After a year away, the critically acclaimed Oshi no Ko is back with its second season, throwing us right into the Tokyo Blade arc of the manga. Here’s what happened in the season 2 premiere of Oshi no Ko.
What Happened In The Season 2 Premiere of Oshi No Ko?
The season begins several months after the events of the first season. with a look at a stage play Aqua and Akane are in called Tokyo Blade. The show is an adaptation of a popular manga and is being put on by the Lala Lai Theatrical Company, who were attempting to seek new talent in order to revilatize their pool of talent. Aqua decided to audition for the role, but not because he wants to hone his acting abilities. Rather, he suspects that the director of the production, Toshirou Kindaichi, may have some knowledge or involvement of the murder of his mother, Ai Hoshino. Akane auditioned because of the opportunity it presents for her career, and because she’s dating Aqua.
Meanwhile, Aqua’s sister Ruby visits Ai’s grave and lets her know about how her former Idol group, B-Komanchi, is doing. Since their revival at the end of season one, the group has steadily been growing more popular by putting on smaller shows and releasing a steady stream of videos thanks to Mem-Cho. Ruby confides to her dead mother that her goal is to put on a dome show, something Ai was never able to do, to make her mom happy.
The episode doesn’t really focus on Ruby though as we spend more time on the rehearsal process of Tokyo Blade. Akane narrates some of the behind the scenes business of the rehearsal process for shows like Tokyo Blade, namely that there’s only around a month or so of rehearsals before the show begins. Most of the cast members usually have other jobs and come in whenever they’re able to, but rehearsals are usually from around noon to evening. The cast of Tokyo Blade is a fairly large one, filled with newcomers to Lala Lai like Aqua, Akane, and Kana, who is pulling double-duty not only in acting in Tokyo Blade but also starring in B-Komanchi, and veteran Lala Lai actors like the disheveled yet brilliant actor Taiki Himekawa.
It’s during these rehearsals that we see Kana, who is usually restrained in her acting abilities, able to fully let loose with her co-star Taiki’s bombastic flair. Since most of her acting performances have been with subpar scripts and actors, being able to go all-out and be rewarded for it is an enthralling experience for her, made all the better by Taiki matching her energy. It’s a performance that’s literally exploding with color and personality, with Kindaichi speculating that all of the actors who witnessed their rehearsal will probably strive to better their performances.
Aqua is not one of them though. Aqua never viewed himself as an actor and is merely playing the part required of him, biding his time until he can get the information he needs from Kindaichi. Because of this, he isolates himself from the rest of the cast. Akane tries to invite him to interact with his cast members, but his dour and gloomy vibes make it difficult for her to break through to him. Besides, he’s more interested in Kana and how she’s grown as an actress, something that Akane grumbles about since they’re supposed to be dating.
As for Akane, she struggles to really work with the part she was cast as. Her role in the play is as Princess Hime, the central antagonist of the manga. While she has no problem playing a villain, she slowly begins to realize that she’s having difficulties developing her character. Akane is a method actor and likes to learn everything about a role she’s been cast as. After reading the Tokyo Blade manga, she comes to the conclusion that Princess Hime is a soft-spoken woman, but Kindaichi is having Akane play Hime as a brash and kill-crazy warlord instead of the conflicted ruler she’s been basing her performance off of.
She confides this in Aqua, who approaches Kindachi and the lead script writer of the play, GOA, and lets them know of Akane’s problems with the script. Much to her surprise, GOA agrees with Akane and gives her an insight into his scriptwriting process. Given that the show is only 2 hours long, cuts had to be made and characters arcs and motivations had to be simplified. He wanted to keep the main plot of the story intact, but if he tried to insert Hime’s personal conflicts into the script, then the show’s runtime would balloon, leading to problems with other scenes. So he had to take her complicated thoughts and simplify them into simpler dialogue, which Kindaichi then interpreted as he did. Akane accepts this answer, which helps her better refine her performance.
Shortly after this, the author of the original manga, Abiko Samejima, enters the rehearsal. Abiko is incredibly shy and can’t make eye contact with any of the cute male or female actors, but she’s accompanied by the author of Sweet Today and her former mentor, Yoriko Kichijouji, who is all too happy to be reunite with Kana and Aqua after working with them on the live-action adaptation of her manga. Once the actors begin to perform, Abiko is enamored by them, but assertedly says to Kindaichi and GOA that she wants a change to be made – she wants the entire production rewritten.
Seeing Oshi no Ko dive headfirst back into what it does best – examinations of numerous elements of the acting industry with rich character drama – is a welcomed return to form for fans who loved the first season. It certainly isn’t newcomer friendly and those who watched the first season may struggle to remember the numerous players and their relationships, but this is a strong premiere that is a great reminder why the show has earned the positive reputation it has today.
