REVIEW: ‘Oshi no Ko,’ Episode 6 – “Egosurfing”

With Ruby and Kana’s idol group officially announced, Oshi no Ko Episode 6 turns its attention back towards Aqua as he continues to learn the ins and outs of reality dating tv. But when one of his co-stars makes a mistake on camera, the internet mobs sharpen their pitchforks for the young girl.

It’s a story we are all familiar with. Someone does something the internet doesn’t like, and they are marked for hate, insults, and all the worst kinds of written abuse. Safe behind the shield of anonymity the internet provides, they happily rip apart a person, sometimes over nothing at all. While this concept has certainly been explored before, Oshi no Ko Episode 6 takes the scenario further by showing what happened behind the camera that caused all the controversy.

As this episode opens, Aqua is still on the reality show, learning about his co-stars and how much reality is really in the show. While there is a fair amount of setup and staging in the series, he quickly sees how many of the personalities are mostly genuine, even if they are going out of their way to present themselves in the best light for the camera. But, as Aqua observes to Ruby, isn’t that what most of us do all the time anyway?

While the show takes off, one actress, Akane, isn’t getting much screen time. She struggles to grab the camera’s attention as a fairly shy and timid personality, leaving her largely out of the show. This doesn’t please her acting agency, and when she hears her manager getting chewed out for her failings, she decides she will redouble her efforts to stand out in her performance.

What Akane does and how the moment gets away from her delivers a perfect setup for how the world in front of a camera can fail to show the whole story. An accidental exchange that results in a minor physical altercation is caught on tape, sending the internet into a frenzy against the girl. Akane was just trying to act her best, and as she had failed in the past, her frustrations had led her to make a minor mistake. Not that the internet cares about any of that.

The escalating pain and horror that Akane proceeds to live through as the vitriol piles up against her are heartbreaking. The worst is that, despite knowing full well what she will find, Akane cannot help but look. She has tried so hard to succeed in her craft; to see everything she is torn down is brutal, yet she cannot look away. Oshi no Ko Episode 6 presents her pain and struggle with skillful visual effects. How her world becomes darker and darker and focuses on the blinding light of her smartphone screen as she slips into depression is chillingly well executed.

Oshi no Ko Episode 6 continues to showcase the series’ willingness to highlight the brutality of being in the public spotlight. Despite its narrative focus being a topic of much coverage, the series still manages to make its take on the matter stand out thanks to added details and elements to its critical moment.

Oshi no Ko Episode 6 is streaming now on HIDIVE.