Aikatsu!

Ichigo Hoshimiya is a bright young girl who is always helping her mother out at a takeaway bento place. After accidentally messing up her brother Raichi's photos of top idol Mizuki Kanzaki, Ichigo goes to her best friend Aoi Kiriya, who manages to get them some tickets to Mizuki's concert. The three of them go to Mizuki's concert, which leaves a strong impression on Ichigo. The next day, Aoi tells Ichigo about the Starlight Academy, a school for idols which uses an 'Aikatsu' system involving cards which are used to select clothes. Aoi decides she wants to try out the entrance exam and asks Ichigo to go with her since she thinks Ichigo has the scent of an idol. As Ichigo reaches the live audition part of her exam, she manages to impress Kanzaki Mizuki and the other judges with her special appeal performance and both she and Aoi pass the exam.

Ichigo and Aoi begin their first day at Starlight Academy, taking in the sights before moving into their dorm. They then meet up with the headmistress, Orihime Mitsuishi, who gives them the Aikatsu cards they selected in the audition, as well as an Aikatsu Phone used to store their cards. They are soon introduced to their homeroom teacher, Johnny Bepp, and are enrolled in their class. The girls are then informed of a special audition, the winner of which gets to be Mizuki's temporary manager, the catch being that there's only one slot available. As Aoi works hard on her lessons, she explains to Ichigo about how she gained her love of idols. During the audition, Ichigo trips up during the performance while Aoi is declared the winner. As Ichigo laments her loss later that night, she encounters Mizuki, who warns her that she may not always be able to be by Aoi's side.

As Aoi begins her job as Mizuki's temporary manager alongside her usual manager, Honoka Tsukikage, Ichigo decides to pursue them in secret. She is soon caught stowing away, but Mizuki lets her tag along regardless. As Mizuki goes through her various activities, Honoka hints to Ichigo that Mizuki isn't the prodigy she thinks she is. Later that night, as Ichigo and Aoi go to return Mizuki's Aikatsu Phone, they notice her pushing herself in late night training. Honoka goes on to explain that Mizuku trains harder than anyone other idol, having spent an entire year before her debut away from the public eye to do intensive training, saying Ichigo and Aoi will need to train even harder if they want to surpass her.

After Ichigo and Aoi's audition is uploaded to the academy's website, Aoi gets her first fan letter. As Ichigo applies for another audition with Aoi for a job at a takoyaki store, she begins training to avoid tripping over like last time. She sprains her foot but is helped by a young boy named Oota who reveals himself to be a fan. Ichigo and Aoi join Oota the next day for their running practise and, despite the harshness of the training, both Ichigo and Oota manage to push each other to try their hardest. Having noticed how much Ichigo pushed herself, Oota decides to try harder in his track running as well. As Oota goes to his track meet, Ichigo and Aoi manage to convey their feelings to the audience and win their audition while Oota manages to pass his preliminaries. Later, Aoi tells Ichigo that Oota isn't her very first fan; it's Aoi.

Ichigo becomes curious about her classmate, Ran Shibuki, who appears to be something of a loner. Later, Ichigo ends up paired with Ran for an upcoming audition for a fashion show. As Ichigo trains with Aoi to act like a model, Ran laments about her former partner. Prior to the audition, Mizuki gives Ichigo some advice on Ran. On the day of the audition, Ran takes Ichigo behind the scenes to show her an idol's purpose on the runway: to express the feelings of the staff, supporters and audience. After passing the audition, Ran reveals to Ichigo about her former roommate, who had to drop out, which had left her in a funk before auditioning with Ichigo.

As Ichigo and Ran head to their fashion shoot, Ichigo realises she doesn't have an autograph signature. Hearing about this, Johnny tasks Ichigo and Aoi to come up with a signature by the next day. Ran agrees to help them figure out an autograph to use, spending all night helping them out. Although Aoi's autograph is approved by Johnny, he feels Ichigo's design would take too long to write. Rather than just design a more simpler one, Ichigo undergoes training to try and write hers more quickly. Later, Ichigo is asked by her family to pay them a visit, which Raichi turns into an autograph session. However, Ichigo finds that her enthusiasm to get her autograph done quickly is alienating her fans. After some advice from Ran, Ichigo learns that it's fine to sacrifice the quality of an autograph for the sake of interacting more with your fans. This meets the approval of Johnny, who rewards Ichigo with some rare Aikatsu cards: Angely Sugar, which helps her win an audition to be a stationary spokeswoman.

Ichigo and Aoi end up signing up for different auditions on the same day, receiving support from fans from the KiraKiratter social network. Aoi grows a little concerned when she learns Ran is also entering the same audition she is. Aoi soon ends up picking up strange training advice from KiraKiratter, ranging from beam balancing to aromatherapy, causing Ichigo to become worried. On the day of the Pon-Pon Crepe audition, Aoi receives rare Aikatsu cards: Futuring Girl from the janitor, though he doubts that she can use them properly as she is. As Aoi waits for her audition, she realises that she became so absorbed in net feedback that she's been oblivious to the words of her real life friends. As Aoi starts to doubt that she can beat Ran, Ichigo rushes back from her own audition to give Aoi her support in person. Receiving confidence from Ichigo's support, Aoi manages to win the audition while Ichigo also manages to pass hers.

As Ichigo gets lost while shooting a vlog, she discovers an underground studio where another idol is in training. Later, it is revealed Ran is to participate in a Sensational Student Audition against Hikari Minowa, who she has never been able to beat before. As Ichigo and Ran discover the underground studio again later that day, they find Hikari is the one using it to rehearse for her web concerts. As the girls visit Ran's room, they learn about how she was given some rare cards from a brand designer she admired. As Ran and Hikari compete together in the final audition, they end up reaching a tie, deciding to settle the score another time. Afterwards, Ran decides to train Ichigo and Aoi for a special group audition.

As Ichigo, Aoi and Ran train for their special audition, they ask Johnny for help on obtaining special Premium Cards needed for their audition. As Johnny and Orihime arrange a meeting with the brand designers, the girls train to perform one of Mizuki's songs to impress them. While visiting the library, they meet Michelle Tachibana and Asuna Himero, who are also training for the special audition. Aoi and Ran later have their meetings with their respective brand designers, managing to receive some Premium Cards. Ichigo's meeting with her brand, Angely Sugar, ends up coming close to the special audition, but she decides to take a chance anyway. However, when her Aikatsu Phone runs out of battery, she ends up taking the long route up the side of a mountain. Admiring her effort, the top designer, Amane, rewards her with cards of her latest design, and Ichigo manages to make it back just in time for her audition. The girls manage to put on an amazing performance and pass the audition alongside Michelle and Asuna, receiving a light in their Aikatsu Phones known as a Mastery. Later that night, Ichigo runs into Mizuki again, who tells her this is just the beginning.

On their way to school, the girl's meet the peculiar Otome Arisugawa, who fell into the school fountain trying to catch a rainbow. Meanwhile, a tournament is held for one of three places in a special Christmas event, with Ichigo to face Otome in the first round. After Naoto warns Aoi and Ran that Ichigo might not be able to win against Otome if all she thinks about is fun, Ichigo sees how hard Otome practises and becomes determined to practise harder. Later, the janitor gives Ichigo some advice that she needs to sing from her soul, before Ichigo manages to see a rainbow with Otome. Ichigo manages to win the audition to earn her place in the event, along with Aoi and Ran. Afterwards, Orihime and Johnny reveal that, due to the increase in participants, an additional position is opened which Otome is asked to audition for.

As Otome falls out of a tree trying to rescue a cat, she is rescued by the janitor. As Otome seems a little spaced out afterwards, Ichigo and the others assume she has a crush on the janitor, leading Aoi to reminisce about a boy she previously admired. Realizing they don't actually know the janitor's name, Ichigo follows him, learning that he is a band vocalist named Naoto Suzukawa, who claims to have no interest in any of the students and asking Ichigo to keep his other career a secret from the academy. The gang soon learns that what Otome fell in love with wasn't actually Naoto but was in fact the cat-shaped necklace he was wearing at the time. The next day, Otome manages to pass her revenge audition.

As Ichigo ends up volunteering everyone to help out for a Christmas party on the day of the special event, she notices the normally energetic Yuna Nakayama is feeling down due to her parents working around Christmas. As Ichigo becomes determined to prepare a special Christmas Tree for her, she and the others, along with a television producer filming for the special event, heads to Angely Mountain to find a suitable tree. Chopping down the biggest tree they could find, the girls ride it down the mountain before Angely Sugar's gardener helps them take it back to the academy, where the other students help to decorate it. Having been pleased with their efforts as they are aired on TV, Orihime awards the girls with some rare Aikatsu cards for their special event. As Yuna beholds the tree her friends prepared for her, she is delighted by the surprise arrival of her parents. As the Christmas party gets underway, Orihime is in talks about pairing Ichigo up with Mizuki.

As the New Year rolls in, Orihime informs Mizuki of her planned partnership with Ichigo for a special stage event. Meanwhile, Ichigo ends up eating too much over the New Year's break and gains weight by the time school starts up again. Wanting her to get back into shape, Aoi and Ran enter Ichigo into a Shining Girl audition and try to get her to exercise, but can't seem to break her out of her lazy and gluttonous habit. They soon show her that she will be unable to use her Aikatsu cards if she doesn't put her all into being an idol. Remembering how hard Mizuki trains, Ichigo resolves to train harder and starts going on a diet. Despite losing her New Year's weight, Ichigo keeps pushing herself to lose more weight until Mizuki reminds her that it's okay to eat sweet things in moderation. After Ichigo passes her audition, she and the others are informed of a drama audition they will be competing against each other in.

As the girls anticipate their audition for a drama called Naughty Detectives, they also find themselves against fellow schoolmate Shion Kamiya. As the girls are informed of two roles to audition for, Shion cuts her hair short to try for a boyish detective role. As Aoi starts to become nervous, Orihime gives her and Ichigo some words of advice. After a series of adlib auditions, both Aoi and Shion manage to pass the audition with their performances, although Ichigo also gets cast as an extra.

As Ichigo and the others prepare for a team audition, they decide that Otome needs to obtain some premium cards. After Johnny warns them that the designer for Otome's favourite brand, Happy Rainbow, is a very strict person, the girls work on their team training. On the day of the audition, Orihime manages to arrange a last minute meeting with the designer, although Otome ends up getting lost. Just then, she encounters an old woman named Ikuyo who is searching for a campher tree where she once confessed to her first love. Otome decides to help her search for it, enlisting the help of the others. After searching through countless shrines, the girls find the location of the tree, only to learn it was cut down following a typhoon. Thanking the girls anyway, Ikuyo rewards Otome with a ring that she was given after being turned down. Although the Happy Rainbow designer, Makoto, initially refuses to give Otome her cards due to showing up late, he notices the ring Ikuyo gave her is the same as the one passed down to him by his father, realising he was the one Ikuyo confessed to. Accepting the ring, Makoto awards Otome with the premium cards and the girls manage to make it to their audition, where they earn the Mastery of Appearance. Afterwards, Mizuki informs Ichigo that they'll be performing together.

Ichigo nervously attends her first meeting with Mizuki's staff as they plan for her next concert. After the meeting, Mizuki starts training Ichigo on a trampoline, teaching her about the Special Appeals she'll need to use. As Ichigo struggles to think about how to pull it off, her friends give her some advice. During the rehearsal, Ichigo manages to perform a Special Appeal, but later feels frustrated that she couldn't match up to Mizuki, who performed three. However, Mizuki assures her that she'll be able to perform three on the day of the concert.

As the day of the concert arrives, Ichigo's mother, Ringo, has a feeling of nostalgia as she takes Raichi to the theater. Meanwhile, Ichigo is nervous as she hasn't been able to do three Special Appeals during her rehearsal, but Aoi, Ran and Otome show up to give her their support. As Ichigo takes the stage for her first performance alongside Mizuki, she is able to perform three Special Appeals and make a strong impression on the crowd. However, during the second performance, Ichigo starts to feel a bit weak, but Mizuki manages to give her the strength to see it to the end of the song while also performing a fourth Special Appeal herself. Following the concert, Ichigo seems to be spacing out a lot, although she eventually explodes into high praise for Mizuki while talking to Naoto, desiring to be a top idol just like her.

As Ichigo, Aoi, Ran and Otome are asked to perform for a Valentine's Day Fashion Show, the girls decide to make some handmade chocolate for the event before spending the night picking out their choice of clothes. Meanwhile, Raichi, who wants to receive some chocolate from Aoi, sneaks into Starlight Academy dressed as a girl, posing as Ichigo's little sister so he can help make the chocolate. However, he becomes depressed when he finds Aoi hasn't made any chocolate for him. He does cheer up after watching everyone in the fashion show. After the performance, Aoi gives Raichi some chocolate of his own.

While running home late from a job, Ichigo encounters a supposed vampire, who runs off when she sees a pin Otome gave her. This vampire is revealed to be Otome's classmate, Yurika Tōdō, who constantly acts in character in preparation for a Loli-Goth themed audition for a rock festival, which Ichigo also intends to participate in. Feeling she needs to make a character for herself too, Ichigo starts dressing up like Frankenstein's bride. The next day, Yurika ends up causing a fire in her dorm room while using aroma candles to fit her character, with Ichigo rushing in to recover her umbrella before Naoto puts out the fire. After the incident, Yurika gives Ichigo and the others her thanks and shows them her normal side, as a regular girl wearing glasses who likes vampires. As the day of the audition comes, Ichigo decides to face against Yurika using her own brand and despite not winning the audition, feels proud of her efforts.

An article appears in the tabloids features photos that expose Yurika's normal appearance that she keeps secret from the public. Ichigo and the others suggest that she might be able to overcome it she obtains some Premium Cards for the rock festival. However, Yurika becomes downhearted, believing she will lose the fans who loved her vampire personality. Wanting to cheer her up, Ichigo shows Yurika some of her fans that were hiding outside of her dorm, who still believe in her. Regaining her confidence, Yurika and the others go to meet the Loli Gothic's head designer, Maya Yumekouji, who lives in a rather spooky mansion. After the others help her get through the scary trials, Yurika reaches Maya, who acknowledges Yurika's desire to become stronger and gives her some Premium Cards. After pulling out a stellar performance at the rock festival, Yurika returns to her good old self.

Ichigo, Ran, Otome and Yurika are given the chance to audition for a movie remake of Stylish Thief ☆ Swallowtail, a show which previously starred Masquerade, the idol pair Orihime was a part of. As the gang train for the audition, Yurika chooses not to in order to keep with her vampire character. Upon arriving at the audition, the girls are tasked with recovering a card that was stolen from a holographic Mizuki from a booby trap filled castle, where Ichigo and Otome's hasty movements cause trouble for Ran and Yurika. Although Yurika manages to help the gang get past a group of guards, her lack of training makes itself noticeable when she has to dodge security lasers. As the girls soon reach the escape phase of their audition, they end up having to fight their way past Aoi and Shion onto a hot air balloon. When the balloon suddenly starts to descend, Ichigo and Otome decide to get off to lighten the balloon, shortly joined by Ran and Yurika, who decide to join them. As the audition comes to a close, they each receive a Mark of Acting in their Aikatsu Phones, including Aoi, while Ichigo and Otome are chosen for the roles in the movie.

The gang decide to go undercover so they can watch Ichigo and Otome's movie in a normal movie theater. After the movie, they come across Ringo and Raichi, who points out how idols have a particular scent to them, which Aoi later explains to be an idol's aura. As Ichigo becomes worried that she might not have an idol aura herself, she, Aoi and Ran are informed of a concert they'll be appearing in due to the attention they've garnered from their recent work. Later, Ichigo appears in a radio interview and is initially overcome with nerves, but gets some assurance from the host. During the show, Ichigo reads out a letter by Raichi, the answer of which projects her aura out of the radio to her fans. Ichigo soon comes to realise aura isn't something you can consciously exude, but is something that flows naturally from her idol activities. After the concert goes without a hitch, Orihime makes plans for Ran to participate in a special audition held by Spicy Ageha.

As Ran trains for the representative audition for Spicy Ageha, Ichigo applies her to appear in a fashion show for the senior students' graduation ceremony. Ran states that in order to become a representative, she will have to outperform third year student Ema Shinjou. Ran ends up losing the audition to Ema, with Orihime saying while her audition was spot-on, she doesn't yet have what it takes to become the brand's 'muse'. Ran starts pushing herself to train, believing she isn't suited for the fashion show audition. Noticing her funk, Orihime takes Ran to the third year classrooms to teach her the true meaning of being a muse, to inspire designers to design for her. Receiving some new Aikatsu cards for everyone, Ran joins the others in the fashion show before seeing off Ema as she graduates.

After finishing up their auditions for a while, Ichigo, Aoi and Ran decide to go to some hot springs for their time off. Along the way, they encounter some fans, have conversations on the train and stop by a field of flowers to enjoy a picnic. However, after taking a lengthy nap after eating, they find they've missed all the buses to the hot springs, meaning they have to walk back to the station. Luckily, they encounter another fan who gives them a ride to the station, and despite not getting to go to the hot springs, the girls enjoy the day they have spent together. On the ride home, Ichigo receives word that her father is returning home.

Ichigo's father, Taichi, arrives home on April Fools' Day, bringing with him some star grapes that he acquired during his travels. Hearing he'll be around for the Spring Vacation, Ichigo invites him to view one of her auditions before taking him to the academy to meet her friends, where he talks more wild tales which Aoi and the others pass off as an April Fools prank. Later that night, Taichi receives a call from his colleagues, calling him back to work to negotiate with a tribe about the star grapes. Working as quickly as he can, Taichi manages to make it back to Japan in time for Ichigo's audition, as the tribe elder urged him to head back and keep his daughter's promise. After the audition, Ichigo sees Tacihi off as he heads back on his travels.

As a new school year arrives and Ichigo and the others move up a year, the now second year students are assigned to help mentor the new freshmen. Ichigo is assigned to a freshman named Sakura Kitaoji, whose grandfather helped train Mizuki. However, her twin brother, Sakon, doesn't approve of her enrolling in Starlight Academy and living on her own. After an awkward spat between siblings, Ichigo begins training Sakura for a freshman fashion show audition. When Ichigo feels that Sakura is worrying about something, she gets some advice from Mizuki and comes to realise that Sakura is anxious due to being apart from her brother. Realising this, Ichigo gets help from Naoto to light up a cherry blossom tree outside of Sakura's dorm, assuring her that she's never alone. After the audition, Sakon expresses his praise for how well Sakura handled things on her own.

The Fresh Girls Cup is announced, in which students get the chance to challenge Mizuki for the title of Starlight Queen. Ran, who competed the previous year before Ichigo and Aoi transferred in, explains how remarkable Mizuki is for facing off against every single student, stating it will be tough to beat her and all of their rivals. This year, Mizuki throws in a new rule that performers will have to perform three special appeals on demand or otherwise fail, pushing the bar exceptionally high. Ichigo and the others soon start training intensely for the cup, though Ichigo feels there is something they are missing. After receiving a call from Raichi, she comes to understand the most important thing; to have fun and appeal to their fans. On the day of the cup, Ichigo, Aoi, Ran, Otome, Yurika and Sakura are grouped together to face Mizuki, though only Ichigo, Aoi and Ran manage to keep up with the special appeals until the end and qualify for the semifinals.

Ichigo, Aoi and Ran find themselves unable to sleep before the semi-finals and decide to have a sleepover in Ichigo's room. Reading Mizuki's new magazine for research, they learn she has started her own brand, Love Queen, designed specifically for top idols. As the girls take the magazine's advice of undergoing individual training catered to their needs, Naoto helps Ichigo realise the best way for her to train; to act instead of think. After the semi-finals come to an end, only Ichigo makes it to the final, but Aoi and Ran continue to support her despite their losses. Before the final begins, Mizuki tells Ichigo that she is using the Cup to search for a worthy partner, urging Ichigo to give it everything she's got, although she ends up in second place in the end. Later that night, Mizuki hints to Ichigo that the gap between them may be smaller than she thinks.

As Ichigo, Aoi and Ran ponder on how they can catch up to Mizuki, they meet a first year named Akane Mimori, who is an admirer of Aoi. With the girls wondering how to become more responsible upperclassmen, Orihime assigns them as teachers, in which they must come up with ways to teach the freshmen about being an idol. Struggling to come up with lesson ideas, the girls approach Akane over what she would like to learn, to which she expresses that she'd like to hear about what they have experienced. On the day of the lesson, Ran has trouble getting questions from the audience while Ichigo forgets about teaching them altogether. However, Aoi manages to stay focused and provide an insightful look into idol life, gaining a lot of praise from the students. As a reward, the girls receive rare Spring Collection cards from Orihime and put them to use in a show.

A special audition is being held where idols must form teams to try and earn the Mastery of Communication. Ichigo and the others invite Sakura to join their team, but she doesn't feel confident as she doesn't have any premium rare cards. She tells them about her favorite brand, Aurora Fantasy, but doubts that she would be able to obtain premium cards from its top designer, Green Grass, as she doesn't feel they suit her. As the others each do their part to try and help Sakura, Otome goes to see Makoto, who is friends with Green Grass, and receives a new Happy Rainbow Premium Dress, conveying to Sakura of how she doesn't want to lose to the amount of love she has for Aurora Fantasy. Her confidence renewed, Sakura goes to see Green Grass, who is revealed to be a pair of twin sisters, who give her a Premium Dress as thanks for all the letters she sent to them as a child. After a successful audition of using call & response, the girls earn their Mastery of Communication.

As Mother's Day approaches, an audition is announced in which student pairs will be performing one of Masquerade's songs. With the theme being 'nostalgic melody', Aoi puts everyone on a 'retro' training regime, but this fails to impress the dance teacher. On Mother's Day, Ichigo and Raichi help around the house so Ringo can put her feet up. While observing her cooking, Ichigo gets some advice from Ringo on how to overcome her training wall. Ringo takes Ichigo to an old stage where they used to sing as children, as well as where she first met Taichi. After helping Ichigo practise her dance routine, Ringo gives her an Aikatsu accessory card, the Starlight Tiara, which she wears in her audition with Aoi, helping them to win.

As the gang are chosen for a Newcomer Idol event, in which they decide on wearing matching brands, Ichigo is requested by Angely Sugar's designer to appear in a commercial for their mascot, Angely Bear. However, the scheduling for the commercial clashes with the training for the newcomer event, but Ichigo becomes determined to do both, as she feels they are both very important. While handling production meetings during the day, Ichigo trains for her performance during the night. Noticing her struggling to balance them properly, Aoi gets help from Johnny and Sakura to provide dance lesson videos for Ichigo to use as a reference. As Ichigo feels bad about falling behind on her concert practice, the designer tells her why she made the Angely Bears, to bring smiles to people. After finishing up her filming, Ichigo gets in some extra training with the others and performs well before everyone gets together to watch the finished commercial.

Mizuki decides to hold an audition at Starlight Academy for two partners to form a new idol unit, Tristar, with her. As all the students spend the next week training, the girls hear from Aoi about how Mizuki once tried a team audition shortly after becoming the Starlight Queen, but failed due to her skill being far beyond her teammates. The audition begins with an obstacle course, with the idols first required to climb a steep wall which is made more difficult due to Naoto spraying water everywhere, eliminating the contestants down to fifty. They next have to cross a balance beam while being bombarded with volleyballs, followed by having to finish a song while riding a mechanical bull, reducing the contestants to twenty. After Yurika gets eliminated due to keeping her character during a crawl against a giant fan, eight idols remain for the concert stage which, besides Ichigo and the others, include the three girls that entered the team audition with Mizuki two years ago. After the eight contestants perform, Mizuki announces that Ichigo, Aoi, Ran and the three former teammates will compete in a final audition the next day. Just then, a mysterious girl named Kaede Ichinose skydives in from above.

Kaede, who is a super idol in America, manages to get a place in the final audition by showing she has done more extreme versions of the trials the other idols went through. This leaves Aoi and Ran uneasy about their own auditions, while Ichigo wonders if there is something more to the audition than simply getting into Tristar. The girls decide to visit Kaede, where they learn how she became fascinated with magic after meeting the designer of her favorite brand, Magical Toy. Kaede then explains to Ichigo that even though the audition is for a place in Tristar. it is still a performance which she intends to make fun for the audience. This encourages the others to do their best in entertaining their fans during their audition the next day. Following the audition, Mizuki chooses Kaede as her first member, but announces that Ichigo, Aoi and Ran must face off against each other in one more audition for the remaining place.

With the final audition approaching, Ichigo, Aoi and Ran are told to spend the night living in separate rooms of a big mansion without their Aikatsu Phones. After receiving special Summer Collection cards of their respective brands from Orihime, each girl is individually interviewed by Mizuki, each giving their own insight on why they would fit in Tristar. After the final audition takes place, Mizuki chooses Ran to be the final member of Tristar, feeling that she has what it takes to stand on her own, as well as perform as a team. Ichigo and Aoi tearfully see Ran off as she heads for a new life as a member of Tristar.

As Tristar's schedule becomes busier, Ran becomes more isolated from Ichigo and Aoi, who are saddened to hear Ran is unable to return to the Star Academy dorms due to her schedule. Wanting to deliver a gift to her, the girls try to arrange a meeting when Tristar's schedule conflicts with Ichigo's audition and Aoi's filming in the same building. Ran becomes so anxious about being able to meet them that she makes some errors during her performance. She ends up barely missing Ichigo and Aoi, who leave her a gift and a motivational message. However, Ran is still disheartened that she isn't living up to the expectations of Mizuki and Kaede. Meanwhile, Orihime has plans to start up another idol unit.

As Tristar continue their success, Orihime announces that Ichigo and Aoi will form a new idol unit, which they personally decide to name Soleil. Meanwhile, Ran starts feeling lonely and, after making a mistake during a performance and missing Ichigo and Aoi at a rehearsal, she comes to realize that she is severely missing them. This does not go unnoticed by Mizuki, who realized she has been stifling Ran's potential for her own goals. After receiving a mail from Mizuki, Ran rushes to Soleil's debut concert, where she announces she has quit Tristar so that she can shine brightly alongside Ichigo and Aoi as a member of Soleil.

With Soleil now a three-girl group, Aoi and Ran decide Ichigo should be the leader. Meanwhile, Otome decides to form her own idol unit with Sakura and Shion, Powa Powa Puririn, while Mizuki takes an interest in Yurika. While initially struggling with what leader she should try and become, Ichigo gets some inspiration from a strawberry parfait, being a leader that relies on her team mates as much as they rely on her. Mizuki eventually reveals that she has chosen Yurika as the third member of TriStar, followed by an announcement that TriStar and Soleil will perform together in concert. Later that night, Ran meets up with Yurika to pass on her former uniform. Then the next day, after Soleil's performance, Johnny praised Ichigo as the leader although the day before, he said Ichigo will cause chaos. And after both have done their performances, Orihime mentioned how many units will formed one after another soon, including Powapowa Puririn.

Orihime arranges for Soleil to perform a concert at a local open-air stage in Ichigo's hometown. The catch, however, is that they must fill every seat without using television or the internet, otherwise the event will be called off. The girls jog throughout town, spreading awareness of their concert to the townsfolk, including adults who may not have heard of Soleil. After stopping by Ringo's restaurant, the girls help deliver some groceries to an old lady, who helps spread word of the concert to her elderly friends, who in turn provide more opportunities to promote themselves, building up to a large following. Although there is one seat left remaining, Ichigo manages to plead with Johnny to let the concert go ahead so they don't disappoint their fans. As the girls perform, the concert manages to pull even more fans than they needed, proving to be a complete success. Afterwards, Orihime reveals that Soleil and Tristar will perform together in a summer tour as a combined unit, STAR☆ANIS.

Soleil have to make the announcement about STAR☆ANIS' tour without the Tristar due to a flight delay, but Aoi manages to handle things until a live feed goes up. Orihime also makes a surprise announcement that Powa Powa Puririn will be joining STAR☆ANIS as well. As the Soleil girls realise they need to practise for a special audition for the Mastery of Dance, Aoi hears about a new Futuring Girl Premium Dress and arranges a meeting with the top designer. While waiting to hear back from Orihime about the meeting, Aoi tells Ran about how she first became friends with Ichigo after meeting her at a festival. Aoi then hears from Orihime that they may have to cancel the Futuring Girl dress announcement as the top designer, Rei, has locked himself in a shell, so Aoi is sent to try to get him out. Aoi decides to tell him more about her first meeting with Ichigo and how she set her on the path to becoming an idol, expressing how much Futuring Girl means to her. Moved by this, Rei comes out of his shell and gives Aoi the Premium Dress. The audition goes well and Ichigo, Aoi and Ran each earn the Mastery of Dance.

As Powa Powa Puririn give a press conference about their involvement with STAR☆ANIS, Shion states she will not join STAR☆ANIS in order to focus on her acting career. As the girls head off to begin their tour, Aoi is put in charge of STAR☆ANIS publicity. Following their first rehearsal as a combined unit, the girls grow concerned that an approaching typhoon may cause problems for their performance, though some tension is relieved as Mizuki joins them for the night. Although the weather clears up by the morning and the tour goes on ahead, the typhoon ends up damaging one of the electric pylons, causing a blackout in the stadium that leaves the Aikatsu system unusable. Not wishing to disappoint their fans, the girls go out on stage and do a variety performance to buy time for the staff to get a backup generator online, allowing the performance to go ahead.

As STAR☆ANIS' tour comes to an end, Orihime announces there will be one more secret live concert, taking place on a cruise ship with a hundred fans. Later that night, Ichigo, who grows curious about Mizuki's words that they should act as individuals, comes to Kaede, who tells her how even though she grew up as a child star, she recognised the hard work a true idol must put in based on those around her. The next day, the girl's participate in various activities with their fans, including a dance session with Johnny and a dinner where fans can talk with their favourite idol, helping Ichigo see how letting fans meet idols individually helps strengthen the love for the entire group. After the final performance comes to an end and the cruise ship returns home, the respective groups return to their usual activities.

As the STAR☆ANIS members return to their individual units, Shion is preparing for an audition for the role of Alice in a production of Alice in Wonderland. However, having mostly played cool, stoic roles, Shion worries that she won't be able to give off a dazzling smile fitting for the role of Alice. On the day of her audition, Shion is surprised to find Ichigo had been cast as the White Rabbit at the request of Orihime, with Aoi and Ran and all her other friends cast in various roles. Despite the pressure of needing to keep in character regardless of the surprises, Shion finds herself having a lot of fun. Reaching the final scene, Shion cheerfully states her dream of becoming an actress, giving off a dazzling smile that wins the director over, earning her the part.

A musician named King from Nao's band More Than True appears at Star Academy's gates, telling Ichigo to pass on a message that he "will never approve of Nao's music". After the message is passed on, Nao simply states it is between them and reminds Ichigo not to tell anyone he's in a band. After stuffing her cheeks to keep herself from blabbing to Aoi and Ran, Ichigo follows Nao to a music studio, where she finds her arguing with his bandmates, Hiro and Shurato, over King quitting the band. Ichigo learns from Nao that, after More Than True became popular, King became frustrated with Nao only writing songs that would sell and decided to quit the band. As Nao laments his indecisiveness, King overheards their conversation and apologises, though stands by his feeling that their songs should be for their fans. With the direction of the band still in question, Ichigo suggests they attend one of Soleil's concerts to show them there is no such thing as 'a fan you can't see'. Inspired by this, More Than True resumes their activities.

Orihime decides to give the members of STAR☆ANIS a day off by renting out part of a water park. As the gang slowly assemble, Mizuki gets delayed due to some sudden radio work. To lighten up the mood, Aoi suggests they have a water sports contest, which soon draws a crowd. Having been called by Ichigo several times, Honoka decides to get Mizuki to the water park as quickly as possible so she can share another memory with them. Noticing the loud crowd they have gathered, the gang decide to secretly put on a song for them. After the park closes, Honoka manages to convince the staff to let the girls stay longer so they can play with Mizuki.

Orihime announces that the Starlight Queen Cup is approaching, with all the STAR☆ANIS girls qualified to compete. With the chance to face off against Mizuki, Ichigo, Aoi and Ran become curious about what Mizuki did during her one year out of the spotlight. Orihime suggests they speak with Mizuki's coach during that period who, much to their surprise, turns out to be none other than Johnny. Johnny agrees to give the girls the same special lessons he gave Mizuki, saying they need to learn how to express emotions with their performance. Later that night, Mizuki invites the girls over and tells them about how she was inspired to become an idol after watching footage of Masquerade's first concert, revealing Johnny was also behind their choreography. After asking several times, Mizuki managed to get Johnny to teach him and spent the next year training to become an idol. Thanks to Johnny's lessons, the girls manage to convey happy feelings with their performance.

As Mizuki starts to feel the burden of her packed work schedule, Orihime gives Ichigo and the others a key to a Masquerade reference room featuring various materials on the group. They learn that Orihime had used a mask identity and secretly being an idol as she didn't want to continue her father's business, though can't find much information on the group's other member, Miya. On the first day of the Starlight Queen Cup, Mizuki collapses right before she started an opening concert. Having foreseen this coming, Orihime calls up Miya and holds a special Masquerade reunion performance for the opening act. Gaining strength from watching their performance, Mizuki manages to recover enough to perform the rest of the concert. After the performance, Ichigo is called to meet Miya, revealing to her that she is actually Ringo.

After Ichigo, along with Aoi and Ran, learns about Ringo's secret, she goes home with her to rest up for the Starlight Queen Cup, where Raichi also learns of Ringo's identity. Ringo tells about how she met Orihime when starting off as an idol, eventually deciding to start a unit together. Ringo had kept her identity a secret from Ichigo as she wanted her to make her own decision about becoming an idol. The next day, Ichigo goes along with Ringo to meet Asuka, who helped Ringo transfer from being an idol to fulfilling her childhood dream of running a bento shop, and receives a new premium dress from her. Afterwards, Masquerade give one final performance, after which Ringo gives her thanks to Mizuki for helping Ichigo reach her dream.

With two days until the Starlight Queen Cup, Aoi learns that she's won the lead role in a movie while Ran hears of another audition to be Spicy Ageha's representative. With everyone having goals for after the cup, Ichigo tries to think of what path she should take, eventually deciding to talk with Kaede about what she decided. The cup soon arrives, as the seven idols compete against each other, with Ichigo being chosen as the one to face off against Mizuki for the title of Starlight Queen. As Aoi goes to order a parfait to celebrate, she is shocked to learn from Kaede that Ichigo is planning to leave Starlight Academy.

After everyone gets together, Ichigo reveals her intention to leave Starlight Academy and go to America after the cup so she can work on her own Aikatsu, with Aoi putting on a brave face to support her friend. The next day, Ichigo faces off against Mizuki in the Starlight Queen Cup finale, which is inevitably won by Mizuki. Despite her loss, Ichigo feels happy thanks to the support of her fans, which grants her and the others the Mastery of Friendship. Before Ichigo leaves for the airport, Mizuki gives up her encore performance to allow Ichigo to perform once more alongside Aoi and Ran. Reaching the airport, Aoi lets out all the feelings she's been holding in, while all the other idols comes to see her off. After Ichigo leaves, it is revealed that Mizuki has also decided to leave Starlight Academy to pursue her own path.

With the first years due to perform a yearly recital, Akari tries to keep thoughts of admiration for Ichigo out of her head so she can focus on her performance. As such, when Akari comes across Ichigo on the day of the performance, she attempts to run away from her but is eventually caught. Ichigo explains that her same admiration for Mizuki is what led her to join Starlight Academy, stating it was Akari's own initiative that led her to enroll herself. Encouraged to forge her own idol path, Akari steps onto her performance, with Ichigo, Aoi, and Ran joining her on stage. Afterwards, while Mizuki sees Mikuru off at the airport, the students have a tea party, where Akari prepares to make a true start to her Aikatsu activities.

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