Who is Kana Arima in Oshi no Ko? The role of the genius actress, explained

Oshi no Ko's first episode featured the young genius actress Kana Arima, who worked alongside Aquamarine Hoshino in a horror movie. While fans believed that she was only meant to appear as a fragment of Aqua's past, she returned to the series in the second episode, leading fans to question her relevance in the story.

Oshi no Ko, written by Aka Akasaka and illustrated by Mengo Yokoyari, has become very popular since its anime premiere. It managed to stay at the top of MyAnimeList for a couple of weeks. As for the manga, it became the fifth-hottest manga series on Shueisha's MANGA Plus.

Disclaimer: This article contains spoilers from the Oshi no Ko manga.

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What is Kana Arima's role in Oshi no Ko?

Kana Arima as seen in Oshi no Ko (Image via Doga Kobo)

Kana Arima is the star of the revived B-Komachi idol group from Strawberry Productions. She was once a genius child actress who was popular from the age of five and was known for crying at the flick of a switch.

However, due to her extensive acting abilities and her negligence in taking others' feelings into consideration, Kana Arima became difficult to work with. Thus, when she grew up and was no longer a child actress, she started receiving fewer job opportunities.

After that, Kana Arima changed her acting style and became much easier to work with to survive in the industry. However, she could not find good jobs and often had to delve into other fields in the entertainment industry, such as singing and advertisements.

Kana Arima as seen in Oshi no Ko (Image via Doga Kobo)

While the jobs themselves were B-grade at best, Kana Arima did her best to hone her talents and do whatever she could to regain her past self. This included doing embarrassing advertisements, such as the one for Pepper Bell.

After her manager and mother abandoned her when she needed them the most, Kana Arima became a freelancer and tried her best to get into a situation where people would need her.

Kana Arima as seen in Oshi no Ko (Image via Doga Kobo)

In her attempts, she sang many songs. While her singing did improve in time and was the reason why she became the center of the renewed B-Komachi, the songs did not do well at that time, and she lost her singing gigs soon enough.

Later, Kana Arima started going to Yoto High School. After a year, she got the chance as the lead female protagonist in a web drama adaptation of the popular manga Sweet Today.

Later, Kana Arima encountered Aqua and Ruby, after which she was invited to become part of Strawberry Productions' new idol group alongside Ruby. While she was doubtful about her change in profession, from being an actress to a self-proclaimed idol, Aqua managed to convince her.

Kana Arima then became the center of the new B-Komachi idol group and performed alongside Ruby Hoshino and Mem-Cho.

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Final thoughts

Kana Arima as seen in Oshi no Ko (Image via Doga Kobo)

While many would believe that Kana Arima's role in Oshi no Ko was to be a cute tsundere girl who had a crush on Aqua, she has a much deeper role in the story. She represents all the actresses that got swept away by the industry at a young age and faced its consequences throughout their life.

Not only did Kana Arima receive hate since childhood, but she also became very self-critical of herself. She would reject opportunities due to her unsuccessful experience in the past and would identify and list out her flaws in an attempt to not go through the pain again.