Ad-Lib「アドリブ, Adoribu?」 is the sixty-second 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 November 11, 2021.[1]
Summary[]
In between scenes, Taiki asks Kana about her previous scene, saying she should have been more energetic, taking up the challenge Akane offers. However she states that with both him being the leading actor and Akane performing as if trying to seize the starring role, she had to moderate herself somehow, to keep things together.
Kana then turns to Taiki and wonders aloud about what he is doing, as he explains that he is reading the script but he is doing so without his glasses to avoid messing up his makeup, an action he dubbed as "air glasses", as he does not wear contact lens. She questions how he sees the other actors' expressions but he waves it off as the audience cannot see their expressions either and movement alone is enough to converse between actors.
Kana prods him further about how not wearing contacts are going too far, before Taiki reveals that he's scared of contacts, which Kana guess is his real reason for doing "air glasses" in the first place. She relents and say inwardly that each person at the top of their field has their own quirks, and so does Taiki.
Kana then continues to ask why he is reading the script at this time and he says he want to add some ad-lib performances to avoid being overshadowed by Akane, which caught Kana off-guard. Taiki then asks if Kana can keep up with his plan, as she confidently responded in kind.
The play resumes with the conflict between the two faction, the highlight being a showdown between Blade (Taiki Himekawa) and Touki (Aqua Hoshino). After a brief exchange of words, the two starting dueling with their swords.
Aqua notes that Taiki's acting is filled with emotions, as Taiki himself confidently goads Aqua to act alongside him. But Aqua, who knows that Taiki is way better than him, responds by giving an emotionless performance to provide a contrast, as Rio Mitano and Mei Adashino discuss regarding their acting synergy. However, Rio said that Taiki is not that easy to deal with, as Taiki continues to goad Aqua with his expression, with a plan in mind.
Meanwhile Kana anxiously waited for Taiki's ad-lib plan to materialize, but she was caught off-guard as Taiki suddenly pushes Kana towards Aqua while he faces an approaching Akane, who was surprised by the circumstances. Kana realizes that Taiki has passed on most of the ad-lib responsibility to her, and hurriedly tried to adapt and guide Aqua.
Before she can react, however, Aqua starts improvising himself, acting off-script, but Kana realized that it matches his character at the moment. He also cleanly connects his improvisation back to the script. Kana is surprised how well he can play off others, as she hesitates for a moment as she has never been so reckless before, but she realizes that Aqua has positioned himself so all of the spotlight is focused on her.
Understanding what he is trying to convey based on his movements, that he will coordinate with her in order to let her perform as she wishes, Kana smiled as she prepares to act accordingly, saying that shaking people up seems to be Aqua's strongest suit.
Characters[]
