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Oshi no Ko is not just a murder mystery and character focused series. The manga also offers insight into issues in the entertainment industry. For example, in volume 3 we saw how fan behavior affected Akane after how she was portrayed on a show. With Oshi no Ko volume 5, the manga gets more into some technical details as Aqua, Kana, and Akane prepare for a play and how swiftly situations can change.
First, I will note that volume 5 of the Oshi no Ko manga can feel really different from the past installments. While I really appreciate what Aka Akasaka and Mengo Yokoyari are going for her, I found it made it more difficult to read. The insights into the possible development cycle for a play were fascinating, but I didn’t really connect with Yoriko Kichijouji during the Sweet Today storyline in the second volume, and the Tokyo Blade mangaka Abiko Samejima didn’t resonate with me either.
However, like I said, the development process is interesting here. Aqua is taking part in the play to get insight into the Lala Lai Theatrical Company his mother Ai belonged to. Akane is involved because she’s also a part of that group, and Kana is there because she auditioned for and won a major part in the play. Seeing how the actors sort of split up into groups depending on their “faction” in the performance or companies is interesting. Especially as we get to see the process Kana uses when working with her two new partners.
I also really loved seeing Akane’s reaction to playing the role of a character who isn’t a fan favorite. It really resonated with me, because anyone familiar with any form of popular media knows how often a certain character who should be important ends up falling to the wayside due to being out of favor with fans. Akane’s determination to still do right by her is interesting, as we start to see her formulate how she’ll make her part matter.
It’s after someone gets about a third of the way into the volume that the twist happens. Abiko doesn’t like how the adaptation of Tokyo Blade turned out. She wants the script entirely changed, even though she loves how the cast performed in the run-through she watched. She hates the changes made for the adaptation, because that was created to be inspired by the original and appeal to a wider audience. So that means it needs to all change in 20 days. We see what this does to the original screenplay writer, the actors, the production, and Abiko herself. We come to understand what her insistence and demands could really do, as well as better understand the nature of adaptational work.
It means that volume 5 of Oshi no Ko can feel a bit different than the manga usually does. The play Aqua, Akane, and Kana ends up being more important than individual developments for any of them. That does mean insight into a process that people don’t normally see though, which is valuable in its own way.
Volume 5 of Oshi no Ko is available now, and Yen Press will release volume 6 on May 21, 2024.
