Calculations「打算, Dasan?」 is the eighty-fifth 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 June 23, 2022.[1]
Summary[]
Ruby Hoshino asks Ichigo Saitou about the identity of her father. Ichigo reveals that he does not know who her father is. He then turned serious and said that he would have killed him if he knew who he was. Ruby then asked him to give away contact information of people related to Ai Hoshino. Ichigo adamantly refuses, knowing that some of the people on that list would have been a big shot these days, and he knew Ruby would recklessly meet up with them. He adds that it would be hard to clean up the problematic mess she would bring by doing that. Ichigo then asks Ruby if Miyako Saitou is the one currently supporting Ichigo Production, Inc, implying that she would be the one to clean up the mess.
Ruby boastfully said that she's pretty popular herself, but Ichigo quickly points out that her popularity is only slightly above underground idols, and if she ever gets caught drinking for example, no tabloid would publicize it as a scandal, but she would get criticized online. Ruby then asks him if he would introduce her to these people if she gets popular enough, and he agrees. She then immediately asks him for advice to get more popular, and reveals that she followed his instruction which led her to land a job as a reporter in Dig Deep! One Chance. This piques Ichigo's interest, and he starts scheming about what her next step should be, but he comes to his senses as he looks at Ruby.
Ruby looked to Ichigo, disappointed, before saying that she believed in his skill as a former president, and understood that the growth of Ai's popularity was not just because of her talent, but also because of him. She then asked him again for advice regarding how to get more popular. Ichigo looks on in silence.
Later on, Ruby is filming as a reporter for Dig Deep!, as Ichigo's advice is interspersed with the filming process. Ichigo said that Ruby needs to leave her mark on the set and make sure her character is clear to everyone, as that is the most important thing to have while being featured in a variety show. He points to Aqua as an example, who puts out a cool and brusque persona, and his sharp tongue allows him to get his turn to speak naturally. This allows him and his character to become a talking point on its own, because variety shows do not give much opportunity for Aqua to introduce himself, nor does it give him a lot of turns to speak otherwise.
Ruby then considers her own character as "cute, smart, and considerate", but Ichigo instead corrects her assessment to "stupid, rude, and cheeky". He told Ruby to be a shameless fool and to exaggerate her mannerisms. He continued by stressing the importance of the pre-show survey, treating it as a proposal of what she would bring to the table, as the production side would decide what to write based on her input. Ichigo said that she must bring something that would generate discussion here, and just like her character, she could also exaggerate whatever she decided to do.
The filming process continues as Ruby is given a question about something she messed up recently. She comes up with an exaggerated anecdote about how she almost burned down her house trying to make a bar soap by boiling liquid soap in a pot. Aqua recognizes that she was twisting a story about how she mistook detergent refill as oil and put it in a pot, but played to his character, as he admonishes her stupidity. He shrewdly realizes that someone is helping her behind the scenes to act this way.
As the filming for Dig Deep! comes to a close, an assistant director realizes Ruby's character potential and thinks of a proposal that could benefit from her character. Ichigo's last advice then comes into play, as he tells Ruby to be kind to assistant directors because sooner or later they will ascend to become directors themselves. Ichigo then closes out by saying that to become popular, Ruby must start to be more calculating in the way she acts.
Characters[]
