The following contains spoilers for Episode 10 of Oshi no Ko, "Pressure," now streaming on HiDive.
The performance at the Japan Idol Festival is coming up fast, and Ruby, Kana, and MEM-cho need to work hard if they want their debut show to be successful. Kana takes up the coveted center role, but she's still uncertain of herself. Her past failures continue to haunt her, and her self-confidence is easily at its lowest.
This episode is easily the most Kana-focused episode in the entire season. Fans get a deeper look at her inner psyche, something that only glimpses have been shown of before. With the Idol Festival coming up fast, Kana needs to work up the confidence and courage to carry her fellow members to success.
Training For The Festival
Ruby and MEM-cho try to set Kana up as the center before she can refuse it, but she catches on to their plan and scolds them. Ruby and MEM reveal that they did what they did because they truly believed that Kana had the talent and work ethic to be the center, but she isn't having it. Ruby relents, but asks Kana to listen to them sing before making her final decision. In the end, Kana ends up having to become the center due to how terrible Ruby and MEM-cho are at singing.
With that finally settled, the girls begin to get special training courtesy of Pieyon, who turns out to have a history in idol choreography. Pieyon puts the girls through grueling training sessions, making sure to build up their stamina and drill their routine into their bodies. While resting outside, Kana ends up having a friendly conversation with Pieyon, who tries to convince her that she has the ability to be the group's center. Kana finds talking with Pieyon so fun that she starts to become attracted to him. Unbeknownst to Kana, however, Pieyon is actually Aqua, wearing a disguise because he believes that due to his currently strained relationship with Kana, she wouldn't listen to any advice he had to give her.
The Day Of The Performance
With the Idol Festival now only a day away, Kana, Ruby, and MEM-cho sleep together in preparation for the performance. Ruby, however, can't sleep due to her excitement, which Kana can't understand since she can only think about what will happen if she fails. Ruby tells Kana about her life as Sarina, leaving out the part about it being a past life, and how idols gave her a reason to live. As she also talks about the encouragement that Goro gave to her when she was still alive, she falls asleep. Kana quietly admits that she is envious over Ruby having someone that supports her, as she does not have anyone like that herself.
Kana heads downstairs to get some water, only to encounter Pieyon with his mask off. She peeks in, interested to see Pieyon's real face, only to be shocked when it turns out to be Aqua. The shock ends up leaving her unable to sleep, and she is in bad shape when the entire group arrives at Japan Idol Festival the next morning. She is unable to understand why Aqua did what he did, but she doesn't have any time to think about that before she is ushered in to a hectic dressing room hall where dozens of other young idols are preparing for their own performances.
Rookie Idol
As Kana tries to keep herself together, she reminds herself that Ruby and MEM-cho are essentially newcomers to the entertainment industry, and that it's her role as a veteran to make sure that their performance today goes off without a hitch. She becomes haunted by the memories of her past failures, of times when companies attempted to push her as a singer only for it to fail, and when her days as a child actor came to an end after she grew up. It's very clear how her past failures have crushed Kana's self-confidence in her own appeal and her abilities, to the point that she struggles to accept her role as the center of an idol group.
During all of this, Ruby suddenly approaches Kana and admits that she has suddenly become incredibly nervous about the upcoming performance. Ruby asks if Kana is nervous, and Kana claims that she is obviously too used to performances like this to be nervous. However, Ruby can tell that Kana is lying just by how cold her hands are. Kana finally admits that she is nervous, because her failure here wouldn't just hurt her, but also Ruby and MEM-cho. Ruby senses the pressure Kana has put on herself due to her being the veteran of the group, but tells her that since she doesn't know much of Kana's acting career, she only sees Kana as a rookie idol, the same as her. For the first time, Kana feels the weight lift off her shoulders as she decides to tackle the performance not as a veteran actress, but as a newcomer idol.