Oshi no Ko (2024)

So, I just finished watching Oshi no Ko: The Final Act, and… it’s a up and down for me. Not everything hits the mark. Some parts felt a bit rushed, like they were trying to cram in too much emotional weight too quickly. A few characters didn’t get the closure they deserved, and certain plot threads that were hyped earlier on kinda fizzled out. It’s not bad per se, but it left me wanting more — and not necessarily in a good way.

Overall, The Final Act is dramatic, intense, and still visually stunning, but whether it sticks the landing kind of depends on what you were hoping to get from it. It’s almost everything it needed to be… just not quite all the way there.

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Aqua: "An Elegy (Film)

Instead of heading straight to the final arc, Oshi no Ko: The Final Act starts with a fuller version of the content of volume 1 of the manga or Episode 1 of the anime's first season, but this time emphasizing that the good doctor, as well as Sarina reincarnated as the Hoshino twins, as well as the knowledge of who masterminded the murder of Ai, with him having scenes with Ai juxtaposed with earlier scenes in the actual narrative.

This also serves as a reminder of what happened early as well as giving us the content of the film, The 15 Year Lie, that the characters are filming

The plot generally follows the manga ending, which I appreciate. It's just that, whereas the manga's theme made it necessary, the film only alludes to it, thereby de-emphasizing it, leaving us with some changes that made it necessary causally but not thematickally.

Despite a few misgivings, I rate the film highly.

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