Summary
Ai Hoshino from Oshi no Ko will be featured on the cover of SPUR's February 2025 issue. Mengo Yokoyari designed the artwork showing Ai in a mature fashion style. The new cover highlights Ai's legacy as a popular idol and her story in the Oshi no Ko anime.
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Ai the Cover Girl
From Anime Idol to Fashion Icon
Re-imagining Ai
Giving Her the Chance She Never Had
Sometimes, anime intersects into daily life in Japan, making an impression or showing up in unexpected places. Next February, the anime world and the world of Japanese fashion are going to meet. A popular Japanese fashion magazine, SPUR, has announced that they are going to feature a very special cover girl in the February 2025 issue. Rather than the usual fashion model, the cover girl will be none-other-than Ai Hoshino from the hit idol anime Oshi no Ko.
This announcement came via the X (formerly Twitter) accounts for both SPUR, and the manga's artist, Mengo Yokoyari. Yokoyari has also designed the drawing of Ai that is going to be on the cover of the magazine, and the artwork is an all-new piece designed specifically for SPUR. Surprisingly, this is not the first time that anime characters have been the cover models for SPUR, but Oshi no Ko has not been featured in over a year.
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Ai the Cover Girl
From Anime Idol to Fashion Icon
On their X account, SPUR released the full cover of their February 2025 issue featuring Ai. The post translates to, "The first appearance of Ai of B-Komachi from the manga Oshi no Ko, which was completed in November! This is the second time for SPUR to feature this special drawing by Mengo Yokoyari. Check out the February issue of SPUR to see Ai in an outfit with a slightly mature look that you can only see here!"
The deeper plot of Oshi no Ko is set off by the death of Ai Hoshino, who is a very famous idol at the beginning of the anime. After dying while delivering her twins, Aquamarine and Ruby. Her daughter Ruby carries Ai's career, while her son Aqua devotes himself to solving her murder. Ai's death is not the end of her legacy, though, as her influence continues throughout the remainder of the anime.
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When it comes to SPUR, though, Ai's children are the ones who paved the way rather than their mother. Back in August 2023, SPUR featured Aquamarine and Ruby Hoshino on the cover, again with original illustrations by Mengo Yokoyari. Now nearly 18 months later, Aqua and Ruby's mother is about to follow in their footsteps and have her chance to be a fashion icon as a magazine cover girl.
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Re-imagining Ai
Giving Her the Chance She Never Had
Mengo Yokoyari is the artist for the original Oshi no Ko manga, which is why she has also created this special artwork for SPUR. They also posted the finished piece on their X account just one hour after SPUR's post. Yokoyari also commented on Ai's "mature" style in the new piece, saying in their post, "I got to see her [Ai] as an adult." There is even more information about Yokoyari's design of Ai for the cover on SPUR's website, which reads (translated by AnimeNewsNetwork),
I tried drawing Ai with the theme "working as a model after her career as an idol has settled down." I like seeing former idols who get more [modeling] work after retiring and appear with a different aura than usual. I tried drawing her in an outfit she can wear now that she's grown up and settled down a bit, and with a new expression. I feel like I've been reunited with the grown-up Ai.
This makes this new artwork of Ai extra special for Oshi no Ko fans, because they can also experience the character in a new way. Ai's story is critical to the entire plot of Oshi no Ko, and her influence is felt throughout the series. Though she never got to have a peaceful retirement herself in the anime, it is nice to imagine how she might have looked if she had been able to have that chance. That is exactly what Yokoyari has given to fans with this artwork of Ai.
Watch Oshi no Ko now on Disney+.
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Sources: AnimeNewsNetwork, SPUR Website