【推しの子】 S2

Starts of strong but does goes into an (imo) unwanted and unexpected direction, one that might lower my opinion of the series.

I really liked the first season of oshi no ko and was looking forward to seeing the second season. I have to say, it blew me away within the first 7 episodes. While I think the direction of the scenes could've been done a bit differently at times to have more impact, that's just my personal opinion. Tons of characters get meaningfully developed and it's still interesting to see a show focusing more on the inner workings of the acting industry as a whole. That being said, now I'll delve into spoiler territory about a story progression I didn't like.

The sudden introduction of supernatural elements within the series this late into it without any kind of build up, leaves me conflicted. I could see how it would work, because the story technically didn't require Aqua or Ruby to be reincarnated and the revenge story could've still been played out just fine. So there's some room of justification for it being there, unless it was only used because it's a trendy 'what if' scenario that would make the story more interesting. However, it being introduced this late within to a world that has firmly rooted in realism, that focuses on being a realistic portrayal of entertainers, idols and their lives, this kind of "twist" breaks the entire worldview that has been set in stone up until now. This makes it feel forced in and as if doesn't fit. I know some will say: "but they were reincarnated to begin with, so that should've made it clear there was a higher power!", but stories like these often play out realistically with the only supernatural element being included within the premise/start. It's a common 'what if' scenario played out in real life without any other forces at play. Does this story want to focus on being a mostly realistic portrayal and critique on the entertainment industry, with the revenge plot and reincarnation as the hook? Or does it want to be a murder mystery show including supernatural elements and a possibly higher power? Or both? I personally think that these 2 routes are hard to combine together without clashing. If the antagonist, the father of Aqua and Ruby ends up being this deity like human, I feel like it would go against its established identity and somewhat lose its charm. That's all I'm going to yap about this show.