OSHINOKO

About this title

Reborn with memories of their past lives as the twin children of idol Ai Hoshino, Aqua and Ruby lose their mother and then throw themselves into show business, each driven by a purpose of their own, in this live-action drama based on the manga by Aka Akasaka and Mengo Yokoyari.

Episode 1 opens on a performance by the original B Komachi. The twins grow up cheering on their mother, who keeps working as an idol while hiding that she has given birth, but Ai is stabbed by a stalker and dies before their eyes. Aqua resolves to find whoever was behind his mother's death and take revenge. From Episode 2, time has passed, and the two, now high school students, enter show business, each with their own goal. The source is a manga by Aka Akasaka (story) and Mengo Yokoyari (art), serialized in Shueisha's Weekly Young Jump from April 2020 to November 2024 and concluded with chapter 166; it was collected in 16 volumes. Its total circulation passed 20 million copies in November 2024, when the series ended. YOASOBI's "Idol," the opening theme of the TV anime that began in April 2023, became the first Japanese-language song to top Billboard's Global Excl. U.S. chart, and it also ranked No. 1 on Billboard JAPAN's 2023 year-end JAPAN Hot 100.

In January 2024, Amazon and Toei announced that they would adapt the manga into both a live-action series and a film, and the series premiered as an Amazon Original exclusively on Prime Video worldwide. Its 8 episodes were released in two batches: Episodes 1–6 on November 28, 2024, at 9 p.m. Japan time, and Episodes 7–8 on December 5. The production team said the series was released in 200 countries around the world. The story continues and concludes in the film 【Oshi No Ko】-The Final Act- (129 minutes), released in Japan by Toei on December 20, 2024. The film is not a recap of the series but the story that follows it; the producers explained that because a single film could not cover the whole manga, they planned the project from the start in two parts, a series and a film. In South Korea, the series is available on Prime Video under the Korean title 최애의 아이.

The series was co-directed by Smith and Hana Matsumoto, while Smith, who had directed idol music videos, directed the film alone. The screenplay is by Ayako Kitagawa, planning and production by Toei's Ryusuke Imoto, and the music by fox capture plan. For B Komachi's concert scenes, Smith gathered more than 2,000 extras and shot them with the same lighting and camerawork as a real live show. Kaito Sakurai plays Aqua, former =LOVE member Nagisa Saito plays Ruby, and former Nogizaka46 member Asuka Saito plays Ai. Nanoka Hara plays Kana Arima, Mizuki Kayashima plays Akane Kurokawa, ano plays MEMcho, Kotaro Yoshida plays Ichigo Saito, Kana Kurashina plays Miyako Saito, Nobuaki Kaneko plays film director Taishi Gotanda, and Ryo Narita plays Goro Amamiya.

When the adaptation was announced in January 2024, the press reported hopes that it would not go as far as recreating the manga's exaggerated stylization, concerns that live-action manga adaptations easily end up looking awkward, like cosplay, criticism that the costumes looked tacky, and reactions that Asuka Saito did not fit the image of Ai, alongside reactions that the role suited her as a former idol. Original creator Aka Akasaka said that, because the work also tells stories critical of the industry, a live-action adaptation had seemed as if it might never happen, and thanked the crew and cast for taking it on. After its release, the series was announced to have ranked No. 1 of all time in domestic viewership over its first 30 days among Japanese Amazon Original titles. According to Toei's financial results materials, the film grossed ¥330 million in Japan through the end of December 2024, and Asuka Saito won Newcomer of the Year at the 48th Japan Academy Film Prize for her role in it.

See alsoOshi no Ko -The Final Act- 2024Kaguya-sama: Love Is War 2019Scum's Wish 2017Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken! 2020Anpan 2025Horimiya 2021

Drama Lineup editors · Fact-checked against: japan-academy-prize.jp, cinematoday.jp, oshinoko-lapj.com, asiatime.co.kr, j-cast.com, creators-station.jp, eiga.com, jprime.jp, billboard-japan.com, www2.jpx.co.jp, primevideo.com · 2026-10-11