Chapter 18

Modest Praise (小さな称賛) is the eighteenth 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 17, 2020, and in Mangaplus on May 19, 2022.

Summary
The chapter begins with Yoriko's assistants entering her apartment, and one of them saying, "Good morning." The two manga assistants find their mentor sleeping on the floor. One of them mentions how Yoriko should sleep in her bed, and how she'll wreck her back by sleeping on the hard ground.

Yoriko wakes up and responds, stating that if she sleeps in her bed, she'll conk out. By sleeping on the floor, Yoriko will wake up after four hours or so. A manga assistant makes a comment saying, "That's some pretty unhealthy trivia."

Yoriko gets up and sits at her desk, giving her assistants work instructions. She gives directions for Page 2 splash backgrounds, and splash backgrounds for 1 and 2 on page 3. After that, Yoriko mentions how she'll be watching the Sweet Today drama, so when her assistants finish their work, they should let her know.

They make comments, mildly surprised that Yoriko is still watching, and the manga author questioned why they weren't. They explained how far they got in the live-action series; one assistant watched the first bit of the Sweet Today drama, while the other made it to Episode 2. Yoriko makes her own comment: "So you dropped out."

One assistant fully explains her reasoning about the Sweet Today drama. She mentions how hard Yoriko works on drawing the series, saying "running herself ragged," and how the televised drama "phoned in the drama so hard, they basically mocked it..." This manga assistant voiced her displeasure, showing how she felt about the live-action series.

Yoriko laughs it off, stating how she knew it'd be like this. She recalls the events leading up to the drama's production, and why the producers wouldn't have taken the effort: the manga's serialization run is over, and they can't hope for a sales boost. Yoriko states how it's nice they're adapting her work at all, and how she's in no position to complain.

She mentions how other manga creators had their work adapted, and they all said to Yoriko, "Whatever you do, don't get your hopes up.". Yoriko begins speaking broadly, saying how every creator fantasizes about their work being adapted, but when it happens, they look sad at the end.

Despite that, Yoriko still watches the Sweet Today drama, and she begins to cry when she sees Kana Arima's performance. She thinks and says aloud, "I'm glad I said they could make a drama."

The scene transitions to show several Sweet Today fans watching and commenting on the live-action drama. The manga panels display the following text: "Most viewers had already dropped out. Only core fans of the original and fans of the cast stayed with it. The final episode of Sweet Today didn't blow up or go viral in a big way. A small demographic showered it with quiet, intense praise."

This text is showed alongside comments of Sweet Today fans, wondering why the show suddenly jumped in quality at the end. More images are shown, displaying low-trending tweets about the series, and fans talking to each other about the show.

The manga cuts away to a different scene, showing a panel depicting a sign that says: WRAP PARTY FOR THE I'LL GO WITH SWEET TODAY DRAMA.

Aqua and Kana are shown at the party, talking to each other about the production. Aqua realizes how many people were involved, and Kana says their acting gives everyone their jobs, stating how they must give results, and why scandals are out of the question. Kana sneakily asks Aqua if he has a girlfriend, and he says he doesn't. The manga shows Kana contemplating that information.

Yoriko is reintroduced in the chapter, and she's congratulating Kana, and they enter a conversation. Aqua watches with a smile, and Masaya Kaburagi starts his own conversation with Aqua by saying, "Hello there." He makes idle talk with Aqua, saying how the last episode went well but didn't affect the end profits, but the main goal of creating opportunities for young talents was completed.

Aqua is shown thinking to himself: the cigarette butts he sent to the lab (called Genetrack biology) showed he and Masaya weren't related. It was a relief to him in some ways. Suddenly, Masaya brings up how Aqua works for Ichigo Pro, and his resemblance to Ai Hoshino. Aqua tries to deflect, wondering how he looks like Ai, and Masaya explains how he worked with Ai, and how he saw her face up close. Aqua questions their past work relationship, and Masaya explains how he met Ai. A fashion magazine model recommended Ai to him, and she left an impression on him. Afterwards, Masaya sent work Ai's way, and helped with "this and that. Introducing her to new clients and so forth."

Masaya makes another comment that has darker implications. When Ai met with boys without her agency knowing, he'd recommend good joints for her to go to. Aqua shoots a question back to Masaya; he asks who the boys were.

Masaya and Aqua make a deal; if Aqua works with him, Masaya will disclose the information. Masaya offers Aqua to join a dating show because the younger man has a beautiful face.

The scene cuts away to a new location with another sign displaying the following text: YOUTOU HIGH SCHOOL ENTRANCE CEREMONY.

A panel shows Ruby Hoshino and Aqua standing together; the former looks eager and happy while the latter looks disinterested and unenthused. Kana appears behind the both of them, congratulating their official enrollment into the high school, and stating how it isn't too different from normal ones. She says the major difference are the students, each one of them are in the public eye. The chapter ends with Kana saying, "Welcome to the entertainment industry."

Characters

 * Yoriko Kichijouji
 * Aqua Hoshino
 * Melt Narushima
 * Kana Arima
 * Masaya Kaburagi
 * Ai Hoshino (mention)
 * Ruby Hoshino

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第十八话