Content warning: suicide, self-harm, racism, online harassment

Spoilers for Oshi no Ko Season 1

With the speed at which internet culture evolves, it’s only natural that fictional media often has trouble capturing things like social media usage and online community in a way that feels authentic and believable. So when a series is able to go above and beyond by creating and effectively depicting an internet that even sometimes seems to truly mirror the real world, it’s a rare and fascinating thing that has the potential to deliver some truly powerful messages at their fullest impact. And a common nominee for the short list of titles that’ve managed to achieve this is one of the biggest smash hits to come out of 2023: Oshi no Ko (OnK).

The overarching plot of the series revolves around a “teenager” (who was previously a fully adult doctor who was reborn after his unexpected death) named Aqua seeking to find and kill his (post-rebirth) mother’s stalker/murderer—his mother, Ai, having been a widely beloved idol with more secrets than frills in her costumes. With the goal of finding people who could help him to uncover the many obscured details of Ai’s personal life, Aqua enters the entertainment industry. This is where the meat and potatoes of the series lies: as an exploration into the dark, two-faced nature of the world of pop idols and celebrities. Relevant to this article, this includes a brief stint where Aqua joins the cast of a reality dating show.