Akane Kurokawa

"I gotta give it my all. Aqua did his best to make that video for me... And came to look for me in the middle of a storm. I was so happy. I need to show him my appreciation. I wonder if he'll be happy... If I play the part of his perfect girl?""

Akane Kurokawa (あかね) is a character in the Oshi no Ko manga series. She is an excellent actress capable of playing personalities to a fault and has connections with the Lalalie Theatrical Company. She was once a girl who was quiet and capable of easily fading into the background, however, after a controversy surrounding her episodes in the reality dating show "LoveNow", she acts a personality strikingly similar to Ai Hoshino to ingratiate Aqua. She used to play the active role of being Aquamarine Hoshino's girlfriend in a professional capacity, but after their trip to Miyazaki, they became a real couple.

Appearance
Akane sports a purplish hair color with blue highlights. Before her controversy, she didn't particularly stand out according to LoveNow's audience; giving the sense that neither her personality nor looks were particularly remarkable. However, after overcoming her controversy, she began sporting a look akin to Ai Hoshino down to her facial expressions and eyes, having her iconic stars in her eyes. She now has long hair as a symbol of her new style and not allowing the past to drag her down.

Her current hairstyle is reminiscent of the ones she had when she was a child. In the past, she decided to cut and change her hairstyle to be similar to her past idol Kana. It was extremely effective as even Kana's staffs and fans were duped by her strikingly similar looks.

Personality
Akane's true self is shy and quiet, not making her a good fit in a reality dating show. When people starting lambasting and sending death threats to her, she became all the more reclusive and was even willing to commit suicide. LoveNow's audience called her out on it multiple times, and thus, after she made a comeback, she took up Ai Hoshino's personality after listening to Aqua's advice in playing a character.

Being an excellent actress, she's capable of studying and replicating Ai's demeanour fastidiously (From her mannerism, speech and even thinking process) so much so that she was able to have Aqua at her mercy, and have others immediately think of Ai after looking at her for just a second.

She is also very diligent, as after she heard Aqua's taste in girls, she wrote down notes and immediately started studying to make herself more presentable for him. When asked by others, if both parties agreed, Akane wouldn’t mind dating Aqua for real. She also possesses actual romantic feelings for Aqua which she has made apparent a myriad of times.

She is also an accomplished cook, capable of concocting a full course savoury dinner, that made others think that 'she is a keeper' and successfully achieving Aqua's approval. She is able to do so after previously attending cooking courses with her mum, and cooking at home. She has both a serious side and a fun side to her as after seeing a video of kid Aqua, she exclaimed that he was 'cute', yet to her trained eyes, she could tell that he wasn’t putting his soul into his performance but rather just reciting the lines.

She knows the pain associated with being alone and having no one to confide in after being broken down and bullied, thus, when Aqua was suffering from severe PTSD, she shed tears for him, embraced him, and promises to always be by his side no matter what happens, furthermore promising to share his pain with him.

She is also very astute as after just receiving minuscule details surrounding Aqua's past, she was capable of piecing together all the details accurately, and deduce his relationship with his late mother, immediately feeling his pain and loneliness. She also kept his secret and did not criticised nor sway him when he said that he was only in this industry to 'kill someone'. Knowing that he has a good reason, and trusting his character, she vowed that she would help 'kill them' as that was how 'committed' she was to their relationship.

For her, it wasn’t about right or wrong, as she knew how impossible it was to change the mind of someone who was so resolved, disregarding their goal would be disrespectful and only serve for him to push her away. She didn’t want Aqua to suffer the consequences alone and pledged to shoulder the guilt with him, and telling him that she would accept him no matter who he was. However, she also wanted Aqua to help her defeat Arima and Himekawa, which he promised to, as it was his duty as her 'boyfriend' to protect her and support her endeavours.

When interacting with Aqua, she displays an obvious caring attitude towards him which others easily picks up on. She was the only one who stayed by his side after he collapsed and has on multiple occasions, let herself loose in joy and in sadness that is only shown to him. Whenever she interacts with Kana, they would unfailingly have a fiery argument as their personalities are polar opposites. Kana would always antagonise her while she in turn would fire back.

In chapter 68, when thinking that he could finally live and be happy normally, Aqua vividly remembers memories of Akane smiling which causes him to genuinely smile for the first time. This happens once again in chapter 78, where he vows to keep her safe and for them to have a serious relationship.

When they officially began dating, Akane became much more open in asking Aqua to spoil her after a busy day and appreciates him for all the small actions he does to show his feelings. For instance, Aqua would wait for her outside her workplace and reply her texts as soon as possible, while also never failing to praise her for her hard work. They would also display public affection more easily as she would cling to his arm when walking. All these small actions made her feel grateful and satisfied so much so that it is enough to rid her of all her stresses.

Story
Being a quiet and reserved girl, she decides to sign up for the Reality Show "My Love with a Star Begins Now" along with other teenagers, including Aquamarine Hoshino. Seeing that she does not stand out much in the program, she decides to develop a false enmity and rivalry with the fan favourite Yuki Sumi. In an impulse of emotions, she ends up scratching the face of the model, who immediately knew that Akane did not do it on purpose and forgave her. However, the viewers and internet users did not take it the same way, and began assaulting the young girl with hateful messages and flamed her in many different social networks. From death threats, to insulting her character and even wishing that she would just die.

After reading all the comments, she reached her breaking point and resolved herself to commit suicide. But, before she was about to jump off a bridge onto the highway, she was grabbed and saved by Aqua whom gently embraced her and promised that it's alright. After calming down, her co-workers were informed as she was taken to see them. Yuki ran up and slapped her with tears in her eyes, asking her why she did something so reckless. Akane then realised how much they all cared about her as she broke down crying with Yuki.

After the near-incident, all her colleagues joined together to raise a PV to the social networks of the program with different unpublished scenes which show the two involved in the problem being friends in order to avoid more hatred towards Akane and the Show. Aqua was the one in charge of the operation. He pulled many all nighters and threatened adults that if they did not do as they were told, there would be repercussions. The plan eventually worked out as public opinion swayed back and supported her.

Knowing how her life and reputation was saved not once but twice by Aqua, she began developing authentic feelings for him and allowed him to take her first kiss, live on the show. Fans immediately voiced their support for the new couple as they dated often after the episode, taking pictures to appease their fans. Many of their close friends and family supported their relationship as well. Wanting to start anew and not letting the past shackle her any longer, she decided to change her persona for the better as she allowed her hair to grow out, signifying her new outlook.

Etymology

 * The name Akane is written in hiragana (あかね), which has no special meaning. However, when written in kanji (茜), it could possibly mean "deep red, dye from the rubia plant".
 * Akane's surname Kurokawa means "black" (黒) (kuro) and "river, stream" (川) (kawa).

Trivia

 * Akane's story arc seemed to reference the situation of Kana Himura, a Japanese Pro-Wrestler who committed suicide due to media pressure. Only this time, in Akane's case, she had friends who supported her and prevented her suicide attempt.
 * Akane is one of the few to know the Hoshino twins' relationship to Ai Hoshino.
 * With her prowess as an actor, Akane was able to mimic Ai's personality perfectly, so much so that both Ruby Hoshino and Aquamarine Hoshino thought that she was indeed their late mother.