YMMV / Oshi no Ko

• Ass Pull: Akane finding out about not just Ai's pregnancy, but also the prime identity of Ruby and Aqua's father, simply by doing research on publicly available videos, made some audiences sour. While Akane has been stated to be a genius actress and her method acting requires her to study who she wants to impersonate in great detail, Akane was able to correctly guess many undisclosed parts of Ai's life just by watching her in interviews and archived tv shows for a few days.
• Awesome Music:
  • The opening song, "Idol" by YOASOBI, is an upbeat pop song with gothic opera elements, which does well to highlight the series' overall focus on the darker aspects of the idol and acting industries. The song's lyrics are all about Ai, her role as an idol, and her true desire to love. Even more so, the song became the first Japanese song and the first anime song to become the top song on Billboard Global (Excluding the US). And during the Kohaku Uta Gassen 2023, Yoasobi performed the song with several Jpop and Kpop idol groups as a huge celebration for pop music in Asia. Another version of "Idol" (sung by none other than Rie Takahashi, Ai's Japanese VA) is equally popular, if not more so, even garnering over 6.5 million views within just two weeks.
  • The ending song, "Mephisto" by Queen Bee, is very bleak and dark. In contrast to the opening song, this song is about Aqua and Ruby, particularly Aqua's mission to avenge Ai and protect his sister.
  • "Sign wa B" ("Our Sign is B") may be a much more generic pop song than the OP or ED, but it makes up for it by being incredibly energetic and catchy. Some fans of the anime have admitted that, even though they normally aren't drawn to idol music, they find themselves listening to this song on repeat (along with B Komachi's other hits).
• Base-Breaking Character:
  • Aqua has increasingly become one, especially in the eyes of certain international fanbases. His clear struggle to put the past behind him and enjoy life as opposed to seeking justice for his mother's murder is understandable, which makes his subsequent self-destructive tendencies and willingness to push away his loved ones to take on all the darkness himself seem like a tragic, but accepted part of his character. His detractors find that he hurts just as many people as he tries to save, as his manipulative nature and very personal actions (putting a GPS tracker on Akane, deliberately avoiding Kana for a year, revealing his and Ruby's parentage without her full consent) combined with the aforementioned self-destruction paints him as a scumbag rather than a troubled kid.
  • Kana is a very popular character, but she has just as many detractors for exactly the same reasons people like her. Kana's determination to make it in the entertainment world in spite of her increasingly fluctuating career and her deep insecurities because of her Former Child Star status and her need to be loved either make her a good example of a Determinator in a world set up to knock her down; or too stubborn and unable to be sympathized with because her abrasive and blunt personality are part of the reason why she had so much trouble in her career, with her need for love coming off as forced. Her romance with Aqua also gets heated, with some thinking that it's a decent slow-burn and others wondering why she'd keep pining for him in spite of his actions. Finally, Kana's importance to the story gets debate, as some find her superfluous for being deliberately Locked Out of the Loop while others believe her relative innocence is key to stopping the twins from complete self-destruction.
• Broken Base:
  • In general, the series' treatment of the people involved in show business gets a lot of heated discussion from fan and critic alike. People who liked it praise the series for being willing to discuss the darker topics in the industry but not pointing one finger at a specific target. People who didn't often say that the narrative blame on any of these incidents is far too light on the part of higher ups and directors, and that the people given the most scorn are usually unruly fans. This opinion is especially prevalent in critics of Akane's character arc in Love Now and how much it takes and deviates from Hana Kimura's Terrace House incident.
  • The circumstances that allow Ruby to learn about who killed Goro and Ai, and the subsequent hardening of her heart, proved very divisive. On the one hand, Ruby had been out of the main plot for a long time and hadn't received main focus since the prologue; with this development, some fans argued that it was the kick in the rear she needed to finally become active in the story. On the other hand, some fans felt like the reveal cheated Ruby out of proper character development, as rather than learning this information on her own she was informed by supernatural forces, and many feared that it made her a carbon copy of Aqua at his most revenge-obsessed too quickly.
  • Aqua outing himself and Ruby as Ai's children to throw off attention from Kana's scandal got a very heated debate. Some felt like Aqua overreacted hard, since while it's clear that he cares about Kana more than he'd ever admit to himself, he equated her career to his family's biggest and most personal secret without getting Ruby's true consent for it, and as a result, agree with Ruby's accusation that he doesn't actually care about their family. Some saw it as a natural extension of his protection of Kana, and in line with Aqua's self-destructive tendencies to save others. Then there was a crowd who thought that Aqua's misguided act and Ruby's further distancing from him were excellent plot points that should have happened, but didn't want it to be attached to Kana's scandal—especially since Kana decided to weather the scandal herself instead of relying on Aqua as she'd unwittingly done prior, but got his help anyway under her nose.
  • The arc beginning in Chapter 123 in which Ruby develops and pursues an incestuous crush on Aqua after discovering that he used to be Gorou has proven controversial. Some fans view it as a logical and appropriate progression of Ruby's previously-established feelings for Gorou, while others just find the whole thing repulsive. A third camp doesn't take issue with the story portraying incestuous feelings per se, but feels that Ruby's feelings for Gorou have been unduly warped and exaggerated for the sake of the arc and too often used as cheap comedy fodder.
• Catharsis Factor: After everything that went on through the past chapters from their past lives' deaths to the downward traumatic spiral of their current lives, seeing Aqua and Ruby discover the identities of their past selves in Chapter 122 is immensely satisfying.
• Creator's Pet: Some vocal detractors in the Japanese fanbase have accused Kana of this trope. Despite her being Locked Out of the Loop on the overall plot and her being considered a mediocre idol, Kana has appeared in every major arc in some capacity and is ultimately the reason why the public at large knows about Ai's pregnancy. The same vocal detractors also criticize the in-universe praise she gets as an entertainer and professional when she's just as frequently considered hard to work with by the same people and she's made a number of desperate moves a new celebrity would make, such as her accepting the invitation to a bar known for girls looking to sleep their way to a new role.
• Creepy Cute: Crow Girl. She has a perpetual soulless gaze, a murder of crows following her everywhere, an omniscient knowledge of the entire cast, and seems to be able to appear and then disappear without warning, all of which make her one hell of a Creepy Child most of the time. And yet, Chapter 127 shows off a surprisingly cute side to her as well with how desperate she can be to maintain her menacing aura.
• Crossing the Line Twice: An adaptational change in this case. While the scene where Kana gets subjected to Harsh Word Impact is similar in the manga and anime, the former had her generically stabbed in the heart while the latter stabbed her in the lower abdomen with gushing blood—in exactly the same place Ai was stabbed.
• Ensemble Dark Horse:
  • Despite only appearing during the first arc, the nurse who works with Goro, nicknamed "Nurse-chan" by fans, is fairly popular for her snarky humor towards him that you wouldn't find out of place in Akasaka's previous work, Kaguya-sama: Love Is War, with many hoping she comes back in some way or fashion in the story's present day.
  • After the anime aired and they were given distinct designs, the B-Komachi members from Ai's generation have become a subject of intrigue and speculation, especially after the two official side stories (45510 and Viewpoint B) featuring two of its members as narrators were released. Many fans are hoping that these girls would come back in and meet Ai's children in the present day while discussing their rather complex relationship with Ai to them.
  • Miyako is widely loved by the fandom for being a great adoptive mom to the twins and a competent business owner who was forced to step up when her husband abandoned her.
• Epileptic Trees: Quite a good number of fans believe that this series and Kaguya-sama are set in the same world due to Show Within a Show Sweet Today existing in both series and the introduction of Frill Shiranui. This is later confirmed by the author to be true, as he states that the story of Oshi no Ko is set several years after Love Is War. This is finally shown in Chapter 90.1, which reveals that Kaguya has become a photographer and presumably married Miyuki.
• Fan Nickname:
  • Based on Ruby accidentally misnaming Kana's Red Baron title, Japanese fans call Kana "Baking Soda-chan".
  • The Hoshino Family's unique star eyes are called the "Hoshigan" or the "Staringan" by the fanbase, especially whenever the twins harbor dark thoughts during the series.
• Fandom Rivalry:
  • It became the latest anime to get in the crosshairs of the more militant part of the Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood fandom. FMAB fans have a track record of review bombing any anime that takes over the title of top-rated anime in MyAnimeList, which they did in droves to Oshi No Ko after it took the spot following its acclaimed premiere. This has led Oshi no Ko fans on MAL to accuse detractors of being Brotherhood fans, whether or not they actually are.
  • Oshi no Ko has gotten increasing ire from fans/fanbases of more traditional idol anime and media series like The Idolmaster and Love Live!. Most of it seems to stem from some Oshi no Ko fans tending to see Oshi no Ko's depictions of idols (especially Ai and her notorious liar status) as the end-all be-all of what idols are like, frustrating fans of traditional idol media who feel that while Oshi no Ko's take on idols has truth to it in regards to the more negative practices of the real-life industry, the subject has more nuance and all depictions of idols shouldn't be painted with the same brush. On the other hand, several Oshi no Ko fans have asserted that several of these same franchises have openly accepted Oshi no Ko despite supposedly painting idols in the "wrong light", with several other works that also deconstructs the Idol industry such as BanG Dream! and THE iDOLM@STER: Shiny Colors outright collaborating with Oshi no Ko or adding the OP theme "Idol" to their songlists. Some of the debates about this can get vitriolic quickly over places such as Twitter.
• Friendly Fandoms:
  • There's quite the overlap between fans of this series and act-age, especially after the latter's cancellation, which caused many to jump ship to this series due to its overlapping themes.
  • Inevitably, there's a very large overlap with the Kaguya-sama: Love Is War fanbase, with both of the manga being written by the same author. Especially with hints of them being part of a shared universe, which was later confirmed.
  • With Getter Robo fans as the mashup "Perfect and Ultimate Getter" has given Getter Robo some newfound fame on the internet outside of the mecha fandom. It's also ironic as both Ryoma and Takuma's characters involved in avenging the death of a parent.
  • While Kamen Rider Geats originally started with a completely different premise, fans of Oshi no Ko were drawn to the series towards the endgame, which also criticized the morality of certain entertainment industries. Additionally, parental avengement from the male protagonists as well as a mixed bag of morals within both provided another link between the two, not to mention the high casualty count.
  • A good number of Spy X Family fans enjoy this series, though any fanart mainly features Aqua and Ruby as toddlers (especially when Anya is featured), and the focus is primarily on Ai and Yor. Considering family and murder are a highlight of both series, fans tend to go hand-in-hand despite clear genre differences between the two.
  • Mainly due to both having blue-themed protagonists with the same name, a common ship from between franchises is Ruby with KonoSuba's Aqua. The ship appears to have exploded in popularity due to the events in Chapter 123.
• Harsher in Hindsight:
  • Young Aqua and Ruby wanting to kill Kana for insulting their mother loses a lot of its humor following Ai's murder, especially after their father enters the picture and leads the pair towards a downward spiral.
  • The English dub of Akane's attempted suicide, while already a really depressing scene, becomes even worse when you learn that the mother of her English voice actress, Kristen McGuire, committed suicide when she was young.
  • Aqua's faith in Kana's performance abilities as a B-Komachi member and his well-hidden (from her) affection for her can get pretty hard to watch when the story shows she became the least liked member of the group and her performance went down the drain because Aqua kept on hiding his feelings for her, since she shines her brightest when she wants the people she loves to acknowledge her.
  • While Aqua and Ruby's orphan status is already heartbreaking, it gets worse when the backstories of their past lives are revealed.
  • Ai's backstory is heartwrenching enough on its own, but after her mother reveals additional details behind her situation it becomes much harder to stomach than it was beforehand.
• Hilarious in Hindsight: While jokes about Aqua having a sister complex were rampant since the second arc of the manga, they are turned in on the head by the middle of the Movie arc, with Ruby being the one with the complex.
• Hype Backlash: Being one of the most popular anime of 2023 and reaching the status of highest-rated anime on MyAnimeList, it's not surprising that some people who tried out the series felt like it didn't live up to the hype.
• Incest Yay Shipping: While still lagging behind the primary two ships of the series, Aqua x Ruby has picked up considerable steam as of recent chapters, especially with the release of the anime. Helping matters is the close connection the two shared in their previous lives as well, Ruby even in the present day expressing a deep love for Goro and Aqua being very protective of Ruby, especially earlier on (with jokes being made both in-universe and out about how much of a sister complex he has). Jokes about the two having sex to reincarnate Ai are frequent, and Ruby's little tease at the end of Chapter 123 only adds fuel to the fire. The fact the next chapter shows Aqua holding Ruby in a Bridal Carry does little to dissuade opinions.
• Jerkass Woobie: Kana. Irritable? Maybe. Someone struggling to feel loved? Yes. Is it hard to feel sorry for her? No.
• Les Yay: Ruby has been known to take interest in certain other girls in ways that some fans interpret as sexual attraction. For instance, she was openly ogling Minami's breasts and gushing over Frill when they first met, and she even had a heart in her eye when talking about Frill. She was also incredibly happy about getting to breastfeed off of Ai, and as Sarina, she had hearts in her eyes when talking about how cute Ai was.
• Love to Hate: Hikaru Kamiki is a truly horrifying monster of a person, being a sociopathic serial killer whose calmness and caution when committing the murders would make Johan Liebert proud. But his enigmatic nature, along with the various theories regarding his motives, makes him a compelling and engaging villain to watch, in spite of the little screen time he's had.
• Memetic Loser: Ryosuke, the stalker who murdered Ai. He's already a Hate Sink loser by default, as a dark representation of a Loony Fan who killed his favorite idol because she acted not like what he expected her to, then he committed suicide instead of facing the consequences of his actions. If you go to the internet, then you'd think that Ryosuke has evolved into a memetic punching bag; several heroes and villains from various media get edited into the show to prevent him from committing the murder and then either brutally kill him rather than letting him commit suicide, or scaring the hell out of him, forcing him to run away in humiliation without accomplishing anything.
• Memetic Molester: After chapter 123, Ruby is usually shown as a crazy obsessive who will stop at nothing to have sex with her twin brother Aqua.
• Memetic Mutation:
  • GENIUS MANGAKA AKASAKA AKA ^ExplanationA line added by Young Jump's editors on the color page of Chapter 2.
    • 2 WORKS RELEASED EVERY WEEK ^ExplanationPart of the line mentioned above, as Akasaka releases Oshi no Ko alongside Kaguya-sama: Love Is War in the same magazine. Frequently mocked because shortly afterwards, either Kaguya-sama or Young Jump took breaks multiple times in the next months.
  • What a progressive era we live in! ^ExplanationA line Director Gotanda says several times after Aqua tells him that he's so smart already because he watched Youtube. Frequently used when more modern and liberal topics or media are discussed.
  • Hey, Aqua isn't useless at all! ^ExplanationA joke and reference to KonoSuba, which features a female goddess, also named Aqua, who is frequently called useless.
  • Aqua turning full Sasuke Uchiha ^ExplanationAqua is in many aspects similar to Naruto character Sasuke Uchiha, as they are brooding, "edgy" characters with a desire to kill a relative of theirs to avenge their parent. Aqua's star-shaped eye is also frequently called a "mangekyo sharingan" when it goes through Eye Colour Change, because of their visual similarities and the fact that this started happening after Aqua witnessed the person he loved die.
  • KANA IS THE CUTEST ^ExplanationOften said by readers who are sympathizing with Kana and/or ship her with Aqua. The fan translators added an appendix with a hidden text that spelled out this sentence.
    • Kana licking baking soda.^ExplanationWhen Kana is first introduced, Ruby immediately fumbles her Japanese nickname by calling her "The Genius Child who could Lick Baking Soda like that", rather than "The Genius Child who can cry in 10 seconds flat". The anime proceeded to add little animations showing Kana licking Baking Soda, one in a spoon and one off the floor, the latter of which was pinned on the Oshi no Ko anime's twitter.
    • Snitch Licker ^ExplanationDue to the fact that the above Baking Soda mispronunciation doesn't translate well, the first translations of the manga done by fans instead made the mispronunciation "The Genius Child who could Lick a Lying Snitch" as opposed to "Flick a Crying Switch", referencing a scene in JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Golden Wind. Both nicknames are used interchangeably.
    • The Genius Child Actor who (insert action here) in 10 seconds^ExplanationKana's old childhood moniker has been subject to tons of hilarious parodies used to describe her by replacing "cries/licks baking soda" with another hilarious verb in the blank.
  • MAIN HEROINE RUBY/Who's Ruby again?^ExplanationDespite supposedly being the secondary protagonist after her brother, fans have noticed that Ruby hasn't had much focus in the manga so far since the first arc, ie, since Chapter 10, while Kana seems to have usurped her position as the main heroine in the story. Even the artist lampshades this via Ruby complaining about her noticeable lack of focus so far◊. This lessened after Chapter 78, with Aqua mistakenly believing that his revenge mission was fulfilled at the same time that Ruby's began after discovering Goro's corpse, leading to the manga shifting focus to Ruby. Flared right back up when Ruby was Demoted to Extra immediately after that arc, before dying down again after Ruby regained focus.
  • Baby Fan Dance ^Explanation In Volume 1, Ai is moved to tears by the sight of Aqua and Ruby cheering her on during one of her performances. While absolutely heart-warming, it's made hilarious by two things: Aqua and Ruby being infants (albeit with all their Past-Life Memories left intact), and them performing a hilariously upbeat glowstick dance while still parked in their strollers. It quickly went memetic upon being animated, with many people editing the scene to add music by their real-life oshi(s).
  • X Saves Ai/'The Good Ending'^ExplanationSo many fans created a 'what-if' better-than-canon (or so they claim) scenario/fanmade content where someone, usually from another series (but most commonly JoJo's Bizarre Adventure and the characters' outlandish powers), prevents Ai from being murdered, smack the karmic hammer to the would-be murderer, and say that the series ends in a good ending. All because of the need to cope on the tragic sudden death of Ai.
  • Daremo ga me wo ubawareteku / kimi wa kanpeki de kyuukyoku no - GETTER! ^ExplanationA Japanese Twitter user noted that the OP flows pretty well into STORM, the opening of Shin Getter Robo vs Neo Getter Robo. This mashup edit was then made, and before you knew it, people are making Getter Robo / Oshi no Ko crossover parodies. The storm then blows strong on Niconico Douga and eventually reaches Yoasobi themselves. This then reached the most extreme joking conclusion that Oshi no Ko should get in Super Robot Wars with the various other mecha pilots preventing Ai's death.
  • Ai is sometimes jokingly compared to Sayaka Maizono due to their similar-looking designs, being known as the top idols in their respective series, and being killed off early on via a knife stab to the abdomen.
  • As soon as the anime is announced, comparisons between Ai and Hu Tao become quite rampant across the internet. Both are singers with Exotic Eye Designs and are voiced by Rie Takahashi. Considering that Hu Tao runs a funeral parlor, the comparisons, more often than not, delve into Black Comedy territory.
  • Attaching Mephisto to every cliffhanger ever^ExplanationLike the <—To Be Continued— - -/Roundabout meme from JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, in Japan, it's become a meme to play the first few bars of Oshi No Ko's ED to any show's cliffhanger-like scenes and editing what's written on Oshi No Ko's episode card with a hilarious replacement related to the show they used. Here's exhibit A, B, C, and D just to name a few.
  • In what can only be described as Black Comedy incarnate, a popular choice for fans at cosplay conventions is to dress up as Ai... as she is on the brink of death, and sometimes even in her idol outfit. Some fans take it even further, and even re-enact the stabbing that lead to her demise. One such example from fan conventions even had Touma Kamiyama as the one behind the deed, using the Kaenken Rekka no less!
  • Ai reincarnating as the child of her own children is a product of the Incest Yay Shipping that especially caught on after chapters 122 and 123. Considering that the manga explicitly said that Ai wouldn't be able to reincarnate, these fan-conceived situations tend to deliberately ignore certain parts of the story's official canon.
• Moment of Awesome:
  • Akane is able to nail Ai's mannerisms after Aqua dismissed the idea of anyone capturing her spirit. The fact that she manages to render Aqua completely speechless after succeeding makes it all the more impactful.
  • Dubious nature aside, it's hard to not admire the sheer skill in Aqua's manipulations.
• Narm:
  • The scene where Aqua accidentally hits Kana during his Freak Out post-discussion with Ichigo gets this reaction from a portion of fans. It is upsetting to see the misunderstanding that Aqua "hates" Kana maintained and that she came to check on him despite him deliberately ignoring her for a year at that point, but the sheer absurdity of her sudden appearance behind him, the cutesy umbrella she left for him, and the fact that Aqua makes no attempt to apologize for it later made the scene unintentionally comical.
  • The official English dub has been so cheesy, that some even note it's So Bad, It's Good. One of these narmy moments include Ruby's breakdown against some online trollers following her mother's death, which sounds not alike a child, and a bit cringe-y.
• No Yay:
  • Some people feel this way about Aqua and his suitresses due to him having the mental maturity of an adult while Kana and Akane's mental age matches their physical age, in a similar vein to Satoru and Kayo's dynamic from ERASED. A number of fans fall under this simply due to seeing Aqua as very poor boyfriend material in general, and not just to one of them in particular.
  • Some people feel this towards the enormous devotion that Sarina/Ruby feels towards Doctor Gorou, being that she wanted to continue marrying him even after reincarnation, even though if he were alive he would be 30 years older than her. This goes a step further in chapter 123, where it is shown that Ruby seems open to the idea of having a relationship with her twin Aqua, after discovering that he is the reincarnation of her beloved doctor.
• One-Scene Wonder: Ai is only alive for a fraction of the entire story, but her personality and especially her relationship with her twins immediately endeared her to fans, so much so that her death scene caused eyes to leak in both visual mediums the story is presented in.
• Realism-Induced Horror: The manga has a lot of dark moments that come from exploring the less savory aspects of the entertainment industry, which indeed can be a dangerous field to work in. The talents often have little economic or creative freedom, while being emotionally or physically threatened by an online mob or other people in the industry. Akane's Interrupted Suicide is also Very Loosely Based on a True Story.
• Ship-to-Ship Combat: Since Aqua is the only cast member with a running romantic subplot, any ship with him gets hit with this trope. Fans of Aqua/Kana frequently butt heads with those for Aqua/Akane, with them arguing which heroine is better for him mentally, which one "gets" him, which one is necessary for Aqua's revenge to be seen to completion, etc. Then there's the third camp of shippers who'd rather have Kana/Akane and do away with Aqua altogether instead, finding the girls' tension and chemistry with each other far more interesting than the dynamic they share with Aqua, who these fans find as being too toxic and manipulative for either girl to have as a boyfriend due to recent developments with Aqua's character. After the revelations seen in Chapter 123, a fourth band of shippers has appeared, shipping Aqua/Ruby due to the large amount of Incest Subtext present within the Chapter 123 itself and in many chapters after the fact.
• Suspiciously Similar Song: The "versace flow" part of "Idol" (Sharakusai / Netami shitto nante nai...) sounds like the similarly-styled part in "Godzilla" (Bitch, I'm a player / I'm too motherfucking stingy for Cher...) by Eminem.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot:
  • Ruby's cynicism-fueled rise to the top could have easily made a handful of full arcs on their own, but the manga only expanded on how manipulative and calculating Ruby was willing to be during the Dig Deep! One Chance arc while the rest of her development was relegated to quick scenes.
  • The twins, pre and post-reincarnation, and even Kana have some of their internal struggles informed by how their parents treated them and how they idolize Ai as a mother. It doesn't take much for that to be tied to Miyako becoming their adoptive mother, and how she's been there for the twins every step of the way; however, the story doesn't ever have them think about it, and Miyako is often relegated to the sidelines. That being said, however, Chapter 124 brings her back to the spotlight and reunites her with her estranged husband.
  • Some readers believed that, despite not nearly being in as twisted a situation as Hikaru Kamiki was with Airi, Melt would be able to comment on the affair since he had some experience being used for his looks as a middle schooler. When some of The 15-Year Lie's cast discuss it, Melt doesn't even appear.
• Too Cool to Live: Ai, in-universe and out, was a scene stealer wherever she went. Aka didn't even plan on killing her at first, but thinking that she'd take attention away from her kids, he quickly turned her into the catalyst for Aqua to spring into action.
• Unintentionally Sympathetic: Meiya. In Ruby's Hidden Disdain Reveal, she calls her a loose-lipped leaker that will sic her fans on whoever she feels wronged her. That said, the leaks she made during the Dig Deep arc were pretty reasonably justified. Her entire craft was disrespected, she was asked very inappropriate questions that she was uncomfortable with (and that the director intended for it to be inappropriate regardless of how upsetting it was for her), and she had to work overnight all of a sudden because the director failed his job to ask for IP permission until the last day possible. She also graciously forgave the director once he was made to cosplay and understand the hardships of it. That being said, Ruby did agree with Meiya's stance, but the fact that she was right about her accusations and helped the director properly face his actions was just a bonus.
• Unintentionally Unsympathetic:
  • Ichigo, late into the story. Him breaking in the wake of Ai's death is understandable, but him deliberately cutting himself off from Miyako to secure connections and take revenge on the mastermind of her death rang hollow for a portion of the audience. No matter what the motives were, they felt he abandoned his wife and his spiritual grandkids for 14 years, all for leads that Akane and the like found over a few months at best, and was accepted back into Strawberry Productions too easily for their liking. The sentiment grew stronger when Miyako revealed that Ichigo was the reason she could climb out of her dying hostess job, and that both of them frequented a restaurant for years but never saw each other until Aqua pushes them together. At the very least Aqua is a little mad about it and Miyako publicly made him the company janitor when he came back, but they felt like it wasn't real atonement.
  • The Dig Deep! One Chance director is portrayed as an unreasonable guy who makes a lot of trouble in his quest for eye-catching entertainment, but at the end of the day he's still meant to be sympathetic since the way he goes about things is in direct contrast to the Japanese entertainment world's sterile red-tape approach; and he does make a sincere apology to Meiya for the way he treated her. For a number of readers, that wasn't enough to justify his very poor planning skills regarding the Tokyo Blade cosplays and his intentionally sexually suggestive interview, disrespecting the work of Meiya and the other guests just for one short TV segment.
• Visual Effects of Awesome: The animation for the anime adaptation is at a very high standard, being much more fluent and expressive than most contemporaries while still accurately portraying the manga's art style.
• The Woobie: Almost the entire main cast in addition to a number of extras. However, despite their increasingly controversial character changes, Aqua and Ruby have the worst of it; witnessing their beloved mother die before them at a young age is something that will hit far too Close to Home for many. Ruby in particular has been hit hard as we dive into more of her past life's pre-hospitalization endeavors, and all you want to do in the end is give her a hug.

---