Oshi No Ko's ending is overhated and most people misinterpret/misunderstand it(a bit of devil's advocate for the story)

Guys don’t get me wrong, I didn't love the ending at all, and I definitely don't think an author should be immune to criticism. But I honestly feel a bit disheartened by the level of vitriol being thrown at the author. I wanted to play devil’s advocate for a second because I feel like the ending is overhated and, in some ways, misinterpreted/misunderstood.

I think the author actually hit the nail on the head regarding the very themes, like the nature of lies, the manga spent so much time establishing. Here's my take on why the resolution was more intentional and purposeful than people are giving it credit for:

The dogpiling on the story and the ending doesn't mean it failed, it's the ultimate fulfillment of the artistic work. For it's entirety, the story dismantled how the public consumes trauma as entertainment, demanding that performers and creators package their pain and story into something palatable, logical, and satisfying. By writing an ending that feels abrupt and tragic, Akasaka refused to give the audience the one thing the story spent the entire time critiquing: a comfortable lie.

The pacing is a reflection of real life, not a mistake. The most reasonable critique is that the story felt rushed towards the end. However, I'd argue that in the context of a tragedy, brevity and rapidity are narrative tools. In real life, the transition from hope to despair isn't a slow drawn out thing with a 30 chapter burn, it's in-the-moment and sudden, leaving you feeling taken aback or disorientated. By writing the ending as snappy with no drawn-out goodbye, the author forces the reader to experience the same disorientation and lack of closure that the characters are feeling as well. "Why didn't Aqua just do this?" "The author is so dumb. What's the point of ...?" It isn't as much of an oversight as it's made out to be by critics. This is experiential and crafty writing that purposefully causes the reader to feel the weight of something, like a life, being cut short.

Also, sub-optimal choices are the core of human trauma. Critics often argue that the characters made "illogical" choices or "regressed" in one way or another. This argument about character assassination and them acting inorganically is ignoring that Oshi no Ko is a study of deep-seated trauma. Expecting characters like Aqua to make the optimal healthy choice at the very end treats character growth like a 2d linear system, rather than characters reflecting real life and the psychologically complex reality of it all. If the characters acted with perfect narrative logic, they would be tropes, not people. The ending highlights them as broken people who were unable to escape their traumatic cycles. The "palatable" or satisfying growth and ending would have been a betrayal of what the manga wanted to explore.

I'd even go as far as to argue that the reader is the final antagonist. I think the coolest part of the finale is how it turns the reader into the exact person the manga has been condemning this whole time. With the tokyo blade and movie arcs, the story showed how audiences entitledly demand a "satisfying" version of a creator's pain, actions, and message.

The reality is that if you are dogpiling on the author because the ending wasn't "neat" or didn't provide "relief," you are proving the author’s point. You're being the very fan who wants the creator to "fix" a tragedy to make it easier to digest.

In conclusion, the ending wasn't a "failure" because it left you hollow or disappointed in the pacing or some of the characters' actions. It's art. Oshi no Ko told us from the beginning that lies are a weapon in the entertainment world. By refusing to give you a "happy" or "perfectly paced" ending, the author chooses not to lead you blindly with a weapon and told the truth. The fact that the truth is unsatisfying doesn't mean it’s bad; it just is.

Please for the love of god refer back to the first thing I said and be nice/don't hate me.