The official Oshi no Ko YouTube Channel has posted the first episode of its behind-the-scenes documentary of the popular anime. The first episode covers pre-production, scripting, character designing, and concept art for the series. It is currently available with English subtitles. Oshi no Ko premiered on April 12th with a 90-minute first episode. HIDIVE is currently streaming the anime as it aired in Japan. The company has stated that the anime has become the streaming services’ #1 series launch in the platform’s history.
In the documentary, the staff explained that they receive a lot of input from the manga’s creators, Aka Akasaka and Mengo Yokoyari. They especially went to the duo when it came to things like character designs and background art. The creators provided a lot of extra context for many of the design and personality choices for the characters.
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Producer Shimpei Yamashita also went on to explain why the first episode was 90 minutes versus the traditional 22 minutes. He said, “To begin with, we are all big fans of the manga. We didn’t want to cut any important scenes and dialogue just to make it the common anime format.” Director Daisuke Hiramaki then elaborated that they did not want to cut volume one into multiple episodes. It was agreed upon by all of them to make a longer episode that could be played as a TV special or in theaters. The series is being animated by Studio Doga Kobo (Monthly Girl’s Nozaki-kun, Plastic Memories).
Akasaka and Yokoyari launched the Oshi no Ko manga in Shueisha’s Weekly Young Jump magazine in April 2020. Shueisha’s Manga Plus is currently releasing the Oshi no Ko manga in English. Currently, the title is licensed and distributed by Yen Press. Before its anime release, there were 3 million copies of the Oshi no Ko manga in circulation.