Oshi no Ko - The Final Act

 By far, one of the biggest manga smashes in recent years is Oshi no Ko, a collaboration between manga creators Aka Akasaka (Kaguya-Sama: Love is War) and Mengo Yokoyari (Scum’s Wish). How big? When the first season of its anime debuted in 2023, its theme song Idol was featured in an act on America’s Got Talent.

Last November, a live-action series debuted on Amazon Prime, shortly after the manga wrapped up its story. A live-action movie, Oshi no Ko - The Final Act, wrapped up the show’s story in December. That movie is ready to watch stateside on Amazon Prime. Sit back, because the story is wild.

Dr. Goro Amamiya (Ryo Narita) and his recently deceased patient, Sarina Tendoji (Kurumi Inagaki), bonded over superstar Ai Hoshino (Asuka Saito) of the J-Pop band B-Komachi. One day, Goro gets the shock of his life when Ai turns out to be his next patient. Ai’s having twins, which could seriously jeopardize her career if word got out. Goro agrees to help her deliver in secret, but a loony fan (Kazuto Mokudai) kills him the night it happens. 

Goro finds himself reborn as Ai’s son, Aqua (Kaito Sakurai). His new twin-sister, Ruby (Nagisa Saito), is eventually revealed to be a reborn Sarina. All’s well and good for the new family until the same fan kills Ai at her apartment. Aqua suspects that his mysterious “father” doxxed Ai to the killer. Thus, Aqua decides to get into acting so that he may get the old man’s attention and eventually kill him. All of this is summed up within the first fifty minutes.

By the time act two begins, Aqua has revealed his and Ruby's maternal secret to the press, much to her outrage. He has also figured out that fellow actor Hikaru Kamiki (Kazunari Ninomiya) is the culprit. So, he decides to get his revenge the only way he knows how: by making Ai’s biopic, The 15-Year Lie. If you’ve seen Hamlet, you’ll understand Aqua’s logic for the plan. Anyway, Aqua casts himself as Hikaru, while Ruby, who is now a J-Pop star herself, lobbies to play Ai. It’s now just a matter of getting it made. Still, Hikaru, who’s also a serial killer, might not take the plan lying down…

Everybody got that? There might be a quiz later.

What we have here works as a good summary of the source material, which even edits a few scenes from the show, but it misses a few key steps in adaptation. You may have asked, upon reading my summary, why Aqua doesn’t take revenge on the loony fan. The show, unlike the movie, properly explains that said fan killed himself after the crime. In fact, most of the missing plot points are covered in the show. The biggest exception is the climax, which reworks the circumstances, but not the outcome, of the manga’s extremely contentious climax. In it, a random proxy of Hikaru’s shows up to crash the movie-within-this-movie’s premiere. Who is she? No time for that! 

The first act is buoyed by the stellar performances of Narita, Inagaki and especially Asuka Saito. Goro and Sarina's chemistry is quite moving, and it's hard to feel nothing when Sarina finally passes away. On a lighter side, Goro has an over-the-top freakout when he realizes who his next patient is. He still proves himself a stand-up guy as he bonds with Ai. Meanwhile, we see Ai's unhappy childhood, and her being scouted by her manager, Mr. Saitou (Kotaro Yoshida). Ai, who basically lives by "fake it until you make it," struggles under the weight of her dual identity a few times. Still, her radiance shines through whenever she's allowed to be happy. Although Ai doesn't live long, her presence is felt with her poignant video wills to her kids.

Now for the second act. Although Aqua and Ruby's relationship isn't as sweet as that of their former selves, we do see that he cares in his own, yet somewhat harsh way. It's unambiguously nice, though, when they finally mend their relationship after he reveals his former identity to her. There's plenty of intrigue as Aqua puts his movie plot in motion, especially when he interviews Hikaru. Hikaru is quite unnerving during his fairly limited screentime, even when he seemingly agrees to turn himself in, though he does have hints of a sympathetic backstory. It's quite uncanny as the film blurs the lines between a flashback and a recreation; it's hard to tell which scenes are which. 

Who else do we have here? Ruby gets some great moral support from her bandmate, Kana Arima (Nanoka Hara), who eventually retires from the act. Their bandmate, a YouTuber named Mem-Cho (Ano), is mostly just there, but she gets a nice coda. Another major supporting character, the young method actress Akane Kurokawa (Mizuki Kayashina), gets her best scene when she and Ruby audition for Ai. Mr. Saitou is a great father-figure for not only Ai, but her twins, and that's matched by his wife, Miyako (Kana Kurashina). The Saitous' reunion is well-acted, even if you have to watch the show for context. We also have Nobuaki Kaneko as Aqua's filmmaker friend, Taishi Gotanda, and Moemi Katayama as Airi Himekawa, a major figure in Hikaru's backstory. While Taishi is decently likable, Airi is anything but that.

Despite some story issues, Oshi no Ko - The Final Act, much like its source material, spins a compelling drama out of a fairly loony premise. Indeed, it gets pretty goofy when babies Aqua and Ruby are shown talking. But you'll pretty much forget the silliness once it gets to the revenge plot. That's how I experienced the franchise as I followed its story up until its conclusion. Its finale is perfectly dramatic even as it stretches plausibility to entertaining lengths. This might keep fans entertained until the third season of the anime debuts next year, even if that might stick closer to the story. I'll be waiting, either way.