Summary
Oshi no Kowas one ofthe most popular anime titles of 2023, and it has hit the ground running with its currently-airing second season. Its narrative is concerned with the darker parts of the Japanese entertainment industry, a darkness which has developed an intensely toxic, and entitled consumer culture and fandom which is characteristic of a problem found across the globe: parasocial relationships.
The opening themes of both seasons ofOshi no Koaddress these themes as experienced primarily through the tragedy which befell the series' poster child, Ai Hoshino, but how exactly does the second season opening continue the exploration of the series' core themes highlighted in the first opening?
A Recap of The First Season’s Opening
45510, The Short Side Story
“IDOL” performed by YOASOBI was a smash-hit in 2023, and aside from it being a brilliant song in general, the way in which it connects to theOshi no Kostory is what elevates it from being a song with lyrics that merely connect to the story and characters situationally, to one that is so connected to the narrative that the song itself could not have happened without the story. The first opening is based on theOshi no Koshort story titled 45510, written byseries author Aka Akasaka, which was the account of a former B-Komachi group member of their experience working with Ai Hoshino, as well as a recollection of an old live-stream on a defunct video website in which Ai spoke about herself at length. This was a brief yet insightful look into the brokenness of the character, but also how well she maintained an air of mystery and disconnection from other people that became characteristic of her persona as an idol. Some of the lyrics from “IDOL” are Ai’s words in that live-stream verbatim, and also some lines from her fandom; however, the second season’s opening shifts this perspective to what seems like that ofAquamarine Hoshino, Ai’s son, the reincarnation of Ai’s gynaecologist and fan, Goro Amamiya.
“The invincible smile tearing up the media; you want to know her secrets, she’s mysterious; even what she lacks ends up in her area; a perfect liar, you are – a genius-level idol”
– YOASOBI, “IDOL”
The first opening showed parallels between Ai, whose name means “love”, and the falsehood of her celebrity identity, which she (and her fans) are no longer able to separate from the real person. Her name is written in katakana, a specific format of writing in the Japanese language commonly used to transliterate foreign words, for emphasis, or to improve the readability of a block of text. “Ai” corresponds to the highest abstraction of love in Japanese, a concept complicated by the various modes of love that can exist depending on context. Her name, which is normally written in kanji, being written in katakana illustrates the character’s internal struggle with what “real” love is, and her understanding that being an idol,even if it is just a series of lies, is in itself an act of love. The katakana denotes the falsehood of love that Ai believes herself to represent.
A"Love"Story Without the Core Component
The Opening Is Largely From the Perspective of the Twins
The opening toOshi no Koseason 2 is “FATAL”, performed by GEMN, a duo formed by Tatsuya Kitani (Jujutsu KaisenHidden Inventory Arc opening) and Kento Nakajima from three-piece Japanese boyband timelesz (better known as Sexy Zone,A Condition Called Loveopening). A comment by a Japanese fan on the creditless opening shared by the officialOshi no KoYouTube account highlighted the fact that the name “GEMN” is actually “Gemini” without the “-i”, which is a brilliant observation considering that a lack of “-i” (Ai, as in “love”) is a central tenet of the song itself. Throughout the sequence, the visuals have brief moments of glitch effect applied to Aqua and Ruby specifically, phasing between their current and past selves, and as the first verse kicks in, the visuals morph from the scene of the entire cast standing at a bay to the opening of doors which places us in the middle of an audience watching Aqua and Ruby ascend stairs on the set of a play.
“Kirakira o hoshi-sama yadoshita anata no eyes Karakara kawaite kawaisou na lack of Ai? Subete o kodoku kara sukuu mabushii hikari Boku ni dake ochiru kage wa anata no sei?”
“Your eyes with glittering stars in them All dried up, poor thing, a lack of love? A dazzling light that saves all from loneliness Is this shadow that falls only on me because of you?”
How we can tell that this is from Aqua’s perspective is from the intro by Nakajima, which goes, “Waking up from another dream, I open my wet eyelids.I curse my helplessness from those distant dayswhich dreadfully remain. It burns my body. Will this despair feed me someday? I keep burning myself from it as I crave adoration.” As the second season has progressed, we’ve become more acquainted with Aqua’s reality; one stained by PTSD-induced panic attacks whenever he thinks about Ai. The first verse describes Ai herself as a “dried up, poor thing” suffering from “a lack of Ai”, as in “love”, but it’s a double entendre: Aqua’s suffering is in itself caused by Ai’s death and the impact it had on not only him, but those who knew her. This is evident in the interlude, “You have given me a fatal flaw, selfish giant star, ruined lives”.
There Are Changes in Perspective That Explore A Core Theme In Various Ways
The pre-chorus is performed by both singers, which goes “Please, let me hear your voice, these tangled and twisted wounds, the one who gave them to me is only you, only you (only you, only you), please, keep your eyes on me, keep your eyes on me”. At this point, the visuals show Aqua and Ruby seated while watching memories from their childhood before a hologram of Ai performs on stage. It cuts to a rooftop scene of the twins holding hands as they run aftera mirage of their motheras she appears to walk through a doorway with the glowsticks of eager fans at the other end. They jump off the building and Aqua transforms into his character for the 2.5D stage play adaptation of Abiko Samejima’s Tokyo Blade as the chorus drops, which is also sung by both singers as the sentiments expressed in these moments are shared by the twins. Aqua and Ruby are twins in various contexts; from a natal perspective, but also as the reincarnations of fans of Ai, but they have polar opposite perspectives on many aspects.
“Without you, I cannot live anymore, I would sacrifice anything for you,
I can’t get enough of your love, what should I use to fill in what’s missing?
Fatal, fatal, fatal love; fateful, fateful, fateful I
Inevitable, inevitable, inevitable sorrow
Keep your eyes on me, my dearest fatale.”
From before their reincarnation, Aqua was a doctor and Ruby the patient, but Ruby is the one who introduced Aqua to Ai in their past lives, so as a fan, she has seniority. He died a violent death while she succumbed to illness, and as Ai’s children, Aqua had the misfortune of being there to watch the life drain from his mother’s vibrant eyes. While the series has put Ruby in the backseat somewhat, episode 5 has teased a foray into how she was affected by the “lack of Ai”. For most of the opening sequence, the twins are shown hand-in-hand or simply together until the pre-chorus scene where they’re chasing after their mother without care for the danger of falling from a tall building.
The aforementioned double entendre is actually a triple; for the “Ai/I” could also be “eye”, a reference to the stars in Ai, Aqua and Ruby’s eyes (“Your eyes with glittering stars in them”), but also the fact that eyes or vision also make up a large part ofthe thematic content of both openings. The second season opening uses its visuals and the lyrical content of “FATAL” to build upon the themes of affection and fandom, as warped by Ai, her impact on people, and by the darkness of the entertainment industry and the longing of Ai’s children; who wish they could have their mother/“fave” watch over them as they step into the mouth of the same beast.
