Oshi no Ko Manga Ending, Explained

Key Takeaways

• Aqua confronts his father who admits to murder, leading to a tragic end where Aqua sacrifices himself to protect his sister.
• Nino’s murder plan backfires, revealing Hikaru’s manipulation and malice, unraveling a web of murders in the entertainment industry.
• Aqua’s death gives Ruby the character arc she needs to surpass her mother, causing controversy over the rushed ending of the manga.

WARNING: The following contains major Oshi no Ko manga and anime spoilers.

The Oshi no Ko franchise has transformed into something far past the reincarnation idol tropes many believed the anime to focus on before its premiere, slowly revealing its thrilling psychological nature and exploration of the entertainment industry’s dark seedy underbelly over time. A handful of manipulative characters, crimes, and murders later, we have a tragic and bittersweet ending to the second-highest-selling manga of the past decade. But be warned; this ending appears controversial among fans.

Oshi no Ko has had 11 story arcs across 16 volumes, and will end at its 166th chapter. For the sake of brevity, we are focusing on the controversial last story arc to fully explain the ending of the manga, as the final chapter serves as a retrospective of the events that have taken place during this short arc and how they affect the future of the characters. This article will also reference relevant plotlines as they come up. It should be no surprise this article is full of spoilers, but take this as your last warning!

Confrontations

Multiple Confrontations, One Tragic End

Aqua finally confronts his father, Hikaru, after the first screening of The 15 Year Lie, a biopic about the truth behind Ai Hoshino’s life that Aqua intended to use as a way to avenge his mother’s death by finally letting her truth be free. Hikaru does admit his involvement in Ai’s murder. Aqua shares with him a DVD that has Ai’s confession of truly loving Hikaru, which leaves Hikaru wracked with guilt for what he’s done to her. Aqua later talks to Akane about this, but realizes Hikaru can’t be responsible for all the murders that occurred, theorizing it to be a former member of the original B-Komachi.

Nino, on the other hand, hatches a plan out of grief for Ai to murder Ruby when she sees Ruby has passed her own mother’s skill. When Nino attempts to stab who she thinks is Ruby, she discovers it’s actually Akane cosplaying as Ruby with a protective vest. Nino’s plan was exposed, and she was restrained. However, before being taken away, she reveals Hikaru’s level of manipulation and malice, and his place in the murders that have happened, to both Ruby and Akane. In a future chapter, she turns herself into the police, revealing a large web of murders and crimes in the entertainment industry.

Later, Hikaru is watching Ruby’s live-streamed performance when he is confronted by Aqua again, but this time is threatened with violence. Hikaru protests by trying to manipulate Aqua into thinking this death won’t do anything but make Aqua look bad and therefore ruin his sister’s perception. While Aqua agrees, he knows if he leaves his father alive his sister will continue to be in danger. Instead, he stabs himself and throws both himself and his father off a cliff and into the water. Hikaru is initially still alive, even after being hit by a rock, but Aqua tries to choke him while he bleeds out in the water. Eventually, Hikaru passes, feeling the arms of the people he’s murdered pull him deeper into the depths.

“The reason I lived… definitely not for revenge. It was to protect my own sister. That’s why I was born as a twin, closest to my sister. Thank goodness this time, I can die before you.”

Dreams, A Funeral, And A Future

Remember Aqua’s Past Life? So Does He

In Aqua’s final moments, he dreams of his past life as Gorou, who is praying. Gorou receives the news that Sarina’s surgery was successful. Soon her hair grows back and she’s no longer wheelchair bound. This never happened in the real world, of course; Sarina passed on and became Ruby in this life. In this world, Sarina makes a full recovery and becomes an idol, symbolizing Ruby’s new life and what she can achieve now that Aqua has sacrificed himself to save her.

In the real world, Aqua’s body is beginning to die. He begins to regret his death, but it’s too late; he begins to black out. He begins to imagine B-Komochi, and dies with a smile on his face, slowly drifting in the sea. Meanwhile, there’s a frantic search for Aqua. Sometime after The 15 Year Lie is premiered to the public, Aqua’s body is found, lifeless but preserved by the cold ocean waters. Akane is seen mourning Aqua despite how their relationship ended. She also attends his funeral, however, Aqua’s own sister Ruby has not left her house since her brother’s death.

A few years into the future, we see the aftermath of Aqua’s Death. Ruby has white stars in both eyes; when she was young, her brother had one in one eye, and she had one in one eye. This both symbolizes the spirit of her brother staying with her, and the pure joy only exhibited by her mother, Ai, who also had two white stars in her eyes. The tragedy of her life drew people to her as an idol, and she hid her true feelings with the grace and poise of a well-trained idol. She and the rest of B-Komochi get to perform at the Tokyo Dome, something her mother only ever got to dream of. The final chapter of Oshi no Ko ends with Ruby asking her mother, Ai, and her brother, Aqua, to watch over her as she walks into a brighter future, thanks to both of them.

Why Are Fans Upset?

Did The Mangaka Go Too Far?

A lot of fans seem to be upset at how rushed the ending feels. While Aqua has been planning to get revenge for his mother for a considerable time in the manga, many assumed his character arc would involve him finally letting that go and moving on with his life. The author of Oshi no Ko is Aka Akasaka, who also wrote another manga with a controversial ending, Kaguya-Sama Love is War. Many fans also claimed that the ending was rushed, as the main storyline was never resolved. There’s now a viral tweet urging Akasaka to take a break before their next manga, which is already announced to be a fantasy series dropping in 2025.

Considering all of this circumstantial evidence, there is a chance the ending was rushed. However, was the ending really that terrible, considering the manga’s bleak portrayal of the anime industry? Saying an ending is rushed because too many things are crammed into a short amount of chapters is valid. But in this instance, is it possible that perhaps Aqua’s death gives Ruby the character arc she needs to surpass her mother’s footsteps? Especially considering Aqua’s character storyline was solved, even in a controversial way, that is something to consider.