News
Live-Action Oshi no Ko Series Ranks #1 for Amazon Prime Domestic Originals Within 1st 30 Days in Japan
posted on by Alex Mateo
The official website for the live-action series of Aka Akasaka and Mengo Yokoyari's Oshi no Ko manga revealed on Friday that the show has broken the record for the most domestic viewers for an Amazon Prime original in Japan within its first 30 days.
The live-action Oshi no Ko series debuted its first six episodes on Amazon Prime worldwide on November 28, while the last two episodes debuted on December 5. The sequel film opened in theaters on December 20.The cast includes:
- Former =LOVE idol group member Nagisa Saitō as Ruby
- Former Nogizaka46 idol group member Asuka Saitō (live-action Tomorrow, I Will Be Someone's Girlfriend) as Ai
- Kaito Sakurai (live-action Blue Spring Ride, Vivant) as Aqua
- Nanoka Hara (Suzume's title role, live-action Wave, Listen to Me!) as Kana Arima
- Mizuki Kayashima (Saikō no Kyōshi: 1-nen-go, Watashi wa Seito ni ■ Sareta) as Akane Kurokawa
- Ano (Dead Dead Demon's Dededede Destruction, theme songs in Tiger & Bunny 2, Chainsaw Man) as Memcho
- Ryō Narita as Gorō Amemiya
- More cast
The filmmaker known by the mononym Smith (Inside Mari, I Want to Hold Aono-kun So Badly I Could Die, music videos for Ikimono-gakari, Ketsumeishi, Snow Man) is directing the film. Director and former actress Hana Matsumoto (Kimi to Nara Koi o Shitemite mo) is helming the TV series with Smith. Ayako Kitagawa (Tokyo Love Story, Laid-Back Camp) is writing the scripts, and the band fox capture plan (Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai, Lupin III vs. Cat's Eye) is composing the music. Toei's Ryūsuke Imoto is producing.
The series features a new theme song and artist in every episode. The in-story idol unit B-Komachi perform the film's ending theme song "Shining Song."
The television anime of Aka Akasaka and Mengo Yokoyari's Oshi no Ko manga premiered in Japan in April 2023 with a 90-minute first episode. HIDIVE streamed the anime as it aired in Japan, and it is also streaming an English dub. The company stated that the anime has become the streaming service's "#1 series launch in the streamer's history." The second season premiered on July 3, and ended in October. A third season has been green-lit.
Yen Press licensed the manga, and it describes the story:
Gorou is a gynecologist and idol fan who's in shock after his favorite star, Ai, announces an impromptu hiatus. Little does Gorou realize that he's about to forge a bond with her that defies all common sense! Lies are an idol's greatest weapon in this outrageous manga from Aka Akasaka (Kaguya-sama: Love is War) and Mengo Yokoyari (Scum's Wish).
Akasaka (Kaguya-sama: Love is War) and Yokoyari (Scum's Wish) launched the manga in Shueisha's Weekly Young Jump magazine in April 2020, and ended the manga on November 14. The 16th and final compiled book volume shipped in Japan on December 18. Shueisha's MANGA Plus service is releasing the manga in English digitally. The manga has over 17.5 million copies in circulation.
Sources: Oshi no Ko live-action series' website, Mainichi Shimbun's Mantan Web
Disclosure: Kadokawa World Entertainment (KWE), a wholly owned subsidiary of Kadokawa Corporation, is the majority owner of Anime News Network, LLC. Yen Press, BookWalker Global, and J-Novel Club are subsidiaries of KWE.