[Mein*Star] 01

推しの子 [Oshi no Ko] #1

by Aka Akasaka, Mengo Yokoyari, Nana Umino (Translator)

Wie wäre es, als Kind eines Idols wiedergeboren zu werden? Diese Frage beschäftigt Goro, Arzt und Hardcorefan des Idols Ai Hoshino, seit sie ihm von einer Patientin kurz vor ihrem Tod gestellt wurde. Was er zu dem Zeitpunkt noch nicht weiß: Schon bald wird er sein Idol treffen, was sein Leben komplett auf den Kopf stellt!

Genres: Manga, Mystery, Fantasy, Seinen, Fiction, Comics, Drama

220 pages, Paperback

First published July 17, 2020

About the author

AKASAKA Aka
Name (in native language): 赤坂アカ

Zodiac: Virgo

Blood Type: O

Reviews

[Nicolo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Imagine you're a gynecologist of a provincial hospital where your favorite idol goes to see you for a consultation incognito because she's 20 weeks pregnant and carrying twins. Then you're stabbed to death by a mystery assailant and reincarnated as one of the twins.

This is the premise of this manga, a collaboration of two successful creators of Kaguya-sama: Love Is War, and Scum's Wish, and this all happened in the first chapter.

The first volume uses a lot of common tropes but not in the genre one would expect. Reincarnation, after all, is over done as a fantasy and isekai device. I've rarely encountered it in a story with a modern setting. This genre bending is appropriate for a title disguising itself as a comedy but is also a dark drama that gives us a glimpse at the underbelly of the idol industry, and the struggle of a single mother raising twins without the security of family support. It's going to mess the main characters up.

This seem to be an interesting title that runs the gamut of emotions. I'll be reading more of this.

[Bookishrealm · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow...I'm not sure what I was expecting, but I'm pretty sure it wasn't this. I read the description of this manga, but I'm not really sure it does it justice.

I must admit, the premise for Oshi No Ko is pretty weird. It follows an OBGYN who discovers Ai Hoshino, an up and coming idol, through a former patient. He is a huge fan and is shocked when she comes to him for help. What follows is a rather strange reincarnation story that pushes some boundaries, but it's also heartfelt and quite sad. I wasn't expecting the first volume to end in the way that it did and it actually hurt my feelings. Now there is space for an epic revenge plot line that I'm excited to see unfold. I also heard that the anime is pretty amazing so I'll be checking that out as well. I definitely recommend giving this one a try. I don't think it'll be for everyone, but I see what Aka Akasaka was attempting to do with the overall story. Plus the artwork for this one is amazing and added more depth to the story.

[Poda · Rating 3 out of 5]

A lot of this book was cringey and uncomfortable. A child obsessing over their idol mother with the mind of a grown man. The daughter twin makes me more uncomfortable though because she doesn't have a moral compass like the main protagonist. She's a girl so she can do it. But if you are okay with Mushoku Tensei this is no worse.

The last third of the book though was so good, and the last chapter sets up how the story is going to continue. I was going to stop reading this book until the last 2 chapters that completely changed my opinion.

I like the format and the first page of a chapter is an interview/clip from a documentary in the future. And then you follow present events. it is very interesting and sets up some intrigue.

TLDR: If you are willing to get through the awkward relationships in this at the beginning of the book, it does get good and sets up a great future premise.

[Lucy Tonks (the invisible life of a reader) · Rating 5 out of 5]

i started this after watching the few eps that are currently out in the anime, and i will never not be surprised by what a dark turn this all took
THIS SEAMED LIKE A FUN STORY
and when i heard it's by the same creator as kaguya-sama love is war, i thought it would be a romcom too, but man, was i wrong.

[SHOMPA · Rating 3 out of 5]

The whole reincarnation twist was insane, and the way it dives deep into the entertainment industry? Quite good! The characters are super well-written, especially Aqua and Ruby. It gets real emotional too, like you’ll be laughing one moment, then BAM—your heart gets hit. If you haven’t checked it out yet, seriously, you’re missing out. Totally worth the hype!

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

This...is not what I was expecting. The bit discussed on the back, where an OB-GYN gets his favorite idol as a maternity patient, is actually only chapter one. Then he's murdered by a crazed fan and reborn as one of her twins, with the other twin being the reincarnation of a twelve-year-old patient he met during his residency who died of brain cancer. Suddenly the story is about kids being raised by their favorite idol...until she's murdered by that same fan. Now our protagonist is vowing to become an actor to find who he assumes is the fan's accomplice: the twins' unknown dad.

Needless to say, the tone is pretty uneven. It's better when it's leaning into the dark side of being an idol, and it's definitely worth a second volume. But if you're looking for a lighthearted romp, this ain't it.

[Violet ♡]

A lovely cover? Yes! Is this a cute story? NO!



The animation in the trailer piqued my interest in the story. But the manga contains tropes with dark twists. 😬

It also fictionalized the negative aspects of the entertainment industry. It depicted how it works and the hardships of a star. 

The characters are far too young to face such challenges. Or are they not? 🙃

[Evelyn · Rating 1 out of 5]

I don't normally write negative reviews, and I tend to enjoy a lot of what I read. This is the exception. 😭.
I think this manga has a lot of writing issues, and all of them lead to me not liking either of our main characters.
There's a lot of fan service as well with the Idol, who is 16. That's really gross to me and could have easily been solved simply by making her to be in her 20s.
The Gynecologists main character trait other then idol worship being that he likes 16 year Olds is fucking weird.
The Idol has the worst case of manic pixie dream girl syndrome ever.
While there's a level of believably, you have to drop when it comes different series, but you're telling me that this girl not only didn't realize she was pregnant with TWINS. But didn't freak out about it either.
My final note is this; Gynecologists don't deliver babies, that's not part of their job 😑

[Noa (semi ia) ˚୨୧ · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm not a huge manga fan, but this was really really good. And it gets better the more the series goes

[Kiarash · Rating 4 out of 5]

یکی از آندرریتدترین مانگاها که در ظاهر در ابتدا ممکنه شونن کمدی به نظر بیاد اما پس از چند چپتر مخاطب متوجه میشه که بیشتر با یک درام تاریک طرف هست و مخاطب هدفش اتفاقا بزرگسال بوده.
داستان این مانگا در ابتدا مثل خیلی از مانگاها با تناسخ شروع میشه اما در ادامه ابعاد تازه تری رو به خودش میگیره. بدین گونه که یک پزشکی که یک سلبریتی رو خیلی تحسین می کرده به همراه بیمارش که اون هم احساسات مشابهی رو نسبت به این سلبریتی داشتن طی حادثه ای میمیرن و از قضا به عنوان فرزندان دوقلوی این سلبریتی متولد میشن در حالیکه خاطرات زندگی قبلی یادشون مونده. اما ماجرا در ادامه پیچیده تر میشه.

این مانگا خیلی خوب صنعت سرگرمی و بهای شهرت رو به نمایش میذاره و به مخاطب نشون میده که سلبریتی شدن چه عواقبی رو میتونه به همراه داشته باشه و چه مافیاهایی در این صنعت در پشت پرده فعالیت میکنن. روی شخصیت پردازی ها و دیالوگ ها هم انصافا خوب کار شده . در ابتدای هر چپتر هم پرش های زمانی رو شاهد هستیم که نکات جالبی رو به مخاطب درباره گذشته یا آینده شخصیت های داستان میگه.
طراحی ها هم مناسبه و به فضای داستان خیلی میاد ولی خیلی هم فوق العاده یا متفاوتی نیست.

روی هم رفته این مانگا مثال بارز این نکته هست که میگن "هرگز نباید از روی ظاهر قضاوت کرد" چون جلدهای اون و حالت رنگارنگش فریبنده است و ماهیت اصلی داستان چیز دیگری است. خلاصه که اگر این ریویو رو میخونید و اهل مانگا هستید یا خلاصه ش بنظرتون جالب اومده از دستش ندید.

[Anna Quilter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well..it's a pretty weird premise to start with..
Then the story begins and it gets weirder..creepier.

It might be a veiled comment on the celebrity obsessed culture in Japan/everywhere or it may just turn out to be one sick puppy.

I will wait to see.

It surprised me =it's good to surprise me

[Irish]

After that phenomenal anime prologue, you bet I'm going to dive in to the manga! That first episode took me by surprise, I don't know which direction this is going but I feel like I'm going to like this manga series.



Now, I just have to wait for the first season to be completed before I start the manga! Sucks to wait weekly for the episodes tho.

[Sarah ♡ (let’s interact!) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oshi No Ko, or what could also be referred to as; ”That Time I Got Reincarnated As An Idol’s Kid” is one of the best manga series I have started for a while! I’m collecting the physical copies to read and I already want to continue on with this series!
There are SO many twists and turns 😱 more than I could have imagined. Didn’t want to put it down. I’m so glad I went into this series blind!
Ai Hoshino has my heart 🥺

5 stars

[LopaShoqjaIme · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ne fillim i was like "ah shit do shofim kte burrin qe simpon per nje 16 vjecare", then they hit me with the pregnant with twins card.

Pastaj e beri doktorin djalin e idolit 16 vjecare. Thank god qe ai nuk beri nje fucking simp dhe te perfitonte nga situata.

Ne fillim ishte shume fun se si silleshin femijet. Pastaj filloi te tregonte per Ai-n dhe nga ideja qe "ah she's just a pretty face" kalova ne "ah shit i relate to her edhe me dhemb shpirti per te".
And then they just...they just...killed her...

BUT ANYWAY
I don't really like revenge stories, por mqs po simpoj per Aquan/doktorin dhe ky eshte pakez psikopatik, mezi pres te shoh se cdo bej.

[˚ʚ♡ɞ˚Adriana˚ʚ♡ɞ˚ · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's Oshi No Ko. No way this wasn't going to be 5 stars for me. I love the anime as well as the music for it.

[asia ◡̈ · Rating 4 out of 5]

I primi sei capitoli sono MOLTO carini e la storia ha sicuramente del potenziale!
(Vabbè poi arrivi a leggere gli ultimi tre capitoli e ti metti a piangere come una fontana ma questa è un'altra storia)

[Facundo Torres · Rating 5 out of 5]

Todo lo que me gusto es spoiler por eso no voy a hacer una reseña extendida.

[lilly o · Rating 5 out of 5]

this whole manga was just full on emotional damage. these poor characters 😭

[二六 侯 · Rating 4 out of 5]

沒有推理成分的復仇劇（玩推理一開始就要讓兇手露臉），演藝圈、轉世在日漫都是老掉牙的題材（推薦大家看村上紀香的《龍》與日渡早紀的《守護我的地球》），但添加跟上時代的素材（如youtuber、網路綜藝節目、真人秀等）玩出新意不簡單，也沒有《SKIP‧BEAT！─華麗的挑戰─ 》那種拖沓鬼扯橋段。

總體而言，前半段是挺有娛樂性的，但看到第十集左右我還是無法下個定論：後續評價端看作者是否在反轉來反轉去之後把故事圓回去，另外主角「婦產科醫生」這麼大的設定如果到最終都沒有好好利用，就是失敗喔。

[Olly · Rating 5 out of 5]

partenza col botto!
Rappresentazione non troppo staccata dalla realtà del mondo dell'entertainment asiatico.

[Spocona Mandarynka Books 🍊 · Rating 5 out of 5]

AAAA te bobaski są przesłodkie (nawet dla mnie, choć nie lubię dzieci) ogln ekstra pomysł. Okładka może zmylić ale to nie jest kolejny słodki romans, tylko dramat psychologiczny, który momentami może mocno przygnębić, a momentami rozweselić jak kurwa mać.

[Thikrayat Al-aradi · Rating 3 out of 5]

extremely unexpected plot twist

[Teresa Sporrer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dieser Manga hat für mich immer als pures Trash gewirkt (warum gleich mehr), aber ich habe ihn nun auf Shueisha gelesen und Wow!
---
Warum dachte ich, dass er Trash ist? Es geht um einen Arzt, der als Kind seines Lieblingsidols wiedergeboren wird. Jep. Seine Zwillingsschwester ist eine Krebspatientin, die kurz vor ihm gestorben ist und das Idol ist erst 19 (oder so?) und natürlich darf niemand von der Schwangerschaft wissen. Dann wird der Arzt von einem Fan (?) von Ai (dem Idol) erstochen und wir wissen, was dann passiert - oder eher nicht. Denn statt in einer Fantasy-Welt landet der Arzt eben als Neugeborenes bei seinem liebsten Idol.
Ich dachte echt, dass es nur darum geht, dass seine Mutter jetzt sein geliebtes Idol ist und jaaa ... Stattdessen geht es in diesem Manga darum, wie giftig und scheinheilig das ganze Entertainment Business ist. Einerseits in Japan mit den jungfräulichen Idols, die niemanden außer ihren Fans lieben dürfen, aber dann schlägt es auch in die RIchtung Serien und Trash-TV.
Die Wendungen haben mich ab und zu echt schockiert!
Es ist kein Manga, den ich mir ins Regal stellen werde, aber dafür gibt es ja Manga+ (was übrigens legal ist!).

[Kaiya · Rating 1 out of 5]

this was really fucking strange. Grown man OBGYN obsessed with a 16 year old pregnant pop star “but not in a bad way” is killed by her stalker right before delivering her baby and ends up reincarnating as her baby… then said girl is murdered by the same stalker and her doctor turned baby becomes her avenger?!???

Lots of weird shit going on here, it’s kinda wild how it tries to make a ~ point ~ about fan culture and show business while being so absurdly misogynistic… anyways I’m gonna go spoil it on Wikipedia so I don’t have to pay for … whatever this was

[Leeya · Rating 4 out of 5]

According to Aka Akasaka, there is a famous joke in Japan about wanting to be reborn as an idol's child that is often spoken when news of an idol's marriage breaks. Considering the astonishing popularity of idols in Japan, this makes sense. Idols and idol groups bring in roughly one billion USD a year. Not nearly as lucrative for the country as anime and manga, which are a form of soft power for Japan in and of themselves, but a hugely popular entertainment industry nonetheless.

All the same, J-Pop idols are known most notably for, apart from their singing and dancing abilities and looks, their close (or at least, seemingly close) relationships with fans.The parasocial element that defines the popularity of girl groups is not just a huge part of the selling point, but maybe the entire selling point to begin with. After all, there are strict rules given to idols- no marriage without agency permission, and going off of that, no kids. The accessible nature of idols is a huge part of their cultural appeal. So, what happens when an idol grows up? Gets married or has kids, despite everything urging her not to?

This is where Oshi No Ko starts off. Having been a fan of Aka Akasaka's for some time (and having watched the phenomenal adaptation of this manga about a year ago), I expected some shenanigans going into this series. And shenanigans there certainly are. The basic premise is that Gorou, an OBGYN, and Sarina, a recently deceased cancer patient at the hospital where he works, are both huge idol fans. Both die relatively close together, just before their favorite idol, Ai Hoshino, is set to give birth to twins. Cue manga bullshit, and both are reincarnated as Ai's children. From there, Akasaka, and artist Mengo Yokoyari, tell the story of Ai's experiences with and eventually downfall from fame. In general, this volume touches on things that I personally am always wanting to see in this kind of story. I don't know that you can successfully write about any facet of the entertainment industry without writing about misogyny, consumerism, and the mistreatment of children. This volume touches on all of this, and in an extremely interesting way.

There is so much more I could say about this series, and I'd like to. However, going any further risks spoiling one of the most heart-wrenching twists in all of manga and a story that you kinda just have to read or watch to believe. I will say that Oshi No Ko is truly unique in terms of genre. Part wacky situational comedy, part gritty drama, part entertainment industry expose, and in my own personal opinion, part horror, there's kind of something here for everyone if you can get past the initial weirdness. I definitely struggled with some of the more uncomfortable parts of the set-up, but I do think most are necessary to the story as it becomes more of a character-driven psychological thriller/psychological drama towards the end of this volume. Akasaka writes with his trademark wit and insight, and he seems to come into his own as an author here. I love Kaguya more than maybe anyone, but it's clear that this kind of story is where his passion really lies.

I don't know how this story will go as it continues- maybe I'll end up hating it soon enough. It's that kind of innovative but tenuous story where there is a potential to do too much, get too controversial, ruin characters. But the initial feelings I had when watching the series for the time- surprise, shock, sadness, empathy- were definitely there when reading this volume. For that, it's an easy 5 stars. Akasaka turns everything he touches to gold, and I'm excited to see where this goes.

[Pepijn Coene · Rating 4 out of 5]

Life of a big idol in Japan, she can sing, dance and always steals the show.
And than a big plot twist that turns this manga into something very different!
Something stranger, funner and darker.
This really can be a big one.

I like this one, the art is very well drawn. Not unique or special, very typical anime style. Which I like!

Very excited were it is going and definitely can’t wait for the anime adaption.

[Pranta Dastider · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is awesome. Don't get deceived by the sparkling cover art. This is one of those heavy stories that punches right into your heart. The emotional ride it gives is quite significant. I believe this will be one of the best stories of the year for me.

[Annabelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐️

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

This might be one of the most original isekai manga I've read. There's A LOT going on here.

[Eileen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hat sehr viel Spaß gemacht, es zu lesen, aber manche Handlungsstränge waren so weird, dass ich echt kurz innehalten musste hahahah