Oshi no Ko anime gives behind-the-scenes look at episode 1's production

One of the most unexpectedly popular television anime series of the Spring 2023 season has been the television anime adaptation series of Oshi no Ko. Based on the manga written by Aka Akasaka and illustrated by Mengo Yokoyari, the series has proven its popularity after roughly a month of airing episodes weekly.

To celebrate the anime’s popularity, especially that of the 90-minute long first episode, the Oshi no Ko anime team has released a behind-the-scenes look at the anime’s production. The video is the first episode in what is expected to be a multi-episode documentary series, which is also available with English subtitles.

The first episode cover’s the Oshi no Ko anime’s pre-production, script (which is referred to as “scenario” in the video), character design, and concept art for the series. Fans are expecting future episodes of the behind-the-scenes documentary series to progress further into the production process of the series itself.

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Oshi no Ko behind-the-scenes documentary video gives look at production process, answers on episode length, and more

While the first episode of the Osho no Ko behind-the-scenes documentary series gives a broad look at the pre-production process, there are some highlights that stand out. One particularly memorable scene focuses on producer Shimpei Yamashita, who is answering the question of why the series’ first episode was 90 minutes long.

Shimpei responds by saying that they “all are a big fan of the manga,” and as a result they “didn’t want to cut any important scenes and dialogues just to… fit the common anime format.” Director Daisuke Hiramaki further elaborated that the team wanted to make the first volume a singular installment, which is why such a direction was agreed upon early on in production.

Additionally, the staff explains that they received plenty of input from the manga’s creators Akasaka and Yokoyari. The two were involved in aspects such as character designs and background art. Moreover, the duo provided extra context for their design choices in the original manga, such as the series’ trademark star-eyes that some characters have.

Unfortunately, fans didn’t get an answer as to why this is for now, with staff choosing not to explain the time of the documentary series’ filming. Hopefully future episodes of either the mainline anime series or the behind-the-scenes documentary will fully answer and explain this often-asked question.

The series premiered on April 12, 2023, with its 90-minute first episode on the HIDIVE streaming service. HIDIVE stated that the anime has become their top series launch in their history as a streaming platform. As such, fans can expect HIDIVE to push for streaming rights to future seasons of the series, that is if they don’t already have them.

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Be sure to keep up with all Oshi no Ko anime and manga news, as well as general anime, manga, film, and live-action news as 2023 progresses.