【Oshi no Ko】 - Vol. 16 Ch. 166 - STAR

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I've said many, many times before, that I expected an ending where Aqua rests in peace because of his own choice. And for others to continue on with their lives despite the grief.

So, I got the ending I wanted. And I respect Aka a lot as a writer for choosing this ending.

However at the same time, I also understand how frustrating it has been for many of you. Some would expect a happy ending where Aqua and Ruby get to live their reincarnated life to the fullest. Some question the role of the Crow Girl. Some ask about the romantic development for Aqua, whether it will be Kana, Akane, or even Ruby. Et cetera.

I don't know if it's because I'm a bit older than many of you (26 years old this year) that I understand a bit more about the bittersweet and inconclusive part of life. But again, I'm really happy with the ending. I respect Aka as a writer for having the balls to choose this ending. And I understand how it frustrates many people.

It has been a good journey and one more finished story added to my shelves. Thank you for the read, Akasaka Aka-sensei and Yokoyari Mengo-sensei. I'm looking forward for your next works.
 
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I still love Oshi no ko but... the ending is indeed is ass
This has been the case with me for a bunch of really good series with bad endings. The first one I can think of besides this is Solo leveling where the journey is really good but it just doesn't end well.
 
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stand-proud.png
RUBY HOSHINOOOOO!!!!! GRAAAAAAH🦅🦅🦅 MY OSHI IS FULFILLING HER DREAMS GRAAAAAAAH🦅🦅🦅 I LOVE RUBY HOSHINOOOOO LET THE VOICE OF LOVE TAKE YOU HIGHEEEEER
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ending mid. It could have been Tokyo Revengers, so I am happy that it wasn't.
 
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One very formal phrase that only confirms that she enjoys working as an idol and that she motivates others does not change the fact that the death of her brother put her in the very trap of her mother that she tried so hard to avoid. And yes, Aqua dying after 150+ chapters of trying to get rid of his traumas and baggage from her past life literally shows that trauma and pain cannot be avoided, that they will catch up with you anyway. Even when Ruby gets some semblance of a happy ending, she is traumatized and gets it thanks to her brother's sacrifice.
What "trap of her mother" Aqua put on Ruby are you talking about? That they lie? I already type on how lies are essential to what OnK presented as entertainment industry, so I don't think it's that but I'm not sure what.
And yes, Aqua dying after 150+ chapters of trying to get rid of his traumas and baggage from her past life literally shows that trauma and pain cannot be avoided, that they will catch up with you anyway. Even when Ruby gets some semblance of a happy ending, she is traumatized and gets it thanks to her brother's sacrifice.
Yes, traumas and pain exist, I don't think the manga ever denies that. Maybe there will be a time where Ruby breaks down and cry due to piling the stress up similar to Akane, or maybe the lie is she and people in general need to continue on despite their sadness because the world doesn't grind to a halt just because you're sad. The first step is getting back up. Doing your best to reach your goal is just a general way of life.
 
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Last one time - shit's so ass :cry:
Please Aka, don't ever create anything again. You have no idea how to end your stories.
"Loses sensei once, becomes an emotional wreck, loses sensei a second time, moves on within a calendar year".

Edit: I LOVE how SHUEISHA is deleting comments in english section, that weren't positive or neutral about ending. Even the slightest negative feedback resulted in the comment being deleted - and in the first few minutes, several such comments (not vulgar) appeared and had 300+ likes. Comments like "this is not a bad end you drama queens" are even funnier when all the comments they were referring to have been deleted :dogkek:
That is a hilarious indicator of how sour this ending is. :kek:

For once I feel like those people who announced their dropping of this manga were right to do so, even if doing that is still silly.
 
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I've said many, many times before, that I expected an ending where Aqua rests in peace because of his own choice. And for others to continue on with their lives despite the grief.

So, I got the ending I wanted. And I respect Aka a lot as a writer for choosing this ending.

However at the same time, I also understand how frustrating it has been for many of you. Some would expect a happy ending where Aqua and Ruby get to live their reincarnated life to the fullest. Some question the role of the Crow Girl. Some ask about the romantic development for Aqua, whether it will be Kana, Akane, or even Ruby. Et cetera.

I don't know if it's because I'm a bit older than many of you (26 years old this year) that I understand a bit more about the bittersweet and inconclusive part of life. But again, I'm really happy with the ending. I respect Aka as a writer for having the balls to choose this ending. And I understand how it frustrates many people.

It has been a good journey and one more finished story added to my shelves. Thank you for the read, Akasaka Aka-sensei and Yokoyari Mengo-sensei. I'm looking forward for your next works.
I also have the same opinion like you, but here it's badly implemented. Most of the cast are given 2-3 panels of appearance, and fewer still have any narration on how they'll move on.
 
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To be honest, I don't mind this ending. But I felt the last chapter was a bit weak. I mean, I expected this would be the route they would go but suddenly cutting to Ruby performing at the dome was a little jarring. I think cutting that and focusing on more of the cast grieving and eventually moving on would be better.

In hindsight, I probably should have seen Aqua's death coming. His romance with Kana always a bit off to me. Not quite like Akasaks's usual style. I kept waiting and waiting for when Kana would find about his revenge scheme but it never came. So I thought they might end up together in a somewhat unsatisfying way. Akane did know but despite her feelings for him, it was clear that Aqua liked Kana. Now I know why Kana never knew, they were never meant to end up together.

It really bothers me that it was never made clear whether in the end, Ruby saw Aqua as Aqua or as Gorou. I suppose you could say it was implied that she did ended up seeing him as Aqua in chapter 150 but it would have nice to see it on screen. It'd be depressing if she only saw Aqua as Gorou up until he died.
 
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I bet it got the axe to avoid the potential future incest between the siblings. I'm glad she found the strength to shine even brighter in the dark (it's corny, but I love it anyways).
 
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While I'm sad about Aqua's death, it's very logical. He never cared about himself and spent all his life thinking only about revenge and sacrificing his life, so ending is simply the result of his choises. In the end he wanted to live, but at this point it was too late.
So IMO morale is you should live today to the fullest, because tomorrow you may regret it.
 
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This has been the case with me for a bunch of really good series with bad endings. The first one I can think of besides this is Solo leveling where the journey is really good but it just doesn't end well.
I hated Solo Leveling when it quickly started becoming just another series with an OP protagonist. I forced myself to finish it just to end it for good or see if there's anything in the end.

MEH.

I hate Overlord and Slime Isekai for the same reason too.
 
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I m convinced it's all because of Mango or whatever the artist name is ( her drawing skill are good but all the stories where she is the author are dogshit) she influenced him to make a bad ending. Or aka get bored and said fuck it, fuck all of you readers, because how do you go from one of the best manga to this.
 
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And this is how the story ends, after all this time. With a whimper. I hate this, I loved this story but man, fuck this ending. Aka was faced with the choice of which heroine to pair Aqua up with and chose to kill the bastard. I'm just.. angry? I usually feel empty or depressed when a series ends but this just left a sour taste in my mouth, one that I doubt will be fixed by the "interlude chapter" I heard is coming. Literally nothing beyond scrapping the last 10 chapters and avoiding whatever the fuck ending this was could save this. AO3 has authors who could have done 1,000,000,000x better than this 😭
 

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