Chapter 17

Staging (演出) is the seventeenth chapter of the Oshi no Ko manga series. It is written by Aka Akasaka and illustrated by Mengo Yokoyari. It was released in Weekly Young Jump on September 10, 2020, and in Mangaplus on May 19, 2022.

Summary
The chapter begins with Kana's perspective. It is written poetically, with Kana noting the clack of the clapperboard, and how the camera begins to roll. She notes how the air grows heavy, and how time feels weighty and intense, as if a "whole year condensed into an instant." She notes how the moment feels endless, like her life is being appraised.

The next panels show her character; she introduces herself in this chapter, and recounts her past; she was treated as a prodigy when she was younger, but is now being treated as "over the hill" by the internet. Her career seemingly ended in grade school, and Kana is aware of it, but still remained in show-business. Kana wants to make Sweet Today a good production no matter what, and her monologue shows her willingness to grasp at straws in order to do so. One of those straws was recruiting Aqua to help.

She further notes how the show sucks, due to her peers who don't know the acting basics. She acknowledges that four episodes have aired, and the resulting view count has fallen because of the disappointment. Kana is aware that the six-episode show of I'll Go with Sweet Today is being labelled as a flop.

Yet she believes it's not too late, since they are about to act out the best scene of Sweet Today: the hero confronting the stalker, and how the loveless heroine cries because, in the first time of her life, someone protected her. Kana always cried at that part, and read that scene over and over because she loved it so much.

She is ready to back up her co-star (Melt Narushima) and act her very best because she believes there's a chance. Sadly, her hopeful thoughts are interrupted because her co-star has subpar acting, and he's ruining the scene. Kana can't follow Melt's lead because she can't cover up his bad acting with her skills.

She wonders why the director is letting this happen, and how the scene isn't tense nor chilling. She questions herself, wondering if the acting matters so little to the production crew, and denying it by thinking "It has to be more."

Aqua enters the scene as the stalker. He purposely steps into puddles, which are being picked up on the mics. The crew wonder if they should stop the shoot, but a producer wants to keep it, noting how the atmosphere is right.

Aqua has fully entered the scene as his character. He talks obsessively, making comments such as, "That girl's not what you think she is," and "She'd never get along with a flashy guy like you."

The chapter is still following Kana's perspective; she realizes Aqua's current acting is better than their rehearsal. The perspective finally switches back to Aqua, and he mentions his lack of talent, how he's not like his mother, Ai. Aqua believes he doesn't have riveting charisma. He thinks his acting isn't great, so he'll use everything else at his disposal to become like Ai: props, cameras, lighting, and the actors themselves.

Aqua discreetly leans towards Melt, addressing him personally instead of his character. He says, "You know, you sure are ugly up close." Aqua makes another comment, and this triggers Melt, causing the young man to grab him angrily. Aqua did this on purpose to get a natural reaction, so he slips back into acting, adlibbing parts of the script. The production crew roll with it, and Kana notes how this scene is resembling the manga.

Since Aqua studied with Director Gonda, he knows the meaning of staging, composition, and tempo. Aqua knows how to interpret a masterpiece, and consider the creator's feelings. He purposely set up the scene for Kana, and wants her to get serious now.

Aqua escalates the scene as he thinks to himself: "I'll be scary," and "Disgusting." He makes unnerving comments, and he thinks by creating darkness, he accentuates light. He did it to make one spot shine for Kana. After Aqua is slapped by Melt, he falls to the ground while aiming a personal comment at Kana, disguised as acting.

"There's nothing good in your future. Your life is pitch-black."

This is a callback from their conversation in the previous chapter, when Kana was talking about her acting journey. Kana responds by saying, "Even so... I have light." Her acting becomes more poignant as she cries, and Aqua remembers that's her strong suit.

The panels cut away, and show a conversation between Melt and Aqua. The former apologies for slapping too hard, but Aqua admits he wanted that to happen, much to Melt's surprise. Aqua says, "Acting's a whole lot better if there's feeling behind it. You did good back there. Thanks to that, Arima was able to get serious too."

The next panels show two members of the production crew, and they talk about what happened. One mentioned how the expected plan was trashed, but another producer mentioned how it was fine, and how improvising is common with child actors, saying "It's shaping up to be a good scene. That should make Kana-chan happy."

They move onto the final scene, and a panel shows the next step of their plan, which describes it as such: "Heroine looks like she's fallen for the hero."

The panels show that Kana was looking at Aqua.

Characters

 * Kana Arima
 * Aqua Hoshino
 * Melt Narushima