I’ll say this for the second season of Oshi no Ko. It can feel like an uphill struggle sometimes, but it’s managing to hold my engagement better than the first. There’s a simple reality I have to accept – some things are a lot more important to Akasaka Aka than they are to me. That’s not a criticism – in fact, it makes criticism in the literary sense more difficult. I don’t care that much about all his fanboy objects – the idol biz, 2.5D anime shows, self-important actors. But if I can get through the moments when he indulges his otaku side excessively, the rest of it can absolutely be an interesting work.
For all those reasons I found the B-part of this episode a lot more interesting, and that’s hardly the first time that sort of episodic split has happened here. The stuff with Aqua embracing his inner overactor was fine, but certainly telegraphed. We knew it was coming, we knew why it was coming. Embracing the pain he felt at losing Ai and imagining Princess Saya’s resurrection was hers was perfectly logical. Not the big emotional crescendo I suspect it was intended to be, but it made sense for the character and the moment.
“Tokyo Blade” itself was a bore, and while I don’t believe Akasaka was trying to sell it as Citizen Kane or anything I do think this is one of those things he cares a lot more about. However I did like the extended – well, complete – inclusion of the curtain calls. The subtext there (especially from Kana) was fun. I also appreciate the fact that just when “Blade” is clearly out of gas for me as a narrative driver, Akasaka seems to be realizing that and mostly moving on from it. We may get a bit more of the production but it seems pretty clear TB has mostly fulfilled its role as a plot driver.
Then things get interesting, as we finally swivel towards the main story. At some presumably recent point Aqua has gotten his DNA report back – possibly from an underground lab, as a proper one wouldn’t be giving DNA results on subjects without their consent. It looks for a moment as if Kindaichi the director is the critical figure – Aqua certainly shows great interest in him and joins the cast for yakiniku when Kindaichi lets himself be dragged along. And he promptly plants himself next to Kindaichi at the table and starts grilling him like the ribeye in front of them, especially when Kindaichi starts talking about a “mistake” in the past, near the beginning of Lala Lai.
But when Aqua finally drops the bomb, the shockwave takes an unexpected direction. Himekawa has offered to get the director drunk and get the truth out of him (kudos for the “Wild Chicken” bottle, which is a mockup of a dusty Wild Turkey 12 year bottle from the 90s), as he says he’s curious about his youthful indiscretion too. And there’s a connection there – Kindaichi seems to have semi-raised Himekawa, who grew up in a children’s home. That gives him an interesting parallel with Aqua. A parallel which becomes even more coincidental when Aqua tells him (after the director has passed out) that the two of them are half-brothers, with the same father.
I confess I didn’t see that coming. Who is the father? It doesn’t really make any sense for it to be Kindaichi, unless the reason he took Himekawa in is because he knew the truth and felt guilty. And what’s the connection to Kaburagi, the producer – the lead Aqua was following that led him to “Tokyo Blade” in the first place? Himekawa Taiki has been a pretty opaque character despite his prominent role in the production, but now it’s clear that was a feint. What sort of guy is he, and how will he react to the bomb Aqua just dropped on him?
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