this post was submitted on 13 Nov 2024
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Long post ahead. tl;dr - This ending is very effective at framing the whole series as a criticism of the Japanese entertainment industry, as well as the futility of the criticism itself.
After letting this ending stew in my brain for a little bit, I have actually developed an appreciation for it. Let me explain...
From the beginning, OnK has been praised for its frank portrayal of the Japanese entertainment industry including all the backroom dealings, the power of connections, and the profit motives behind stoking the fires of drama. If we zoom out on this story as a whole, we have basically ended the story in an almost identical place to where we started; a young star idol without any family members has become an object of fascination for the public. To keep this up, the idol lies, both to the public and to herself, viewing that as the way to live up to the expectations of others.
Almost the whole story that happens between those two points happens within the bounds of the industry itself; a movie here, a play there, a music video, a concert, etc. All the drama that Ruby and Aqua (and everybody else) dealt with in their lives ultimately ended up being monetized by the industry machinery: that dating show got really popular after Akane's trauma, Aqua redeemed Sweet Today by channeling the stalker that killed Ai, the life and death of Ai depicted in the movie (the director even won an award!), etc. It's telling that after all of that apparent success within the industry, everybody left standing seems incredibly sad this chapter.
So, I think an interesting way to view this series is that it depicts the wheels of the entertainment industry slowly turning, grinding people underneath it, to provide the dramatic fuel for the industry itself. It is some kind of perpetual machine that takes in human tragedy and leaves further tragedy in its wake in the pursuit of profit.
The ultimate irony from this interpretation is, of course, that Oshi no Ko itself is being used in the same way. It can criticize the entertainment industry all it wants, but it isn't going to bring about any lasting changes because it is an incredibly popular (and profitable) franchise. It reminds me of the famous quote by Audre Lord, recontextualized in this instance for the entertainment industry:
In addition to the manga, there is anime, merch, novels, stage plays, live action adaptation, etc. All of these ventures are making money for the people involved. At the same time, it has dredged up tragic victims of the past as well as created new ones. All of this makes the industry criticisms in Oshi no Ko ring just a bit hollow.
That is a nice take on a meta-narrative level as the most powerful moments have shown how "popular" tragedy is as, I for one when thinking back, has it's strongest points anchored around tragedy with Aqau's moments that draw in the audience throughout the series, Akane's tipping point, Ruby's channeling of her darkness, Melt's acrobatic display, even Kana with how people were gravitated by her acting born from her channeling her pain ( with her trying to overcome it through her feelings for Aqua and how that also manifested in a positive way,somewhat, in the play) and heck even Kamiki seemed to be successful despite his proclivities.
There are examples with almost all the characters showing how the industry has effected them in some way, most of it being tragedy or dealing with its reality and trying to work within the system.
It shows how we, as humans, seem fascinated by the darkness and how captivated people are by those able to channel that or overcome it.
The industry knows this and it is eager to profit off of it just as much as it is eager to profit off those that know how to "play the game".
One needs to adapt, be strong and endure the suffering and through that can one's strength of character be radiant but that is contrasted by how ruthless the industry is as well, as people are quick to come to conclusions and how powerful that pressure is as people resort to all sorts of terrible ideas and actions in pursuit of trying to find meaning from that pressure - which can dangerously become their crutch as the industry expectation bears down on the individual.