“Oshi no Ko” Episode 8

Finally after two weeks, we’re back with this brilliance of an anime and boy did I have to resist having to look up what happens next in the manga. Thankfully I was able to resist. BUT I WAS TEMPTED. Anyways, we start right back up where Akane gives me the creeps of emulating Ai to a T. When Akane says “you look like you saw a ghost” and to Aqua, he might as well have. However, her performance had also taken the other cast members off guard with how different she was acting now that she has given herself a role. Despite my wariness regarding her, it’s honestly still amazing how well she was able to capture the essence of Ai and was able to pull everyone’s attention to her through it. Even going as far as to even have Ruby see Ai in her.

At the start, it did seem as if the series was starting to push Aqua and Akane together with Mem and Yuki rooting the two on and his reaction to it. I feel absolutely nothing for this ship since to me they don’t even know each other all that much. However, I was surprised how quickly they snuffed out Aqua’s potential romantic interest in Akane. A part of me figured that the only reason he would have an interest was because of her on point act of Ai, to which this episode essentially validated. And honestly, if he only likes her because she can act like Ai, that just makes the relationship all the more unappealing. Especially since it would mean he’s not taking an interest in her personally.

The ship then takes the absolute worst turn for me when Akane reveals that after her research, she’s come to multiple assumptions on Ai, one being that she had a child in secret. Earlier in the episode, Aqua was talking about despite spending a few years with Ai, there were still things about her that he didn’t know. Ai kept a very tight lid over who she truly was and her past, making it near impossible for even her kids to really get a full grasp of who she was as a person. So for Akane to be able to deduce what Ai could possibly be thinking and feeling, Aqua saw her acting ability to be useful to him and his goals. Once it became clear that he only wanted to use her to get info on Ai, any possibility of me ever liking this ship was completely snuffed out. At this point it just seemed like Akane became another pawn for Aqua to use and he figured if they became a “couple,” he’d be able to use her acting abilities for his benefit. Which is just all kinds of messed up. Though I will say I was surprised that he TECHNICALLY isn’t stringing Akane along as they already cleared up the fact that Aqua isn’t actually interested in her romantically and is only interested in her acting abilities. That doesn’t make the situation any better, but it’s something I guess.

Despite my stance on not shipping Aqua with anyone, this show is making it very hard for me to not ship him with Kana. Especially with just how well the two bounce off each other. Also how could I not find the scene cute where Kana is just seeing everything in an almost gray scale manner until she sees Aqua and suddenly her world brightens. Compared to his relationship with Akane, his relationship with Kana just feels more pure in a way. He’s able to let down his guard around her and just be himself. No pretenses, no facades, no ulterior motives, it just feels genuine. To which he even says himself. It’s honestly really sweet. Especially since we don’t get to see Aqua allow himself to lower his guard and just be himself very often. And seeing Kana just have fun and smile is also another plus. Especially taking into account how down she seemed initially. However, that all kind of gets thrown out the window when Aqua acts on his ambitions and kisses Akane during the finale, just absolutely crushing Kana’s heart. To her, it must have felt like a betrayal, especially after everything they talked about prior. So I do wonder how their relationship will be like now that Aqua and Akane are officially “dating.”

Also I freaking died at the part where Kana started humming and hawing about being a possibility after learning about Aqua’s preference in girls who are older than him. Only for her to do it again in disappointment after realizing that Akane also fits the bill.

Despite this episode being quite shippy, I still feel like Aqua has way too much inner turmoil and issues that should be addressed before getting into a relationship. Not to mention that Aqua’s feelings towards Ai is still extremely muddled with him being unsure as what they truly are. Does he love her like a fan? A mother? It feels like it’s slowly leaning towards romantic attraction to which… I’m not even sure how I’d feel about that considering there are quite a few stigmas around that no matter which “form” he takes. At the start, it felt as if “Goro” was just in “Aqua’s” body. However, as time goes on, it definitely seems as if the line between the two has been muddled. Though I do feel like a bit of him was lost due to the trauma of witnessing Ai’s death.

Going back a little, I was wondering just how the higher ups would view that video Aqua and the others put out to help save Akane’s image and I’m glad they actually addressed it. Obviously they weren’t too happy about it. However, because Aqua TECHNICALLY (again) never broke contract, not to mention that the video didn’t point accusingly at the show itself as the main culprit, he ended up getting away unscathed. Though I’m sure it was probably a close call since there were talks of going after Strawberry Productions because of his actions. Aqua may been able to get away with a lot of things so far, but I fear for when something ultimately fails and ends up blowing up in his face. But as of now, he’ll be able to get the information about Ai from Kaburagi as promised. So I guess we’ll just have to wait and see what that entails.

Overall, this was another great episode, even if certain things made me grimace. Mostly in regards to the Aqua and Akane situation. I’m actually surprised that MEM-cho is being recruited to join the new B-Komachi. I knew she would have a significance in the series since she’s one of the main faces in the opening, but I didn’t expect her to be a member of Ruby’s idol group. And considering her reaction at the end, she is more than likely going to accept the invitation. Her, Ruby and Kana are for sure going to have a fun dynamic as a group and I can’t wait to see their reactions. Also it was very cute to find out that Yuki and Nobuyuki ended up dating for real despite her rejecting his affections on screen. Guess she wanted some privacy in regards to her relationship, which is honestly understandable considering a lot of relationships that are made public tend to get too much attention before it just eventually falls apart. I wish only the best for those two lol.