A Group Shot From the Artist Who Swore Them Off
The new illustration brings together eight characters: Ai, Aqua Hoshino, Ruby Hoshino, Kana Arima, Akane Kurokawa, MEM-cho, Taiki Himekawa, and Melt Narushima. According to a report from Japanese anime news site Anime Anime, the artwork will also be turned into a giant photo spot available only at the venue.
Mengo Yokoyari's accompanying comment is refreshingly honest about how much she dislikes drawing this kind of piece. She admits she has spent her career hoping to "avoid group illustrations" as much as possible, and notes this is only her second ever, after the earlier Tokyo Dome collaboration art. That first one collided with the manga's final stretch of serialization, so this time she says she poured everything she had into a single image, and took far longer than planned doing it.
She also revealed a tension behind the piece. The brief called for celebratory art, but she gave it "a slightly dark scene setting" and balanced things out with the costumes and bouquets. In her own estimation, the finished image ended up feeling true to Oshi no Ko's world.
Inside the 128-Page Official Pamphlet
The official pamphlet (B5 size, 128 pages, ¥2,200 tax included) collects the exhibition's displayed illustrations, including the new group art, with comments from both creators throughout. The centerpiece for longtime readers is an eight-page conversation in which Aka Akasaka and Mengo Yokoyari dig into the series' backstory, the kind of exchange that only happens now that the manga is finished. One caveat from the announcement: the pamphlet follows the Tokyo venue's exhibits and does not reproduce every item on display.
The merch lineup is growing too. Each of the eight characters from the new illustration gets an acrylic stand (¥1,980 each), and a B5 desk pad collection covers eight designs, sold blind at ¥550 per random pack.
The First Exhibition Since the Manga Ended
Oshi no Ko, by Aka Akasaka and Mengo Yokoyari, depicts the light and dark sides of the entertainment industry, built on detailed industry research. The manga ran in Shueisha's Weekly Young Jump magazine from April 2020 to its completion in November 2024, spans 16 volumes, and has passed 25 million copies in worldwide circulation. The franchise has kept moving since the ending: a live-action drama hit Amazon Prime Video in 2024, a stage play and live-action film followed that December, anime season 3 aired from January to March 2026, and a fourth and final anime season is in production.
This is the first exhibition dedicated to the manga itself. Visitors walk through illustration displays retracing the story's famous scenes, with commentary from Akasaka and Yokoyari on the making of the series. Doors are open 11:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m., with early closings on July 26, August 2, and August 9 (7:30 p.m.) and on the final day (5:00 p.m.); last entry is 30 minutes before close. Full details are on the official exhibition site.
Looking Ahead
The Tokyo run at the Matsuya Ginza department store's eighth-floor Event Square opens Wednesday, July 22 and closes Tuesday, August 11, 2026. It will not stop there: Japanese entertainment news site Comic Natalie has reported that the exhibition will travel to Hyogo and Kagoshima afterward, though dates for those stops have not been detailed.
For international fans who cannot make the trip, the source manga is published in English by Yen Press as [Oshi No Ko]. On the anime side, the fourth season has been announced as the Final Season, with no premiere date revealed yet.