"All Aqua's final wishes are positive, therefore he must've wanted to reciprocate Kana's feelings": The amazing ability to ignore context and call it reading comprehension
Toxic fans logic surrounding chapter 161 (specifically Aqua's final conversation with Hikaru) goes something like this: Aqua says he wants to become a surgeron. He wants to call Miyako "mom." He wants to spend more time with his half-brother Himekawa. Those are all positive things. Therefore, when he says he wants to answer Kana's feelings, it must also be a positive thing, and therefore it obviously means he wants to be with her romantically, JUST LIKE SHE WANTS. Case closed.
Except… that's not how any of this works.
Because "answering someone's feelings" and "granting them exactly what they want" are not the same thing. And every time I see that take, I just think: "Okay, but did we all suddenly forget what Kana ACTUALLY ASKED FOR?
Kana's "confession" was written to be impossible to fulfill. By the author himself.
Chapter 151 and Aka Akasaka didn't give Kana a normal confession. That's the part toxic fans keep conveniently stepping around.
Aka could've had her say: "I've always loved you, please go out with me." Or he could have written: "I want us to be more than friends." OR: "I want us to be a couple." Direct. Clear.
But instead, he chose something much stranger.
Kana says she wants to become Aqua's favorite idol, his only star, and the only one he looks at. Which immediately raises a question: why write the confession that way if the intention was supposedly straightforward romance? Why make it so weirdly specific?
Well, we find the answer to that question when we revisit the manga and realize Kana´s dreams are written in a way that the story itself had already made impossible for them to become true:
"¿Favorite idol?" Chapter 123 already has Aqua calling himself Ruby's biggest fan. That seat is occupied.
"¿His only star?" Ai has literally been the symbolic star guiding his life since chapter 1, and Ruby herself occupies that role too. HELL, EVEN SARINA DOES.
The manga had already built those things long before chapter 151 arrived with Kana's confession. So suddenly pretending that none of that matters to the context is ... a pretty impressive feat of selective reading.
"Favorite Idol" was never romantic in the first place
And here's the part that always makes me laugh a little: whenever someone points this out, the classic response from toxic fans is always "Well, obviously Kana meant all of that romantically."
... really? Like... for real?
Because I don't know if we all accidentally read a different manga, but Oshi no Ko has never treated the concept of an idol as romantic.
Aqua idolized Ai. Ruby idolized Ai. Gorou ALSO idolized Ai. Akane idolized Kana. None of those feelings were romantic.
Idols in this story represent dreams, admiration, and hope. They're people who inspire others. AND they are also a dangerous obsession for individuals like Nino and Ryosuke. So, suddenly deciding that "favorite idol" is secretly code for "the girl I'm in love with" isn't something the manga established. In fact, the romanticization of idols (the belief that it somehow represents a form of TRUE ROMANTIC LOVE) is exactly what the manga CRITICIZES. And yet toxic fans still cling to that idea so their Aqukana ship doesn't sink any lower than it already has.
Chapter 161 itself rejects the "only one he looks at" dream in the funniest way possible
And now we have arrived at the most amusing part of all. Because when Aqua reflects on Akane and the relationship he lost, what image does the manga give us? AQUA LOOKING DIRECTLY AT HER.
Not standing next to her. Not looking away. Not even back-to-back or some neutral composition. He is looking at Akane. Directly.
Which is absolutely hilarious because Aqua knows what Kana wants. The author knows what Kana wants (he wrote it). We, the readers, know what Kana wants: to be the only one Aqua looks at. AND YET Aqua´s own internal image of a future he regrets losing is him gazing at another woman.
Like ... we couldn't ask for a more straightforward visual rejection of Kana´s dream even if we tried. Seriously, the irony almost writes itself. If the intention was really "Aqua's heart belongs exclusively to Kana at the end," then Aka Akasaka somehow managed to choose one of the funniest possible ways to communicate the EXACT OPPOSITE.
"Answering her feelings" was never synonymous with being together romantically
That's why I found the "all Aqua´s final wishes are positive" take so flimsy. It only works if we pretend that solely the part of Aqua's dialogue about Kana exists in a bubble and all the previous chapters don't matter at all. But stories don't work that way.
Aqua caring about Kana was never the issue. Of course he cared, in his own way. Nobody serious disputes that. But we also can't ignore a very undeniable fact: the things Kana wanted were things the story had already established Aqua could never give her.
Ruby exists. Ai´s memory exists. Sarina´s memory exists (they are his idols and stars).
Akane exists (she is the person Aqua imagines himself in a relationship with again, and the one who makes him go directly against Kana's dream to be the only girl - not idol or star - in his eyes).
Aqua was, quite literally, unable to return Kana's feelings the way she wanted him to.
And honestly, that's why I find it funny whenever toxic fans try to reduce "answering Kana's feelings" to "he definitely shared the same feelings as Kana and was going to make all her dreams come true if he hadn't chosen to die." Because those two things aren't automatically the same. AS WE COULD SEE.
More importantly, Aka deliberately avoided writing a simple confession and instead gave Kana these huge, idealized dreams that sound nice until we compare them to the ACTUAL STORY. And by the time chapter 151 rolled around, the manga had already spent ENTIRE PREVIOUS CHAPTERS demonstrating why those ideals COULDN´T BECOME REALITY. Which, honestly, shouldn't require a detective board to figure out. Just ... you know, reading the manga. With our eyes.
