Oshi no Ko Anime Review – Another April with a lie

A lie told often enough becomes the truth.

-Vladmir Lenin

Introduction

If you are a long time anime watcher, you might have known the april month and the connection of lie from a very particular masterpiece. For those who don’t know, I’m talking about “ Your Lie in April ” written by Naoshi Arakawa.

Oshi No Ko or in english translation My Star features the story of a 16 years old Idol, who got scouted by an agent and even though she rejected the offer saying she’s not meant for this personality of an idol and if she does, it will be all a lie. But the agent did convince her and from that day the story of Hoshino Ai started to tell the beautiful lies often enough to make them true and become the top tier Idol one day.

What happens in backstage stays in backstage

Idol culture is ever rising and the more you think about it, the more you will realise how much we are surrounded with this culture. There are only two categories: either you like it or you do not. And the sub category will be I like these ones and I don’t like those. In either way we all have some idol groups or say band groups if you were from the 90’s and followed the western culture mostly.

But little we know about the backstage stories of these glittering lifestyle idols. Oshi No Ko directly shared those stories with the audience through Ai Hoshino’s story.

Why should you watch Oshi No Ko?

The anime has just begun and most anime fans have already picked it for the best debut anime of the year. But why is that?

Let me try to point out some key features of the show without giving much of a spoiler to you.

So,

1. Deeply talks about the backstage life of public figures which is really eye opening for most of us. Ai Hoshino, one of the main characters of the show, is a trending idol star but she hardly finds it reflected in her bank account. The show also discussed the politics and favouritism within the entertainment industry to some extent.
2. The show contains supernatural elements like major ones. Reincarnation if we say it particularly but in this anime there is a strange combination with never scene scenarios. Recently I came across the concept of the age of soul and this anime profoundly portrayed it.(This is totally my perception and findings)
3. Brilliant characterization and amazing work by the voice artists(Japanese). Overall with the 1st episode with 90 minutes and the most dramatic ending, we expect a fantastic thriller as well as heart warming story to catch up later.
4. This one will be very specific because if you are familiar with Kaguya Sama Love Is War anime or manga then it’s great news for you because the Author of Oshi No Ko is Aka Akasaka, the same man who wrote kaguya sama love is war.

So, with all saying I can definitely say that Oshi No Ko is one of the best anime of 2023 so far.

Oshi No Ko Manga or Anime  ?

Oshi No Ko manga released its first copy back on April 23 2020. It’s still on publication with a total of 116 chapters and 11 Volumes in Japanese language and 2 Volumes in English has been released as of yet.

If you are someone who can’t go for a 1 week long wait to know exactly what happens next then 100% you should opt for the manga. On top of that, manga always has more content than its adapted anime, which makes it more interesting and the audience of manga  knows the very details about the show in comparison to the anime-only audience.

But the major difference comes to viewing experience as a team of dedicated artists always put life to those drawings through the animation movements , showing emotions with incredible voice artists which gives a whole different experience for you as an audience. Many of the manga readers also prefer to do both, like they get updated with the story regularly through Manga but also experience the anime for more connectivity with the characters.

At the end it’s up to you, whether you want to get updated with the story and can not wait for 1 whole week or you like to consume it slowly and smoothly.

Where to read Oshi No Ko Manga?

First thing first, the best place to find the original or the reprints also is on sites like Amazon or Flipkart (India). If you are interested to buy Oshi No Ko manga check out there

1. Amazon: https://amzn.to/3H2tAAp
2. Flipkart: https://bit.ly/41FnWfg

Then, if you are someone who is an online reader, you can find some online official providers also but if you read online then I guess you would like to find some third party free resources and to be honest there are many on the web. You can simply use google to find the best third party site which provides Oshi No Ko on their libraries.

EXPLORE MORE

Where Oshi No Ko is Streaming?

Oshi No Ko anime is animated by studio Doga Kobo and obviously the source is Manga.

Genre of the anime is Drama and Supernatural while the theme concludes Reincarnation and showbiz.

Demographic or the targeted audience is Seinen(18+).

Again, the best and the safest places are the official licensors of the show. Oshi no ko  is streaming on platforms like HIDIVE, Ani-One Asia Youtube which will be a member only access stream, Aniplus TV and Netflix Asia.

And ofcourse there are many alternate sources to these are Zoro and 9anime which are community based channels with huge anime libraries.

The show releases every Wednesday at 23:00 JST or 15:00 GMT or 20:30 IST

Final Conclusion

Till 21st of April we have 2 episodes of the anime released which have already got major attention from the anime community. Thanks to its unique 90 minutes of 1st episode it did set the peak for us and a well established tone for the anime. We can expect many more heart wrenching and relatable moments in the upcoming for sure.

Personally, the reincarnation stories are my taste these days and I have watched some really-really good reincarnation based anime which will be some other days discussion on our podcast for sure but what you can enjoy right now is a short reaction clip of Oshi No Ko anime.

Don’t forget to mention your reaction after watching its 1st episode in the comment box.