Oshi No Ko Season 2 Episode 4 Review: Episode 4 of the series has some darker tones but also some hopeful angles. Let's see how episode 4 plays out.
Oshi No Ko Season 2 Episode 3 Summary
Today's episode begins with Ruby ecstatic about her newfound celebrity status at school. However, a conversation with her friends makes her realize that her fame is nothing compared to theirs. Determined to raise her status, she asks her company's CEO to do more work. However, a major problem arises: Komachi B, her group, cannot function without lead singer Kana.
Kana's return was delayed due to a conflict between the scriptwriter and the manga writer for her live-action project. Through Kana, we learn that Aqua has been dating Akari, who wants to rekindle his love of theater. They watch a live-action adaptation of a sports story, and Aqua is fascinated. He is fascinated by the way the director and scriptwriter use set and projection, as well as the 360° rotating audience seats, which enhance the immersive experience.
This experience helps Aqua understand the challenges manga authors face in capturing the dynamics of the stage. He realizes that Abiko, the manga author, will never be able to match the skills of Goa, a seasoned scriptwriter in attracting audiences to the theater. Determined to solve this problem, Aqua approaches someone close to Abiko.
Oshi No Ko Episode 4 Part 2 Review
Today's episode starts with Abiko-sensei going to see the play that Aqua recommended to her. After witnessing it, she finally realizes how different it is from the manga. There, she also meets Raida, the man responsible for directing both plays. At first, he reluctantly asks Abiko-sensei what she thinks of the play, and after hearing her positive feedback, he musters up the courage to let her experience the real thing.
He gave up on his pleading attitude and told her straight up that it was difficult for a writer to suddenly become a great manga artist, and it was also difficult for her to become a good scriptwriter overnight. Therefore, since they would have to agree to whatever Abiko-sensei would write, she would also have to take full responsibility for the results. If the production went badly, she would be the one to blame. And as someone responsible for the work of many people, Raida wanted Abiko to understand the situation.
Luckily, Abiko was mature enough to understand his point of view and eventually agreed to work in tandem with Goa. They held a Skype meeting and edited the article live while discussing everything. While most of the time when two creators meet, things can go downhill pretty quickly, here things worked out really well. Both creators are geniuses in their own fields and they easily picked up on each other’s criticisms and preferences. Abiko even admitted that she became a fan of Goa after seeing the stage play he wrote.
But the second half of the episode gets a lot more psychological as we delve deeper into Aqua's psyche. When we get to a scene where emotional manipulation becomes absolutely necessary, we see our protagonist struggling with her acting. However, things get worse when Kana's acting prompt reminds him of his deceased mother.
The possibility of his wrong actions and the PTSD from when he failed to save his true love, Ai, left Aqua in shock. How he handles the situation and what happens at the end is something you will have to see for yourself.
Verdict
We got another solid episode from this series, and I have nothing but good things to say about it. Here we see very strong characters who are not one-dimensional at all, and their volatile emotions always remind us how complicated humans can be. Hopefully Aqua will recover soon and overcome her trauma.
Must read: Oshi No Ko Season 2 Episode 3 Review: How Manga Writing Works