History VideoGame / Aikatsu

* TheMerch: They range from a clothing line, replicas of items shown in the anime and even foods.

* Foreshadowing: The show does a lot of this in regard to Miya's identity in the first season. [[spoiler: clever viewers can actually figure it out from as early as episode 2 that it's Ichigo's mom, as the stage name Miya is taken directly from her last name, Hoshimiya, on top of the similarity in hair and eye colors.]]

** Akari's is coral pink, Sumire's is periwinkle, Hinaki's is chartreuse, Juri's is crimson, Rin's is officially navy but is often represented by black like Yurika, Madoka's is pastel blue, Miyabi is violet, and Kokone's is light green.

* TwoTeacherSchool: Johnny and Orihime are the most commonly seen faculty in Starlight Academy. Asakura Miwa, commonly seen giving dancing instructions, and the unnamed lunchlady are the only other faculty who have gotten more than a few lines of dialogue past the first few episodes.
** [[spoiler: Dream Academy has yet to show any faculty outside of the chairwoman, Tiara Yumesaki.]]

* SpearCounterpart: Recieved one in the form of ''[[http://www.dream-fes.com/ Dream Festival]]', focusing more on a FiveManBand setup rather than a school of idols.

* ImportantHaircut: [[spoiler:Akari did this as a sign of stop following Ichigo and become herself.]]

* ImpossiblyCoolClothes: The fashion brands which produce the coords the idols wear for performances and other appearances.
* ImprobablyFemaleCast: Somewhat justified in that the show is about female idols and their experiences.

** Anime: Episode 42 is one for Shion. [[spoiler: Episode 47 is one for Masquerade.]]

** Seira's is red-violet (dubbed rouge), Kii's is yellow-green (dubbed lime), Sakura flip-flops between cyan and indigo, and Maria's is apricot.

* ColourCodedForYourConvenience: All the main idols have their own color theme which shows up on their profiles on the anime's official website: Ichigo's is pink, Aoi's is blue, Ran's is purple, Otome's is yellow (though she wears orange more often), Yurika's is viridian green (though she is often represented by black in order to differentiate from Sakura), Sakura's is lime, Kaede's is orange and Mizuki's is red, although most of her outfits are fuchsia. This also applies to their basic performing outfits, but not their training outfits, which instead correspond to the idol's type (pink for cute, blue for cool, purple for sexy, orange for pop).
** [[spoiler: Seira's theme color is red violet. Kii's is lime, like Sakura, but she borders a bit more on yellow green. Sora's is indigo, and Maria's is apricot.]]
** [[spoiler: Akari's theme color is scarlet, although her Torte Coord is labeled as apricot. Sumire's is periwinkle, Hinaki's is chartreuse, Juri's is crimson, Miyabi's is violet, Rin's is navy, and Madoka's is blue.]]
** According to cards in the arcade game Shion's official color is basil (a darker green than Sakura) and Hikari has plum (a pinkish purple).

* JapaneseHonorifics: Otome addresses the others with “-tan” (e.g. Ichigo-tan, Aoi-tan). Sakura, on the other hand, addresses them with “-sama” (e.g. Ichigo-sama, Aoi-sama). Yurika addresses herself with “Yurika-sama”. Raichi addresses Ichigo as "Nee-san", Aoi as "Aoi-nee-san" and Ran as "Ran-san", which earned him a snark from Ran in episode 47.

** [[spoiler: Soleil]] seems to be an expy of [[PrettyRhythmAuroraDream MARs]]. Both groups are trios, the members have a pink, blue, and purple color scheme, the purple themed members have been idols[=/=] Prism Stars long before the other two, and the pink and blue themed members are considerably closer to one another.

** This can best be seen in individual parts such as the hair. In season 1, hair, even for long haired characters, was stiff and made heavy use of textures. Season 2 saw the removal of the hair texture for more sophisticated shading and flowing tuffs of hair. Season 3 saw further improvements to the movement of the hair as the idols dance, and the difference can best be seen in characters with more complicated/longer hairstyles such as Ran, Sumire, and most recently, Rin. Even Hinaki, who has the shortest hair, has noticeably good animation.

Aikatsu is a card collection/rhythm game for Japanese arcades (followed by three 3DS games) produced by [[Creator/NamcoBandai Bandai]], with an anime adaptation by Creator/{{Sunrise}[[[note]]The production team working on this series has since been spun off into a separate division called "Creator/BandaiNamco Pictures"[[/note]] and Creator/TMSEntertainment[[note]]through their Telecom unit, first season only[[/note]] currently airing. It tells the story of a middle school student called Ichigo Hoshimiya who joins Starlight Academy with her best friend Aoi Kiriya to become an [[IdolSinger idol]]. On October 3, 2013, Season 2 introduced the Constellation System and new idols Seira Otoshiro, Kii Saegusa, Sora Kazesawa, and Maria Himesato - whom of all attend the rival idol school, Dream Academy.

Aikatsu is a card collection/rhythm game for Japanese arcades (followed by three 3DS games) produced by [[Creator/NamcoBandai Bandai]], with an anime adaptation by Creator/{{Sunrise}} and Creator/TMSEntertainment[[note]]through their Telecom unit, first season only[[/note]] currently airing. It tells the story of a middle school student called Ichigo Hoshimiya who joins Starlight Academy with her best friend Aoi Kiriya to become an [[IdolSinger idol]]. On October 3, 2013, Season 2 introduced the Constellation System and new idols Seira Otoshiro, Kii Saegusa, Sora Kazesawa, and Maria Himesato - whom of all attend the rival idol school, Dream Academy.

* ArtEvolution: Compare the art of the first episode to the later episodes and you'll notice [[http://25.media.tumblr.com/e9c3fe561ffe82f700d48329985effc4/tumblr_mlmlxsd6sW1s651x7o1_500.jpg quite the improvement]].
** In general, the animation and look of the 3d sequences seems to constantly improve. Season 2 shows a huge leap from Season 1 with designs much more true to the drawn characters in the series with animation that's much less stiff.

* LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters: In addition to the main idols, Johnny Bepp and headmistress Orihime make regular appearances. There's several reoccurring characters, such as the fashion designers, male TV reporter, etc. Season 2 had arguably the most crowded cast, featuring 12 idols to develop, with Akari bringing the count up to 13. Season 3 has since appeared to try and tame this, trying to start the main idol count again at 3, though reoccurring characters still abound, and it's slated to continue growing.

* DemotedToExtra: The 3rd season shifts focus from Ichigo and the other 1st year high school idols to Akari and her friends. As a result, their role in the anime changes a lot; Ichigo fills the mentor role that Mizuki used to fill, Aoi becomes an important source of networking, etc.

* OutOfFocus: Kaede, to the point where she never got a chance to wear her Basic Stage Coord outfit in Season 1 and her Brand/Constellation Coord got given to Saegusa Kii in Season 2. While she still appeared in Season 2 from time to time, the closest that she got to a focus episode was shared with Yurika.
** Naoto, the groundskeeper, also received much less attention in Season 2, despite [[spoiler: being Tiara's younger brother]]. This is possibly caused by the disbanding of Rey, the band which the singer provides his singing voice, on 31st August 2013.

* CostumePorn: Most of the premium dresses and some normal sets, especially later in the series, classify as this. Multiple layers, textured with thematic designs, fancy floating wings, etc. enhanced by 3d performances to show them all off.

The anime is currently in it's third season which began October 2, 2014. Season 3 follows the chronicles of Akari Ōzora and her new friends Sumire Hikami, Hinaki Shinjō, and Juri Kurebayashi and introduces the new Romance Story System.

* AscendedExtra: Akari appeared half-way into Season 2, with some focus episodes but is not even shown in most episodes. As of Season 3, she's now the central protagonist along with two other completely new characters.

* CatchPhrase: Otome's "[[GratuitousEnglish Love You!]]" and Yurika's "I'll suck your blood." There's also Aoi's "Odayaka ja nai!" which has multiple translations.

** Then there's Key's "[[GratuitousEnglish Oke-oke-okay!]]" and Seira's "If you're do, then I'm re. If you're re, then I'm mi." Sora also has "Kurukuru kyawawa."

* ChristmasEpisode: Episode 12 and Episode 62.
* ColourCodedForYourConvenience: All the main idols have their own color theme which shows up on their profiles on the anime's official website: Ichigo's is pink, Aoi's is blue, Ran's is purple, Otome's is yellow (though she wears orange more often), Yurika's is green (though she is often represented by black in order to differentiate from Sakura), Sakura's is lime, Kaede's is orange and Mizuki's is red, although most of her outfits are fuchsia. This also applies to their idol aura, basic and premium rare performing outfits, but not their training outfits, which instead correspond to the idol's type (pink for cute, blue for cool, purple for sexy, orange for pop).
** [[spoiler: Seira's theme color is red. Key's is lime, like Sakura, but she borders a bit more on yellow green. Sora's is indigo, and Maria's is apricot.]]
** [[spoiler: Akari's theme color is scarlet, although her Torte Coord is labeled as apricot.]]

* CurtainsMatchTheWindow: Aoi, Otome, Kaede, and Mizuki.

* DeclarativeFinger: Ichigo in the opening bumper that appears OnceAnEpisode.[[note]]One exception is the April Fools Day episode where [[PunnyName "Johnny Beppu"]] does his own rendition.[[/note]]

* EarlyBirdCameo: Otome, Yurika, Sakura and Kaede in the first two openings.

* MeaningfulName: The members of the initial PowerTrio all seem to have their theme color somewhere on their name ("Ichigo" = [[StrawberryShorthand strawberry]], commonly associated with the color pink; "Aoi" = blue; and the "Shi" in Ran's surname means "purple"). Mizuki's name means beautiful moon, alluding to her moon theme. The "Kan" in her surname means god, referencing to her status as a top idol.
** The "Oto" in Seira's surname Otoshiro means sound, which references her absolute pitch, and her background in classical and rock music. Key's name means musical key, and may also be from "kikoeru" meaning listen. The "Sae" in her surname means to be skillful, possibly referencing her status as Seira's producer, and "Gusa" means grass, alluding to her green color scheme. Sora's name means sky, alluding to her sky thematic and her brand, Bohemian Sky. Her surname, "Kazesawa", roughly translates to wind swamp, and also alludes to her sky thematic as well as her color scheme. The "Hime" in Maria's surname means princess, which is fitting for an ojou.

** Much like the original PowerTrio, Season 3's idols' names allude to their theme color. Akari's name has "aka" (あか) which is homophonous to the Japanese word for red (赤 ''aka''), however, her color leans more towards pink. Sumire's name means violet. While Hinaki's name may have multiple meanings, one possible interpretation is "yellow chick."The "kure" in Juri Kurebayashi's last name means crimson red.
* {{Meganekko}}: [[spoiler: Yurika when she is not acting like a vampire]], [[spoiler: Aoi when she teaches the juniors]] and Key when she appear as a producer.
* TheMentor: Mizuki to all the girls, but mostly to Ichigo.

** [[spoiler: In season two, Seira, Key, and Sora seem to form a Power Trio against their Starlight Rivals.]]
** [[spoiler: for what was shown for Season 3, Sumire and Hinaki will form this with Akari.]]

* RapunzelHair: Ran, Mizuki, Sora, and Shion before her haircut.

* SempaiKohai: Mizuki and Ichigo. Also, Ichigo and Sakura.

** Season 3's Akari, Sumire, Hinaki, Juri are looking to be similar to the previous groups, though they share a much more different dynamic. Still, plenty of story-related similarities, such as Akari and Sumire being roommates, Sumire winning the Starlight Queen manager audition, etc. are apparent.

** Played straighter in Episode 75 of Season 2 where the three actually make it to the hot springs inn even got a chance to play ping-pong afterwards (which is lampshaded by Aoi who stated that it would've been rude not to play) despite [[spoiler:steering off-course]] much like the first time. However, [[spoiler:they're not there for the entire episode thus downplaying the "episode" part]].

** Played straighter in Episode 75 of Season 2 where the three actually make it to the hot springs inn even got a chance to play ping-pong afterwards (which is lampshaded by Aoi who stated that it would've been rude not to play) despite steering off-course much like the first time. However, they're not there for the entire episode thus downplaying the "episode" part.