Oshi no Ko is a dark, multi-genre anime series that focuses on the deceptively brutal and stressful world of musical idols, first explored through the eyes of Ai Hoshino.

Ai was introduced as a conflicted musical idol, a teenager who had never known love but had to project a loving image to her countless fans. Then she became a mother, which only deepened her insecurities.

Ai expresses her troubled feelings not only through words, but with her eyes—which have six-pointed stars in them. These are a visual clue to Ai's true feelings and, notably, her twin son and daughter have a star in their eye each one, which says a lot about this bizarre found family and what they think of each other.

Oshi no Ko The eyes are always a valuable insight into what each character is thinking and what they're lying about, and that even includes non-family members like Akane Kurokawa.

Why does Ai Hoshino have two eye stars in Oshi no Ko?

The stars in Ai Hoshino’s eyes are a visual indication of her emotional state. At first glance, they seem to represent her pure energy as a pop idol and seemingly make her stardom literal. People who know her may see it that way, but the stars in Ai’s eyes actually represent two darker details.

The first of these is lies, an important topic in Oshi no Ko, since Ai Hoshino lies to all her fans about loving them. Ai must maintain a cheerful facade as the entertainment industry demands. idols, but it's hard work.

The eyes are a window to the soul, as the saying goes, and if she's lying that much, then Ai's eyes are the perfect display of what she's really thinking – that she's consciously lying to everyone about love.

Ai grew up as a miserable orphan who never knew familial or romantic love, and she feared that this made her unfit to be an idol. So Ichigo Saito encouraged Ai to simply embrace the deception and present herself as an idol who truly loves her fans, hence the Oshi no Ko star eyes.

The second reason for Ai Hoshino’s starry eyes is even more personal – her motherhood. Ai hadn’t planned on having children, so when her twin son and daughter were born, she felt insecure about parenthood.

Since Ai had never personally known love, she feared that she would not love her own children as well. She feared that she was lying to herself about being a suitable mother, to the point that she would never tell Aquamarine and Ruby "I love you" because she feared it would not be true.

When she was stabbed and bled to death, however, Ai realized that she truly loved her children and admitted this to herself, allowing her to die happily.

Why do Aqua and Ruby Hoshino each have a star in one eye?

Genetics could explain why Aqua and Ruby both have a star in one eye. Their mother had two and their unknown father likely had none, so Aqua and Ruby would end up with split genes.

Most likely, however, Oshi no Ko gave them their own eye star to show that they have some thematic overlap with their idol mother – but with key differences. They may be Ai's partial biological children, but on the inside, Aqua and Ruby are very different from her.

Aqua and Ruby each started with an incomplete set of Oshi no Ko star eyes because they share only one trait with their mother – living a life of lies.

They accidentally lied to Ai about being her real children, as they are different people inside with much more than a child's mind.

Aqua is the reborn Dr. Gorou, a grown man, while Ruby is Sarina Tendouji, a high school girl who passed away in Dr. Garou's rural hospital before achieving her own distant dream of being an idol.

They kept up this facade for their mother and the entire world, outwardly following their new identities of Aqua and Ruby while being openly with each other.

Whether these kids get involved in the idol industry or not, they are already used to lies and have a star in their eye to show for it.

Aqua and Ruby don't have a second eye star because they aren't insecure about love like Ai was. Although Ai feared that she didn't truly love her children, they were fully confident in their adoration and support for their mother, and for them, loving their idol was a sacred truth.

Ironically, this pure and honest love may make them unhappier, with Aqua potentially ruining herself to seek revenge on Ai's killer, while Ruby plunges into the same brutal idol industry that once sank its claws into her mother.

Meaning of Oshi no Ko's eyes in other characters

For the first ones Oshi no Ko episodes, only the three Hoshinos had these distinct star eyes, but then the narrative expanded the meaning of these eyes with unfamiliar characters.

In rare, emotionally charged cases, other characters can get starry eyes, as dandere actress Akane Kurokawa did midway through Season 1, to the point of almost becoming a yandere.

Akane forced herself to become someone she wasn’t—Ai Hoshino—and she embodied that lie with all her might. This meant that Akane had glowing eyes when she saw Aqua again, mixing her own identity with Ai’s and lying to everyone about her true nature.

It remains to be seen how long Akane will rely on this obvious falsehood as her love triangle with Aqua and Kana continues. Either Akane will have the courage and confidence to continue this triangle as herself, or she won't, and that will say a lot about her character either way.

In contrast, Kana Arima has no stars in her eyes, although she too suffered in the entertainment industry as a child actress whom everyone abandoned.

Like Ai Hoshino before her, Kana feared that there would be no love and acceptance in her life, but unlike the Hoshinos and Akane, Kana never tried to become someone she was not to solve these problems.

The proud tsundere Kana Arima is determined to succeed or fail as her true self, and she actually forces other characters, such as Ruby and Akane, to change to suit her.

Despite Kana's own drama and stress, she has a solid and honest personal foundation to stand on, being true to herself and others.

This lack of lies and stars in her eyes could be why Kana is Oshi no Ko, Akane's most popular character and the Hoshinos think they can get away with deceiving and fooling themselves, but Kana proves that even in this anime themed around lies, the truth is always stronger, and she has the clear, focused eyes to prove it.