The main story of Oshi No Ko may be on hold while author Aka Akasaka takes a break, but artist Mengo Yokoyari has a few surprises in store for longtime manga readers in the short interlude arc. This arc's short chapters are more than filler episodes or bonus art collections – they are an opportunity to explore Oshi No Ko's best characters and themes from entirely new angles, most of all with Aqua and Ruby Hoshino. The interlude shows what they could have been like as a true brother and sister in another lifetime, a lifetime free of drama and tragedy.
During the main events of Oshi No Ko, Aqua and Ruby drifted apart as they pursued their own selfish goals, but in recent manga chapters, they confirmed each other's real, original identities as Dr. Gorou Amamiya and Sarina Tendouji, which brought them closer together as a twisted found family. And, of all things, the interlude arc is what truly brings Aqua and Ruby together as foster siblings, in a fair healthier, and more innocent way than the manga's main chapters do.
Oshi No Ko Gives Aqua & Ruby Their Innocence Back
Many storylines and scenes in Oshi No Ko involve the main characters losing their innocence, which is often portrayed as something tragic, even heartbreaking. Aqua loses his innocence when his new mother Ai Hoshino dies, prompting him to seek revenge and subvert his "analytical genius" archetype. Akane Kurokawa loses her own innocence when she's exposed to the Internet's brutal dark side, and even Ruby Hoshino feels more twisted than ever with her ruthlessly selfish goals and her inappropriate advances on her twin brother. Fortunately, the interlude's fourth chapter gives Oshi No Ko fans a break from all that and reminds readers that the Hoshino twins have not yet fully lost their innocence after all.
In the interlude arc's fourth chapter, some innocent slice-of-life antics unfold, mainly centered around Ruby Hoshino's pride in her soft, luxurious hair. The original Sarina Tendouji was bald in the hospital and longed to regrow her hair to look more like Ai Hoshino, and now, as Ruby Hoshino, she can savor her girly locks. She boasts about it to Aqua who, for humor's sake, shrugs it off as his sister being annoying like usual. Ruby reacts not with tears, but with a goofy pouting face, one that anime fans always associate with light-hearted irritation rather than something serious. By the chapter's end, Aqua finally remembers Sarina's wish for a full head of hair, and to make it up to Ruby/Sarina, he volunteers to blow-dry Ruby's hair after her bath one evening.
It's a simple, touching scene that wouldn't be worth it even for the fluffiest slice-of-life comedy manga, but Oshi No Ko and its readers need something like this. In a dark, dramatic series like this one, even the smallest instances of kindness and comedy provide much-needed relief, and Aqua's "pet the dog" beat with Ruby makes him far more likable as an aloof kuudere who has not yet completely lost himself to the darkness. This also allows Aqua and Ruby to come full circle as Dr. Gorou and Sarina Tendouji, re-enacting their lost days of innocence in that hospital as doctor and patient.
Aqua and Ruby Deserve This Moment of Happiness
Despite Aqua's sincere attempt to find and murder his new father and Ruby's juvenile and selfish ways, neither of them are villains. At worst, they are emotionally distraught antiheroes who were dealt a terrible hand – or rather, two. Neither of them deserved to die in their original lives, and they didn't deserve to watch their new mother Ai Hoshino die right before their eyes as small children. Both of them are basically good people who lost most of their innocence due to horrible trauma, but they are not beyond the point of no return. Aqua and Ruby are both still capable of happiness and kindness, and they deserve every chance they get, few as they may be, to feel that way.
Even a short interlude chapter like this one can set up a potential happy ending for the Hoshino twins as Oshi No Ko's main story nears its long-awaited conclusion. If author Aka Akasaka has a relatively happy ending in mind, then interlude chapters like this one can help set up that joyful ending so it doesn't feel too abrupt or naive. Starting now, Aqua and Ruby can slowly rebuild the innocence and joy that they almost lost, and build up momentum until they find true happiness in even more meaningful ways. Aqua blow-drying Ruby's hair is a kind gesture that reflects well on them, but Oshi No Ko doesn't have to stop there with the twins' redemption, either. This may be the first step toward something greater.
Aqua's Gesture Is Better Than What Ruby Has In Mind
In some ways, the main story of Oshi No Ko is also doing what the interlude arc is doing – giving Aqua and Ruby a much-needed chance to feel closer as reincarnated brother and sister. In recent chapters, after learning each other's true identities, Aqua and Ruby indeed felt closer, but not entirely in a good way. Right away, Ruby started seeing Aqua solely as his original Dr. Gorou self, the handsome doctor whom she had admired in her Sarina Tendouji days as a fellow Ai Hoshino fan. Ruby, who had lacked a romantic arc until then, decided to pursue Dr. Gorou and even dolled herself up, preparing herself to ask Aqua/Dr. Gorou to marry her. After all, Dr. Gorou had teasingly agreed to promise to marry Sarina when she turned 16, and Ruby had turned 16 by then, too.
Aqua, of course, has no interest in Ruby that way, but Ruby still insists. She has started acting more like a girlfriend than as a sister, something her friends Kana Arima and Mem-Cho picked up on, and Aqua isn't entirely sure what to make of this. Ruby has every right to bond with Dr. Gorou, who had always been an emotional rock, but cashing in on an insincere promise to marry isn't the right way for Ruby to pursue happiness. No matter their original, unrelated selves, Aqua and Ruby are twin brother and sister in every way that counts, and must act accordingly. Ruby doesn't need a husband – she needs a protective brother who knows what's best for her, and that may help them finally create the found family they always needed in their new lives.
