Oshi no Ko season 2 episode 6 review: Doga Kobo does justice to Melt Narushima's growth all while giving fans the perfect stage play experience

By Gokul Chettiyar

Modified Aug 10, 2024 12:11 GMT

Oshi no Ko season 2 episode 6 review: Doga Kobo does justice to Melt Narushima — Melt Narushima as seen in Oshi no Ko season 2 episode 6 (Image via Doga Kobo)

With the release of Oshi no Ko season 2 episode 6, the anime delved deep into the world of stage plays. The anime had given fans a preview of the same back in the season premiere. But with Oshi no Ko season 2 episode 6, the anime went beyond the manga series' limitations and left fans with a cinematic experience for a stage drama.

That said, the stage play itself wasn't the only highlight of the episode as Doga Kobo carefully dealt with Melt Narushima's storyline to give fans easily one of the best redemption arcs within the anime.

While the previews hinted that Doga Kobo gave special attention to the storyline, no one could have expected the episode to feature anime-original scenes that helped elevate the emotions behind the scenes.

Oshi no Ko season 2 episode 6 review: Doga Kobo's depiction of Tokyo Blade stage play exceeds expectations

The Circular Stage as depicted in the anime (Image via Doga Kobo)

As fans might remember, Oshi no Ko season 2 opened with the start of the Tokyo Blade stage play. That scene reappeared in Oshi no Ko season 2 episode 6, as the anime delved deep into the stage play experience.

The anime had previously explained how the circular stage was different from a normal stage. Hence, with the depiction of the stage play's storyline in the anime, Doga Kobo went above and beyond to give fans the perfect circular stage play experience all by making use of the screens and visual effects.

Taiki Himekawa as Blade in Oshi no Ko season 2 episode 6 (Image via Doga Kobo)

As for the stage play storyline, while the manga had only focused on bits and pieces from it, the anime did the storytelling some justice by adding some anime-original scenes. With those, the anime effectively spent eight minutes to summarise the entire first act of the stage play.

With such changes, unlike the manga, the anime helped fans understand what led to the conflict between Melt Narushima's character, Kizami, and Sakuya Kamoshida's character, Monme.

Oshi no Ko season 2 episode 6 redeems Melt Narushima in the most incredible way possible

Melt Narushima as seen in Oshi no Ko season 2 episode 6 (Image via Doga Kobo)

While the stage play experience in Oshi no Ko season 2 episode 6 was marvelous, something even more incredible was the depiction of Melt Narushima's growth as an actor.

The anime had been constantly reminding fans about Melt Narushima's struggle as an actor as he was failing to keep up with his stage play co-stars. This saw him relentlessly rehearse and train to get better at playing the role. Unfortunately, he was getting nowhere close to his co-stars.

The anime depicted this struggle perfectly through his past, which revealed how he entered the show business and took it easy in the beginning. However, he was soon forced to change his ways after realizing that he did not stand a chance against other actors.

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This was followed by Doga Kobo's depiction of Melt Narushima's character reconstruction, which was done by making use of insanely creative extended anime-original scenes. These scenes effectively explain how Melt previously thought of himself as a star in showbiz, but soon after he realized his lack of talent, he was left aimlessly running behind that feeling.

Most of these scenes were entirely original and took no references from the manga, nevertheless, they touched fans' hearts. That achievement speaks volumes about the anime's staff and their efforts in bringing about their best depiction of the character's growth.

Final thoughts on Oshi no Ko season 2 episode 6

Oshi no Ko season 2 episode 6 was simply perfect. Animation studio Doga Kobo went above and beyond to present fans with a masterclass of a side character's redemption story. While the manga chapters themselves were strong enough to leave fans teary-eyed, the studio put a beautiful spin on them by making the anime episode full of colors.

However, as fans should remember, this episode was neither the anime's finale nor focused on an important storyline surrounding the main characters. Therefore, with Oshi no Ko season 2 episode 6, the anime set fans' expectations high for the remainder of the season. Hence, unless the anime succeeds in matching those expectations, Doga Kobo might have shot itself in the foot with its latest episode.