Japanese elementary school students rank people they admire: Oshi No Ko's Ai Hoshino outranks teachers and fathers

The anime series Oshi No Ko was undeniably one of the biggest hits of 2023. The show won critical acclaim for its dark themes and insight into the Japanese entertainment industry. Its theme song, Idol by musical duo Yoasobi, was also highly successful – becoming the first Japanese song to top the Billboard Global chart.

Oshi No Ko is so popular that it has left an impact on an unexpected demographic: Japanese elementary schoolchildren.

In a study published in PR Times, Japan's Benesse Corporation, a company that focuses on correspondence education and publishing, revealed the results of a survey conducted among 18,802 Japanese children who were between the third and sixth grade.

The survey polled the children on a variety of topics including their favourite words and people they admired.

Ai Hoshino, the star of Oshi No Ko, ended up being the third most popular person (and the highest-ranking fictional character) on the list of people admired by these Japanese students in 2023. The top 10 people are as follows:

1. Their friends
2. Their mothers
3. Ai Hoshino
4. Their teachers
5. Japanese boy band Snow Man
6. Japanese baseball player Shohei Ohtani
7. Japanese boy band Strawberry Prince
8. Their fathers
9. Japanese boy band Irregular Dice
10. Frieren, a character from the anime Frieren: Beyond Journey's End

This meant that Ai outranked figures like the children's fathers and teachers. According to the children, they admired Ai due to "her ability to sing and dance", "her cuteness, positivity and talent" and how "she cares about other people".

The survey also revealed that, for the fourth consecutive year, "being a YouTuber" ranked first in terms of Japanese students' desired career in the future.