Ai Hoshino

"That's why today I will once again lie... believing the lies will become the truth. Even if I end up paying for it one day..."

Ai Hoshino (アイ) is a titular character in the Oshi no Ko manga series. She is the series' poster child and was the lead idol of the now-defunct former B-Komachi. Originally hailing from an abusive and solemn past, Ai was a bumpkin with no professionalism and didn't try to fit in. Over time, through the help of Masaya Kaburagi, a producer with many connections, she got into the Lalalie Theatrical Company, and through, Ichigo Saitou, the former president of Strawberry Productions, became an idol for B-Komachi.

Ai Hoshino's life took a turn when, through an undetermined amount of time, she became pregnant with twins. Not wanting to squander her reputation, the final decision by Ai and her company came -- to hide the fact; Ai needed to play the role of idol and mother. All this and more would pile into a life of lies and deceit. Her work, personality, and life, in general, are but a facade to hide the ugly truths beneath -- a form of "love" in her eyes. It would be the case for her for many years, at least until tragedy struck. It was the realization that she genuinely loves her children, a love devoid of lies.

Ai's influence would become the driving force for many of the events in the series. Many people are sympathetic to the plight of those left behind to clean up the mess, and her children be left motivated to create a world where her image and legacy be left unsullied. Aquamarine Hoshino, her son, seeks vengeance against the person who wronged his family, Ruby Hoshino, her daughter, hopes to make bygone dreams a reality.

Appearance
Ai Hoshino is a beautiful girl with gradient colored eyes from purple to pink and a six-pointed star in each of her eyes. She is shown to have brownish-red hair on first chapter cover but is shown to have more of a blue-purplish hair color on the volume cover.

Her idol outfit is adorned in a pink aesthetic of varying degrees of lighter and darker shades. The outfit's design is an overall ruffled appearance. A black belt is located on her waist, and other miscellaneous accessories are present throughout the design -- Three blue stars located on her chest, a heart-shaped necklace on her neck, and a bunny hairpin accentuated by two gold stars and a pink ribbon.

Personality
Before becoming an idol, Ai Hoshino was a dismissive person. The environment she suffered being with her abusive mother caused her to think of ways to protect herself. Ai lacked any memory of loving or ever being loved herself -- prominently shown when Ichigo Saitou scouted for idols to start a group. She believed she lacked the qualification to become due to these reasons, showcasing a lack of faith in herself. She became quickly convinced to join when Saitou told her that lying is fine and is, in fact, a desirable trait.

Thus, Ai's perspectives started to shift. She convinced herself that lies are a form of love -- a love harbored out of the selfish desires of both sides of the spectrum. Ai sought to find an object for her "love." She wanted to learn how to love by telling her fans that her deceitful lies are, in fact, love. This desire also came when she bore children, but in a different context. She never once said that she loved them because being disingenuous towards them would be terrifying.

No matter what, lies allowed her to process the world around her. Within these contexts, she never sought to make things right to the point where she was fine to face the consequences of her actions. Lies were her way of expressing love -- hoping that one day, they would become the truth. Only when a terrible event happened did Ai finally realize -- She loved her children, a genuine form of love, free from impurity and dishonesty. She was relieved and satisfied from finally being able to experience these true feelings.

Etymology

 * The name Ai (1) is written in katakana (アイ), which has no special meaning. However, when written in kanji (愛 or 藍), it could possibly mean:
 * 愛 - "love, affection".
 * 藍 - "indigo".
 * Ai's surname Hoshino means "star" (星) (hoshi) and "field, wilderness" (野) (no).

Trivia

 * Ai's death resembles the stabbing of Mayu Tomita, a 20-year-old Japanese singer and actress, in May 2016. Tomita originally became famous by playing a fictional idol named Ai Takano in the web drama Secret Girls. The perpetrator in Tomita's stabbing was a 27-year-old fan who had harassed her online and sent her unsolicited gifts. Twelve days before the attack, Tomita reported the harassment to the police out of fear for her safety, but they dismissed the case. Tomita survived the attack, but received lasting physical and psychological injuries. The incident led the Japanese national government to revise its anti-stalking laws to include online harassment.
 * Ai has two stars in her eyes compared to her children who only have one each (Aqua has one in his right eye and Ruby has one in her left).
 * As the mix of Aqua and Ruby's eyes colors results in purple, this is an allusion that they are half of their mother.
 * Ai's smartphone & blog account password "45510" is the initial of the 4 founding members of B Komachi. The number correspond the Japanese flick keyboard :
 * Takamine (た Ta) : 4
 * Nino (に Ni) : Double 5 (If using flip phone, double press な Na to get に Ni)
 * Ai (あ A) : 1
 * Watanabe (わ Wa) : 0