【Oshi no Ko】 - Vol. 16 Ch. 166.5 - Volume 16 Extras

[Thyme.Minister]

Yeah. You can always write a story where a tragic or emotionally difficult ending only adds to the depth and meaning of the story, leaving you with a difficult but pleasant impression. For example, Romeo and Juliet does a pretty good job of conveying the message of how blood feuds are detrimental to our heirs. Here, you literally feel like all your investment in the story was wasted, because Aka seems to deliberately ignore any opportunity to resolve the ending more safely or wisely, simply killing Aqua for shock value. And judging by the change of the ending in the live action or some retroactive changes in the bonus chapter, he himself realized this, albeit very late.

For me, I think he was too brainwashed by the hype surrounding Ai's death, and while he could have easily changed the ending after the manga went in a completely different direction (like when he left Akane alive despite his previous intention to kill her after her suicide attempt, when that scene caused a scandal), he just tried to repeat it in an even bigger form, expecting to get an even bigger hype around the ending than Ai's death did. He even teased it in interviews. But in the end, he simply overestimated his writing skills and the level of emotion fans would get from it. It's no wonder people started attacking him during the final arc itself, and he even ended up temporarily leaving Twitter during the publication of the final chapter. If you look at his current manga, it goes into twist after twist and shock value even further.

the death fakeouts with characters like Akane and Ruby were so dumb, and it made me question if Aka was just not taking the concept of death seriously anymore, despite the heavy implications surrounding Ai's death and forgot what made her death so important and thematic. Ruby's and Akane's "deaths" were just cheap cliffhanger bait to get people talking, no substance whatsoever.

And then Aqua just dies. and then we get a useless character narration from the Crow Girl (who was completely irrelevant this whole time) where she has to melodramatically explain to us who Aqua "was", as if to insult the readers' intelligence, like we couldn't infer on our own who he was just by, idk, reading the story?

I just watched The Glass Half Full's analysis on OnK, and I thoroughly enjoyed his breakdown of the series and the circumstances surrounding its downfall.

 

[vikispod]

Petition To Isekai Aqua (I'm getting desperateX0)

 

[Fashiongift]

Jokes aside, people have already come up with a ton of ideas for this just to escape the disappointing ending. Up to options where Akane resets time and at the last moment dies herself instead of Aqua to give him a metaphorical blow to the forehead and show how delusional his actions are. But on a more serious note, a sequel/spin-off manga with the original ending could be a great idea.

That's such a cool idea! The best thing is, that doesn't even need time travel if you do it right! Akane has always been extremely observant, all aka had to do is plant some seeds so that she notices smthn is up, suspects he'll do something rash and follows him. Them make it so that aquas about to get stabbed by kamiki and she can push him out of the way last minute. Or she can witness aqua stab himself, run to catch him before he can fall with his father and essentially swap places with him 'a silent voice' style. It would've been painful but at least still interesting and it wouldn't feel like the years we've invested into the story were a waste.

 

[SuperOniichan]

That's such a cool idea! The best thing is, that doesn't even need time travel if you do it right! Akane has always been extremely observant, all aka had to do is plant some seeds so that she notices smthn is up, suspects he'll do something rash and follows him. Them make it so that aquas about to get stabbed by kamiki and she can push him out of the way last minute. Or she can witness aqua stab himself, run to catch him before he can fall with his father and essentially swap places with him 'a silent voice' style. It would've been painful but at least still interesting and it wouldn't feel like the years we've invested into the story were a waste.

As someone once said, if fans while speculate on your writing? come up with a much more interesting development and story as a whole than you, then you are a bad writer.

 

[gundulgondrong]

this is probably how my parents feel about me.. this series started off with so much potential, and ended up become quiet nothing..

 

[Saybah]

What really stood out was how everyone’s journey came full circle. Gorou couldn’t save Sarina in his past life, but in this one, he does give Ruby (who was Sarina) the chance to live out her dream. Ruby gets to be a true idol, just like Ai—able to smile through her pain and bring light to others. In a way, Ruby inherits Ai’s “lie” of smiling even when it hurts. And Aqua? He finally fulfills the promise he made to himself—to bring down Kamiki and protect Ruby, no matter what it costs.

And the cost was steep.

Aqua dying at the end wasn’t some edgy twist—it was the only way he could finish what he started without dragging others down with him. If he had just tried to kill Kamiki and escape, it would’ve hurt Ruby and Akane even more. So instead, he goes out on his own terms, dying not as a victim of fate, but as someone who made a choice. It’s a brutal kind of heroism, but it fits Oshi no Ko’s tone perfectly.

What makes this even more impactful is how the anime’s ending songs foreshadowed all of this. Aqua drowning in the first ED, Ruby running forward in the second, they were giving us the emotional roadmap all along. Aqua sinks into the darkness, and Ruby becomes the light that carries on.

In the end, though, Oshi no Ko didn’t go for a happy fairytale ending. Dreams came true, but only because of sacrifice. Ruby got her spotlight, but Aqua had to disappear into the dark to make that happen. It’s painful, but poetic. That’s what makes this story so special—because in a world built on lies, Oshi no Ko wasn’t afraid to show the truth.

 

[chairlight]

I just caught up and finished the series. I don't know what I think. Obviously I wanted a happy ending, not this 90% dark chocolate thing(mostly bitter with a slightest bit of sweetness)(character moved forward, instead of falling like dominos).

But people who think this is glorifying or pushing people to think suicide is okay are dumb, and should learn even the tiniest amount of reading comprehension.

Aguas death was by his own hand, but it was done for the purpose of protecting his sister while securing her ability to accomplish her dream.

Murder would crush Ruby's dream. Hatching some plan to kill and cover up, would be unlikely to succeed(cover up portion), and probably would be found out later or become gossip.

Other ways to take him down would be unlikely to succeed, as dad manipulates people without leaving evidence.


So Aqua made what he thought would be the right choice. Kamikaze for defence of his precious sister and her dream. The only method that could ensure for certain that all the bases were covered.


Was that the right choice? No. What value does Ruby get accomplishing her dream without Aqua there to watch? What joy would she really get weighed against the pain of losing him?

Even if it would be unlikely to succeed, or he only had a small chance to come out alive, he should've taken it. A moonshot is better than nothing.

 

[LilithRaven]

I just caught up and finished the series. I don't know what I think. Obviously I wanted a happy ending, not this 90% dark chocolate thing(mostly bitter with a slightest bit of sweetness)(character moved forward, instead of falling like dominos).

But people who think this is glorifying or pushing people to think suicide is okay are dumb, and should learn even the tiniest amount of reading comprehension.

Aguas death was by his own hand, but it was done for the purpose of protecting his sister while securing her ability to accomplish her dream.

Murder would crush Ruby's dream. Hatching some plan to kill and cover up, would be unlikely to succeed(cover up portion), and probably would be found out later or become gossip.

Other ways to take him down would be unlikely to succeed, as dad manipulates people without leaving evidence.


So Aqua made what he thought would be the right choice. Kamikaze for defence of his precious sister and her dream. The only method that could ensure for certain that all the bases were covered.


Was that the right choice? No. What value does Ruby get accomplishing her dream without Aqua there to watch? What joy would she really get weighed against the pain of losing him?

Even if it would be unlikely to succeed, or he only had a small chance to come out alive, he should've taken it. A moonshot is better than nothing.

there are still people that make sorry excuses and defend garbage writting XD

 

[Thyme.Minister]

Aqua dying at the end wasn’t some edgy twist—it was the only way he could finish what he started without dragging others down with him. If he had just tried to kill Kamiki and escape, it would’ve hurt Ruby and Akane even more. So instead, he goes out on his own terms, dying not as a victim of fate, but as someone who made a choice. It’s a brutal kind of heroism, but it fits Oshi no Ko’s tone perfectly.

The problem with this conclusion is that the manga itself framed the idea of Aqua dying AS the edgy twist. him pursuing Kamiki and fantasizing about killing him was clearly demonstrated to be super unhealthy for him, and as a result, pushed him away from everyone he loved.

If he HAD to die, I would have appreciated Aqua's sacrifice more if we were shown how the characters processed his death, how they move on, and what they want to do, but no. to hell with the characters, says Akasaka. We don't see the DOZEN characters we meet in this story interact with each other at all. we get one chapter of a funeral, and then a time-skip where Ruby just assumes Ai's role, a role that got Ai murdered in the first place.

It's a harrowing ending, not in a good way, and seems to show that the characters learned nothing. if they DID learn anything, the final chapter did a shit job of illustrating it.