We’ve all been blown away by Oshi no Ko characters, stopping to rest only after finishing the whole series a few times over. Studio Doga Kobo found a good one. After watching season 1, fans all over had a few words to say. Was it enjoyable for you? It sure caught us by surprise.
Consensus over at MyAnimeList states that this is how the rankings should be. This is the list ready for your review, and approval. Get on with it then.
Catching Up on the Plot of Oshi no Ko
A quick summary of the series to pick the interest of newcomers.
A popular idol singer, Ai Hoshino, falls pregnant but wants to hide the fact from the public. Her company employs the help of an obstetrician-gynecologist, Gorou Amamiya, to help her deliver her children safely and it so happens that he was a fan of hers. However, on the night of Ai’s delivery, Gorou Amemiya dies at the hands of an obsessive fan of Ai’s and reincarnates as Aquamarine Hoshino, Ai’s son, retaining his memories of his previous life.
It so happens that Ai gave birth to twins and Aqua’s fraternal twin was also a patient of Gorou Amemiya, Sarina Tendoji, who reincarnated. Four years later, the same man who killed Gorou comes back for Ai. The fan later dies by suicide, but Aqua deduces that the murderer may have had his and Ruby’s father as an accomplice and resolves to infiltrate the entertainment industry to find and kill him.
The story builds up from there, following the twins’ lives and their interaction with entertainment industry as they try to make it big and avenge their mother.
Studio Doga Kobo handled the first season of the show and has since finished airing it.
Curious about Oshi no Ko’s Opening theme? Read more about it here.
Without further delay, here’s the list!
15. Narushima, Melt
9 Favorites
Melt Narushima is a model and actor who ranks fifteenth on our Oshi no Ko characters list. He works with Sonic Stage Productions and portrays the male lead in “Sweet Today”. Despite being arrogant and untrained, he manages to land the role. However, during the performance, he struggles and encounters Aquamarine, who sets him straight. With his help, he delivers a solid performance for the final scene. The experience appears to have humbled him, and he reportedly improved his acting skills by the time he joined the “Tokyo Blade” production.
14. Sumi, Yuki
10 Favorites
Following closely behind, Yuki is a supporting character but a memorable one! She first appears early on as a cast member of “The Beginning of My Love with an Idol” alongside Aqua Hoshino and Akane Kurokawa.
Yuki is portrayed as a hardworking girl with a clear goal, which resonates with the audience. She doesn’t want to mingle much with the other gender unless it helps her career as an actress. However, luck comes her way as she unexpectedly falls in love with Nobuyuki Kumano. His genuine feelings for her break down her walls, and she finds herself reciprocating.
Even though she’s competitive, she’s still empathetic to others’ struggles.
With her head held down at the task at hand, Yuki Sumi is a relatable character making her deserve a spot on this Oshi no Ko character’s list.
13. Shiranui, Frill
19 Favorites
Frill’s full potential is yet to be unveiled, but her current achievements are enough to include her on this list. She is a talented actress with striking looks and a great sense of humor. It is worth mentioning that her acting skills are highly versatile, enabling her to transform her demeanor dramatically based on the character she portrays. This versatility has helped her build strong relationships and establish herself as a reputable actress.
12. Kotobuki, Minami
23 Favorites
As far as looks and fashion go, Minami tops the charts! She is a student in Yoto High School’s Performing Arts Program and a classmate of Ruby Hoshino.
She works as a gravure model in the entertainment industry. Despite being born in Kanagawa, she has adopted a Kansai accent, which reflects her go-with-the-flow personality. Her style is quite versatile, as she can be seen wearing a tightly belted turtleneck during one of Aqua’s rehearsals or sporting an elf-like cosplay outfit.
11. Pieyon
67 Favorites
Well, here comes the comic relief. The enigmatic character Pieyon makes a strong impression as a musclebound performer with a weird bird mask on. Kana and Ruby are still trying to figure out what to make of him, but they do learn from him and boost their physical endurance under his tutelage.
In the story of Oshi no Ko, Pieyon is a very entertaining character who is responsible for training his young apprentices. Interestingly, he doesn’t have to be physically present to do so. At one-point, Aqua puts on a bird mask and continues to train Kana and his sister as “Pieyon.” When Kana discovers the truth, she is not upset but rather happy about the experience. This is one of the few times in the story where a well-meaning lie helps someone.
10. Tendouji, Sarina
103 Favorites
In the 10th position, stands Sarina Tendouji, a sickly child. With her face pressed against the windowpane, she dreams of what she could be doing if she weren’t so weak.
She wears a wool hat with a heart pattern and a bunny pin, Ai’s signature symbol. Sarina Tendouji was extremely passionate about Ai, having memorized all her choreography and watched all her recordings. Ai was her favorite idol. Despite being weak and falling every time she tries, Sarina still practices Ai’s choreography and tries to refine her dance moves.
Oshi no Ko fans like Sarina, even if her time was too brief. she was a charming and hopeful girl who had a relatable arc. She longed to make something of herself, but that would not arrive in this lifetime.
Read Also- Oshi no Ko Ending Theme and Cast
Good fortune came her way, and she received another lifetime to live through a miracle. Sarina would be reborn as Ruby Hoshino, and she comes back with a thirst to succeed in achieving her dreams of being a popular idol.
9. Amemiya, Gorou
138 Favorites
Although this is the same person as Aquamarine Hoshino, their characters wouldn’t be any more different. Before he reincarnated, Gorou Amemiya worked as an obstetrician-gynecologist.
Gorou Amemiya also met Ai Hoshino in person, and he was shocked to learn of her pregnancy as he was a fan. Ai was carrying twins, and Dr. Gorou did his best to hide that secret. Then, a stalker stabbed and killed Dr. Gorou one evening, and he was reborn as one of the babies that Ai carried.
Gorou Amemiya is a committed, empathetic obstetrician who deeply cares for his patients. He maintained a professional and understanding approach toward Ai’s pregnancy, keeping his personal and professional life separate which is why he has so many favorites.
8. Gotanda, Taishi
163 Favorites
Director Gotanda, a multiple award-winning skilled director, is widely recognized for discovering and scouting young talent. Aquamarine Hoshino was one of the many talents that Gotanda discovered when he was still a child. Through intensive collaboration with Gotanda from a young age, Aqua was able to develop his acting skills and achieve great success in the industry. Despite growing up without a father, Aqua saw Gotanda as a mentor figure and greatly valued his guidance. With Gotanda’s support and expertise, Aqua became a highly successful actor in the acting industry.
7. Saitou, Miyako
310 Favorites
Her first appearances in the series painted a very shallow picture of her. She comes off as self-centered.
She liked scheming about ways that would make her rich fast, like marrying a rich husband or selling Ai’s secrets for money.
After Ai’s passing, Miyako became Aqua and Ruby’s main caregiver.
After the original B-Komachi split up, she became the manager of Strawberry Productions and kept the company afloat by switching to supporting independent creators.
Although she’s afraid Ruby could suffer the same fate as Ai, Miyako loves her like her own daughter and allows her to pursue her dreams of being a popular idol freely.
Not only is she a good mother, but her business management skills are top-notch. This builds her case of why she deserves to be on this list and her number of favorites.
6. Mem-Cho
625 Favorites
Sometimes, a person has to do what is necessary. This can equate to you making big sacrifices, that go against what you dream and stand for.
Mem-cho is a former Tik-Toker and Youtuber who took part in the dating reality series My Love with a Star Begins Now, also known as LoveNow. She was a young girl who aspired to become an idol, but because of her family circumstances, she made sacrifices that ultimately led to her becoming too old to join the acting industry. One of her competitors, Aquamarine Hoshino, introduced her to the resurrected band B-Komachi after LoveNow was over, which she joined.
She’s also known for her “cute devil” appearance, with two small horns on her head and sometimes bat-like wings and a tail on her back for visual flair.
Her age is a big issue in her current line of work, so she covers it up with lies.
She is supportive of her family, and the best friend one wishes to have in their life. Because of her cute personality and heart-winning traits, she is one of the best Oshi no Ko characters.
5. Hoshino, Ruby (Main Oshi no Ko Character)
2,164 Favorites
What would you do if you got a second chance at life? To sweeten the deal, you get to come back in better physical shape than before. Would you live it for others or yourself?
Ruby Hoshino is the daughter of Ai and the reincarnation of Sarina Tendoji. Equipped with her previous memories, she comes back with a dream in hand and a lot of will to see it achieved. She decides to live this new life for herself.
She is the sister of Aquamarine Hoshino, who was once known as Goro. Her mother’s death has motivated her to pursue a career in the same field, but she can only do so if her brother stops being overly protective.
Unlike Aqua, Ruby manages to move past her mother’s tragic demise and collaborates with Strawberry Productions to bring B-Komachi back to life so that she can pursue her goals with the help of her friends.
Ruby is an ambitious girl who can do anything to be an idol and join the acting industry, irrespective of the hurdles she may face. She is cheerful, lively, talkative, and doesn’t believe in wasting time thinking about the past making her appeal to our carpe diem (seize the day) nature.
4. Kurokawa, Akane
3,297 Favorites
A talented actor in her own right, Akane, is introduced during the reality dating show arc. She comes off as shy and soft-spoken but has a streak of being a hard worker.
When performing, Akane has the incredible skill of getting into the mind of the person she is performing as, analyzing and uncovering personal details about them that are not known to the public. She’s the first character apart from the Hoshinos to have the trademark starry eyes, symbolizing her ability to make lies seem like truths.
She meets Aquamarine in the teen reality show, “My Love with a Star Begins Now” (LoveNow), where she has a role. Akane was a minor character in the play, but she needed to stand out to draw attention. She unintentionally scratches the cheek of another female character in a LoveNow episode for which she received death threats on social media.
Kealing to the pressure, Akane intended to kill herself after reading the death threats, but Aqua stopped her by calming her down.
She becomes indebted to him and they grow closer to each other to the point where a relationship blossoms. Toward the end of the series, Aqua kisses her.
She learns of Aqua’s ambitions to avenge his mother a few months into their relationship and decides to help him in any way she can.
Akane is a mature woman who understands loneliness and can relate to others’ pain. Her caring and thoughtful nature makes her one of the most memorable characters in Oshi no Ko.
3. Hoshino, Aquamarine (Main Oshi no Ko Character)
4,551 Favorites
3rd on this list of the most popular Oshi no Ko characters, is Aquamarine, one of the twins birthed by Ai Hoshino. As a child, he watched his mother die from the attack of a stalker. This event deeply ingrained itself in him. He swore vengeance on the killer, and his whole life in the series is based on that.
It happens that he is a reincarnation of a doctor who took care of Ai Hoshino during her pregnancy. Since his memories from his previous life are intact, he uses the analytical mind he honed previously to go about uncovering the truth about his mother’s killer.
To this end, he develops a manipulative way about himself and starts seeing the world as a chess board, where with enough right moves, he will checkmate his mother’s killer.
He is not as single-minded as to forsake everything else in his life for this goal though. He happens to have a soft spot for his sister and people around him. This is shown through his support for Kana and his willingness to take action to save Akane’s life.
These traits plus his looks make him rank so high in the popularity ranks.
2. Hoshino, Ai (Main Oshi no Ko Character)
6,538 Favorites
Taking second place is the one who introduces us to the complex themes of this story, Ai Hoshino. She came from a tough childhood, with her mother getting imprisoned for robbery, leaving her to fend for herself in an orphanage. Ai grows up love-deprived, doubting her very capacity to give or receive love. She was broken.
At a relatively young age, she gets into entertainment industry with the help of Saito Ichigo early on and makes it big despite the odds.
Her Breakthrough
Before she made it big, Ai was a troublemaker lacking professionalism and trying to fit in. Later on, she was able to join the Lalalie Theater Company with the aid of Kaburagi Masaya, and it was there that she fell in love with it and started to pay attention to herself.
Ai grows as a person throughout this journey and as an idol too, amassing a huge following. Over the course, she falls pregnant and decides to keep it, despite the rules that surround the type of work she does. She wanted to prove that she could love. Indeed, her past wounds were still fresh, and she needed to know if they still affected her.
Her company agreed to let her have the children (the twins) and helped her keep it under wraps, away from the media. She gave birth to two children and started to explore the nuances of love.
As she was starting to get the hang of it, she was murdered by a stalker for “betraying her admirers”. Her dying words and thoughts surprised her as she realized she did in fact, love her children so deeply, which made her happy and sad.
The tale of how she surmounted her deeply emotional scars and trauma to be a famous and loving mother resonates and inspires fans of the show to rank her up this high. She truly is awesome.
1. Arima, Kana (Supporting Oshi no Ko Character)
14,506 Favorites
First place goes to Kana! We all love a good redemption story. Many of us are familiar with the abuse that originates from being called a childhood prodigy. You basked in that glory but as you grew older, it became difficult to achieve the same. The personality you obtained from the glory- lazy, and arrogant- makes it hard for you to get back your fame.
Kana Arima falls here, she used to be a talented actor as a child and grew arrogant. This made her lose many opportunities and face a drop.
Luckily, she realized where she stood, and how fickle her footings were, so she decided to change. Her attitude change, and her desire to be better, and to put in the work is why she stands at the top of this list. She was forced to adapt her acting style to maintain her place in the entertainment industry. Despite her challenges, Kana persisted in improving her skills, venturing into new avenues, such as singing.
After a heartwarming reunion between Aqua and Ruby, she was recruited for the B-Komachi group. After joining the group, Kana Arima regained her self-esteem, and her popularity increased drastically.
As a total tsundere, Kana often loses her temper and denies her warm feelings for others, which helped endear her to Oshi no Ko fans. She also got swept up in a love triangle between herself and Akane, so it’s a race to see who will win.
She works hard to be the best version of herself.
Concluding this Oshi no ko Characters List
I’m curious, were you surprised by the popularity rankings? Also, I’d love to know who your favorite character in the series was! Drop a comment below so we can compare notes and chat about it!
Continue Reading about Oshi no Ko Episode 8 Review here.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Season 2 of Oshi no Ko confirmed?
The second season is under production by Studio Doga Kobo.
When will season 2 come out?
Read more about the scheduled release date of Oshi no Ko season 2 here.
Are there other rankings of Oshi no Ko characters?
Yes, there are others. This list is based on MAL’s user rankings. There are more sites out there that do their rankings such as AnimeCommunity. Read more about AnimeCommunity Oshi ni Ko rankings here.
Source: MAL
