Oshi no Ko (2020)

[推しの子]

Volume 1

Author: Aka Akasaka
Artist: Mengo Yokoyari
Publisher: Young Jump Comics

Synopsis:
A doctor tending to a pregnant idol singer is murdered and finds himself reincarnated as one of the idol's twin children.

Story/Characters:
As I said in my review of the first season of the TV series, when this series first launched, it had my attention as I was a fan of author Aka Akasaka's Kaguya-sama, but as I don't like idol stuff, I decided to pass on it. It wasn't until the anime adaptation was announced that I learned about the actual setup and direction of the series that I got interested. I thoroughly enjoyed the adaptation, so I promptly went about snapping up the manga to make up for lost time.

Now, for the benefit of those who didn't read my review of the first season of the anime, let's start at the beginning. We start with Gorou Amamiya, a country doctor whose a big idol otaku, especially for Ai of the group B-Komachi. The reason he's such a fan is that he's carrying on the legacy of a patient of his, a girl who died of a brain tumor. Little would he imagine that he would find himself tending to Ai herself when she comes to his hospital seeking prenatal care for a pregnancy she and especially her producer want to keep out of the public eye. Ai wants to keep her baby despite being only 16 and unmarried and in a line of work where whackjob fans freak out over the mere thought of their precious idol being vaguely in the vicinity of someone of the opposite sex. Doc decides to support her decision and see that her baby is delivered successfully, only to get murdered by one of Ai's stalkers on the night she gives birth. The next thing he knows, he wakes up as one of Ai's newborn twins, and not only that, but his twin sister is the reincarnation of the girl who inspired him to become a fan of Ai in the first place.

What follows is the childhood arc of the story, where these two twins, Aquamarine (Aqua for short) and Ruby, navigate the awkwardness of being fully aware reincarnations who were massive fans of the woman who is now their mother. We have the added dramatic irony that neither of them realize who the other was in their previous life as neither of them is interested in talking about who they once were. One of the big themes of the series is the mask of lies that is so central to the world in general and totally inexorable to the world of entertainment. The idea of the idol is based on lies and Ai is very good at what she does, to the point where she doubts any true sentiment of her own. She leads her double life of rising idol and secret mother of two while her children start to show precocious signs of budding talent. Aqua's uncanny quality gets him a bit part in a movie Ai is cast in and we're introduced to the child star Kana Arima (who you'll want to keep in mind for later). The main reason Aqua is chosen by the director because it's the opportunity to take young Kana down a peg before her ego can spoil her future prospects. Kana-chan won't forget the experience, but we'll get back to her later.

We get a nice scene of Ruby interacting with her mother as a toddler. Ruby wants to dance, but her memories of her frailty in her previous life make her too hesitant to move freely. However, in the most effective display of her maternal potential, Ai walks Ruby through the steps and kicks off what will later be one of her main talents. Around this time, particularly thanks to Ai's rising popularity, B-Komachi gets to the point where they're going to perform at the Tokyo Dome, a feat few groups can accomplish. And it's on the eve of this crowning achievement that Stalker-kun makes a reappearance and... well, you can imagine the rest. The twins then find themselves on very different tracks. Ruby wants to follow in her mother's footsteps, but Aqua instead sets his sights on revenge. He concludes that Stalker-kun couldn't have pulled off his deeds without help and that the most likely mastermind is Aqua and Ruby's biological father. Aqua decides he's going to infiltrate the entertainment industry to find his father and kill him.

Art:
Akasaka is a perfectly competent artist, but as his main series was running at the same time that this one launched, it's little surprise another artist was brought in to lighten his load. Yokoyari's style feels a bit like Akasaka's own, so I have to wonder if they weren't paired up for that reason. The cover art alone was enough to draw me in and if it wasn't for my aversion to idol stuff, I could've started this three years ago. Anyway, on a related note, the eyes in particular are worth paying attention to, especially when you see the star-shaped highlights like Ai's. They pack a lot of character information just at a glance. There are plenty of shots that pack a lot of punch. The visual communication of emotion is really well done and something you can consistently expect in the series. It is a special treat when both the writing and the art are first-rate.

Other:
We get three color pages at the start as a sort of primer for what's to come.

Conclusion:
Whether you love the entertainment history or hate it, this series has a lot for you. We'll be doing more of a deep dive into the inner workings of the biz in the volumes to come, but for now, we have an interesting spin on reincarnation fiction that acts as a springboard for a nice little revenge story. The characters are compelling, the art is very good. There's a lot to love here and I can't believe I slept on this series for so long. Anyway, I'm making up for it now and if you haven't checked it out yet, it definitely warrants a place in your collection.

Rating:
Own It