Do You remember last time we announced that we would review a new Japanese anime called ‘Oshi No Ko’ and we gave you a little sneak peek into the anime?
Now the time has come when we will officially start the reviewing adventure and we will give you Oshi No Ko Episode 1 Review.
We are pretty excited about it because Oshi No Ko anime is making a buzz all over the internet for its unique story with a blend of different genres; including comedy, drama, action, mystery, and supernatural.
Run-Time
The first episode of Oshi No Ko is a bit lengthier than all the other episodes of this Japanese anime.
Episode 1 of Oshi No Ko runs for about 90 minutes.
Yes. You heard it right. 90 long minutes. You know we are always looking for short anime to watch and when this came in the search bar, we got pretty excited. But the moment we played the first episode and saw the watch time, it did scare us, not going to lie.
However, not every episode is that long. All the other episodes will run for about 24 minutes which is fine by us.
Also, the 90 minutes did add a huge advantage to the series. We will talk more about it in the review section.
Oshi No Ko Episode 1 Review – Full
We are not lying when we say that episode 1 of Oshi No Ko starts with a bang. When you watch it, you will understand everything.
Oshi No Ko episode 1 starts by introducing us to the Japanese girl group B-Komachi who is the talk of the town because of their singing, cuteness, and mainly because of their center visual ‘AI’.
Ai is a 16-year-old idol who captivates the audience with her radiant youth, angelic voice, catchy dance moves, and sugary cuteness. Everybody loves her and is glued to the screens whenever she appears.
That’s how we get to know Gorou Amemiya who is a gynecologist sitting in a patient’s room and watching Ai perform one of her songs cutely on the stage. Apparently, he is an obsessive fan who loves Ai dearly and cheers for her violently like a super-fan.
Just a few minutes into the first episode of Oshi No Ko, I felt that I could relate to it so much because I have been a K-pop fan and I know how pop industry is sometimes and how fans behave.
We love our idols performing, talking, and just moving all the time. We support them in their success and low times and just obsess over them like crazy lunatic who wants to spread love.
However, this anime dives deeper into the world of an idol. It doesn’t portray it as a happy-go-lucky place where everything works out. It also shows the dark side of the music industry and fandoms. It is amazing to see an anime presenting a clear picture of the industry.
Now let’s get back to the story. Gorou Amemiya recalls that he became a fan of AI because of a 12-year-old patient named Sarina Tendouji. She was an obsessive fan of Ai and loved her dearly.
However, she was chronically ill and during her illness, her only source of happiness was watching Ai perform.
Later, Sarina died. While she was alive, she wanted Gorou to become a fan of Ai as she would keep telling him about her but he didn’t listen. However, after Sarina’s death, to remember her, he becomes a fan of Ai and by supporting Ai, he believes that he is supporting Sarina and her passion.
A few moments into the episode a shocking thing happens. Ai comes to see Gorou Amemiya in the hospital with her manager Ichigo Saito. Gorou is excited to see her and is exploding inside with all the happy emotions that he finally gets to meet his favorite idol.
But he realizes that she is here because she is pregnant and wants to hide it from the world.
He becomes doubtful about supporting her now that she is pregnant with twins. His thoughts also take us deeper into the idol world’s dark reality where idols are not supposed to date or even engage in romantic encounters with anyone because then fans get angry.
The fans feel like they own the idols and if they date someone, they will stop supporting them.
Gorou decides to support her nevertheless and promises Ai that he will make sure that she gives birth to healthy twins.
Episode 1 of Oshi No Ko shocks us once again. Moments before the surgery Gorou goes out of the hospital where he is followed by someone. Turns out the stranger is a stalker of Ai who knows about Ai’s secret pregnancy and her whereabouts.
Gorou follows her but he tricks him and pushes Gorou off the cliff and Gorou dies.
I literally gasped for air when I saw that scene because I didn’t expect him to die like that.
However, this anime again showed how obsessive some fans can become. They become stalkers and will even harm their idols because of their toxic possessiveness.
This doesn’t stop here though. Another shocking thing is on the way.
In the hospital, Ai gives birth to two beautiful twins, a son, and a daughter. Turns out, the twins are reincarnations of Gorou and Sarina who remember their past lives but don’t tell each other about themselves.
Gorou is named Aquamarine Hoshino and Sarina is named Ruby Hoshino.
After the hiatus, Ai comes back to her idol world and Ichigo Saito’s wife, Miyako Saito takes care of the children. The kids are still obsessive about AI, now their mother. They cheer for her and watch her on TV constantly.
Another hard reality of Idol World kicks in when Ai makes a comeback, the people on the set, producer, director, and staff members are all just doing their jobs. They are not the fans of the idols that are performing on stage because there are so many of them.
They do it like a chore which they don’t enjoy as much. They have to cheer for the idols even if they don’t like them which speaks volumes about the behind-the-scenes reality of the music industry and the idol world.
Also, when an artist takes a hiatus, it is harder for them to bounce back quickly. They get less work and much less money.
Even though Ai is the center visual of the group, still she gets a meager amount of money because producers, writers, directors, and other members keep most of the profits.
A lot of people who want to become an idol for their charm and money should definitely watch this anime. They could do it for fun if they want but for struggling idols, money is not an option in the beginning.
The first episode of Oshi No Ko also shows Ai struggling with finances and choosing acting gigs and commercials for stability.
However, again she faces politics in the industry because most of her scenes get cut because she was cuter than the lead actress and producers didn’t like it.
The anime introduces another character named Taishi Gotanda who is a film director. He notices Aqua and sees acting potential in him and offers him a small role in a film. He agrees and does the scene perfectly.
On the set, he meets red-haired-girl ‘Kana’ who works alongside him. She gets jealous of Aqua because he acts better than her in the scene.
Ai loves and cares for her children immensely. She recalls that she wanted her babies because she didn’t have anyone for whole her life.
She was brought up in an orphanage where nobody really loved her. When Ichigo scouted her, he made her realize that in the idol world, she didn’t have to love truly. She could just lie because the whole industry runs on it.
Oshi No Ko Ai doesn’t feel like she has truly loved anyone but she feels true love when she looks at her children. She also feels that her children want to know about their father so she calls him to meet their children.
However, the first episode doesn’t stop with its shocking elements. The last one is a little bit more dangerous than all the others.
Everything is going fine in Ai’s life. She has her children who love and support her wholeheartedly. Her career is back on track again with acting gigs, music shows, movies, and commercials. But as they stay, nothing lasts forever.
The doorbell rings and Ai thinks it’s the father of their children.
But it’s not. It’s the stalker from before who killed Gorou Amemiya.
In a millisecond, he stabs Ai in the gut.
He punishes her for having children and having an affair with a man. He stabs her because he dedicated his whole life to her but she doesn’t care one bit. Ai is staggering but tells the stalker that she knows him.
Even though she never loved anyone truly, she tells him that she tries to love people hoping one day it will be real.
She tells him that his name is Ryosuke who comes to all her fan meetings and brings gifts for her. He becomes shocked and ashamed with guilt and runs away.
Aqua watches all this in horror with Ai’s blood spilling all over the floor. He calls the ambulance in a hurry. Ai hugs him and tells him and Ruby that she loves them both. She tells Ruby that she will become an excellent idol and Aqua will become a good actor.
Ai dies expressing love for her children.
It was a shocking and heart-wrenching scene because it was the first episode and I thought Ai is the main character so how could she die?
Do you know what hurts the most? Nothing changes.
No matter if you are the most influential person in the world, when you die, people will remember you only for a moment and then move on. That’s the hard and sad reality of the world and Oshi No Ko portrays that perfectly.
Ai’s death is all over the news for three days only then people moved on. The stalker committed suicide.
The social media keyboard warriors hit the nerve as they say negative things about Ai on the internet even though she is dead. Everything is hurtful to the people closest to Ai.
Ai’s manager, Ichigo Saito closes down his agency. Miyako takes Aqua and Ruby under her care. Aqua receives therapy for his traumatic experience.
He asks Director Gotanda to take him under his wing and teach him about direction, assistance, and industry in detail.
Conclusion
The Japanese anime ‘Oshi No Ko’ first episode is a roller-coaster ride as everything happens so quickly in a surprising manner.
Oshi No Ko idol ‘Ai’ becomes pregnant and gives birth to twins who are reincarnations of her fans, Gorou and Sarina.
They all were living a perfect life until an obsessive stalker killed Ai for having an affair and children.
I love how the anime hits you in the feels especially if you have been a fan of someone, you will relate to so many things in Oshi No Ko.
It is interesting to get a sneak peek into the behind-the-scenes reality of the music industry and how it drains and ruins everything.