History Anime / Aikatsu

* 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. Sakura's name means "cherry blossom", alluding to her flower motif, and Kaede's name means "maple" (commonly associated with the color orange).

** 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. The "Fuji" in Miyabi's last name means wisteria (which are purple). Rin's last name has the kanji for "kuro" (meaning black), and although her actual theme color is navy, her basic coord has a lot of black accents.

* PowerTrio: [[spoiler: From Episode 33 to 35, Mizuki holds various auditions to determine two partners to form her own idol unit, Tristar. In Episode 34, Mizuki chooses the newly arrived Kaede to be her first partner, and in Episode 35, chooses Ran is the final member.]]
** [[spoiler: Mizuki eventually removes Ran from Tristar, seeing how distressed she is being apart from Ichigo and Aoi. Ran eventually reunites with Ichigo and Aoi, becoming their own unit, Soleil. Because of this, Mizuki spends her time in Episode 38 searching for Tristar's new member, who is eventually revealed to be Yurika.]]
*** [[spoiler: After the formation of Tristar and Soleil, Otome impulsively starts her own unit with Sakura and Shion, known as Powapowa Puririn. Their status as a Power Trio is mentioned in season two, where they are referred to as the most popular idol unit after Soleil and Tristar disband.]]
** [[spoiler: In season two, Seira, Kii, and Sora seem to form a Power Trio against their Starlight rivals, but later subverted as Maria is integrated into their group.]]
** [[spoiler: In Season 3, Akari forms one with Sumire and Hinaki.]]

** Otome and Maria can be a bit of a stretch, as Otome isn't as integrated into the PowerTrio of Ichigo, Aoi, and Ran as Maria is to the other Dream Academy girls. Nevertheless, they share the same basic coord outfit color, and act as the cutest members of their respective groups.

* UndyingLoyalty: Michelle, to her partner Asami.

* VirtualPaperDoll: One of main draws of the game.

* WhamEpisode: The one-two punch of [[WhamLine Episode 49]] [[TearJerker and]] [[BittersweetEnding Episode 50]].

[[quoteright:225:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/74783.jpg]]

* ZettaiRyouiki: The Starlight Academy idols' Torte coords all consist of Grade B's.

* SecondYearProtagonist: Ichigo is one of these starting the second half of the first season. She gets kicked out of this trope following her return from America, where she's now a third year student.

* ConspicuousCG: The concerts, but it switched to normal animation at times during [[spoiler: episode 17 when Ichigo is on the same stage with Mizuki during the latter's concert]] and [[spoiler: episode 25 when Ichigo's dad make it just in time to watch her audition.]]
** Some scenes that don't involve singing/dancing during the concerts also feature CG, but these are much rarer. One of the more obvious examples is in episode 87, when Ichigo, Aoi, and Ran are walking along the outside gate of Starlight Academy.

* CostumePorn: Most of the premium dresses and some normal sets, especially later in the series, classify as this. Multiple ribbons, tons of frills, and crazily-detailed textures are the norm, and the enhanced 3d animation in the anime only serves to show off the detail.

* HairDecorations: Just about every idol in this series has some form of hair decorations.

* AbsurdlyYouthfulMother: Ringo, Ichigo's mother, looks just young enough that she could arguably pass as the latter's older sister at times.

* AwardBaitSong: Sakura's debut song "Happiness on the Same Earth".

* BlandNameProduct: TV TKY. Oddly, TV Tokyo ''is'' the broadcaster for the anime. Also, Numblr (Website/{{Tumblr}}) and "Wikimedia"[[note]]Which is actually the name of the foundation that manages Wiki/TheOtherWiki in question.[[/note]] when Kii and Seira are researching Ichigo.

* ButNotTooForeign: Michelle, a member of the idol unit Splash, is half French.

Then, in the final season, we get a slight change of pace. Season 4 follows Akari Ōzora as part of the unit Luminas, alongside her friends Sumire Hikami and Hinaki Shinjō. They meet various Idols all over Japan, while two new Idols from Hokkaido, Nono Daichi and Lisa Shirakaba enter Starlight Academy to start their Idol Activities.

* ZettaiRyouki: The Starlight Academy idols' Torte coords all consist of Grade B's.

-->--'''Ichigo Hoshimiya'''

* DangerouslyShortSkirt: Applicable to the Starlight School uniform. For example, [[https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/aikatsu/images/4/46/Ran_profile.jpg this image proves it]].

* CharacterAgedWithTheActor: Time passes in the series about a year every half season, putting Ichigo at 13 at the start of the series and about 16 near the middle of season 2. Ichigo's voice actress, Sumire Morohoshi, started when she was 13 years old and is currently 15.

** In episode 80, the commander of the Aikatsu Boot Camp is named [[TheBeatles Sergeant Pepper]]. And his CatchPhrase is "Come Together!"

''Aikatsu'' is an anime adaptation of the [[VideoGame/{{Aikatsu}} game of the same name]] by Creator/{{Sunrise}}[[note]]The production team working on this series has since been spun off into a separate division called Bandai Namco Pictures[[/note]] and Creator/TMSEntertainment[[note]]through their Telecom unit, first season only[[/note]]. 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.

The series ran for four seasons and 178 episodes, from 2012 to 2016, and aired its final episode on March 31, 2016. It was replaced by an entire-series remake/upgrade known as ''VideoGame/AikatsuStars!''

* JapanesePronouns: Johnny's "Ore".

* VirtualPaperDoll

* 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.
** Dream Academy has yet to show any faculty outside of the chairwoman, Tiara Yumesaki.
* WhamEpisode: The one-two punch of [[WhamLine Episode 49]] [[TearJerker and]] [[BittersweetEnding Episode 50]].

** Masquerade is essentially Pink Lady, a duo who were Japan's biggest pop act in the 70s (and best known in the US from ''Series/PinkLadyAndJeff'')

Then, in the final season, we get a slight change of pace. Season 4 follows Akari Ōzora as part of the unit Luminas, alongside her friends Sumire Hikami and Hinaki Shinjō. They meet various Idols all over Japan while two new Idols from Hokkaido, Nono Daichi and Lisa Shirakaba enter Starlight Academy to start their Idol Activities.

* ActorAllusion: In the episode where Star Anis is performing on a cruise ship, [[JohnnyDepp Johnny Bepp]] arrives dressed as a [[PiratesOfTheCarribbean pirate]].

* ShoutOut: In episode 80, the commander of the Aikatsu Boot Camp is named [[TheBeatles Sergeant Pepper]].

* 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.

* BlandNameProduct: TV TKY. Oddly, TV Tokyo ''is'' the broadcaster for the anime. Also, Numblr (Website/{{Tumblr}}) and "Wikimedia"[[note]]Which is actually the name of the foundation that manages TheOtherWiki in question.[[/note]] when Kii and Seira are researching Ichigo.

''Aikatsu'' is an anime adaptation of the [[VideoGame/{{Aikatsu}} game of the same name]] 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]]. 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.

** A real MindScrew comes in Season 3 with a toy company named [[NamcoBandai Dandai]], a parody of one side of the company that ''created and owns this franchise''.

* TheCameo: In episode 2, there's a [[http://animenityan.up.seesaa.net/30e83634.jpg background character]] who looks exactly like [[http://gundam.wikia.com/wiki/Lalah_Sune Lalah Sune]] from ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam'', which isn't that surprising considering [[Creator/NamcoBandai the companies]] [[Creator/{{Sunrise}} who own this franchise]]