Maggie (Emanuela Rei) is a quirky and free-spirited American girl who wants to become a fashion designer, while Bianca (Giorgia Boni) is a stylish and snobbish Italian girl and the heir of a prestigious fashion company. The two girls meet at the Fashion Academy of Milan, where they are assigned as roommates, but they don't get along initially, due to their opposite personalities. Over time, they learn to like each other and develop a strong friendship. Along with three of their friends, they form a band that will allow them to show their musical talent, while still studying fashion at at the Academy at the same time.
In Italy, the series premiered on Rai Gulp on August 29, 2016. The second and the third seasons were released between January and December 2017. In the same year, the first two seasons were made available worldwide on Netflix.
Tropes:
- Alpha Bitch:
- Nausica is a power-hungry girl who likes to think of herself as a "queen bee", and enjoys being cruel to everyone. Except that she has no talent or popularity at all, due to being a Small Name, Big Ego who gets mad after finding out that she is second to last in the school's popularity list.
- Bianca herself often acts like this, especially in the early episodes, though deep down she is more of a Lovable Alpha Bitch.
- Ascended Extra: The members of the rival band CoolGhost are minor antagonists who appear in the last few episodes of season 1, but three of them (Andrew, Felipe, Susan) are promoted to the opening cast in season 2, and they receive more Character Development.
- Asian Airhead: Yuki is Japanese and one of the two dumbest characters.
- Belligerent Sexual Tension: All the four main romantic relationships (Maggie/Jacques, Maggie/Andrew, Bianca/Quinn, Bianca/Felipe), start out with fighting and arguing, along with obvious Ship Tease, until the eventual Relationship Upgrade.
- Blended Family Drama: Bianca has a Missing Mom and Maggie has a Disappeared Dad. Maggie's Disappeared Dad turns out to be Bianca's father, who used to live in the USA with Maggie's mother, before leaving the family. After the family relations are revealed and especially after their parents get back together, the girls have trouble accepting the new family situation, but they solve their issues eventually.
- Boarding School: The Fashion Academy attended by the title characters is a boarding school.
- Character Catchphrase: Maggie says "Gozy!" when she finds something cool. It's a word invented by her which comes from "go crazy".
- Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: Leo is part of the main group of students in season 1, and is more Out of Focus than the others, despite being in the opening. He disappears in season 2 without explanation.
- Contrasting Replacement Character: The Asian Airhead Yuki is Put on a Bus after season 2. In season 3, she is replaced by Eloise, a science-loving genius.
- Defrosting Ice Queen:
- Bianca is often called "The Frosty Ice Queen" by the other characters. While still being standoffish, she softens up over time thanks to her friends, especially Maggie, and her love interest Quinn. In season 2, she is back to be an Ice Queen after finding out that Maggie is her sister, but eventually learns to accept her. In season 3, she is nice most of the time, and is no longer a snob.
- Nausica, the most antagonistic character, becomes nice in the last two episodes, at the end of season 3. Even before that, there are a few hints that she's not evil deep down, especially in the season 2 episode where her abusive mother appears.
- Susan, the goth Perpetual Frowner of the CoolGhost, reveals a sweet side when she dates Quinn in season 2.
- The Ditz: Yuki and Eduard act like idiots all the time. They are often paired together in silly subplots.
- "Do It Yourself" Theme Tune: Both the songs of the opening and the closing credits are sung by lead actresses Emanuela Rei and Giorgia Boni.
- Downer Ending: More than a few episodes end with a downer cliffhanger, especially in season 3, usually related to the title characters's romantic drama or family drama. Obviously averted with the season finale.
- Dumb and Drummer: The resident idiot Eduard is the drummer of the MoodBoards, Maggie and Bianca's band.
- Evil Counterpart: In the Battle of the Bands in season 1, all the five MoodBoards members have a counterpart among the CoolGhost members, who are very similar to them, but more cynical, punk, and ruthless. In season 2, two of the CoolGhost are Put on a Bus.
- Fire-Forged Friends: Maggie and Bianca go from enemies to close friends, after working together for school projects. They still can be Vitriolic Best Buds though, especially Bianca.
- First Guy Wins: At the end of the show, Maggie ends up with Jacques, and Bianca ends up with Quinn. They are the first guys who show interest in them (not including Leo's shallow crush on Bianca in season 1), before other love interests are introduced in later episodes.
- Foreign Language Theme: The opening's theme song is in English, and most of the soundtrack is in English too. The only exception is the Italian song Come Le Star (used for the closing credits), although it also has an English adaptation Be Like Stars.
- Gender-Equal Ensemble: Despite minor cast changes, the trope is played straight in all three seasons, if you only count the students.
- Season 1 has four girls (Maggie, Bianca, Nausica, Yuki) and four boys (Jacques, Quinn, Eduard, Leo).
- Season 2 has five girls (Maggie, Bianca, Nausica, Yuki, Susan) and five boys (Jacques, Quinn, Eduard, Andrew, Felipe).
- Season 3 has four girls (Maggie, Bianca, Nausica, Eloise) and four boys (Jacques, Quinn, Eduard, Felipe).
- Generation Xerox: Maggie and Bianca inherited their interest in music from their parents, who used to have a band together. Maggie's mother is also as bubbly and eccentric as her daughter.
- Genki Girl: Maggie is often enthusiastic and excitable, something that Bianca finds annoying. Yuki, being The Ditz, is very perky as well.
- Informed Ability: The CoolGhost, the main rivals of the MoodBoards in the Battle of the Bands, are apparently a great band which was already relatively famous. But all their songs are off-screen, and we never hear them sing or play music, ever. By contrast, we hear dozens of different songs of the MoodBoards, the main characters, and they win every time. The viewers have no choice but to root for the MoodBoards, because we never hear the music of anybody else.
- Innocent Beta Bitch: Yuki is sometimes this to Nausica. She is not mean at all, just a ditz who is manipulated by Alpha Bitch Nausica into going along with her plans. Even Eduard and Eloise can be innocent sidekicks to Nausica at times.
- Long-Lost Relative: Maggie and Bianca find out they are half-sisters at the end of season 1. With the viewers, it's already implied in the second episode. After the revelation, they have a lot of Half-Sibling Angst.
- Lovable Alpha Bitch: Bianca is a rich, vain, and egocentric Spoiled Brat, but also has a softer side. After some Character Development, she learns to value her friends, especially Maggie. In season 3, the "bitch" part almost completely disappears.
- Love Triangle: There are a few of these. The Jacques/Maggie/Andrew triangle is the main focus of the entire season 2. Other examples are Quinn/Bianca/Leo in season 1 (although Bianca never liked Leo at all), and Quinn/Bianca/Felipe in later episodes. In season 3, there's also Maggie/Jacques/Marie, although Marie rarely appears.
- Only Sane Man:
- Jacques and Quinn are the most normal characters. Everyone else is very wacky and exaggerated, including the adults.
- Of the adults, the only ones who are not crazy or eccentric are Professor Ferrari (Put on a Bus after season 1) and Bianca's father.
- Opposites Attract: Most of the main couples.
- Maggie, a bubbly Granola Girl, and Jacques, a preppy and arrogant ladies man. It doesn't help that Jacques often teases Maggie in early episodes, but they fall in love.
- Bianca, a Rich Bitch (though one with Hidden Depths who later Took A Levelin Kindness), and Quinn, a reasonable Nice Guy.
- In a different way, also Bianca and Felipe. Bianca is a Girly Girl who usually wears pink or bright colors, while Felipe is a rocker who wears black.
- Plucky Comic Relief: Eduard, Yuki, and Nausica are joke characters who only appear to make fools of themselves, and they have no romantic drama. Out of them, only Nausica has her serious moments, but only in two episodes.
- Slobs Versus Snobs: Maggie and Bianca are an Odd Couple of roommates. Maggie is the messy, disorganized, middle-class girl, Bianca is the uptight, refined, upper-class girl.
- With Friends Like These...: The title characters constantly argue, and Bianca tends to be rude and mean to Maggie, but they have Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other moments at the end of most episodes. Their friendship becomes healthier in season 3, after Bianca Took a Level in Kindness.
