Oshi No Ko – Season 1 Episode 5 Recap & Review

Reality Dating Show

Episode 5 of Oshi No Ko begins with Aqua helping Ruby get close to Kana to see if she’ll work with her on Strawberry Productions. Meanwhile, Kana observes folks’ online comments about her and the others’ performances for the TV drama. Kana receives a text from Aqua and visits the meeting area.

Kana’s disgusted that Ruby’s there, while Ruby asks Kana if she’d like to perform with her as an idol. As a result, Kana contemplates the pros and cons of whether to do this or not. Before she tells Ruby “no,” Aqua butters Kana up to get her to accept Ruby’s offer.

Although Kana’s hesitant about the job, she believes it’d be good to work in the same agency as Aqua since it’ll give her more chances to work alongside Aqua. Kana asks Ruby if Aqua’s signed up for any projects, and Ruby shows her a photo of Aqua participating in a dating show called “My Love with a Star Begins Now.”

We then get a montage introducing the show’s stars: Yuki, Nobuyuki, Akane, MEM-cho, Kengo, and their talents. Kana and Ruby are surprised and irritated by Aqua’s cheery persona.

Kana becomes upset when Miyako tells her that Aqua may wind up dating and kissing one of the female participants in the show. However, Miyako says if she keeps going down her acting route, she’ll need to commit to a part like that.

The film crew shoots Aqua and MEM-cho’s dating segment, and they’re playing their roles well. However, Aqua’s internally frustrated with this format. He reminds himself he’s doing this to obtain Kubaragi’s secret intel on Ai and his father, so afterward, the crew informs the participants of their new tasks and instructions for the next shooting. At the same time, Aqua informs the audience of how reality dating shows work.

At the same time, his co-star Yuki explains her grievances with the production to Aqua. Yuki admits the public face of her agency doesn’t like turning jobs down, so this leaves Yuki open. Yuki admits getting into a romantic relationship is enticing enough for her to participate since she’s a first-year high school student. She asks Aqua if he’s ever been in love before, but he admits that it’s complicated.

Yuki tells him that the couple from last season kissed in the end, and Yuki tells him she’d love to kiss him. Ruby confronts Aqua about the dating show and recommends that he’d choose Yuki. Aqua tells Ruby not to date anyone due to her lack of judgment.

Ruby asks Kana what she does to pass the time while waiting for work. Ruby suggests she commit to doing something that’ll benefit her life in the long term. Miyako wants to help Kana build an idol track record and recommends they make a name for themselves online and invite their audiences to attend their concerts.

Kana explains why Miyako shouldn’t be too optimistic about the online plan. She retorts Kana’s remarks by telling her that Strawberry Productions manages streamers and excels in the online segment. Miyako asks a muscular bird mascot named Pieyon to introduce himself to Kana and Ruby.

Ruby explains Pieyon is a masked strength-training YouTuber. Kana bad-mouths Pieyon’s career, and he retorts by saying he brings in 100 million yen a year to shut Kana down. Pieyon explains his surefire way to earn many subscribers. He dresses Kana and Ruby up like himself, and starts filming for his YouTube channel.

Kana, Ruby, and Pieyon perform his signature Boot Dance. If they can keep up, he’ll let them reveal their faces. The reason they went with this plan is that Ruby didn’t want to participate in a YouTube prank segment with Kana and Pieyon. Ruby and Kana reveal themselves in the video afterward, where Ruby confirms their idol group’s name will be B Komachi. The episode closes with a shot of Pieyon posting his video with B Komachi on YouTube.

The Episode Review

This was another fun set-up episode of Oshi No Ko. We get introduced to some new characters and receive more development for Ruby and Aqua concerning their distinct goals. Considering Ai’s idol group was large, it’ll make viewers question if Aqua will ask any of his cast members if they’d like to take part in B Komachi. Based on Aqua’s interactions so far, it feels like Yuki is our prime candidate.

However, the anime could surprise viewers by having Aqua recruit Akane or MEM-cho instead. Nevertheless, it’ll be intriguing to see Ruby and Kana’s idol group grow in popularity. On that note, the comedic segment with Pieyon may take folks by surprise. While the anime has given us babies dancing in a crowd, hearing Pieyon’s high-pitched voice and strength training dance may put some off.

Nevertheless, others will find this segment entertaining and somewhat realistic. Many YouTubers nowadays often resort to absurd stunts to get traction on the website. That said, Pieyon’s Boot Dance isn’t too far off from what you’d find other content creators doing on the platform. While the segment was bizarre, it’ll certainly get a laugh out of everyone, regardless if you’re a YouTuber or not.

Overall, this was a fun chapter with great humor and commentary on the entertainment industry. The anime continues to introduce new characters, so hopefully it doesn’t fail to give them much-needed development time down the line. I’m looking forward to seeing how the events concerning B Komachi and the dating show unfold in the coming weeks.