The following contains spoilers for Episode 4 of Oshi no Ko, “Actors,” now streaming on HiDive.
The fourth episode of the hit entertainment drama Oshi no Ko continues to focus on Kana Arima and her drive to continue struggling in the world of acting. At the same time, we get to see a bit of Aqua’s acting chops, and we learn that he’s not as talentless as he may think he is. Oshi no Ko‘s lens into the dark underside of the entertainment industry remains one of its strongest elements, and that can be seen in full force in this episode.
While Aqua’s quest to find his father continues, his career as an actor also grows as he starts to receive more work. In the meantime, Ruby is still struggling to get off the ground as an up-and-coming idol. She’s going to need more than just herself in order to put together an idol group and start receiving work. Thankfully, she finally manages to find a potential member in an unexpected way.
True Recognition
As the next scene begins, Kana reflects on her acting career, which started out great but slowly petered out until she was only considered a has-been. Even though she knows that Sweet Today is a failure in every sense of the word, she still wants desperately to prove that she belongs in the acting world, banking on the manga’s most famous scene as a way to show off her chops. However, her co-lead Melt clearly doesn’t have the same level of passion as she does, and she despairs as one of her favorite scenes in the manga is being ruined right in front of her eyes.
However, the scene is saved by Aqua, who makes a chilling entrance as the stalker. Knowing that he is not nearly as talented as Ai or Kana, Aqua does his best to use the environment and whatever tricks he has on hand to amplify his acting, even insulting Melt under his breath in order to get him properly riled up as the role demands. Aqua performs extremely well as the stalker, doing his best to put on a terrifying performance so that Kana can shine all the brighter. With the stage set, Aqua looks to Kana to deliver the performance necessary to make the scene land, and she does so flawlessly. Having realized what Aqua did to make that scene a success, Kana starts to fall in love with him.
A Success, No Matter How Small
Kana’s performance in the final episode of Sweet Today ends up taking the notice of the few viewers who stuck with the show even after seeing how bad all the other episodes were. Even the mangaka of the original series, who was disappointed in how the adaptation was going, was ultimately grateful for the adaptation due to Kana’s performance. While the show will remain a failure of an adaptation that most fans will deride, Kana can take pride in the work that she has done, which is what really matters to her.
For Aqua, his own endeavors have allowed him to discover that the producer Kaburagi is not his father, though it’s clear that he still has some connection to Ai. When asked about Ai at a wrap party, Kaburagi explains that he used to help Ai get jobs in the fashion industry and secretly meet with a guy without her agency’s knowledge. When Aqua tries to learn more, Kaburagi asks for a favor in return, asking him how he feels about appearing in a reality dating show.
New Friends And New Paths
Aqua and Ruby head off for their first day at Youtou High School, where there are greeted by Kana, who is their upperclassman. Kana introduces the school as a place where nearly everyone is part of the entertainment industry in some way, but stresses that aside from that it is a rather normal everyday school. Ruby quickly makes friends with a model named Minami Kotobuki, and is ecstatic to discover she is classmates with Frill Shiranui, a big-time actress.
As Ruby and Aqua are talking with Minami, Ruby notices Shiranui walking by. Aqua goes to greet her, and she surprisingly recognizes him from his role in Sweet Today, as well as Minami from her magazine shoots. However, she doesn’t recognize Ruby, and when she asks what she does, Ruby is unable to give an answer. Discouraged from this event, Ruby begs Miyako to get her some work as an idol, but Ruby can’t even get off the ground until they have enough people to form an idol group. To make things worse, the conditions are rather rough, as they want cute girls who aren’t already affiliated with another company. Hearing this, Aqua suggests the first person who comes to mind that fits those requirements: Kana Arima.
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