I AM GOING TO MAKE SLIGHT ALLUSIONS TO THE MANGA AND SERIES AS A WHOLE up to this point IN THIS REVIEW IF YOU ARE ANIMEONLY/DONT WANT TO BE SPOILED ITS PROBABLY BEST YOU DONT READ THIS If i were to describe Oshi No Ko specifically this season it would be like driving a sports car at top speed down a steep hill having the time of your life and then crashing head first into a wall made of pure tungsten. This season started off extremely well i found myself liking the Mainstay Arc way more than i did when i read it in the manga but was worried for what came next. If we go by our car crash metaphor the Scandal Arc is where i personally noticed that there was something in the distance. I started to freak out but then realized whatever this object was happened to be pretty far away all things considered. Then the Movie Arc started this is where i realized oh there IS something in the distance and its much closer than i realize. And before i knew it i hit the wall. The wall in question being twincest. Well touch on this later but for now lets talk about what the drive was like pretungsten wall because to no ones surprise driving a sports car at ludicrous speeds is still fun regardless of horrific crashes. MAINSTAY If i were to rank all the arcs including the manga arcs yet to be adapted into a ranking Mainstay would land somewhere in the middle. Does that mean its bad? God no. I may and will criticize ONK quite a lot but that doesnt mean it isnt a good series at times. Its like Weezer the early stuff in this case everything up to Tokyo Blade Reality Dating Show Arc for me personally is great but everything else is widely seen as ...eh? by most people despite having a small but dedicated fanbase. Just like Weezer as well ONK is known for some absoutely garbage arcs and plot points. Being around for the final chapter in particular was like watching an empire crumble to pieces but we are still hopefully a long long way away from that. Back to mainstay Its a fun arc. I like Yoshizumi. The whole variety show thing is fun to explore and something i found really engaging despite not being familiar with the concept im unfortunately a filthy westerner and watch gritty crime dramas on tv instead as well as really informative. The main point of this arc though is to show how Ruby is falling into that same mindset of revenge revenge revenge which Aqua had going early in the series. Her method is certainly...unique intentionally cause controversy and immediately resolve it somehow??? but the same thing happened in Reality Dating Show which also my favourite arc besides when Ai was alive soooo i dont think Im at liberty to criticize this. The commentary about how the industry exploits sketchy topics/people for money is interesting and makes up one of the main things i like about the series but in hindsight this is REALLY disappointing considering this is arguably the last decent industry commentary we get from the series. on the topic of industry commentary: SCANDAL ...is just okay??? it was short in the manga and just as short here. It doesnt really have much story relevance as its more just a way to wrap up the whole The Hoshino twins are secretly Ais children thing the way it was done was pretty shitty if im being honest but it also gives some development about Kana. Before we get to Kana though lets talk about Akane. a national tragedy for AquaKane fans everywhere This part of the manga actually happened way earlier before the scandal arc entirely. But i think it fits better here as it sets up Aquas character for better or for worse within the next arc. What Im about to say might be controversial but i honestly believe if Akane was killed or at the very least substantially injured during this scene i think the show would be way better. I really REALLY like Akanes character but her misfortune would not only be a fascinating look at how Aqua sees Akane but also possibly give him reason for some of the things he does later in the series. Either way this gets faked out and Akane lives being saved by Aqua because HE PUT A TRACKER ON HER WITHOUT HER KNOWLEDGE. Extremely questionable ethics aside this tracker thing shows Aqua does care about Akane to some degree even if its for purely selfish reasons. This could have gone in so many cool directions but unfortunately because this is also where the two break up. Akane is now going to be relegated to mostly a side character for the rest of the series. No more cute romance no more cool detective stuff and nothing stopping Aqua from becoming SecondHand Dr. Tenma. This is also where i believe the series REALLY starts to fall off but its probably time we talk about the best part of the season first. oh...she just like me...SHE JUST LIKE ME FR if you asked me before season 3 released who my favourite ONK character was i would say Akane because while she didnt have much relevance during the last parts of the manga when she did make an appearance it was if she realized how much the story had fallen up to that point and tried her best to save it from being egregiously mediocre. She may have failed in that regard but she was still a light at the end of a very long tunnel. Kana however i mostly sidelined because her character mostly boiled down to waaaa aqua doesnt love me and my career is in the gutter and she didnt really contribute much to the plot. Having given the manga some time and also growing more as a person i find myself really resonating with Kana and would go so far as to say shes my favourite character despite not having much different from her manga counterpart. This season focuses on her pretty heavily as this is where her character starts to really pick up and hopefully reaches a decent conclusion if the anime team play their cards right. Unfortunately with how the Anime is headed shes probably not getting a decent conclusion to her side of the story just like Akane. Also i cant not mention this but Aqua and Kana NEED to get together. Shipping wars are probably the most unemployed thing people can do but Im gonna participate regardless. I will also take KanaKane because im a sucker for rivals to lovers. Romance isnt exactly a big thing in ONK so i wont dwell on it any longer. MOVIE Hoo boy. This is gonna be fun. After Aqua leaked to the public that him and Ruby were Ais children he starts work on The 15Year Lie a biography on Ai Hoshino. I have a lot to say about this arc but Im going to save most of it for when it gets fully adapted. Some things i wanna say though: This arc was a mess in the Manga and it still feels messy here. This mess wasnt particularly an issue until the Auditions for Ais role in the movie AKANE IS SO MUCH MORE SUITED FOR THE ROLE THAN RUBY EVER WILL BE. I AM GOING TO DIE ON THIS HILL where the series really started to dip in quality which is not something i can say for the manga since its dip was much earlier. Soooo are we getting anything about Hikaru? Even besides the killing for the original actress chosen to play Ai??? The anime team have expanded and switched the order of some scenes and i dont see why they havent done more set up for Hikaru cuz yknow...HES THE MAIN ANTAGONIST. HE IS ARGUABLY THE MOST IMPORTANT CHARACTER IN THE SERIES BESIDES AI AND COULD USE THE DEVELOPMENT?????? This adaptation made me realize Ruby is probably the weakest character within the main cast even after Aqua went full edgelord and started doing Light Yagamiesque internal monologues. This made the last few episodes where she became a big focus way less entertaining and interesting to watch. The flashback stuff involving Sarinas mother was pretty heartbreaking though so i can give her that. The ending of the season was really underwhelming. It set up a lot but didnt conclude much. What it did conclude was...yikes. finally GOOD GOD I WAS HOPING THEY WOULD CHANGE IT IN SOME WAY BUT NOPE THEY JUST WENT FULL FORCE WITH IT AND NOW WE HAVE TO DEAL WITH THE CONSEQUENCES. What did i want them to change? Blank Fairy Akira Yamaoka Silent Hill 2 OST When i first read the subtitles of Rubys character talking about how she Sarina wanted to marry Aqua Gorou when she turned 16 i paused the episode leaned back in my chair took a deep breath cupped my mouth firmly with my hands and started laughing. At was at this point i realized something. they arent changing anything. This terrifies me because there is a very high chance they wont alter the absolutely garbage ending of the manga. The best we are getting is some expansion on scenes but other than that? Its really not looking good and not just because of the plot point that made me realize this. speaking of that plot point: I dont think i need to say this but considering what Ive seen online and how normalized it can feel Im going to say it anyway. INCEST IS BAD. I understand loving your siblings but...jesus. I know the same argument can be made for say Homosexuality but it falls apart when you consider the biological concerns. Inbreeding causes birth deformities which should be reason enough to completely disregard Incest as something that should be committed. Even without the biological concerns the psychological repercussions are enough justification against Incest entirely. A romantic dynamic mixed with a familial dynamic creates all kinds of concerns for how a power dynamic would operate in such a relationship. Even with my reasons aside Incest is plain weird no matter the context. Why this is present in ONK no less confuses me to this day. Even MORE things aside theres no point to Aqua and Ruby being lovers. Regardless of incest power dynamic mental age gap all sorts of things theres nothing i can see them gaining. Ruby becomes happier and thats all that changes. It is never brought up in any real capacity after. My main hope going into this part of the story was that the anime team would cut it completely. It didnt serve anything to the plot and it doesnt have any reason to be adapted either besides pleasing the loud minority that like this sort of thing. Seriously the shit storm i saw when 143 yet to be adapted dropped without even being too aware of Oshi No Ko at the time was astonishing. It was only topped by the final chapter causing an even bigger shit storm. OVERALL THOUGHTS Criticism aside Oshi No Ko is still very much worth watching. If you can look past some of the horrible decisions which are NOT going to be remedied you will see a fascinating deconstruction of the entertainment industry and a nice side dish of character drama and revenge. I still consider ONK to be one of my favourite series ever made but that doesnt mean Im gonna pull any punches when it comes to the problems i have with it. If this season had a proper conclusion and at the very least made an attempt to alter one of the most unnecessary parts of the manga it would be pushing 9.5/95 territory. I still have hope for the final season as the anime crew have done an amazing job regardless. 8.9/10.