Manga Review: Oshi no Ko #1 by Aka Akasaka and Mengo Yokoyari
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be a nepo baby? Born to a celebrity with looks and connections from the very beginning, maybe money too? Sarina did, before she died of brain cancer. But she could only dream in her hospital room, watching her favorite young idol singer, Ai Hoshino perform on television. She got her doctor, future ob-gyn specialist Gorou, hooked on fandom too.
Four years later, Dr. Gorou is still practicing in the same small hospital in remote Miyazaki Prefecture. He’s shocked to discover that his latest patient is Ai Hoshino herself! She and her manager Ichigo Saitou came to this out of the way location to hide exactly what her “illness” is that she’s recovering from. She’s pregnant with twins.
This is a problem for several reasons. First, as an idol singer, Ai is supposed to be “pure” so that fans can project on her as “like me for real” or “she’s saving herself for me.” No boyfriend, no sex, and certainly no babies lest the scandal drive away the fans. Second, she’s only sixteen, and that’s considered too young to be a mother even in Japanese society. Plus, she’s tiny and giving birth to twins is highly risky. There’s still a couple of weeks before the legal limit on abortion in Japan, but Ai firmly decides against that. She wants both an idol career and to be a mother!
Despite his misgivings, Dr. Gorou is a loyal fan, so he does his best to prepare Ai for the upcoming birth. However, just before the due date, the doctor is attacked and killed by one of Ai’s stalkers.
That’s not the end of his story, though. After passing through darkness, Dr. Gorou finds himself waking up as a baby. Ai’s baby! Somehow, he still possesses all his old memories. He’s named Aquamarine (a “sparkly” name that was the fashion at that point in the past) and his fraternal twin sister is named “Ruby.” She turns out to be Sarina reincarnated…somehow.
Initially, the twins hide their ability to talk, and they’re passed off to the public as the children of Miyako Saitou, the manager’s wife. Ai can only be with them in secret. Miyako is initially not at all happy with her role as babysitter, but the twins finally break character to claim that they were sent as part of Ai’s destiny to terrify Miyako into not giving away the game. She later comes to love them.
A few years pass, and it’s noted that Aquamarine is naturally good at acting, while Ruby is very good at dancing for her age. Ai struggles with her career, but eventually lands a plum role in a movie. This propels her into a higher fame track. But then tragedy strikes.
This entire first volume is the prologue to the real story of the manga, which begins when the twins reach their teenage years and start their own careers in the entertainment industry. We see glimpses of the future in this volume with flashes of interviews taking place then, so the reader knows something’s up, but not the actual twist.
Which is why the animated adaptation had its first episode be triple length so it could get to [spoiler redacted] without trying the patience of the audience members who’d read the manga.
“Oshi no Ko” is a phrase that has multiple meanings, which is why it hasn’t been translated into English. Some of them come up in the manga itself, so I won’t get into it here.
The writing and art are both excellent. The story tends to focus on the downsides of the idol business, with “lies are a form of love” as a running subtheme.
There’s a lot of unanswered questions in this first volume, including just exactly why Aquamarine and Ruby have Gorou’s and Sarina’s memories. Is this part of a larger supernatural presence in the world, or the “one weird thing” in an otherwise realistic series?
Content note: Ai’s been having underage unmarried sex. Gorou is teased about supposedly being attracted to teenagers. Breastfeeding jokes. Murder. Ruby’s a pottymouth. The rating says this is for older teens.
This one has some intriguing possibilities. Mystery fans who don’t mind the “one weird thing” subgenre should enjoy it best.
