For IGN Fan Fest, we sat down and talked with the cast for the Anime Awards Anime of the Year nominee, Oshi no Ko. In this exclusive interview, we spoke with Takeo Otsuka (Aqua), Yurie Igoma (Ruby), and Megumi Han (Kana Arima) to discuss the show's huge surge in popularity, its portrayal of the entertainment world, and their excitement going into its second season.
Oshi no Ko, originally written by Kaguya-sama: Love is War creator Asa Akasaka, is a supernatural drama anime. The show follows a doctor who, before assisting an immensely popular 16-year-old idol named Ai Hoshino give birth to her twins in secret from the public eye, is murdered by a deranged fan and reincarnated as her son, Aqua. Likewise, Aqua’s twin sister, Ruby, is the reincarnation of a former cancer patient of the doctor who was once a diehard stan of Ai.
Although the twins live relatively lavish lives hiding in secret as the children of Japan’s top idol, their lives are violently uprooted when the same deranged fan resurfaces years later claiming the life of their mother. While the pair, alongside their friend and child actress Kana Arima, navigate the darker side of the entertainment industry, Aqua secretly sets himself on a path of vengeance to uncover the identity of their long-lost father whom he believes is responsible for his mother’s death.
Oshi no Ko's popularity stunned its voice cast
Anime fans typically give shows a three-episode trial period before committing to watching new seasonal anime, Oshi no Ko burst onto the scene in a big way by bypassing the three-episode test with its 90-minute premiere episode. The episode performed so well that it ranked #1 on the popular anime database and social media site, MyAnimeList, briefly dethroning popular shows like Demon Slayer: The Swordsman Arc and Attack on Titan amid its final season.
Although Oshi no Ko’s manga had a groundswell among its readership in 2020, the anime’s meteoric rise in popularity stunned its voice cast.
“The manga was of course already well known, and there's a buzz when each new book comes out,” Han said. “So I did think it'd become popular as an anime, but not to this degree.”
“I think there were a lot of synergistic factors,” Otsuka said. “The theme song, for example, and so many of the plot twists. The source material's strength played a role, of course, but I also think the anime helped bring out what's great about the story.”
Similarly, the anime’s opening theme song, “Idol” by YOASOBI, skyrocketed into one of the fastest stream songs in history with over 400 Million streams, according to Anime News Network.
Despite having read the manga before watching Oshi no Ko’s premiere episode — an episode that condensed 10 chapters into one sitting — the cast wasn’t prepared for the emotional gut-punch their peer Rie Takahashi accomplished performing Ai’s passing.
“The presence of Ai that I felt in her as I watched from behind would always hit me right in the chest,” Igoma said. “So as Ruby, Ai's daughter, I hope viewers will sense Ai’s presence in her daughter Ruby as the story proceeds.”
“I will say that my interpretation of the scene was different when watching the anime compared to reading the manga,” Han said. “The music that plays when seeing it on the screen is so serene. Almost like you're watching something sacred. It gave me a strong feeling that ran contrary to what was happening. Something sad and shocking is taking place, of course, but it really felt like a scene full of different meanings.”
Oshi no Ko underlines the role of vitriolic fandoms
Throughout Oshi no Ko, the show routinely pulls back the entertainment industry’s curtain to spotlight the sinister elements laden within music, film, and reality TV. Most notably, Oshi no Ko underlines the role vitriolic fandoms can play in the deterioration of the stars they covet.
"I work in entertainment as a voice actor so a lot of the phrases they used did sound like someone in that line of work," Igoma said, regarding the shows similarities and differences depicting today's entertainment industry. "The worlds of show business and voice acting are a little different, of course. But the sentiments in the story did feel very honest. So while there are some parts that did match up for me, there were also parts that didn't, making me go, 'What? Is that how show business really goes?!'"
“While parts of the story may be fictionalized, the original authors do have a lot of industry connections. They also did very detailed research. I feel like what they learned from that did get put into Oshi no Ko,” Otsuka said. “It did feel very real.”
These eerily realistic characteristic of the show's depiction of fandom culture came to a head in haunting detail in Oshi no Ko’s sixth episode, “Egosurfing.” In the episode, the show explores the effects of online bullying a reality TV show star named Akane Kurokawa endures after an on-screen falling out with a castmate. The aforementioned incident eventually led Kurokawa to suffer a bombardment of online bullying that nearly drove her to attempt suicide. Egosurfing's plotline hit close to home for many given how similarly it echoed a real-life incident with the deceased professional wrestler Hana Kimura on the Japanese reality TV show Terrace House.
“With the spread of the internet, we live in a society where fans' voices are heard directly,” Akasaka said in a prior interview with Anime News Network. “I want people to know how young talents are being hurt, exploited, and suffering. Talents [entertainers who frequently appear on TV in Japan] can no longer ignore the internet, YouTube has become super popular, movies are watched with subtitles, plays are increasingly based on anime and manga, and there has been an instance of a suicide stemming from a reality show. Considering all those facts, I then decided to take a contemporary subject, something that is happening in the real world of Japanese entertainment today. That was the first concept."
Although there were rare instances where the cast recorded lines in group sessions, Otsuka and Han said they experienced a feedback loop of inspiration whenever got the chance to bounce lines off each other as Aqua and Kana.
“Everyone had love for their characters. There were some people I didn't get to record with, to be honest. But I do remember the great feeling of tension in the air during the group recording sessions," Otsuka said. "I had a lot of opportunities to record with Ms. Han, who played Kana. She might have even had more lines than Aqua. But whether it was the way she responded to direction each time — and this applies to more than just Ms. Han, of course —but her performance was particularly stimulating among everyone I recorded with.”
“There were also a lot of scenes where I went back and forth with Mr. Otsuka, who played Aqua. I felt very reassured working with him. There's an actual scene where Arima and Aqua play catch, but it was like that,” Han said. “It was like no matter where I'd throw the ball, he'd always pick it up and properly return it to me. I don't know if "properly" is the right word, but there was something very comforting about working with him.”
'I think of Oshi no Ko as something alive'
As the spring 2023 anime nears its one year anniversary premiering on the anime streamer Hidive, the cast marveled at how Oshi no Ko's anime breathed new life into the manga's many dramatic twists and turns.
“I feel like what started as a blank canvas has been just blacked out. Not that it's a mess or anything, but while you may have some parts that feel like pieces coming together, there are others that are like an indistinct vortex. It was a strange feeling. It's hard to picture, almost like it's alive,” Han said. “I think of Oshi no Ko as something alive. Not that it's out of my hands, but it just goes to places that I can't imagine. I can't see where it'll go next.”
“I think that Oshi no Ko is a series that's hard to place into a genre,” Otsuka said. “I suppose you could call that being alive, or a series that's full of possibilities.”
When asked what they're most excited about with Oshi no Ko’s second season, the cast unanimously replied saying they can't wait to see how studio Doga Kobo brings the manga's fifth major story arc, the 2.5D Stage Play, to life.
"There are so many scenes that I want to know what they'll look like in motion!" Igoma said. "I think there's a lot of space that can still be filled in when you're reading the original on paper. I felt this way for the first season too, but seeing it in motion alongside music creates something different from what you read on the page. I really want to know what'll happen in those moments. But I don't want to spoil it for people who haven't read the manga, so I won't go into detail."
"I can't wait to see how far into the manga they'll go. I also imagine that the story will primarily center around theater next. That makes me really want to know how they'll make it look! I'm so curious as to how it'll be depicted," Han said. "I play Kana Arima, and she along with the other characters will be playing roles themselves."
"I'm looking forward to that as well. The glimpses behind the scenes that the first season revealed, too. I look forward to those making me think and sympathize," Otsuka said. "That's also a part of what makes me most excited to see how it'll be depicted in the anime as a viewer. As a performer, it makes me think I really have to give this everything I have. So many people are looking forward to it, after all. I'd like to do whatever I can to contribute in any small way to making something great.”
You can check out Oshi no Ko's first season exclusively on Hidive. Oshi no Ko Season 2 will release later this year.
Isaiah Colbert is a freelance writer for IGN. You can follow them on Twitter @ShinEyeZehUhh
Suicide: If you are having suicidal thoughts, the National Suicide Prevention Hotline in the U.S. is available 24 hours a day at 1-800-273-8255. A list of international suicide hotlines can be found here.
