In case youre new around these parts let me just pull a Kendrick Lamar and say that Im Oshi no Kos biggest hater. I staked my claim on this show being crap twenty minutes into the first episode and Ive stuck by that assertion ever since. Its a shallow insincere cynical piece of crap masquerading as a Serious Examination of the entertainment industry claiming to portray the true nature of working in this business while being just as plastic and pandering as the very attitudes it pretends to critique. No matter how many selfimportant speeches it puts into its characters mouths it cant hide the fact that at heart its a juvenile power fantasy about an selfinsert edgelord who boringly broods and cringes his way through a halfbaked murder mystery while amassing a harem of teenage girls sister included. As I said in my season 1 review if lies are the highest form of love then Oshi no Ko must be the greatest lover of all. So imagine how infuriating it was when I put on season 2 and realized it was actually really good. Listen I didnt want to believe it. How was this show getting me so invested? How was this show making me pump my fist and cheer with triumph? But the facts are the facts: for the first time this season I saw Oshi no Ko rise to become the best possible version of itself. After all the garbage it put me through I suddenly found myself watching a show that was propulsive beautiful earnest and filled with genuine insight into what drives people to throw their lives into art against all better judgement. This is the kind of show Oshi no Ko was always promising to be but never lived up to before. This was a show at least a little worthy of the tsunami of hype it crested into the anime world on. Unfortunately it was also proof that this show is never going to be truly great. But were getting ahead of ourselves. The first two thirds or so of season 2 are taken up by the Lala Lai arc in which Aqua Kana Akane and a smattering of new and old faces get together to put on a 2.5D stage play adaptation of a longrunning shonen action manga. On concept alone thats a pretty novel direction to take things we dont really have 2.5D plays in the West so seeing all the technical stagecraft necessary to translate manga into a theatrical performance was fascinating. Ditto the insight into the complicated process of adaptation how communication can break down between parties and the conflict between keeping a works original soul and adjusting to fit the demands of the new medium. Ive long been an advocate of adaptations making big changes when it makes the work better and watching those conflicts and conversations play out made me much more appreciative of how difficult that process can be. For the first time it felt like all the industry infodumping was actually enriching my understanding of how this business works and how it informed the characters place within it. Speaking of those characters what makes the Lala Lai arc really shine is in broadening the spotlight. This is no longer the Aqua and Ruby show this is a fullon ensemble piece where pretty much every member of the production has a moment to shine. It bobs and weaves between countless little stories playing out both during the rehearsal process and during the first performance of the play itself flashing back and forth as it digs into the heart of each individual passion that drives these actors to shine so brightly. And watching those passions collide and cascade makes that performance absolutely riveting. Seriously I cant count the number of times I just about leaped out of my seat and yelled Fuck yes at someone reaching their full potential on stage and seizing the spotlight in a brilliant display of emotion and animation the swooping camera and surreal colorscapes that take over this part of the show are the best Oshi no Ko has ever looked. Natural genius amateur it doesnt matter on the stage of Tokyo Blade everyone is a star. And no ones served better by this kaleidoscopic focus than Kana and Akane who are probably the true protagonists of this arc. Im still annoyed at how dumb and retconny Akanes backstory has been treated I swear season 1 gave us three different conflicting backstories for her but her rivalry with Kana over the years is the best stuff in all of Oshi no Ko. Theyve admired each other from afar for so long but resent each other for their incompatible acting styles. Theyre determined to outshine each other but never believe they can measure up. They cant stand each other but theyre entwined by fate so deeply they know theyll never be truly alive without each other. That push and pull of wanting to live up to someone while wanting to surpass them hating and loving them at the same time is the singularity that makes this entire arc resonate. Its gripping and heartbreaking and beautiful and if Aka Akasaka has any selfrespect hell end the manga with the two of them collectively realizing Aqua isnt worth their time and marrying each other instead. But of course thats not gonna happen. Because Aqua is the one albatross Oshi no Ko will never be able to untangle from around its neck. And this is why for as excellent as the Lala Lai arc is it cant save Oshi no Ko. Its why nothing can save Oshi no Ko. On a fundamental level it will never be able to shake the fact that its saddled itself with one of the worst protagonists in all of modern anime. Or at least one of the worst not to come out of your average seasonal isekai slop but I dont watch enough of those to know how hellishly low the bar truly is and I intend to keep it that way thank you very much. The point is Aqua sucks. Hes always sucked he always will suck and his mere presence in this story makes even its best ideas turn sour and ugly by the end. Even if you took out the fact hes technically a grown man involved in romantic subplots with three underage girls hes the worst kind of edgy selfinsert Light Yagami wannabe and he forces the whole story to bend around him and suck his dick at the expense of what its supposedly trying to say. Gutwrenching portrayal of online hate mobs driving a young talent to suicide? Nope its all so he can save the day and add Akane to his harem with no further repercussions. Showing the difficulties of new idol groups struggling for attention in the modern age? Nope just another chance for him to show off at Kanas concert and save her emotional state. Hell even Kana and Akanes rivalry is tainted by the knowledge that theyre ultimately fighting over this reincarnated pedophiles dick as much as for each others respect. No matter what ideas this show tries to explore or how earnestly it tries to grapple with the realities of the entertainment industry it always ends up coming back to Yeah but isnt Aqua such an edgy chad badass saving the day and getting all the bitches? Damn what a cool brooding dude In other words the real reason the Lala Lai arc works as well as it does isnt the focus on the stagecraft process or the expanded cast or Kana and Akane. Its because turning into an ensemble piece means Aqua gets at little screen time as humanly possible so hes mostly not around to fuck everyones great moments up for a change. And even then every time he does show up in that arc feels like all the air being let out of a balloon. And hes probably at his best during the play At least dealing with the lasting trauma of Ais death gives him some actual internal conflict to play with But even thats not enough to keep the protagonist of this fucking show from feeling like a sickening blemish on his own supposed series. And once that arcs over and the focus returns to Aqua and Ruby in the seasons final third? Hooooooo boy does it immediately go to shit again. All the masturbatory chauvinism I ripped into season 1 for is back like it never left no lessons learned from how much better Lala Lai was charting an entirely different path. Hell its arguably even worse because it ends up reminding us that Rubys just as irredeemably broken a character as Aqua at this point. I know the teenage girl trying to marry her adult doctor who is secretly her reincarnated brother also makes this show worse? Im shocked I say Shocked Speaking of can we acknowledge at this point that the whole reincarnation aspect of Oshi no Ko just should not have existed? Theres nothing in this story that couldnt work just as well if Aqua was just a normal edgy teen who watched his mom die as a kid and developed PTSD/a desire for vengeance from that. Its only just become even somewhat plot relevant its barely present in any character interactions or relationships even between Aqua and Ruby they almost never talk about it none of its themes have any reliance on their past lives to get the point across... Really its only contribution is making every potential romantic subplot with Aqua a fivealarm emergency siren while the show limply tries to pretend he totally counts as a normal teenage boy for dating purposes honest Its a ten ton weight dragging the entire story down for no goddamn reason and youd barely have to edit the earliest chapters at all to get rid of it entirely. That wouldnt fix all its problems but it would at least make it salvageable. Which currently despite how shockingly good this season started it is not. So where do we go from here? Who fucking knows. Id like to think Oshi no Ko could somehow learn from its successes with Lala Lai and continue shooting for greater heights but everything Ive heard from my friends whove read the manga suggests that was the high point and its all downhill from here. All I know is that for better or worse Im on this train to the end. If only to continue rubbing in everyones faces that I was right from the start about what a turd this would turn out to be. But Ill save that gloating for when its truly deserved and god knows it will be deserved later on based on some of the spoilers Ive picked up. For now though Ill just hope the murder mystery roaring back into focus in the seasons final couple episodes means this show will start being trashy in a fun way going into season 3 instead of just making me want to gag. We can only hope.