The last chapter of Oshi no Ko is out! Read on for a full recap and get the details on mangaka Aka Akasaka’s next project!
Content Warning: The following contains spoilers for the Oshi no Ko manga.
It’s official. Aqua is dead. After the untimely end of a series’ protagonist, what’s left to do but tie up a few loose ends? Chapter 165 of Oshi no Ko opens with Aqua’s funeral, where Kana slaps his corpse, angry at him for dying and breaking his promise to her. As she screams that he’s a liar, we come to the realization of how well Aqua kept his secrets and fooled everyone to protect Ruby. Closing off the series, chapter 166 focuses on Ruby coping with her brother’s death and her moving forward as the last Hoshino family member. Read on for a full recap and personal thoughts on the finale.
Ruby’s Grief
The chapter might have skimmed over a lot, but when it came to the lives of the Oshi no Ko characters we learned that Kana continues to act but will cry abruptly at work, while Akane becomes more stoic and doesn’t get easily scared by on-set pranks. The death of Aqua leaves a huge impact on them, but the one hurting the most is Ruby. Each panel of Aqua’s idol sister, is gut-wrenching to read; at every moment she breaks down in tears. Her furious cries lead to her ripping posters of her ultimate idol and mother, Ai, off her walls. It looks like she’ll drown in her sadness, the stars in her eyes cast in black. However, because of what her brother did for her, Ruby picks herself up with renewed conviction, her starry eyes turning bright white as she cries.
Even when she achieves her dream of performing at the Tokyo Dome — the milestone stage her mother was supposed to grace before her death — Ruby hides her pain with a smile. Instead of lying about loving people like Ai did, Ruby lies to herself about not being sad. As she sings and dances with Mem-cho and two new B-Komachi members, most of the main characters support Ruby from the crowd. We also see a nameless girl in the audience be awe-struck by the singer. It’s a bittersweet end to Ruby’s tale, continuing the family tradition of lying. However, her “lies” are wholly to entertain her fans, understanding that, at the end of the day, she loves being an idol.
The last image we see is of Ruby, ready for work, leaving her home after looking fondly at the memorabilia of both Aqua and Ai. This is a full-circle moment as it calls back to the end of the first volume and episode of Oshi no Ko, when the twins say their farewells to a picture of their mom before heading to school.
Personal Thoughts
After finishing the last chapter, I didn’t know what to think. Ruby smiling and internalizing her sadness while appreciating the road Ai and Aqua paved for her was bittersweet. Though I thought more could’ve been fleshed out, the author did the best he could to tie everything together. One thing the finale never addresses, though, is who the mysterious crow girl is or what her whereabouts are at the end of the series. Perhaps the anime will be given the chance to amend that, as was the case with Attack on Titan.
I still have questions. Was the scene of Aqua sinking into the ocean from chapter 162 foreshadowed in the anime’s ending sequence, or did the author decide to incorporate it into the manga after? While Mephisto originally seemed to be a song from Aqua’s POV sung to Ai, it appears to have been dedicated to Ruby this whole time, with him wishing her a full life. Moreover, in the second season’s ED, Burning, Ruby’s shown in the same black dress she wears during Aqua’s funeral in the manga’s finale. Given that the song is about hiding tears behind a curtain, is that supposed to be Ruby’s mindset after everything that’s happened? Like I said, I have questions.
New Manga Series
With the end of Oshi no Ko, author Aka Akasaka is moving on to writing a new manga series. A recent teaser released on X by Oricon News showed an illustration of a boy and girl in an embrace. Akasaka will be co-writing the series with Aoi Ikujira (Geek Circle Crisis) and the art will be done by Azychika (Record of Ragnarok). While there’s no official release date, the manga is set to come out in spring of 2025 through the magazine, Weekly Young Jump.
According to Crunchyroll, the story will follow a prince and princess falling in love in a fantasy setting. Me and fellow OnK fan and Bookstr writer Gabriela Collazo agree that, knowing Akasaka, there’s got to be more to it than that. If Oshi no Ko‘s story has taught us anything, it’s to be skeptical and wait for the other shoe to drop. But who knows? Maybe this upcoming Akasaka project will be a simple love story. It’ll be exciting to read either way.
What did you think of Oshi no Ko‘s ending? Should the anime flesh it out more? Let us know your thoughts on our socials: X, Instagram, and Facebook!
For a recap of the previous chapter of Oshi no Ko, click here!
To fill the void Oshi no Ko left behind, explore more manga at our Illustrious Comics, Manga, and Graphic Novels!
