The following contains spoilers for Oshi no Ko Chapter 123, "Bad Move," by Aka Akasaka, Mengo Yokoyori, Felicia Sumali, and YKS Services, LLC, now available in English from Yen Press.
Recent Oshi no Ko manga chapters have finally broken down the final barrier between Aquamarine and Ruby Hoshino, the reincarnated brother and sister. All this time, the two of them have been lying to the world about who they are, which ties into Oshi no Ko's dark theme of constant lies and deception, and they've been lying to each other, too. Now the truth has come out: Aqua is the reincarnated Dr. Gorou. And he supports Sarina Tendouji, not Ruby Hoshino.
Chapter 123 is a dramatic one, a turning point between the found-family brother and sister. Ruby was shocked at the reveal, but more importantly, she now feels more empowered than ever, with the reborn Dr. Gorou right there to support her as an aspiring idol. Now Sarina Tendouji can realize all her dreams and start telling the truth to the world and to herself.
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Ruby Was Always Meant To Succeed As Sarina Tendouji
In Chapter 123 of Oshi no Ko, Aqua reveals himself as Dr. Gorou, and Ruby demands to know why Dr. Gorou/Aqua never told her who he really was. Ever since her babyhood in her new life, Ruby Hoshino has known that her twin brother is someone else with an adult mind, but she never figured out who it was. In Chapter 123, Ruby also explained that she spent all of her new life looking for Dr. Gorou, never knowing exactly what happened to him, the doctor whom she admired so much as a fellow Ai Hoshino fan. Now Sarina knows the truth, and the final lie has broken down between Aqua and Ruby. Fortunately for them both, Ruby didn't take this too hard and didn't resent Aqua for hiding the truth for so long. In fact, this is where Ruby's real happiness may begin.
Sarina Tendouji hoped to realize all her dreams in her Ruby Hoshino form and become a star pop idol like Ai Hoshino was. Years ago, the sickly Sarina dreamed of being an idol like Ai so she could distance herself from her sickly body and her boring, stifling life. Becoming a pop idol was an empowering escapism dream for Sarina, and Dr. Gorou fully supported the idea, even if it wasn't feasible in Sarina's original life. Dr. Gorou wasn't just practicing his bedside manner — he truly wanted Sarina to be happy with Ai Hoshino to guide her, and he thought that Sarina's eye sparkles were more incredible than Ai's. After all, Ai's eye stars were based on lies, while Sarina's own eye stars were based on truth.
That made all the difference in Dr. Gorou's opinion, and it's an inspiring rebuttal to Oshi no Ko's main theme that all people lie out of necessity to survive and get what they want. "Ruby Hoshino" is not a real person, but Sarina Tendouji is, and she is the one who is meant to make it big as the musical star of the new B Komachi group.
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Sarina Tendouji's Honesty Will Help Her Grow
Ruby and Aqua's honesty about their true identities will help them get along better as found-family brother and sister. Until now, their differing personalities and even their different attitudes about Ai have been driving them apart, such as how Ruby views Ai as her true mother while Aqua only sees the musical idol who merely gave birth to his new form. Ruby and Aqua struggled to get along for years, even if they seemingly get along on the outside, but this new revelation may change everything. They can resume their respective identities as Sarina and Dr. Gorou when they're alone together, and it's an opportunity for growth for Ruby. She needed this, and not just to overcome the Hoshino family's constant lies.
Sarina suffered low self-esteem because of her medical condition in her previous life, and she felt terrible because her mother never visited her even once. Now, Ruby Hoshino has become vain and secretly insecure as Ai's daughter, trying too hard to become a great musical star with her new identity in B Komachi. The Ruby Hoshino persona was overcompensation, and now Ruby/Sarina can drop it altogether. She can move forward as her true Sarina Tendouji self, complete with her honest eye sparkles, and her Ruby Hoshino form is only useful for its healthy body, nothing more. Mentally, Sarina has been lying to herself and the world about being Ruby, and it held back her emotional maturity and growth.
Ruby's maturity and self-esteem should both get a big boost now that she has truly accepted herself as Sarina Tendouji, the aspiring pop idol, and best of all, she has the reborn Dr. Gorou to cheer her on in private. Ruby also has some external assets on her side, such as her existing popularity and fame as Ruby Hoshino the idol, so her newfound self-confidence can push all that to the next level. Ruby/Sarina is poised to make it big with her self-honesty and faith in herself, but some obstacles still remain, even if she overcame Oshi no Ko's darkest themes.
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Ruby Hoshino Still Has Lies To Tell
Sarina/Ruby can now be totally honest to herself about her identity, and she has Dr. Gorou to support her real identity as well. However, Ruby still has more lies to tell, and this might undo her vital progress if she is not careful. Like her idol mother Ai before her, Ruby must lie to all her fans and friends about who and what she is, and that will cause some mental strain. Ruby has already been doing that for years, such as at high school and onstage as B Komachi, but in those days, she considered herself Ruby Hoshino, so those external lies felt like truth. Now she has reclaimed her identity as Sarina Tendouji, so presenting herself as Ruby Hoshino to others will hurt. Sarina is proud of who she is and loves her original dream to be Sarina Tendouji the pop star, but she's trapped in her flesh-and-blood shell as Ruby Hoshino, and only Aqua sees the real her.
Even if Ruby is confident with the truth, she can't share it, and she may start to feel bad all over again about losing her original self. This emotional strain might even tempt Sarina to resume telling herself that she is Ruby Hoshino to escape that painful disconnect, but she must resist that temptation. Lying to herself about being Ruby Hoshino isn't just dishonesty; it holds back her potential. She must cling to her true self, even if only she and Aqua/Dr. Gorou can see it, and either succeed or fail as herself. Win or lose, at least she won this personal battle, and no entertainment industry lie can take that away.
