The following contains spoilers for Oshi no Ko Season 2, Episode 7, “Sun.”

Summary

• Akane Kurokawa’s flashback cements her status as a shonen-style heroine and pits her against the bitter, subversive Kana Arima.
• The professional and personal feud between Akane and Kana adds depth and contrast to the narrative of Oshi no Ko.
• Akane’s episode makes her more sympathetic and presents her as a kind-hearted, determined character.

Episode 7 of the new season of Oshi no Kodedicates all of its screen time to a single character, just like the episode before it. While episode 6 was a soulful underdog story featuring the downtrodden actor Melt Narushima, episode 7 makes Akane Kurokawa the star. It is true that most episodes of Oshi no Ko juggles a variety of characters and storylines, and for good reason, but the show needs to delve deeper into the main cast every now and then. Now it’s Akane’s turn, and episode 7 does a great job with its laser focus on Akane and her current storyline.

But that’s not all that Episode 7 does. This episode also reminds fans that even if Oshi no Ko is a Seinen anime that focuses on dark and subversive drama. The series also makes room for shonen-style stories featuring gritty underdogs like Akane Kurokawa, and the results are stellar. This helps balance the narrative of this complex anime and makes it appealing to fans who are more used to optimistic zero-to-hero stories in shonen. All of this and more is accomplished as Akane goes head-to-head with her rival Kana Arima, both in the past and present as Tokyo Blade The play progresses.

Akane Kurokawa’s flashback cements her status as a shonen-style heroine

This distinguishes her from Kana’s bitter, subversive story arc

A significant portion of episode 7’s runtime is devoted to Akane Kurokawa and Kana Arima’s shared history, which does quite a bit for these girls’ intertwined storylines while also being highly entertaining and emotionally tense for fans. By now, Akane and Kana are shonen-style rivals who regularly clash for more reasons than one, and episode 7’s content helps provide even more context and personal insight into this ongoing rivalry. On one level, Akane and Kana are romantic rivals, as they are two members of a love triangle centered around Aqua Hoshino, but it’s not just that. Akane and Kana also feud on a professional level, with Kana smugly flaunting her superior acting chops while Akane fights hard to prove herself and outdo the glamorous, headline-stealing Kana Arima. In short, Kana is Akane’s own Sasuke Uchiha.

Such a rivalry had symbolic scenes in other episodes of Oshi no Ko before, with this being one of several storylines the anime is currently juggling, along with Aqua’s quest for revenge and Ruby’s determination to make the new B-Komachi group a huge success. That’s fine to keep this rivalry on fans’ radar, but at this point, it’s important that the anime delve much deeper into Akane’s shonen-esque feelings of competition, and a laser-focused episode like “Sun” is key. It’s true that the Oshi no Ko The anime’s fast pace needs to be reined in to allow for single character episodes like this, and the anime can’t afford to do this too often, but there needs to be at least one or two episodes like this to make Akane’s arc more substantial. The payoff is serious, as Akane feels more like a shonen underdog hero than ever, just like Melt Narushima did in episode 6.

The flashback begins with young Akane Kurokawa watching TV with her parents. On the screen, Kana Arima appears as a teenage performer, and Akane feels inspired to try it herself. She and Kana are about the same age, after all, and so Akane believes if Kana can do it, she can too. However, the popular Kana Arima has a clear lead over Akane from the start, as she is not only talented, but also established in the eyes of fans and producers. When the flashback finally shows Akane and Kana coming face to face next to a vending machine, the two girls are quite different, and not just because of Kana’s lead. Despite being a star in the industry, Kana is bitter about it, and Akane is optimistic and determined despite being far behind.

The professional and personal feud between Akane and Kana not only reflects the desire of these girls to outdo each other, but also Oshi no Ko‘s strange mix of Seinen and Shonen elements. Especially Oshi no Ko is a dark, subversive Seinen anime, but it also has room for Shonen-style underdog stories in which determination, self-confidence and hard work usually pay off. In episode 7, Akane Kurokawa embodies the Shonen half of Oshi no Kowhile Kana is a tragic avatar of the anime’s subversive Seinen side, and that’s why the girls clash. Kana doesn’t just feel threatened because Akane works so hard to become a fellow cast member – Kana clearly suffers from imposter syndrome to some degree, getting gigs based solely on her name, regardless of her talent. Seeing Akane work so hard to get ahead like a shonen star makes Kana feel like an even bigger imposter. Or at least that’s what anime fans are open to inferring.

All of this not only makes Akane and Kana feel very different, but also gives the anime a broader appeal that goes beyond its initial approach of being a subversive take on the idol genre. In a way Oshi no Ko are two stories in one, with one story grimly tearing down the shiny facade of the monstrous entertainment industry, and the other story being a familiar and inspiring tale of a young heroine trying to make something of herself through hard work. There is room for both in Oshi no Koand each stands out even more when contrasted with the other. Fans of both narrative styles will find much to like in this anime, and they may also appreciate what they see in the other style. Most likely, many Oshi no Ko Fans have started watching the subversive drama, but with Akane’s rise to shonen-style heroine, there’s even more to love and surely everyone will welcome it.

Akane’s episode makes her more likable than ever

While Kana Arima is an example of what Akane should not be

It is common for single-character episodes like “Sun” to make the star in question much more likable, as viewers end up spending a lot of time with that character and getting to know her on a deeper, more likable level. Still, Akane has more than mere presence to make her so lovable in this episode. In both the contexts of her flashback and her current performance in Tokyo BladeAkane Kurokawa has all the makings of a solid heroine, and there’s practically nothing subversive or twisted about her. While she did suffer from ego surfing in Season 1, that wasn’t a true reflection of Akane – back then, she was merely a plot device to subversively show how fickle and harsh an audience can be. The real Akane Kurokawa has nothing to do with cyberbullying.

By now it is obvious that Akane Kurokawa is a kind-hearted person who is serious, honest and determined, almost to the point of excess. She is less like Kana Arima and Mem-Cho, but more like a character from a series like Blue Period or Bakumanin which hard-working protagonists in the art industry want to make it big or go bankrupt. Even though Akane is not actually Oshi no Kois the official protagonist, but she still feels like one in episode 7, and fans will likely see more of that in episode 8, which will likely conclude this phase of Akane and Kana’s feud. Akane checks all the boxes for a compelling and heartwarming main character, but does very little to tinker with or sabotage it. She can be quite intense, as some recent episodes have shown, but Akane is not malicious or cruel, unless fans believe she has the intention of helping Aqua kill a specific person.

Akane may not have the magnetic “it” factor that makes Kana Arima so popular with the fanbase, and she doesn’t eat up the scenery as much as Kana does, but not every anime fan loves a vibrant character like Kana. Akane is Kana’s necessary counterpart, a softer and more serious shonen-inspired performer who relies on pure determination and hope rather than subversive elements to get fans’ attention. Fans saw more than enough of that in episode 7 to decide once and for all if that makes Akane Kurokawa the Best Girl of . Oshi no Ko.