Oshi No Ko 1x10: "Pressure" // Reaction and Discussion

[@arizona_anime_fan]

my favorite part of this episode is that aqua is only able to actually be honest with Kana, when he's wearing a mask pretending to be someone else. better still Miyako's warning that if he keeps manipulating people that it will blow up on him comes true because when kana discovers he was wearing the mask, she instantly doubts everything he just told her.

[@yellowsnake7300]

I think that Aqua was being very vulnerable this episode. I get why everyone thinks about it from Kana’s perspective. People are suspicious of his intentions and worried he might hurt or manipulate her. But think about it from his perspective. He goes through the confusing experience of Akane imitating Ai, (his idol/mother that he loved, that he feels he failed to protect and who he watched die in front of him... actually she literally died in his arms. He was in her lap as she died, and she bleed out right in front of him) He sees the person who he put on a pedestal and was convinced couldn’t be imitated or re-created essentially bought back to life through Akane. He reacted to it like he saw a ghost, his emotions and involuntary reactions were a confusing mess due to his trauma, infatuation, and teenage body and mind. In this state of vulnerable confusion, he goes to Kana because he feels like he can be himself around her. He respects her, (he chose to help her shine in sweet today because he could see she was genuinely hard working and thought it unfair that she couldn’t shine the way she was meant to) and he trusts her. (he trust her to be in an idol group with his sister, despite his initial fears about Ruby getting into the idol industry.) Given that, I think that Aqua was being genuine with her at baseball, and really did want to spend time with her in that moment. To him, Kana was a safe space and he was in a confusing situation where he felt he was not in control and therefore unsafe. Now, with that context in mind, the next time he sees Kana she is pissed off and berating him. His safe space suddenly turns on him, which must have come out of left field for him because KANA HAS NOT TOLD HIM THAT SHE LIKES HIM. At that point, so far in the show all of her actions towards Aqua could have indicated nothing but friendship. A friendship that Aqua evidently values. I know it is easy to assume that Aqua automatically knows that Kana is into him, but that’s not necessarily the case. Because Aqua is a lot like Kana In the way he views himself. How he talks about his potential as a good actor is the same as how Kana talks about her potential to be in the spotlight. One line that stuck out to me was Kana saying “Everyone mistakenly believed I had talent for singing and the production suffered.” It closely mimics an early Aqua line about his acting here he says “I mistakenly believed I had some talent for acting, and the production suffered for it.” Aqua does not hold a high view of himself. Unlike many manipulative people, he does not have a large ego. So, since he views Kana as a friend he could feel comfortable with, it wouldn’t necessarily occur to him that her actions could mean she likes him romantically. So, for Aqua, the change in attitude for Kana comes out of left field. Last episode, in the hallway, Aqua tries to connect with Kana again. And she pushes him away. His safe space, the one person he felt comfortable being himself with, is suddenly rejecting him and he doesn’t know why. So, I took what he said next as genuine. “I know you are cynical by nature, but if you keep this up even I will feel hurt.” I understand why others would think this is a manipulative line for him to say towards Kana. But I think he said it because he was genuinely hurt, and he was just communicating that to her honestly. The idea that he owes her an apology doesn’t sit right with me, because he doesn’t. He and Kana are not in a relationship. He has not done anything to communicate to Kana that they are in a romantic relationship with each other. He was on a reality dating show. If he decides to kiss and date one of the people from that show, then it is honestly none of Kana’s business and he doesn’t owe her an explanation about it. He doesn’t owe her an apology for it. It probably hasn’t even occurred to Aqua to explain himself to Kana because why would he need to? Why would he need to explain or justify his dating situation to a friend that he is not romantically involved with and who he has not made any promises or even strong suggestions that he’d like to be romantically involved with? (I know that this is different from Kana’s perspective, she feels it’s her business because of her crush and was hurt by Aqua’s actions. I love Kana’s characters and understand how that effected her self esteem, and it made me hurt for her but that doesn’t change the fact that, at the moment, who Aqua does and does not kiss is none of her business). ANAYWAY from Aquas POV it went like this: The only friend that I feel comfortable being myself with is suddenly angry at me. When I try to reach out and connect with them they push me away. I feel hurt by this. This POV paints Aqua choosing to wear the Pieyon mask in a new, rather sad light. Aqua has often said that lies are the best way to protect yourself. Lies can be a character, a costume, a mask that you put on so that you don’t have to put your real self out there and risk being hurt. Aqua now feels he must wear a mask around Kana. He feels that if he is himself with her, she won’t want anything to do with him. Kana was the one he felt he didn’t need a mask with, and he’s lost that now. Because he was genuinely hurt, and when you get hurt you do things to protect yourself from more hurt. For Aqua, that means hiding his true self behind a mask. Behind a lie. The part that was heartbreaking for me on rewatch was the end of Aquas conversation with Pieyon. Pieyon tells Aqua that Kana would probably listen to him if he uses his own voice. That if he just approaches her as himself, she will still lend him an ear to listen. In response, Aqua says that he is rather feeble minded. What that means is, he’s scared. Aqua is scared to be himself around Kana now, because he’s afraid Kana will reject his real self. This is heartbreaking, when you think about how Kana was someone he felt he could be his true self with, and now he is too scared to go back to what was once his safe space because Kana stared to seemingly hate him for reasons Aqua most likely doesn’t understand. Aqua didn’t wear the mask to manipulate Kana or to make Kana love him. He did it because he saw she was struggling and wanted to reach out and help, but was too afraid to do so as his true self. He wore the mask as a lie to protect himself, because he was scared. Aqua is smart and analytical, but he is also a teenage boy with serious trauma and self worth issues. He is not an all knowing 5d chess playing mastermind manipulator. He’s more feeble then people think. It gets worse when you realize Aqua could probably hear all the negative stuff she was saying about him in the dressing room. Since he values Kana’s opinion, the things she says about him could really affect him. And those negative comments she makes could reinforce to him that she would reject the real him, if he were to reach out to her as his true self using his true voice again, like Pieyon suggested. Kinda like how the many failed projects and lack of fans reinforced all the negative comments about her online for Kana. Both of their low views of themselves are being reinforced by comments from others, which justifies for them the masking they both do to protect themselves. Aqua obviously with the physical mask, and Kana with her confident, tough skin, it doesn’t affect me facade that we see in this episode “Why do I always say the opposite of what I feel?” What’s interesting for me is that I don’t think anything Aqua has ever said to Kana has been a lie. I think that’s true even when he spoke with the Pieyon mask on. He is a Kana fan. Kana was convinced she had no fans to support her in all the various things she has to do to try and be successful, but it seems that Aqua is one of her fans. That he wants to support her and cheer her on. Just like how he wanted to support and cheer on Saribina. Even though he feels like he needs to do it through a layer of masked protection because he thinks she won’t want support from the real him, he still wants to support her nonetheless. I don’t know how the Pieyon Aqua reveal conversation will go if there is one, but I don’t think it should involve Kana confronting Aqua about the kiss, because Aqua owes her nothing in that regard. He is her crush, not her boyfriend or even anything romantic at the moment. She has no right to demand anything from him regarding that situation. That said, I think that Kana and Aqua have a lot in common and a lot of narrative parrelles. The relationship between their narratives in the story is also very nuanced. It’s more then just a case of girl punishing a boy because the boy flirted with another girl. There’s more too it then that. There more to Aqua then that. Honestly, there’s more to all the characters and I love them all I also love these reactions and discussions! You two are great, and I love the insights you bring. Uhhh sorry for the length of this post! Hope you guys have a nice day.

[@AnlaVerse]

I FUCKING LOVE YOU! I agree with everything you said, this have been my thoughts ever since the ball catching scene up until now and it's unfortunate that a lot of people don't see this side of aqua. He is actually quite and emotional and thoughtful person and he really does care for kana a lot.

[@MrLerio]

Yes i agreee alot it is sad about aqua hiding behind a mask tho... great commentt !💖👌

[@MrLerio]

@@user-bm9rh5hn7t haha its funny how even some of the fandom dont trust him miyakos warning to aqua that if he was manipulative towards ppl it will blow up on his face came true 😆

[@animagamer2]

I couldn't agree with you more. So many people often have a hard time understanding the MCs of stories, which always strikes me as weird because, typically, we spend the most time in their heads. If you don't understand their motivations... just think about it. If you've been paying attention to them, you should know them better than anyone else on the cast. But I can also kind of forgive people when it comes to Aqua, he doesn't just hide his real self from the other characters but from the audience as well. *You* have to put in the work if you want to understand the heart he keeps for himself. I dunno, I'm almost always a huge MC simp in any story so it grinds my gears a little when I see people fail to empathize with them. But I understand that my ability to put myself in the shoes of the MC probably comes from my childhood where I grew up reading every work of fiction I could get my hands on. In doing so, I learned to empathize with characters whom I started the book not understanding at all. Then, on re-reads, I'd see all the hints I missed and feel like an idiot for not picking up on the signs. Eventually, I started getting so good at picking them up that I could usually figure out who a character was before the story had to spell it out for me. And that felt super rewarding because it felt like the author was testing me and that I passed. ANAYWAY, this became less about the show and more about me talking about myself 😅

[@jaideepshekhar4621]

That's... Impressive. To call it long is an understatement.

[@foxtrix]

hats off to Aqua's VA for actually voicing fake Pieyon

[@eugenejamesmora5881]

If that's true that's amazing but I don't think so...

[@delnite5825]

@@eugenejamesmora5881 i woldnt be surprised if it was tho, pieyons voice isnt exactly hard to replicate unless you have a very limited vocal range.

[@manvslife271]

@@eugenejamesmora5881 The credits of the episode specifically list "Pieyon (Aqua)" as Otsuka Takeo, which is Aqua's VA, so it actually was him.

[@AvereeChaloupka]

Every episode I watch through the lens of: Aqua = Lies Ruby = Truth It really helps saturate how they view the world, how they choose to interact with other characters, and what they believe is the best course of action. This episode really shows that off. Aqua thinks the best way to help (or at least, the best way HE can help) is by lying. Ruby thinks the best way to help is to tell the truth (or at least, what SHE perceives as truth). I really like how our two main characters are both protagonists and are both foils of each other. It's so clever to structure a story this way and I can't wait to see where the story goes!

[@AvereeChaloupka]

Also it really sets up a future moment for both of them where aqua tells an important truth, and Ruby tells an important lie. And makes me nervous because Aqua's moment with Kana on the balcony - he was lying to her by dressing up as Peiyon, but were the WORDS he was saying lies too? Such a complex character!

[@ART3MIS_1904]

​@@AvereeChaloupkaFor now, Ruby becomes the spotlight in the manga. This show literally moves around Ruby and Aqua.

[@kovobanga1559]

I kinda love the fact, that Ruby is very easily deceived by Aqua. It falls in her Positive character and helps their ways be independent from each other. Ruby couldn't recognize Aqua's voice when she tried to find idol agency, so now she was as naive. It doesn't hurt her, but still has some implications about how her relationship with Aqua will develop when the truth will emerge.

[@KuwajimaKenta]

Fun fact: Oshi no Ko and Kaguya-sama exists in the same universe. It’s been long speculated that Pieyon is Kazeno (the buff captain of Ishigami’s Cheer Leading group). Amusingly, Pieyon and Kazeno share the same Japanese VA: Taishi Murata. Coincidence? 🤔

[@humourlessjester3584]

Either A: Akasaka sensei gave the secret deets Or B: the studio wants to mess with the OnK theorists

[@sirmcdust5572]

It fits perfectly well. Kazeno is a buff guy who's super obsessed with being muscular but also eventually becomes super obessed with idols. Pieyon used to be a choreographer for idol groups before he made his youtube career in strength training. The two defining character traits these two characters have match 100%. The age also matches up perfectly. The VA is the same. Fits like a glove.

[@fel524]

@@humourlessjester3584 based studio execs

[@ulrik03]

I'm convinced it's him, but if it somehow isn't... That's masterful trolling by the casting department

[@yahirherrera2573]

​@@sirmcdust5572oh fuc*, that is great theory, everything is connected

[@redmustangredmustang]

Kana needs a hug and will need many more as the series goes along.

[@temshopping]

omg thank god they revealed Aqua this episode cuz my brain kept spinning to whether Pieyon actually shrunk or it just looks like that from his jump suit

[@pranjoshi]

They really used the trope well. So silly when skinny characters take their cloths off to reveal a super bulked up body.

[@ulrik03]

​@@pranjoshihe *could* have been doing a Machio!

[@ukmaxi]

There are only 11 confirmed episodes unfortunately for this season, mainly because episode 1 was already so long and it ends pretty nicely here. Sorry to bring bad news.

[@pranjoshi]

Yeah, so more like a 13-14 episode season.

[@andresfelipemanjarres7061]

It's funny that the author of this series is the same as that of Kaguya-sama because Kana's character reminds me a lot of Miyuki Shirogane, obviously in another context. A character who carries everyone's expectations on their shoulders, with super low self-esteem and even self hate, while showing a firm face to the people around them. The good thing is that coming from how masterfully his arc was handle, I have faith that Kana is going to have an interesting arc when we see it from the light of a "forgotten child star" looking to start a new chapter in her career. And other hand a small part that I love about Kana's story so far is that it reflects in a certain way what happened to Akane, who was swallowed by the negative comments, while with Kana it create a mask for her, a barrier that protects her from the pain but is also crushing her little by little and makes her believe that if she hides what she feels, she will not suffer again, obviously that is not true and in fact it is stopping her from getting what she really wants

[@nathankeel6667]

Something I realized the other day is just how similar akane and kana are and it kinda adds to kana's jealously towards akane its not just a fight for aquas romantic interest but also kana probley feels that as she has already kinda said we are both hard workers and young actors and both very talented so why is she so successful and I stuck in this hole struggling to get roles and now akane is as far as kana knows getting aquas interest. Her jealously isnt just childish romantic fighting but its something that feeds into her already low self-esteem and defeatist attitude

[@kk_sj3635]

Kana is such a cross of Miyuki and Kaguya actually. She has Miyuki's fake bravado and Ice Kaguya's deflection (esp with the way she talks so harsh). She's wearing both their masks. On that note, so is Aqua - Miyuki's looks, Kaguya's manipulativeness, oh and Hayasaka's acting prowess.

[@MinJyo-Ciel]

iswtg your indepth talks and perspectives are like my thoughts being laid out infront of me Im so glad i found people to watch who thinks very simillar to to reassure myself that im not just coping with my assumtions AHAHAHA

[@AnthonyKagegariVT]

@3:21 the worst part is Aka literally said in an interview with livesdoor news (a news source in Japan) that he killed off Ai simply after the first few chapters of the manga because she was too popular and he didn’t know what to do with her character since he wanted Aqua and Ruby to be the deuteragonists of the show. His original plan was to have them all be in the show business for a while together but scraped the idea. Seems to me like the idea was that she would be eventually stabbed but crippled and not able to continue on and the story would continue this way…but as a manga reader and without going into spoilers there’s some interesting things that show up that probably wouldn’t have happened if these changes weren’t made.

[@a-lunon]

Kana insisting she doesn't have a fan even after "Pieyon" saying he's one of hers most probably means that Kana wants only one person to be her fan, and imagine her feelings when one day that person suddenly got a girlfriend. of course she'd think "what am i even doing being an idol?" when the reason for her becoming one went and gone to a different girl

[@VladdViever]

Haven't read the series but i think it is very possible Kana mentions to Aqua about Ruby being a shut in to start to kick off an interesting conversation.

[@xununderjin]

Aqua's voice actor makes that voice look like Pieyon. That voice is not Pieyon's voice actor. You can see it in the final credits.

[@DutchDread]

Man, I f-ing LOVE kana so much. I don't think I've ever seen a character so realistically written and relatable. Kana is just the best example I've ever seen for how a person can fall prey to depression, the way it slowly erodes your soul, it's heartbreaking. Especially the comment about "when did I start making these self-deprecating remarks" hits hard, because I too had noticed her doing this and it broke my heart. The show is DEFINITELY getting a second season, the best indicator for whether or not an anime gets a season 2 is probably if it boosts manga sales. From what I hear there are now 9million copies of Oshi no ko in circulation, which is an increase of 100% since the anime started, that is insane. Also, fun fact, Pieyon is one of the characters from Kaguya-sama, good luck guessing which one.

[@DXDragon38]

Kana needs to stop internalizing the Twitter comments. They've thoroughly killed her self-esteem

[@2stepbehind1stepaway]

Did you guys listen to the full version of the "Idol" (opening) song? It's awesome!

[@nicosniaus1863]

Love Kana ♥️

[@みんむ-p8t]

I can really relate to that you guys clapped at the end of this Episode😂😂 This show is totally amazing!

[@kephalai]

i love how a few episodes ago, kana was trying her best to delay the idol stuff, till the point that she cringes even to say the words "i'm the rookie idol, kana arima"... and then this episode ends with her saying those exact words... ^_^

[@安次嶺かまんど]

アクアの優しい嘘。カナの優しい嘘。嘘をつかないルビー。嘘を見破るルビー。 倒れることを恐れ、倒れる準備をするカナ。アイの教えの通り、倒れることを恐れないルビー。 1話のテーマが繰り返される。 愛とは何か。嘘をつくのはなぜか。嘘をつくのは良いこと？悪いこと？

[@kunal1957]

I relate to kana so much it's scary lol

[@nathankeel6667]

On the note of you guys saying aqua will be in the audience it slightly worries me because if I remember correctly this is related to the akanes thertor company and they will be to be close to each other for appearances so hopefully like you guys said it can inspire kana but with how she has been acting and this being oshi no ko you always have to be on edge im not to convinced

[@MinJyo-Ciel]

oh trust me ruby will step in later AHAHAHA

[@bosskete]

season 2nd must come in january!! legend would continue

[@raec5426]

Doubt that soon for such a well produced show too.

[@Mohammed-jk3ie]

Kana is actually the best character in this anime

[@seananime_copying]

I think you will recognize chicken man (someone in love is war😂)

[@THE3LEMONPUFF3PERSON]

KANA ARIMA IS THE BEST

[@DXDragon38]

9:48 SWEET HOME ALABAMA "Help me Aqua-oniichan, I'm stuck!"

[@kk_sj3635]

🙄

[@AH45510]

You have chosen the wrong manga/anime for this shit. Sorry to disappoint you but, fortunately, Aka Akasaka is not in incest shit.

[@mikeyfong6696]

algo

[@hiepdo1216]

😂🎉❤

[@yjk92]

Aqua just can't help but be manipulative, AKA lying, even if he has "good intentions." I hope Kana calls him out for his behavior.

[@BhBc8f8]

I his defense Pieymon couldn't make it and Kana wouldn't listen to a word he said. Lies are Love as the saying goes 🤣

[@GenuisSocietyNo83Herta]

Kana supremacy best girl of the series If you don't think so you are just wrong ok 😂 We suffered 2 weeks to watch akane ship Now suffer 3 weeks of no akane including the finale 😂

[@ATt6743]

Cringe

[@ZhiningAnomalie]

...? I mean I'm not the biggest fan of Kana but who's to say that if you don't like Kana you have to like Akane? This comment isn't really expressing an opinion it's just blatantly rude.

[@username-ql8ox]

Akane gang now and forever!! We'll never lose to the likes of you!!! 🎉🎉🎉

[@jaideepshekhar4621]

Still think that?

[@GenuisSocietyNo83Herta]

@@jaideepshekhar4621 you really think something can happen that makes you change who you like? Lol