So, Oshi No Ko Chapter 123 is out. Like many, after the anime ended, I’ve jumped into the manga, bingeing the entirety to see the continued adventures of Aqua, Ruby, and their various criticisms of the idol industry.

There had been some trepidation over the chapter, after supposed leaks found their way to the internet. After all, Goro and Serina’s relationship was already plenty weird before their deaths- and the leaks definitely implied that things were about to get weirder. But even ignoring that, what we got was an overall good chapter.

Alright, that’s it for beating around the bush, from here on out we will be discussing spoilers for Oshi No Ko Chapter 123- so read on at your own peril.

Still here? Good. I’ll save my thoughts on the implied incest later, because the real star of this chapter is the reunion between Goro and Sarina, as well as them confronting their relationships with Ai.

Honestly, considering the wild ride Ruby’s been on, it’s a great renewal of her character to have her back down so hard. Unlike Aqua who is well-suited to the sociopath life, Ruby’s significantly less so. She’s the emotional core of Oshi No Ko, so it makes sense that rather than have her fully commit to chasing clout they’d have her reflect on how horrible it makes her feel.

On the other hand, we have it played against Aqua. Aqua himself is still very much committed to his revenge plan, but breaks away from it to save Ruby. If Ruby represents the emotional core of Oshi No Ko, Aqua represents its direction- he wants to do bad things, but is a good person nonetheless. The Crow Girl is even there just to let you know that any kindness he shows Aqua isn’t part of his elaborate revenge plan- at the end of the day his Siscon persona might be the realest thing about him.

Honestly, had the chapter ended here we’d have had a really good chapter overall. Seeing the kids reflect on their relationship with Ai and each other after so long makes it feel like they themselves had been separated. But what’s a good manga chapter without a cliffhanger? And thus we get this gem of a page:

I’m going to call this out here as a patented Akasaka Aka Fake-Out- considering how many people are likely to have come from the anime, I can see a need for a HUGE EVENT in the manga to help sell more copies. Considering how Kaguya Sama has had its share of fake outs, I wouldn’t be surprised if the literal first panel of the next chapter was Aqua just slapping Ruby and telling her to stop being a creep.

Better yet, it’d be interesting if this becomes the catalyst for what Aka has been working towards for several chapters now- the idea that after 16 years of life, Aqua and Ruby are not Goro and Serina, in the kind of “You are the sum of your experiences” sense. Anything as long it’s not twincest, please.