【OSHI NO KO】 (【推しの子】)

There was once a great war.

The vaunted warriors of the age fought for their ambitions and convictions,

but none of them emerged the victor,

and 21 swords bearing the world's fate were scattered across the Far East.

This is a tale that begins with a man obtaining one of those swords.

Blade

Tsurugi

Kizami

Monme

Touki

Princess Saya

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OSHI NO KO

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Princess Saya...

Touki...

This story is a work of fiction.

Aqua Hoshino (16) as Touki

Akane Kurokawa (17) as Princess Saya

2.5D Stage Play Tokyo Blade First Day of Rehearsals

Stop there. Take a ten-minute break.

Kana Arima (17) as Tsurugi

Melt Narushima (16) as Kizami

Sakuya Kamoshida (22) as Monme

Got a moment, Kurokawa?

Yes.

Hoshino Family Grave

It's been four months since the new B-Komachi's debut show,

and the season has changed.

We've put on a bunch of smaller concerts since then,

and we're uploading videos to YouTube regularly.

Slowly and steadily, we're gaining fans.

As for my brother...

He says he's not going to be an actor, but he keeps taking on acting work.

I honestly don't know what he's thinking.

Oh, right. Onii-chan has a lovely girlfriend now.

They started dating on a reality show,

and they're costarring in a stage play that also features Senpai...

But he says they're only pretending to be a couple for work purposes.

I think he's scum—the enemy of all women.

Hoshino Family Grave

I'm doing great now.

Until the day I fulfill your unrealized dream and perform at the Tokyo Dome,

I'll put my heart and soul into my idol work.

Ruby Hoshino (16) from Idol Group B-Komachi

Watch over me, Mom.

Tokyo Blade, a manga with over 50 million copies in circulation,

is a conventional action story about groups of rivals all over Japan

and the progression of their battles, friendships, and loves.

Arima's character is part of the Shinjuku Cluster with the protagonist,

while Akane's and mine are part of the Shibuya Cluster, their adversaries.

This stage play focuses on the Shibuya Conflict Arc where these two groups clash.

Arima and I only share the stage in the climax, huh?

Are you sad you don't have more scenes with Kana-chan?

You two are pretty close. You even showed up together for the introductions.

I'm glad, actually.

It's scary how worked up she gets about acting.

The fewer scenes I have with her, the fewer chances she'll have to nag at me.

That's what you were thinking?

But isn't talking about acting fun?

I could go on forever.

Spare me.

That's only for people who have a passion for acting.

And you don't?

I don't.

Most people who go on stage love acting,

and they're serious about it.

Not me.

I only see it as a way to get closer to the truth about Ai.

Toshirou Kindaichi (56) Leader of Theater Company Lalalai and Director of Tokyo Blade

The leader of Theater Company Lalalai, Toshirou Kindaichi.

This is a man who likely affected Ai's life in some way,

and this is just how I get close to him.

Break time's almost over.

Yeah.

Give me a sec.

Let's go.

Shinjuku has always been a lawless zone,

but it seems one man has taken it over.

Blade, I think his name was.

Oho? That's interesting.

Let me go see what this guy's made of.

Can you not jump right into starting a skirmish?

We don't have any bad actors in the cast this time.

Can I go with him this time?

Sumiaki Raida (35) CEO of Magic Flow and Executive Producer of Tokyo Blade

My sword is called Iwadachi.

Every League Blade has a mind of its own.

Arima-chan, with her long career,

A sword with a mind?

and Lalalai's members can obviously act.

That's impossible.

And even though I was a bit unsure about Melt-kun after seeing him in Sweet Today,

Don't think you can take Shinjuku's strongest, Tsurugi-sama,

and leave with your life intact!

he's really done his homework.

I hear this is Aqua-kun's first play, but he's keeping up with the others, too.

I don't care one bit if you embarrass yourselves.

Well, Kaburagi picks wisely when he outsources his people.

But do not bring shame to Princess Saya's name.

Right back at you.

This is no time for infighting.

I love the old-versus-new genius showdown between Arima-chan and Akane-chan, too.

Touki, if we do nothing,

Shinjuku will eventually rise against us.

We've got an immersive type who throws herself into her role,

You want to fight me?

and an adaptive type who responds on the fly to others' acting.

Do you people know what you're getting into?

Even their performance styles contrast.

From the looks of things, I'd say Akane-chan's a step ahead.

Think twice, before your swords take control of you and bring you to ruin.

I hope Arima-chan can keep up.

I dunno about that.

This is not a sword a samurai from the sticks can handle.

After all, we have Himekawa.

Arima, was it?

You don't need to hold back.

Tokyo Blade Lead Actor Taiki Himekawa (19) as Blade

Hah, you wanna go?

Doesn't seem like we can talk this out, so sure.

How about whoever's stronger gets to call the sword their own?

Simple and to the point. I like it!

Not my fault if you wind up dead, okay?

Right back at ya, I say!

That's all you got?

You ain't got a chance in hell!

Enough of your nonsense!

What's the matter? Gonna surrender?!

Oh, shut your mouth!

I'll end this now!

What's so funny?

You're pretty strong!

G-Get off me!

Kana Arima. Want to grab dinner later?

Sounds good.

I've got a lot I wanna ask you, too.

Come with us, Melt.

Huh? Me?

Obviously. We've got lots of scenes together.

Kana-chan...

Until recently, she played the backup role and avoided such assertive acting.

She couldn't pull off that egotistical, "Look at me!" kind of performance.

Is it confidence? Resolve? Did being an idol unlock something in her?

Lalalai's been stagnating lately.

I took on this 2.5D stage play and brought in all these outside actors

because I thought we needed a shot in the arm.

These people are all the competitive type, so there's no way that scene just now

didn't light a fire under their asses.

Their minds'll be in overdrive trying to figure out how to compete with that...

if they're truly actors, anyway.

2.5D Stage Play Tokyo Blade Third Day of Rehearsals

In general, plays get about a month of rehearsal time.

We start around noon, rehearse for six or seven hours, and go home at night.

A lot of the actors are busy, so it's rare for everyone to be there.

The star actors in particular often have to skip rehearsals because of other gigs.

Blade

It's common to hire stand-ins for them so that the others can rehearse anyway.

That said, theater actors love plays,

so many of them will try to be there, even if just at night.

Arima.

Got a minute?

What?

Frontier Guard

How do you read this word?

"Sakimori."

I see.

Huh? I thought it was "boujin." You're so smart, Arima.

Everybody knows that one.

Why do so many theater people have such a hard time with kanji?

Read a book once in a while, would you?

I'm bad with densely packed books. I'm more into visuals.

Yeah, I feel you. I only ever read manga.

Being a fool for theater is cool and all,

but being an actual fool will just cause you problems in life.

I'll bring you some books I recommend, so try reading them, you fools.

Okay.

It's the third day now, and the cast has formed groups.

The main cast group,

the Lalalai group, and the bit-part group.

And then...

There's my boyfriend, all by his lonesome.

Maybe he's not very good at fitting in.

His gloomy loner aura is really something.

I can kind of relate to that.

Got your eyes on Kana-chan?

Yeah.

"Yeah"?

It might be in name only, but we're...

Arima tends to bring her acting in line with her coactors.

Having lost work due to being a show-off in the past,