Oshi no Ko Anime/Manga Comparison

Ai Hoshino with her twins, Aqua & Ruby

    Welcome back to Beyond The Anime! This latest entry in my anime/manga comparison series will cover my favorite anime of Spring 2023, Oshi no Ko! Fans have given much well-deserved praise to the anime for its stellar adaptation of the source manga, so much that I had expected the manga to be exactly the same story, just in a different form of media - but I was pleasantly surprised to find that the manga offers a wealth of new content even for fans who have already watched the anime. 

    While the main story is still the same, the presence of short "interviews" with the characters before each chapter of volume 1 add new information that hints at events to come. Each of these segments are only a page long, but the foreshadowing gives an entirely different vibe to the beginning of the series when compared to the anime's movie-length premiere which omits these flash-forward scenes. Because these segments contain spoilers, I will discuss them in a separate section at the end of the review for the sake of keeping the main comparison spoiler-free for fans who have completed the anime but haven't yet started reading the manga. 

Ai smiling at her twins' adorable glowstick routine

Ai smiling during that same scene in the manga

    The artwork and character designs of the manga are beautiful, and the anime portrays them perfectly. Every expression is a perfect match, and the vibrant colors of the anime, smooth animation and excellent voice acting bring the story to life on the screen. I've watched the anime both with the original Japanese voices and subtitles as well as the currently airing English dub, and both options are solid choices, though I did feel that the Japanese version was stronger overall - particularly during key scenes like the end of episode 7. 

    The anime does a fantastic job adapting the story as well. Over the course of the first manga volume, which covers the anime's premiere episode, the only major omissions were the flash forward character interview pages at the beginning of each chapter. It was an interesting choice, focusing solely on the present timeline to maximize the emotional roller coaster effect of the premiere, rather than include the story hints that gave the impression of dark secrets in the future for Ai and her children. 

Ai teaching Ruby to dance

The same scene, with Ai and Ruby's movements reflected in a mirror image

    One of my favorite scenes of the premiere, in which Ai helps Ruby to overcome her fear of falling and dance like she's always wanted to, is a great example of how the same thing can be portrayed beautifully in both the anime and the manga while drawing on the unique strengths of each art form. The manga shows Ruby matching Ai's movements as though her mother's image is reflected in a mirror, a creative visual representation of Ruby's words about Ai's dance routines being forever in her memory, and the anime goes all out with the bright colors and creative art style to give this scene a fantasy feel like the dream come true that it is for Ruby.

    I really enjoyed being able to experience this story in both ways, watching the anime (mostly) free of spoilers first and then reading the manga with all of the teases of things to come. The first volume covers the movie-length premiere and concludes with the same brief scene showing Aqua and Ruby as teenagers, and the presentation was so exact that I couldn't help but imagine the ending theme playing in the background as I read the last pages. 

Aqua plays his role so well

    The second volume, which covers the "Sweet Today" TV drama arc of episodes 2-4, features only a few differences. There weren't any big changes here like leaving out the previous volume's flash forward scenes, but the manga's focus on dialogue during the "Sweet Today" shoot really added to the themes of light and darkness found throughout the story, emphasizing that this metaphor can apply to the series as a whole. Likewise, the scene where Aqua leans into Melt's punch while the cameras were rolling felt more dynamic in the anime with the benefit of movement to portray his actions. It's still the same great story we've already seen in the anime, but I found it just as engaging to read even knowing how the main events play out.

    At the very end of the second volume is a short bonus chapter from Aqua and Ruby's young childhood with Ai, which was a really nice addition to keep their mother present in the story. This bath time scene was shown briefly at the end of the premiere episode as one of many when Ai's life flashed before her eyes, making this moment feel emotional and bittersweet, but here it's more comedic, with Ai starting to see Ruby's otaku tendencies and Aqua trying not to see too much of Ai as she gave them their baths. 

The added visual in the anime was a nice touch

And the director thought Aqua used big words...

    One slight disappointment is that the joke about Kana being able to cry on cue, which uses a play on the words in the Japanese dialogue, was translated differently in the manga and didn't use the original "baking soda" joke like the anime did. The manga uses "cryogenetics" as a phrase that sounds vaguely similar to cry, but I don't think the joke comes across as well, and it doesn't quite sound natural coming from someone Ruby's age. Plus, Ruby's mental image of Kana licking baking soda in the anime is much funnier. I was surprised to see that her visualization of the wordplay was anime-original. (This change may be solely due to the translation, rather than a difference in dialogue from the manga in its original Japanese.)

    The manga also uses a different translation for the nickname given to Aqua by director Taishi Gotanda, who meets Aqua when he's still a very young, extremely well spoken child. In the anime, Taishi first calls him "precocious baby" and later shortens it to "precocious" when Aqua is a teenager, but the manga instead uses the translation "wunderkind". Both of these phrases technically get the same point across, but I prefer the "precocious" nickname. It reflects Aqua's impressive manner of speaking in a way that has positive and negative connotations, as the word precocious has frequently been used by those who would find this sort of wise-beyond-their-years behavior annoying, which pairs well with the director implying Aqua's surprising intelligence gives him a creepy vibe.

I'm so glad this hilariously ham-filled dialogue was the same in both the manga and the anime

Character Interviews

    One of the major differences that sets the manga apart from the anime version of Oshi no Ko is the interview segments which appear at the beginning of each chapter and feature heavy foreshadowing for events beyond even what was covered in season 1 of the anime. This part of the review will discuss the content of those character interviews, and as such contains spoilers for the first season of the anime, volume 1 of the manga, and speculation of future plotlines. 

This full color image from the opening pages of the first manga volume shows a preview of Aqua and Ruby as teenagers being called onto the set by a camera crew, alongside an image of their idol and their previous lives

    For many viewers experiencing this story for the first time through the anime, the plot twist at the end came as a sudden shock that stood in stark contrast to the adorable scenes of family life that followed Ai's twins from their infancy through their first four years. However, the character interviews present only in the manga feature an ominous vibe. These visions of the future subtly imply through the characters' words that Ai isn't with them anymore, foreshadowing her death before the reader reaches that point at the end of volume 1.  

    According to the story, these interviews are being conducted before the release of director Taishi Gotanda's new film, The 15 Year Lie, dedicated to Ai - a film that he tried to release years ago to no avail. Aqua, who has been working with and learning from him over the years, will be acting in the production along with Ruby (who says this film will be her first) and Kana. This is one of the first hints that this story may be taking a dark turn, or perhaps that Ai's secret will be revealed somehow, and it's presented as a lead in to the chapter about Aqua's first acting job when he was around two years old, long before any of these shocking developments happen. Kana's interview also made a reference to getting "shanked" in another instance of ominous foreshadowing. 

Saitou Ichigo, former president of Strawberry Productions and Miyako's runaway husband - a rare post-timeskip sighting

    The manager of Strawberry Productions, which supported Ai's group B Komachi, was never shown again in the anime after the timeskip, though it was mentioned that Ai's death hit him hard and caused him to run away from both his company and his family. In the manga, his interview is shown before the tragic event, and he lashes out in despair when the crew asks him about Ai, saying that his life was over when he lost her. This was one of the most ominous flash forward scenes by far, which would have understandably caused readers to wonder what exactly he meant by that comment - lost her as a client, or lost her life?  

    In her interview, Miyako mentions Aqua and Ruby experiencing both favored treatment and trials in just the right amounts as though by divine guidance. This one isn't quite as much of a spoiler, as having a mix of ups and downs in life is fairly common, but it does match up well with what we've seen so far of the Hoshino twins, and the "divine guidance" might be a reference to the little trick Aqua and Ruby played on her as babies. The interviews also show Aqua and Ruby's kindergarten teacher and one of Ai's fans (now holding a fan with Ruby's picture) who makes an appearance in the first and last episodes of season one, which was a nice callback.

Has Aqua completely let go of his facade? 

    One point of interest is how brutally honest Aqua is during his interview. He's dropped all of the polite pretense he used on the dating show, admitting to the camera that he will never love anyone, and anyone who falls for him will never get anything back. Reading this after watching the Love Now arc, which ends with Aqua keeping up the act of dating Akane in public, was mind-blowing. Aqua previously talked about telling lies and keeping his true self hidden in order to protect himself, and it makes me curious about what could have led to such a change in how much he's willing to reveal to others, even going so far as to say acting is revenge to him. 

    Without knowing how events will play out later in the story, this comment could be taken any number of ways - including the old saying that success is the best revenge. Of course, Aqua's intentions are much darker, but he would be unlikely to reveal that to the public even if he grew tired of playing the role of the charismatic young star. Although his words are no different from the Aqua we know from season 1 of the anime and these early manga volumes, his openness about real feelings he knows might not be well received hints at a major shift in his life. 

Ai with her twins on their first birthday

    The only "interview" which was included in the anime was the scene before the final chapter of volume 1, the video of Ai with her twins, wishing that they would grow up strong and healthy. A banner, balloons and stuffed animals for Aqua and Ruby's first birthday were added in the anime, making this precious scene even more adorable. 

    As a big fan of the anime who easily considers it my favorite of the Spring 2023 season, I loved the manga and absolutely recommend it to anyone who enjoyed the anime. The manga is every bit as great as its adaptation, and the extra content in volume 1 alone, with the intriguing glimpse into the future it provides, is enough to make it worth a read for fans. Stay tuned for my next anime/manga comparison from the Spring 2023 season, Insomniacs After School, and my anime/light novel comparison for Saving 80,000 Gold In Another World For My Retirement coming soon! 

Bonus picture of Ai with Ruby and Aqua during their kindergarten days from volume 2 (between chapters 18 & 19)