I picked up Oshi no Ko while Kaguya-sama is on break, and have to say it's pretty good! Aka is putting in work, def my favorite mangaka currently. Thank you Apex
Alright back to OnK. The initial premise of reincarnation as an idol's child had me paused for a moment, like what, but it's interesting nonetheless that I kept reading. This series is all about showbiz, covering acting, idols, adaptations of manga and serialization, youtubers, modeling, basically the whole schbang. What really appeals to me is seeing how the cast navigates this world and what goes on behind the scenes in different medium. For example, the 2 most eye-opening chapters are chap 25 and 48 imo. Chap 25 focuses on the social media aspect many stars have to deal with and chap 48 details the various stressors mangaka face in a weekly serialization.
Speaking of the cast, I'm pretty high on it, especially the female side. Best Girl Arima's already had a lot of development, been a treat following her path from a child prodigy actor to now growing confidence as an idol, Akane's a good rival who's had her own share of adversity, and Ruby, the "FMC", hasn't been featured heavily yet, but it's always refreshing to see her and she's a good contrast to her twin bro's edginess. Then, we got supporting characters like youtube sensation Mem-cho and Best Mom Miyako. On the male side, it's mostly just been Aquamarine and some recurring characters here and there, like Pieyon and Dir. Gotanda. About Aqua, I'm lukewarm on him, he reminds me of Kurapika, and I'm not a big fan of the guy. But, Aqua is on a unique path, since he's mentally older(having retained his past life's memories) than he physically he is. How he adjusts to the world of showbiz and balances this with his goal of revenge is interesting to follow.
On to the art, Mengo delivers quality. Since most of this is drama, she really depicts the mood of what's happening. The character designs are great, and she likes to keep it trendy lol. I believe Arima already has more than 20 different hats. And where Mengo really shines is close-up shots of characters during tense/peak moments, capturing the emotions of the characters and as a reader able to feel it. One of my favorite panels:
And that's all for now.
PS: The end pages on some chapters are must-reads. Learned about different styles of acting techniques, new theater tech called StageRound, and much more!