With the spread of social media, the term "oshi" and "oshikatsu" have spread at an accelerating rate and are now common nouns. Various projects have been launched and it has become a huge market, but some people seem to be feeling a little uncomfortable about it. Anime columnist Koarai Ryo explains this feeling of unease.
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Recently, the words "oshi" and "oshikatsu" have become widely used, attracting attention from the public and being featured in the media more and more.
While the number of convenient goods and services for oshikatsu has increased, which is very helpful, among those who actually enjoy oshikatsu, there is a growing feeling of disgust at the increasing trend of inciting and assuming oshi and oshikatsu.
The cause of this feeling may be the discomfort of being "forced" by a third party to oshi, which should be something that can be done voluntarily (and sometimes unavoidably), and oshikatsu, which was originally enjoyed freely.
For example, recently, we have seen more and more features on works and artists that claim to "find your favorite" or "discover your favorite." However, I sometimes feel a little skeptical of such slogans, which make it seem as if the opportunity to come into contact with new entertainment is to "make/find" your favorite.
This is purely my personal opinion, but I think that a favorite is not something you make or find because someone told you to, but rather something you "can do" as a result of coming into contact with a work or artist.
It's difficult to give an analogy, but it's like when an SNS account about a pet that you cherish as a family happens to go viral, and when you keep a pet in order to go viral. Although the result is the same, the meaning is very different. What arises from this is the discomfort of being instigated by a third party to "make/find your favorite in order to do your favorite activity," as if your favorite is a tool to do your favorite activity.
I also feel a little confused by the trend that seems to assume that you have a favorite when liking or supporting something. Nowadays, not only fans who support their favorite idols, but also people who are not fans and even companies use the word "oshi", and you can encounter the word "oshi" in all genres, including idols, anime, and sports.
However, some fans who like or support something do not have an "oshi", and of course they can still enjoy the object to the fullest. For example, with anime, there are various ways to enjoy it, such as reading the original work, buying merchandise, and cosplaying, but for "people who have an oshi" or "people who have an oshi", these actions, which are also oshi activities, can of course be done even without an oshi. For this reason, some people may feel uncomfortable with the recent trend in marketing and reporting, which seems to assume that "if you like something", "if you support it", or "if you are a fan", you have an oshi.
As mentioned at the beginning, there are many things that are good and helpful about the generalization of oshi. In fact, companies that know what fans with oshi want have developed products that meet that demand, and useful goods that make people think, "I wanted goods like this...!" have been created.
On the other hand, with the recent excitement surrounding oshi, there are more and more moments when it feels as though some companies and the media are labelling all fan enthusiasm as oshi or oshikatsu, and that they are "forcing the word oshi" on people. As a result, the words oshi and oshikatsu, which they used to use, have now been forced on them by third parties, and people may feel uncomfortable, as if they are confronted with a word they don't know.
Will the discomfort caused by this excitement be temporary and will it gradually calm down in the future, or will it accelerate and the word "oshi" will eventually become a completely different word unknown to those who support it, created by third parties? Personally, I think that the discomfort felt by people who have oshi is also a vague feeling of unease, as if the words they used to use are being repainted with a different meaning by third parties, and as if they are being forced to use it.
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Ryo Koarai = A member of KD Entertainment, currently enrolled in a doctoral program at the Graduate School of International Media, Public Relations and Tourism Studies at Hokkaido University. He watches over 100 anime shows every week (including reruns and streaming), and has been posting his thoughts on all of them on his blog for the past 10 years. He also studies and researches anime from an academic perspective, and teaches at universities and vocational schools. In addition to writing a serial anime column, he also participates in program production as a program commentator and anime information supervisor.
