What Is Oshi-Mashi? When a New Oshi Joins the Ones You Already Love
Oshi-mashi 推し増し · Adding a new favorite
Your current oshi hasn’t changed, but someone else has caught your eye. Here is how oshi-mashi differs from oshi-hen and kakemochi, how to split your schedule and budget, and how to be considerate when you tell others.
What Oshi-Mashi Means
Oshi-mashi (推し増し, literally “oshi increase”) is when someone new you want to support joins the oshi you’re already supporting. An actor and a work, another member of the same group, a streamer from a completely different genre: there’s no fixed pattern for how someone joins. Even if you’ve only watched a single video, once you’re drawn to their voice, their way of thinking or their role in a work and start following information about them on your own, you can say your oshi has “increased” at that point.
The word lets people happily report a change from being a tan-oshi (devoted to one oshi) to having several. Because you can say “increased” instead of “switched,” you can share what’s new without denying your earlier feelings.
Origins and History
Oshi-mashi is a compound of oshi and mashi, “adding more.” The idea of adding without subtracting shows right in the shape of the word, and it has long been discussed as a pair with oshi-hen (switching oshi). As fans who support several people at once became common, it spread as a word for naming the moment of increase, which existing expressions like hako-oshi and DD (daredemo daisuki, “I love everyone”) can’t quite capture.
Examples
- “Someone else caught my attention in last week’s stream. I think this is oshi-mashi.”
- “Since my oshi-mashi, my calendar has two colors. A happy kind of busy.”
- “When I posted my oshi-mashi news, I also wrote about my earlier oshi, and people were reassured.”
- “I’m in the middle of watching the new one’s past work. No rush, one piece at a time.”
- “Oshi-mashi done. I’ll support both at my own pace.” (example usage)
How It Differs From Oshi-Hen and Kakemochi
The three similar words each move a different part.
| Term | What moves | Center of your support |
|---|---|---|
| Oshi-mashi | The number of people you support | Your earlier oshi stays too |
| Oshi-hen | The center moves to someone else | The one person you moved to |
| Kakemochi | The number of venues you go to or fandoms you follow | The state of running in parallel itself |
Oshi-mashi is an event, “it increased”; kakemochi is a state, “several things continue at once”; oshi-hen is a movement, “the center swapped.” Because the focus differs, one person’s situation can sometimes be explained by any of the three. Rather than ranking by what you call it, it’s enough to know for yourself who you’re following and how much.
Oshi-mashi
- The number of people grows
- Your earlier oshi stays too
Oshi-hen
- The center swaps to someone else
- Focus lands on one person
Kakemochi
- Several things continue at once
- Venues or fandoms run in parallel
One situation can sometimes be explained by any of the three.
Three Easy Steps Right After Someone Joins
- Choose just one entrance. Pick one signature work or one official channel and branch out from there. If you trace their whole appearance history from the start, it feels like work before it feels like fun. (Rishu, catching up on a work, can go at your own speed.)
- Write down why you were drawn in. Their voice, a role, something they said, a relationship? Putting it in words shows your own tendencies for how you fall, and you won’t panic the next time your oshi grow.
- Don’t compare them to your earlier oshi. No one is asking you to decide which is better. Holding off on ranking makes the time you give to both calmer.
- 01One entranceA signature work or official channel
- 02Write whyVoice, role, a remark, a relationship
- 03Don't rankHold off comparing with your earlier oshi
Tracing their whole history at once can feel like work before it feels like fun.
Splitting Your Schedule and Money
| What to split | How to do it |
|---|---|
| Schedule | Assign each person a color on your calendar and make overlaps between streams and genba (live events) visible first |
| Money | Set a total monthly oshi-katsu budget and record it by ticket, transport, goods and subscriptions (the approach in the oshi-katsu budget book works) |
| Goods | For the first three months, try limiting yourself to one type and get a sense of your own collecting habits |
If you set your oshi-katsu budget after setting aside living costs and savings, the foundation of your household finances doesn’t move even as the number of people grows. If you’d like to start by building up a reserve, the oshi-katsu savings method can help too.
More oshiTime and budget stay finite
- ScheduleA calendar color for each person
- MoneyA monthly total, recorded by category
- GoodsTry one type for three months
Set the budget after living costs and savings, and your finances stay steady.
How to Tell Others, and Manners for Those Listening
When you announce an oshi-mashi, it can feel as if people doubt your feelings for your earlier oshi. You have no obligation to explain in detail. A one-line stance in your profile, like “supporting several” or “mainly streams,” cuts down on misunderstandings a great deal. Some people keep a separate fan account for each oshi and others list them all in one account; both are ordinary choices.
Listeners have manners too. Don’t decide that someone else’s oshi-mashi is a betrayal, and don’t grill them about why. If a post is hard to look at, muting it to keep your distance is enough; you don’t need to fix the other person’s style.
When to Rework Your Split
In a month when appearances overlap, instead of reacting to everything, you can rotate: “streams this week, live events next month.” Turning off all notifications and prioritizing only official announcements also eases the fear of missing something. After about three months, line up the plans you enjoyed against the ones that felt like a burden. The lean that shows up there is the split that fits you now. If obligation keeps outweighing enjoyment, that can sometimes be treated as a sign of oshi fatigue.
- 01RotateStreams this week, live events next month
- 02Quiet notificationsPrioritize official announcements
- 03Review at three monthsLine up joyful plans against burdens
- 04Adjust the splitFollow the lean that shows up
If obligation keeps outweighing enjoyment, it may be oshi fatigue.
When You Introduce a New Oshi
To talk about a new oshi, you don’t need to put down your earlier oshi as “I got tired of them” or “they’re not doing it for me anymore.” Keep your gratitude to the work or person who was your entrance, and talk specifically only about what is moving you now. Then you can stay on good terms with fans of both. If the person you’re spreading the word to is an existing friend, starting from what the two have in common makes it easier for them to take it in.
Notes From The Oshi Lab: Oshi-Mashi Is Decided by How Contact Is Designed
Gather stories about the moment an oshi grows and a common thread appears: “an entrance to another genre happened to open.” A short video in the recommended feed, a friend’s post, a collaboration with a company: what stands out is less that they went looking than that a new subject was placed along the path of their daily life. We see oshi-mashi as less the product of strong will than a phenomenon shaped by how contact opportunities are designed.
This view also matters when companies and regions build points of contact with fans. Rather than fighting over existing fans, it is more realistic to appear naturally in the field of view of people who already love something. Projects where several subjects share the same screen, such as collaborations, joint appearances and joint events, leave room to grow on both sides. On the other hand, the time and budget you can use after your oshi grow are finite. Rather than plans built on the assumption that everyone can join everything equally, a design where partial participation doesn’t make anyone feel small brings more lasting involvement in the end.
Related Terms
FAQ
What is oshi-mashi?
It's when someone new you want to support joins the oshi you already have. The word refers to the event of your number of oshi growing; it doesn't mean giving up the previous one.
Is oshi-mashi the same as oshi-hen?
No. Oshi-hen means the center of your support moves to someone else, while oshi-mashi means the number grows and the original oshi stays. Usage does wobble a little from one fandom to the next.
If I have more oshi, should I spend more money?
There's no need. You can decide the split to include support that costs nothing, like watching, listening and writing your thoughts. Setting a monthly cap first reduces indecision.
Should I tell the people around me about a new oshi?
It isn't an obligation. If you do, writing about it alongside your feelings for your earlier oshi reduces misunderstandings, and plenty of people add oshi quietly without saying anything.
How many oshi can I have?
There's no upper limit. A better guide than the number is whether it fits within the time you can follow and your budget. Cutting back temporarily just while you feel the strain is also a common adjustment.
