It’s a funny thing about Oshi no Ko. For me it tends to gravitate towards the poles – either I’m really engrossed or extremely annoyed. The last couple of episodes have been in the murky middle for me, though. As I glance at the notepad which has been my companion (well, this is like the great-grandchild X 50) through all these years of blogging, there’s almost nothing there. Sometimes a great anime episode will enrapture me so much that I never feel compelled to jot anything down. This, though? Just not a lot stands out.
I don’t know if it’s better to be angry than indifferent about fiction, but it does lend itself better to writing. Not the sort of criticism I enjoy, though, so I don’t regret that it’s not the case now. I’m just kind of bogged down in the fact that “Tokyo Blade” is such a derivative bore (I’m reduced to trying to figure out which franchise individual elements are lifted from), and my lack of buy-in to the whole Akane-Kana acting feud. It doesn’t add up to much. The last couple of minutes of the episode are interesting, because that’s when Akasaka breaks out of the mode he’s in for most of it.
I think part of it, for me, is that Akasaka is at heart more a fanboy than anything else. He loves this shit, all of it. It’s kind of heartwarming in a sense, that no matter how far he veers away at times in this series, he always winds up a cheerleader in the end. It just doesn’t make compelling drama for me, that’s all. I don’t find Kana or Akane to be bad characters or anything, but I don’t find the question of whether Kana decides to chew the scenery rather than subvert her performance to the needs of the show to be a matter of great import or emotional weight.
And of course Kana was going to give in at the end and embrace her inner ham – this is Akasaka. She’s more fun when she’s unfettered, I’ll say that much. And fun is the key theme of the moment, as that’s the MacGuffin of Aqua’s current crisis. Panic attacks are no joking matter – I have some experience with them through close associates and occasionally myself. I have some issue with the Director’s diagnosis being treated as some great reveal, though. I mean, it’s been obvious forever that Aqua’s panic was triggered by guilt over enjoying being a performer. It fits the profile neatly – his “ice-cold” acting style is a clear response to that.
As smart a guy as Aqua is supposed to be I find it pretty hard to believe his didn’t self-diagnose the cause of his panic disorder, which goes beyond simple PTSD over Ai’s death. But I suppose it’s easier to see others than to see ourselves. Now the question is whether he’s capable of overcoming it in the interest of his revenge quest. If indeed this takes us to a new phase of Aqua’s arc – where he’s actively trying to stand out as a performer in order to aid his larger goal – that has some potential in narrative terms. But I’m not sure how much gas is left in the dramatic tank as far as “Blade” is concerned, apart from as the first venue for him to do that.
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