REVIEW: ‘Oshi No Ko’ Episode 17 — “Growth”

After much rehearsing, frantic rewrites, and staff inner turmoil, the Tokyo Blade stage play is ready to begin. As the play’s opening performance proceeds, Oshi No Ko Episode 17, “Growth,” fixes its lens on Melt Narushima (Seiji Maeda, Lost Judgement) as he struggles to deliver a performance worthy of the show. What he ends up settling for is a realistic goal that provides a meaningful message about reaching for things you can actually grasp.

Everyone loves an underdog story. We love seeing the character everyone has written off become the star of the show. The problem with these sorts of tales is how often they overextend their premise. Seeing a character rise above adversity can be inspiring, but letting them go too far, too fast, makes them disconnect from the audience.

Their achievements don’t feel earned. Underdog stories often benefit from the less is more approach. A more realistic goal for a character can feel far more rewarding when it is achieved. Oshi No Ko Episode 17 finds the perfect goal for Narushima to shoot for, making the episode an impactful one.

Before the episode gets to the meat of its story, it presents the viewer with the opening moments of the stage play. The spectacle of the play, as it utilizes jumbo screens and lots of mood-enhancing lighting to set up the background for its story and the characters that occupy it, is striking. One can easily imagine being washed away by the colors and sounds from a spot in the crowd.

Once the introduction to the play is finished, we are given a couple of brief samples of the acting and the incorporation of the manga-style action into the stage performance. Extensive wire-work is showcased as characters make dramatic leaping entrances into battles. While I don’t know how much of what is shown would be re-creatable in real life, the whole sequence easily leaves the viewer with an interest to find out. It is at the end of the sequence that we see Narushima enter the play, as his character loses a sword fight to the main protagonist.

The choice to introduce Narushima with a defeat is a deliberate one. Mocked during earlier episodes as being categorically inferior to his peers, the young performer is looked down on persistently as only being there for his looks. As the second act of the play begins, we get to see him once more take the stage to fight another duel. However, this one is soon shown to be more than a physical fight.

Encompassing the entire back half of the episode, Oshi No Ko Episode 17 explores Narushima’s struggles to close the gap between himself and his colleagues in the lead-up to the opening. As his frustrations mount, they are skillfully paired with the struggles of his on-stage persona.

As the battle begins to look lost, Oshi No Ko Episode 17 flashes back to a moment when Narushima reaches out to Aqua (Takeo Otsuka) for advice. What Aqua gives him is a reasoned response that surprises him. Aqua’s suggestion is to use his bad acting to his advantage. At first, Narushima believes Aqua is mocking him. But after further explanation, he realizes what Aqua is saying.

What Aqua means is that he can’t improve across the board in the time he has left. What he should do then is focus on his big climactic moment. Not only will nailing the big scene leave an impact under any circumstances but it will be doubly effective if Narushima’s earlier acting lowers the crowd’s expectations. This angle to make the best of a bad situation gives Narushima a manageable goal, reinfusing the actor with energy.

As Narushima’s battle with himself and his onstage rival comes to a head, Oshi No Ko Episode 17 drives all the energy it can into the moment with an extensive visual montage focusing on the character and more abstract elements. While all the elements are executed brilliantly, some of the more metaphysical designs feel a bit much for the moment.

The viewer is given the impression this performance could be the first step in a new direction of Narushima’s acting career. However, the visuals feel more appropriate for something far grander. If you watched the sequence without context, you’d think some tremendous sacrifice was happening or a world was being saved.

This overblown visual display feels even more jarring when the measured core of the objective offsets it. To scale back Narushima’s goal just to try to blow it up into something huge visually, feels jarringly contradictive. This contradiction leaves the viewer in a weird place. While the narrative feels like the first step in a journey, the visuals would have the audience believe it was the climactic finale of one.

Despite the failings of the moment’s abstract elements, Narushima’s emotions are brought to brilliant life. The excellent visuals and Maeda’s voice work bring home his energy and determination to prove to everyone he is more than just a pretty face.

Despite the unfortunate missteps at the end, Oshi No Ko Episode 17 delivers a lot of great storytelling and visual splendor. Its choice to focus on Narushima as the big play opens is a surprising one that uses the moment for largely great results.

Oshi No Ko Episode 17 is streaming now on HiDive.