Oshi no Ko Has Spring 2023's Best Anime Premiere
Oshi no Ko has officially made its debut as part of the new wave of anime hitting for the Spring 2023 anime season, and the 90 minute long first episode really is the best premiere episode seen all season! Written by Kaguya-sama: Love is War creator Aka Akasaka and illustrated by Scum's Wish creator Mengo Yokoyari, Oshi no Ko already garnered a huge reputation among manga fans as one of the major series needing an anime adaptation of its own. Now that the Oshi no Ko anime is finally here, the first episode is a great example of why fans have been waiting to see it for so long.
To explain why Oshi no Ko's first episode hits so much better than the rest of the Spring 2023 anime premiere thus far, would mean needing to dabble a bit into spoilers. There's a lot going on underneath the brightly colored surface that fans might not notice with its sparkling character designs, idol anime bend, and the vivid promotional materials would lead fans to believe. Much like the idol industry itself, there's a seedy underbelly covered by lies. And that's only the prologue for a much more unexpected series to come.
Why Oshi no Ko's Premiere Is So Special
Without giving too much away about what is coming after the first episode, fans are treated to a cinematic experience with Oshi no Ko's premiere. The anime introduces fans to a doctor who is actually a fan of an idol named Ai Hoshino, but discovers that not only is she pregnant despite being a 16 year old leader of an idol group, but he will be the one to deliver her twin babies. Unfortunately, that's as much as I can lay out here in getting you to watch this first episode at the very least.
There's an immediate twist to the premise right off the bat, and it's especially wild when you consider that dealing with an idol needing to keep such a scandal secret is already a major undertaking for an anime series. Oshi no Ko is the exploration of the darker sides of Japan's idol and entertainment industries. In just the anime's premiere alone, fans are introduced to not only a very cynical look at idols themselves (and how they have to lie in order to sell a falsified happiness to the public) but the support system around them.
Not ever forgetting that it's ultimately a capitalistic endeavor, Ai Hoshino is stuck in the middle as someone who not only needs to be a false avatar of virtue and romantic appeal for her fans, but also needs to be worthy and productive enough to make that money. She's a broken person in search of her own happiness, and uses the lies she's learned to someone carve that path. But this is still all without revealing the massive twist in the story that kicks it all off.
Oshi no Ko's first episode is undoubtedly a prologue to a much grander story of lies, violence, gods, revenge, and more all wrapped within its sparkling, colorful idol entertainment veneer. It's only just begun, and it's already the best anime of the season, You really should check out Oshi no Ko's anime premiere and experience it before finding out the truth under all those lies.
But what did you think of Oshi no Ko's first episode? Let us know all of your thoughts about it in the comments! You can even reach out to me directly about all things animation and other cool stuff @Valdezology on Twitter!