The Oshi no Ko Fall-off was Disheartening
Article at a glance:
- Aka Akasaka is a brilliant storyteller, but his track record with endings is rough, to say the least.
- Oshi no Ko started strong with dark themes, sharp commentary, and gripping character arcs that hooked readers instantly.
- But when it came time to wrap things up, the series stumbled hard—turning what could’ve been a clean, powerful conclusion into a chaotic mess.
Look, I respect Aka Akasaka as a writer. He is capable of writing some incredible stories and characters, and he has a great sense of humor. But this man can’t write endings for shit. It is hilarious how both Oshi no Ko and Kaguya-sama had bad endings in completely opposite ways. Kaguya-sama’s ending was spread too thin over too many chapters, while in Oshi no Ko, we had senseless last-minute twists, and things didn’t even get a chance to breathe. So yeah, we are talking about the Oshi no Ko fall-off today.
I did a similar article for Jujutsu Kaisen a few weeks ago, and I have plenty of material to continue this series. Welcome back to another fall-off article, today, we are talking about Oshi no Ko. And trust me, this one hurts my soul.
Of course, spoilers ahead.
The Rise
Oshi no Ko started as a twisted story about unhealthy obsession, the dark side of the music industry, and an enduring mystery to tie everything together. It had amazing character arcs, and the positive moments were well-balanced with the ongoing revenge plot in the background. The series never shied away from showing us some really dark moments just to hammer the point home. I won’t say it was perfect, but it checked every box for what it was aiming to do.
And here’s the thing: despite the slight fall-off in writing quality after Aqua and Ruby found out about Hikaru Kamiki, there was a very natural ending in sight. Aqua’s movie would’ve gone live, exposed Kamiki, and that would be it, right? It wouldn’t be a grand ending, but things would make sense. Aqua got his revenge, Ruby doesn’t have to end up like Ai, and Kamiki would presumably face justice for his acts.
BUT THEN NOPE, AKAZA MANAGED TO SCREW UP AND ENDING THAT WAS RIGHT IN FRONT OF HIM!
The Fall-off
Alright, let’s talk about how Aka fumbled the bag so hard he might’ve dislocated his wrist. The man had a perfectly good, clean, emotionally satisfying ending sitting RIGHT there. Aqua makes the movie, Kamiki gets exposed, boom, roll credits. Simple. Effective. Cathartic. But no, Aka said, “What if… hear me out… I nuke all character arcs in the last two chapters like it’s a speedrun?” And so he did.
Aqua dies. Two chapters before the finale. TWO. And not in some poetic, thematically fitting way, just shock value, straight out of a bad fanfic. Ruby? Congratulations, she’s now living the exact same cursed cycle Ai never wanted for her. Akane and Kana? Utterly broken. Great, thanks, Aka, hope you’re proud of ruining everyone’s lives for the sake of one last “gotcha.” Memcho? Vanished like she rage-quit the manga herself.
Nothing gets time to breathe. Nothing gets resolved. It’s just “Hey, everything sucks, Aqua’s dead, Ruby’s doomed, goodnight folks.” Like… why? This isn’t a tragedy; this is narrative malpractice. Aka didn’t write an ending; he rage-quit his own manga.
And the worst part? He almost stuck the landing. ALMOST.
That is all for now
Okay, that’s two articles straight of me just ranting. That’s enough ranting. I have to go to sleep now. Let me know what you guys think in the comments. I will take my leave here. See ya!
Also, if you want to read another one of my verbal rants, please check out my thoughts on the Blue Lock Season 3 announcement here.
