves a couple of loose ends to wrestle with. If the manga is keeping up this breakneck pace to the end, then I do think it’s possible to wrap this whole mess up. It won’t be the best way to do so by a long shot, but it’ll certainly end. There’s just one thing that I think has to be addressed in the span of these final chapters.

An author has a responsibility to wrap up loose threads when a series inevitably gets closer to the ending. While this series has dispensed with many, many small plot threads that have headed nowhere in order to sprint towards the end of the manga, there is one plotline that I believe needs to be dealt with before the series concludes. The issue of Aqua and his love interests. For better or worse, this plotline has defaulted to one of, if not the main hook of the series since the revenge plot has been so shallow throughout a good majority of the series.

There needs to be a clear “winner” for the Aquabowl, so to speak. 

While fans on all sides will point to various chapters and say, Aqua has romantic feelings for Kana, or, Aqua wants to rekindle his relationship with Akane, or Aqua loves Ruby, the sheer fact that multiple of these interpretations exist within the context of the series itself this close to the ending needs to be addressed. Love triangles often soak the reader with intrigue and suspense before being dispensed of later down the line after it has served its narrative purpose. If the series isn’t going to pivot towards an open ending, then that needs to be addressed before the end.

Killing Aqua off here would render all that utterly meaningless. It would be unsatisfying in a way that would forever damn it simply because of the fact that it’s the equivalent of pushing the reader’s face into a plate of shit and the author saying, “Wow! That’s a good ending because it made you feel bad!”, when after such an event the reader would like nothing more than to refund the time investment they had in said media. It’s daft. It’s insulting. It is essentially telling the fans that all of the time they spent with this character and the romance angle—doubly so because of the fact that this little romance angle had little to no plot relevance for the vast majority of the series—was worth less than nothing because Aqua was going to die all along—and he even didn’t die dramatically, either, though maybe that would’ve softened the blow, but he died in a horribly executed confrontation that culminated in a half baked dream sequence where there were more than a handful of ways for him to come out of it alive.

While there are media that can intentionally make an unsatisfying ending work, with how these past few chapters have been, such an ending would likely fall flat for an abundance of reasons—but since we’re just talking hypotheticals, I won’t make any sweeping statements just yet.

Of course, all of this assumes that the authors are, you know, making good narrative decisions. The buckshot pacing and flow of the last ten, twenty, even thirty chapters have just been a complete garbage heap in quality. There are many things I can feel in predicting within a series that’s still ongoing thanks to performing enough media analysis and understanding how stories like OnK are structured as well as the tropes therein.

What I cannot predict are the authors making irrational(read: BAD) decisions and or torching the media and running. It’s why I was so vehemently against the idea that Akane wearing a fucking wig and disguising herself as Ruby to fool Nino. It’s why having both Aqua and Akane independently coming to the conclusion that Yura was murdered was such a surprise to me. It’s why Aqua meeting Crow Girl offscreen wasn’t something that I’d seriously considered before I read that chapter.

These are, quite frankly, objectively bad decisions. I’d made my disdain for these narrative beats known many, many times throughout my various analyses as well as given my reasoning for Why these decisions are bad, so I’m not going to go over them again, but suffice it to say that these are the type of plot beats that high school teachers tell their students what NOT to do. And yet they happened nonetheless.

I can only predict what a competent author that tries to give payoff to the various plot threads in a piece of media can attempt to do next. What I cannot predict, however, is someone who is haphazardly throwing plot threads and beats around like crumbs throughout the manga with little to no intention of following them up satisfyingly or has any desire to actually pace these chapters with any degree of competence. It’s the equivalent of asking a sane person to try to wrap one’s head around the mind of someone that’s on some of the hardest drugs in the world. There’s literally no use in doing so because both parties have fundamentally different thought processes. The fact that this slop is being published must mean that the editors for this literal godforsaken series must be high, drunk, or are being blackmailed. It’s an insult to all of the actual good manga writers out there that don’t even get a speck of popularity that this series has garnered.

That leads me to my next point. It’s also completely possible that Aqua just fucking dies here. It’d be a horrible decision, don’t get me wrong, but it'd be completely on brand for the series which has already made so many poor choices this close to the end. It’d just be one final shit pie to eat after the author cooked a buffet of garbage.

If that’s the case, I’d expect Ruby following Aqua soon after. Sad, I know, but that girl literally made it her mission to kill Hikaru after she found out that Goro was dead and was willing to go to lengths that Aqua just wasn’t in order to get her revenge. Losing the person she cares about most after finding out he was alive all along only for him to fucking die again??? I wouldn’t be surprised if Ruby just walks into the sea after she hears the news.

Completely unsubstantiated thought that just crossed my mind. Calling it now. Aqua and Ruby both die in the next handful of chapters before they reincarnate once more and then meet each other. It’d be almost an inverse of that whole, “two lovers that committed double suicide get reincarnated as twins” Japanese superstition that I’ve seen talked about. That’d be a godawful ending but we’re already scraping the bottom of the bucket with this series. I wouldn’t put it past this series. It is on the table, after all.

Three chapters left. I’ve lost all hopes for a good ending for the series for some time now, so I’m just sitting on the rollercoaster waiting for the ride to finally come to a close.

[nin-deer]

sarina and ai on the same stage,,,,,,,

[aihoshiino]

putting aside whatever other problems there are or aren't with the OnK ending, I think the one thing that really drives me up the wall is that Aqua never really gets a chance to reconcile or meaningfully make peace with his relationship with Ai... not even necessarily in the sense of like, 'this character tragically died before resolving this issue' way but more like, with the hindsight of how much the Movie Arc was wasting time and panel space, it's frustrating that an arc that SHOULD have been about Aqua and Ruby working through that kind of had four chapters of Ruby, exclusively, making a breakthrough and then never touched on it as an idea again.

Honestly, I don't think you'd need to change much! Even just having Aqua call her 'Mom' or at least properly embracing her as his mother in spirit would have done it, especially since 163 emphasizes Aqua's life being his own, not just the dregs left behind by Gorou's reincarnation. He does refer to her as 'my/our mother' at certain points, but he also calls Kamiki 'my/our father' in contexts that are very clinical and not necessarily positive. So... idk!

Maybe him wanting to call Miyako 'Mom' was supposed to hit on that same sort of beat and I can understand if Aqua simply felt more bonded with and connected to Miyako as his mom since she actually raised him, but if the conclusion of that relationship is just that Aqua never really felt like Ai was his mom, I think that's excessively cruel to Ai and just kind of a letdown. But the way the story kind of dropped the ball on Aqua's posthumous relationship with her was kind of a letdown in general lol, so...

[oshinohoshi]

I wrote a little Oshi no Ko fanfic. Warning: SPOILERS post ch 163 below.

Today has been a hard day for those of us in the OnK community who've read the next chapter leak so I wrote this to cope. I can't claim it to be IC at all but anyway, here it is:

The first thing he sees when he opens his eyes is an unfamiliar ceiling. No, that's not quite right. When his eyes come into better focus he spots a hairline crack running a few inches down from the light fixture, perhaps made when it was installed. He used to look at it sometimes after Ai tucked them in for story time.

It reminded him of the sterile hospital room where Sarina lived out the remainder of her life. Had she ever torn her eyes from the hodgepodge of Ai merchandise carefully arranged on her bedside table to look up, longing to see the ceiling of her room back home?

It takes a few moments to remember. The knife. His dad's twisted expression as they fell. The bone cold chill of the sea. The burning sensation in his lungs.

Aqua sits up and clutches at his stomach, expecting to see the sheets stained in red when he looks down, but both his shirt and the bedding are clean. There's no pain, either.

Aqua looks to his right. Oh. It's just another carefully crafted dream. There she is, sitting by his bed on a chair dragged in from the kitchen, her head lolled to the side in what looks like quite an uncomfortable sleeping position.

The room is exactly as he remembers. B Komachi posters are tacked to the walls and Ruby's pink stuffed bunny is propped up against the pillow on her bed across from him. Aqua casts a cursory glance at his surroundings before studying his mother's sleeping face. She looks very realistic. Tsukuyomi got every detail just right.

Ai twitches and then sits upright, blinking sleepily. Their eyes meet.

"Aqua!"

Ai all but hurls herself from her chair, wrapping her arms around his torso and pulling him into a crushing hug. Aqua makes a noise of protest.

"Ai, that's a little tight."

Ai doesn't reply, she just hugs him harder. Her shoulders start to shake. Aqua's arms remain limp on the bed. He can't bring himself to hug her back. He failed her. He couldn't save her and he couldn't even fulfill her final wish.

The seconds tick by until she finally lets go. She blinks back tears. That's strange. Ai doesn't cry. Maybe Tsukuyomi thought this would be more affecting.

"Your hair's gotten long." Ai brushes her fingertips over his bangs. "I could cut it for you."

"Okay." Aqua nods.

"Are you hungry?" Ai asks. "I've been practicing cooking. I hardly ever burn things these days, except yesterday when I got distracted and forgot I had rice on the stove. I really should get a rice cooker."

Ai's tone is as cheery as ever. She's rambling. Aqua cuts her off.

"No, I'm fine. Thanks."

There's an awkward silence. Ai stares unblinkingly at him like she's trying to memorize every detail of his countenance. It makes Aqua uncomfortable so he looks down at his lap. His fingers clutch at the sheets.

"I'm sorry," he says. What a stupid thing to say. "Sorry" doesn't change anything. "Sorry" is a selfish word.

"For what?" Ai's eyes still haven't left his face.

"For not protecting you." He's thought it a thousand times since it happened but never said anything like it aloud.

Ai's laugh makes him look up. The laugh doesn't quite reach her starry eyes.

"I'm your mother. I'm supposed to protect you. It's me whose sorry."

Aqua opens his mouth to protest but stops himself. How could he possibly explain why a toddler should have been able to stop a deranged stalker? It's not a conversation he's ready for, even in a fictional reality.

"Then I'm sorry for—"

This time it's Ai who cuts him off.

"What's done is done. I don't want to hear you saying that." Her mouth turns downward, a grim line.

"But Ruby and Miyako and..." He can't bring himself to list the rest of them. He doesn't want to picture the sort of face Kana will make when she realizes he'll never be able to give her an answer.

Ai's hand finds her way to one of Aqua's, gently loosening his white-knuckled grip on the sheets. Her hand is small and warm when she wraps it around his.

"Aqua." He's never heard her sound so serious. He forces himself to meet her gaze.

"I've had a lot of time to think," Ai says. "There's nothing to do here but think." Ai wrinkles her nose, seeming to find the idea distasteful. "I've thought about what I wish I'd done differently. How I could have been a better mom. Things I should have said but couldn't. Or didn't."

Since when did Ai talk to him like she's speaking plainly from the heart? He's really going to need to tell Tsukuyomi this isn't an accurate depiction at all.

"Aqua." She says his name again, almost plaintively. As if she's the one asking for forgiveness.

"If I could have come back and fixed everything for you, I would have. If I could make this easier for them... for Ruby..." Ai's voice falters and her grip on Aqua's hand tightens momentarily. "She will pick herself up and continue to live. They all will. I believe that."

Aqua looks at Ai in disbelief. How can she say that? Ruby will pick herself back up? Look what happened when she thought her beloved sensei was gone. If this is supposed to be easing his guilt, it's not.

"She has Miyako," Ai adds gently. He's not sure if she's trying to convince him or herself. "I'll really have to thank her one of these days."

Aqua doesn't want to think about this anymore. He's ready for the dream to be over. He gently extracts his hand, ignoring the somewhat crestfallen look on Ai's face, and looks at the door.

"Are you waiting for someone?" Ai asks, following his gaze.

"Yeah," Aqua replies tersely.

Maybe he needs to leave the room for it to end. Aqua swings his legs over the side of the bed. Before Ai can stop him, he's already in the hallway of his childhood apartment. Ai calls after him, asking where he's going, but he doesn't turn back.

Aqua strides down the hall, yanks open the front door, and steps outside. He blinks and shields his eyes from the sun. The walkway is empty. The view of the city from Ai's high-rise apartment is just as he remembers. That stupid crow girl is nowhere to be seen.

Ai is by his side again, watching him worriedly. It begins to sink in. Aqua turns to her. He forgot how short she was. Even in this body, he can see the top of her head.

"Are we...?" Aqua can't bring himself to say the word "dead."

"Yep!" Ai smiles brilliantly.

"But Tsukuyomi said you were gone. That your soul returned to the stars and the sea." It sounds odd when he says it, like a line from a play.

"Tsukuyomi?" Ai is stumped until she remembers the glimpses she got of her children's lives. "Oh! That strange little girl who kept following you around. She's a bit of a menace, isn't she."

Aqua didn't think he could laugh but he does. A short, strained laugh.

Ai shrugs nonchalantly. "Maybe she lied." Her smile is back in place: brilliant, dazzling, real.

"Come on," Ai says. "I'll make you something. I promise not to burn it."

Ai heads back down the hall, disappearing into the kitchen. Aqua steps inside, shutting the door behind him. His gut twists uncomfortably. It's almost worse than the pain of the knife. He can picture the anguished sobs when they find his body.

Aqua doesn't think he can eat but he doesn't want to disappoint his mother and he has a lot of questions that need to be answered. He takes a deep, shaky breath to compose himself before following Ai to the kitchen.

[penguinkyun]

chapter 164 review

cw for talk of canon suicide and suicidal ideation along with references to canon csa (hikarus backstory)

so this was all bullshit

no joke this chapter pissed me off to several new levels i hate this so much

the entire eight pages describing the way aqua drowned in visceral detail is needless, very revolting and completely incongruous with how onk has shown death before

ai's physical pain at her stabbing is barely shown in the manga, drowned out and covered by her thoughts so we dont gawk at it (anime unfortunately couldnt do that due to the nature of the medium but it really does try) and the focus is entirely on her interiority and her character- hikaru wasn't shown to be in pain at all, and even his possible drowning moments is covered by his thoughts and his death is signified by a single panel of his starless eye, so his pain isnt shown either- even for yura its her final moments without lingering on her body for too long- they're each given respect

meanwhile, we're shown the exact moment aqua stabs himself, the pain on his face as he does so, he's emotionally given no happy ending because he still believes everything horrible he thinks about himself and not even believing in the value of his own life, none of his dreams are fulfilled and now we're shown the exact way he drowns?

its so jarring and punishing and for no reason other than to mine one final emotional beat out of aquas death

not to mention like. we already got this? 162 ended with a panel of aqua floating with a smile on his face as he died with no hoshigans-- there was absolutely no need to rehash it again, in horrifying detail and 163 was a fine sendoff -- we could have just cut straight to the news announcing aquas death. this part of the chapter is just gratuitous with aqua's pain for no reason at all

im so angry about this. even apart from how utterly horrifying it is to do this to aqua, oshi no ko is a very famous story and just like its handling of csa with hikaru, its handling of suicide is also important because of how highly visible it is and if the end (terrible) message is "the suicidal character dies because he needed to sacrifice everything for his sister who he believes his purpose is to guard and thats somehow fine because its a """sacrifice"""" (note the heavy sarcasm) instead of treating it as the preventable and senseless tragedy it is...its a horrible as fuck message to put in the first of all and second we only kind of get a refutation that this was unnecessary and preventable by akane's monologue saying she would have helped set up a crime scene for him but thats still not addressing that there were ways to do this without murder? that the entire reason aqua did this was because he believed it was his duty and that he hated himself so much he needed to give himself a reason he existed? its not a refutation of those beliefs at all

and yeah akane is grieving, it would make sense for her to lament about not being able to help aqua but the story had better emphasise this was just a tragedy or im going to start throwing rocks

i did see spoilers before the chapter officially came out and the only relief is that akane is Not praising aquas plan. now that would really be terrible

the only other relief is that at least aqua's thoughts weren't entirely Ruby Focused again and actually included the rest of bkomachi but it sure is weird everyone else he loves aren't there (especially ai, where is she!!!)

also his plan succeeding is ridiculous but akasaka takes many creative liberties to the point im really just going to accept this

lets Not talk about how this is the ultimate desecration of ais wish for her children shall we i dont have enough rocks to throw

with two chapters left i have absolutely no idea how we're going to cover any of the fallout in any thematically resonant or satisfying way (honestly aquas death as it is now is already thematically inconsistent but sigh)

this entire ending is so baffling that im just. ben affleck smoking meme. how do you do it this badly

how are we 164 chapters with the end being two weeks away and still know absolutely nothing concrete about the mystery portion of this story

and the fact that we might only get this chapter to focus on everyone else but ruby's reaction and grief over aqua because we have only two chapters left that'd make everything even worse

anyway. no break next week and two chapters left. sigh.

[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!

[goldenharmony]

Have you checked out the ONK leaks? At this point I am a little disappointed by the writting idk how many chapters there is left the only thing I am waiting is for aquakana to be canon do you think we still have good chances? :')

(Ask was sent before Ch 162 was officially released)

Anon, I know you meant well but please don't hint at leaks before the chapters are officially released since I avoid leaks so reading this left me anxious until the official release 😭🙏

Not a fan of Aqua thinking his life's purpose is to protect Ruby. Out of the last couple chapters, the one I liked most was Ch 161 since it focused on ALL of Aqua's relationships rather than just Ruby. I feel the need to reiterate this because whenever I theorized the idea of Kana saving Aqua, I mostly meant that Kana's character would play an important role in the climax when comparing it to other characters, but that obviously, all of Aqua's relationships would be important in him moving forward.

Knowing that there's only 4 chapters left does leave me nervous over Aqua's fate too. I do wanna say that logically, the story itself feels set-up to have Aqua live and heal, and be able to pursue all of his desires that he expressed in Ch 161, which includes having a relationship with Kana, but there's been a lot of curveballs lately that make it hard to predict the story LOL.

Here's my poorly thought-up theory on how the next couple chapters will go - assuming Aqua will live:

Ch 163 - Aqua realizes that dying is not actually cool TM so he doesn't die (somehow)

Ch 164 - Tying up the whole revenge plot stuff + immediate aftermath

Ch 165 - Small timeskip after Aqua does a bit of healing - AquaKana finally gets together?? + Much needed Kana focus here

Ch 166 - Timeskip to Ruby performing at the Dome + Aqua getting into med school + Kana achieving success as the lead for the in-universe movie "Oshi no Ko" + Panels of all the other side characters succeeding in their careers

[aihoshiino]

The promised off-the-cuff 163 thoughts!- Chapters Since The 143 Kiss Happened And Went Entirely Unacknowledged And Unaddressed Count: 20 WHOLE CHAPTERS, BABY!!!! when 164 drops we will officially be switching to a countdown of Chapters Until The Story Ends Without The 143 Kiss Being Addressed Or Acknowledged. Akasaka truly is choosing violence here eh

OnK has been pretty consistently interested in the growing divide between "Gorou" and "Aqua" for a while so I'm glad we got a chapter definitively laying out exactly how it works and how we're supposed to understand it. Admittedly I don't love that we got this characterization by having Tsukuyomi literally Look Into The Camera and Explain It but this has caused enough sturm und drang in the fandom that having it laid out In Text is something to appreciate, I guess. Then again I am also already seeing people go "Oh, so Aqua doesn't exist and he was Gorou all along!" so maybe I'm a bit optimistic lol- Anyway, the Tsukuyomi's framing of it does seem to fall in line with how I understood things, which is that Aqua himself was born as the meeting point of Gorou's memories and will and Aqua's body, but his life and emotions are his alone. Like in 150, "Gorou" is described as "a role" that was born in Aqua and his memories are described as those of an adult in contrast to Aqua, who is definitively established as just a regular teenager by Literally God. Again, nice to have this raised to the level of Text but I fully expect people to keep making pedo accusations anyway lol

I also like that Aqua's life *as Aqua's* is given weight and value here just by virtue of him being alive, even if it doesn't quite make up for "btw your purpose for existing is to kill yourself for ruby" last chapter lol

Anyway! It's Aqua dead? Genuinely at this point I still don't know. Akasaka has done so many death fakeouts with basically every member of the cast at this point that I kind of don't even believe *Kamiki* is dead. Three chapters feels like a really weird number of chapters to deal with the fallout of Aqua's death and this big moment of self actualisation feels like the sort of thing, narratively, that should result in Aqua living. At the same time, this imagery is pretty damning and uh, self actualisation and death are kind of very famously the capstone of a certain other Hoshino's character arc so uh. I guess we'll see!!

[yuseirra]

Onk 165 spoilers(review)!

Seeing people slapping each other at a funeral is the LAST thing I want to see in any media, not just this one(if it has a proper base, I can take it, but this work just didn't have anyone prepared for this kind of event to unfold) that imagery is seriously haunting me. I really hate it, I hope the artist knows what they're doing, I'm never reading that chapter again, what are they making their readers who cheered for them even read?; I'm.. Just really startled and baffled. They have strengths in terms of constructing emotional experiences, they know what kind of reactions they can invoke through their works, I'm sure. This... Felt too harsh and it wasn't even laid out in a proper way, everything feels so rushed so I don't know what to feel about it. It doesn't even feel tragic, I couldn't even feel sad, I was just baffled and shocked. Seeing a character break down was painful all the same (Kana doesn't deserve this happening to her??)It wasn't a good experience to have. Distraught would be the word. Are they really happy with this? Again, what are they trying to achieve through this? Are they respecting their fans? Does this have a point? I'm genuinely confused. I want to know. I hope the authors are happy about this but I'm not. Who would? I'd have enjoyed this better if all this felt well-constructed.

I honestly still believe the contents of the songs are spoilers, THOSE do better explaining Kamiki's character than what this manga put forth about him after the 154 mark.

Speaking of which, I've mentioned this after 164? 163 was it? How can Aqua do this to Ai's movie? Just what IS the point of having the movie be a huge hit when it's going to be known for a murder incident that's even FABRICATED??? Didn't Ai want her TRUTH to be known? Wasn't the movie supposed to be about HER life and what she wished for? Again, she had her hopes on her boyfriend being saved. And Aqua kills him over it and framed him about having killed a person over the content of Ai's movie. Whatever Kamiki's done, Aqua shouldn't have done that to AI AND HER MOVIE. How- why- does the author think that's a good idea?? This was a movie that was going to be her legacy, right? And even if Ai's lied all her life, isn't THIS the work that she'd wish WOULDN'T BE? The one that'd display her true self, the one that should have gotten her love across to Kamiki? I'm glad the latter did happen but even that's going to be covered by lies all thanks to Aqua. I just can't forgive him for doing that to his mother, how is that for Ai? How?? Did Ai want revenge on Kamiki no matter the cost??? That wasn't it. I feel like this sort of outcome, of her son and boyfriend dying and the story of her life being framed as the trigger of killing themselves over it, would have been the LAST thing Ai would have wanted. Unless they explain the reasoning, the writing is so bad on this one. Aqua managed to make Ai's movie about himself. Couldn't he have found some other way to die if he wanted to do it so much.

The last chapter isn't going to save anything, there are too little pages left.

I've made a lot of theories about Ai and Kamiki being gods and THEY were the ones responsible for the white and black star eyes all along(They have to explain what's up with the eyes and the stars and why they work that way before they go!!!) I actually believe in those theories I've written wholeheartedly because if they're going to get back on the idea of gods, that's like the only way to have it blend in the story altogether. And seeing how the idea of fallen-ness and how "stars dwelling in eyes" were in the anime s2's op, which is not too long ago? I don't think they would have completely dropped that idea? Was it 158? I want to know why Tsukuyomi went about "Love" too. If my theories actually end up being true, then.. Ai and Kamiki are the two characters who were all about love and needed love in order to function properly as gods. That Kamiki was trying to collect "Ai", the fragments of his lover back dwelling within people's eyes after her death in order to reach her again. I really do believe that's the way to go if they want this story to make any sense with it adding up to the song's contents.

So what did Kamiki even do?? They aren't even sure if he is really involved or not because what he did is very minimal, isn't it?? Remember how Airi died when he just told her husband the truth of how she molested him? If we believe him, remember how he wanted to send a bouquet to congratulate Ai for her dome concert and Ryosuke killed her? Remember how Ryosuke pushed Gorou off a cliff when he said he wondered if he should go visit Ai at the hospital? Remember how Yura died when he told her she should watch her steps at a mountain? How he told Nino they should turn themselves in and she went insane to try and go stab Ruby? These are too much to be called as mere coincidences, things don't logically end up becoming this disatrous. Whether if he really wanted things to play out this way or not(and he told Aqua himself that he never wanted to hurt anyone!!) it's not natural. This is why I seriously believe this guy's Sarutahiko the god of guidance and the RIGHT PATHS, that's been given a "fatal flaw" after Ai's death!!! Ai was already worried of Kamiki being afflicted by the darkness of the industry, he just totally broke after the death of his godly wife didn't he??? And now he's been leading people into the wrong paths!!! Because he's a fallen god now! Why else would be the lyrics like that? Then is ANYTHING that's happened HIS fault? I'm not actually sure?? He could have tried utilising his powers to meet Ai again maybe so after that perhaps so?? But what's been happening around this guy's been so weird. It can only be explained through the songs and the mention that THERE REALLY ARE GODS OUT THERE WHO DON'T KNOW THEY'RE ONE, WHICH DIRECTLY CONNECTS WITH THE LYRICS OF MEPHISTO THAT GOES: "I'VE FORGOTTEN WHO I LIVED AS" which I think IS written from his perspective! So there. If this is not the case I REALLY don't know. But they won't explain it right. They have to though.

About ruby...well, she's the amaterasu. I keep saying that... She'll "shine" one way or another. But I hope she could really save someone significant in the story with it.

That's all I can write on the spot for now~

[yuseirra]

vagueposting about onk 163~~~~ no real spoilers about the content!!! but I'll keep it under a read more still

good news is, I will still be able to draw hikaai till next week, I survived yet another week again~

If the rest of the remaining chapters are like this, they will never be able to handle the themes this work handles in good depth. There simply isn't enough space left, 4 chapters were the boundary/margin for me to imagine things could be wrapped up in a somewhat sufficient manner, this work tackles things that are quite serious and big and deserve good room for discussion-

It can't do that this way. Moreover, the direction of the writing feels so off to me. I don't agree with what it's trying to make of or convince me of... I'm too distracted of what's been happening in the other parts of the plot to resonate with it. I didn't come here to see Aqua trying to strangle his dad and...feel nothing much over it. It doesn't click to me as what's right, but maybe I read the work wrong, then it's on me... but I really didn't like seeing that scene!! It was terrifying and cruel!! and ugly!!! I don't like seeing people trying to kill each other and weren't they BOTH the victims in that case? Didn't they both care deeply for Ai and got traumatized because of it? Why did they end up trying to hurt each other like that? I felt there's some greater evil behind it all never being tackled at, blaming and killing one individual over it(and he REALLY DIDN'T DO ANYTHING YET!!!) is such a convenient and easy way out as well as it being...unable to resolve anything, wasn't Kamiki really right about that? Killing someone as helpless as he is wouldn't solve anything? He didn't say anything so wrong!!! I actually agree with him on that one.

I think it'd be better/best if they devote everything that's left to Ruby and Aqua in this case and just leave AI and her bf be and don't touch them at all if they're going to handle things like this...it's not going to work out.

I'd rather they do a deliberate, amazing job with two characters with depths than do mediocre-janky with many... I would have had my faith if there were like 8 remaining chapters but with only 3 now, no, it's impossible, the writers are such capable people and they can make wonders, I appreciate what they do and have done but I don't see it happening. In that case, I rather they just leave things be, then at least there'd be some room for me to try and make sense out of what's there than having something half-baked and unfulfilling as a resolution. They can still make Aqua and Ruby work, but with more characters being thrown into the picture? Oh..; If they were ever going to bring Ai and Hikaru in depth they need at least two at a minimum, but there is no way they'd have enough chapter space left to give them a proper chance

Ah, I can live another week to draw more hikaai UGH, UGHH.. I guess I am relieved to an extent since yet again, nothing important has been brought forth, nothing is explained, there wasn't ANYTHING new, if they're going to make the rest of the chapters like this one too, then I never thought I could say this but I feel I can write that ship better. They gave us a really good ingredient to cook with, so I can cook out a good meal, now what I want is for the ingredients to.. remain fresh or at least at a status quo. These characters deserve to be given a more.. proper discussion and space dedicated to them, I just don't see why the writers wouldn't choose to do it because it'd be wonderful if they did...

If things stay the way they are, I can still manage, I can still draw lots of fanarts! If it gets worse than this, then I'd have a hard time, if somehow, like a miracle, something really great can happen about them(I'm still not letting this hope go entirely because Ai is such an iconic character) it'd be great!

Not..a bad chapter but to have this be the one that takes up an entire chapter when there are only like 4 left...I felt so unimpressed... could have been okay as a standalone but even still, I don't agree with the sentiment it's trying to convince me of. Yes Aqua, you are a fool. A big dummy. Now go back to Ruby and live. This manga will definitely flunk if you die. I'm not worried about your life's sake at all because you're the main character and you won't die. You go and live a happy life pal, you can do it, go confess to Kana too because god you've been holding out so long with that and it's going to get stale

Your dad doesn't have the luxury to have even his story discussed adequately and I'm concerned about him, I would never make that choice as a writer, so I want to believe the two really good creators responsible for this to do it but there seriously isn't any space left for that to be a reality, if they're going to not handle it with care, then I rather they just leave it be as it is. I just don't see it being left as it is either but... that might be better for his sake, oh, they're not giving him and Ai justice rn. They should, but there's just too little space left. In that case, they should prioritize wrapping Ruby and Aqua's story at least.

[aihoshiino]

Helloooo :DD

I was wondering what would you do differently with OnK's ending?

The ending just felt absolutely off to me and quite lackluster in general to me. Like I kid you not, I think I envisioned a completely different ending for the series when the chapter of Ruby and Aqua showing Kamiki the DvD (can't exactly remember what chapter it was) and the call with Nino happened. I legit thought they would make it were Kamiki just..turned himself in after everything? I..I could be tripping but didn't he say something along the lines he was going to make things right?

Maybe in a sense, I am sorta defending Kamiki because I h a te how he was portrayed as this mastermind who is evil incarnate like no. THAT'S MY HUSBAND RIGHT THERE!

And I suppose I also wanted a happy ending where Kamiki and Aqua didn't die because of how emotionally invested I had become with this story.

ANYWAYS ENOUGH SENTIMENTALITY, AI SLAP SOME SENSE INTO YOUR DUMB SON (AFFECTIONATE) AND YOUR EX-BOYFRIEND IN THE AFTERLIFE

ok i feel slightly insane answering this ask because there was DEFINITELY another ask in my inbox re: an alternate ending that specifically focused on fixing up Kamiki's characterization and letting Aqua live and i REALLY LIKED IT and I was going to publish that one first then come to this one and be like 'basically this lol' but. That ask has vanished???? I assume tumblr arbitrarily ate it for some fucking reason which I feel very bad about because it was VERY long so anon who sent me the "Kamiki & Aqua live but Kamiki is the one to tell Aqua's lie to the press & police, thus taking the fall for him" alt ending PLEEEEASE SEND IT AGAIN I'M SO SORRY BUT KNOW THAT YOU COOKED

Anyway uh like I said ^ that anon's ending ^ would've been pretty ideal to me, at least in terms of like... realistically working with the material we have. To the best of my memory, it diverged following the end of 163 and had both Hikaru and Aqua wake up in hospital. Aqua gets a big come to Jesus moment from all the people who love him and finally, properly realizes the full weight of his life and his desire to live it - not just as something to burn to ensure the joy of others, but to share in their joy and to find his own as well.

Hikaru, seeing this, realizes that he still has the opportunity to do the one last thing for Ai he talked about and before Aqua can fess up, tells Aqua's cover story to everyone - including the police and press - and thus takes the fall, accepting his punishment and allowing Aqua to go free.

There was also a bit where Akane visiting Aqua privately sort of implicitly let him know she figured out the truth and made it very clear he was not to pull any horsepiss like that again!!!

I think the note it ended on was Ruby & B-Komachi at the Dome and a distant finale with an ambiguous/implied AquKana end or at least a confession.

THERE WAS MORE and again I feel so bad that the anon's ask got mulched because it was genuinely really good lol. BUT YEAH, that would be my ideal ending just based on the material we actually had in the manga, I think.