Aikatsu!

44. Macaron guy knows to strike when the iron is hot. Get the top idol in Japan to make a CM for you, and sales will skyrocket. Meanwhile Mio is ready to screw up the entire Valentine's tradition in Japan by making the boys do the work. That or she's doubling the industry's sales both here and on White Day by making everyone give gifts on both of them. She's getting a taste of power with the ninjas. Pen-sama proves once again that the penguin commands this household.

45. Going for a friendly depiction of the paparazzi. Well it fits the lighter tone of the season. Though paparazzi girl was clearly terrified that Pure Palette was going to murder her and hide the body where no one would ever find it. The interesting stuff came from Aine and Mio realizing they've changed, both personally and their perception. People are going to look at them with very high standards from now on, and that could cause issues.

46. A surprisingly interesting episode about gimmicks in idolhood. You can tell Kaguya is new at all this when she's trying to force the moon thing down everyone's throats. It needs to flow naturally into their character like Sakuya does it, or Yurika did much earlier. Otherwise you'll break the fantasy when everyone sees how much of it is artificial. Idols are corporate entities meant to sell CDs and products sure, but you can't make that obvious. Sakuya knows how to lie to a little girl's face and make her believe in things that will get her ridiculed years down the line, and for that she has my respect.

47. Even Aikatsu has to get in on the isekai trend I guess. Coco is one weird super-ai. Why does she have to do normal training? And why is she all alone in her virtual world? Give her a Friend or something. Maybe next season. But they go through all that effort and even kill her off for a few days, and yet we don't get a proper performance from her. Weak. They're really just killing time now.

48. So money does exist in the Aikatsu world. I'm sure it's been brought up earlier, but I can't recall it ever being this big a deal. Honey Cat needs funding for their world tour of course. But why did they not look for sponsorships earlier? Love Me Tear and Pure Palette presumably have international companies paying them for the privilege of traveling to promote their products. Honey Cat isn't as big a deal as them, but they're still big enough names that they shouldn't have trouble finding some if they looked. Would've preferred that route instead of getting on a cat food company's good side by chance.

49. Love Me Tear is ending! Of course not. Way too sappy a show for that. They are taking a break to do other things though. Mirai is looking for a new toy to raise while Karen gets to exploit impoverished countries to expand Aikatsu's reach. Classic Karen really. Also they're really making her look like a politician. Meanwhile Mio gets some despair faces. And climax with confirming LMT can control meteors. Somehow they come out on top even though they lost.

Edited by Sterok on Mar 24th 2019 at 5:56:22 AM

50. Minor fight that Aine and Mio could've resolved on their own. But the Aikatsu industry is ruthless in its efforts to sell tickets for everything. I thought Karen was the crafty one, but it's Mirai that really knows how to exploit the suffering of others. But just ending on a whimper. The finale was 8 episodes ago, and they've just been killing time since then. But oh boy that cliffhanger. Moving onto high school and idols in space? Well that's one way to get me interested.

So that was Friends season 1. It's Aikatsu, which makes it enjoyable enough. But it's easily one of the weakest seasons between the Friends gimmick being weak and the characters not really standing out. Mio was great, and Maika, Mirai, and Kaguya were alright. But if we were moving on I wouldn't miss them all that much. I'd say I'm not looking forward to next season, but they've got some attention-grabbers, so that can easily change.

Yeah I liked Friends! but the original series is still the reigning champion in my eyes, though admittedly I never finished Stars!. I am interested in next season though because idols from space are actually a thing now. I am a bit confused about the timeline though. I've heard season two takes place after a two year timeskip but the timeskip here was only one year. I guess there could be another timeskip at the start of next season but that'd be pretty weird...

There are many things I can say, but the only thing I want to say is, what.

51. High school time. Things seem pretty much the same since we left off. Maika isn't acting like she's entering high school with Aine and Mio even though she is. Maybe Ema gave her a tour or something. And of course they already have work. I guess idols don't actually need an education. Also Karen is giving speeches to the UN. Guess the politician jokes weren't an exaggeration. The moon sisters get to be more integrated with the main cast at least.

But onto the main attraction, our space idol. Hibiki may look like Elza 2.0, but they're nothing alike. Hibiki is nuts. And well connected if she's also an astronaut and performing idol activities in space. Idols in this world are scary. Certainly a memorable performance. Mirai is both a badass and the true mastermind behind this mess. So Love Me Tear crushed Hibiki's group and caused them to disband. Hibiki herself obviously kept going, so it seems like her partner was the one who wanted out. So our main plot to start off with is getting them back together. Well, this certainly has my attention more than the super mundane first season. Ending sucks though. Not the song, but the animation is just boring stills.

Is it a coincidence that both Aikatsu and Precure are going to space at the same time? Because that's just weird.

Edited by Sterok on Apr 7th 2019 at 6:27:17 AM

52. I repeat myself, what. So if there's zero-g training already, we'd better get some zero-g performances. That's what they're building up to right? The Moon Idols are embarrassing themselves. Thank goodness this isn't public. I'm not sure zero-g tech exists like this, but the Aikatsu system is already bonkers, so whatever. In addition to space, we've also got an actual idol princess to deal with. Not liking the retcon that Alicia was called away for work instead of being too intimidated by Love Me Tear, though they'll probably elaborate on that. But the real focus right now is Mio, who is being haunted by a magic space idol rock. She is arguably the top idol in the industry, so it's easy to see why she'd be chosen. But that's not enough, as she realizes how easily someone else can usurp her position, so she's going to overwork herself so that she can remain the brightest. A weirdly intense episode despite the lack of conflict, but I think I like it. Whole season feels like an over-correction after the first season was too basic. Don't know if it's a good thing, but it's more engaging at least.

53. As far as pranks go, tricking Maika or Ema that one of them will go to space is reasonable and clever enough, even if it's an obvious bluff. The Moon Twins are just braindead for not seeing through the deception when the 2nd (4th?) twin appeared. Mio is also an idiot for believing fake-Penne, but she's long had a weakness for the penguin, so I can let that slide. Aine is somehow the only competent person this episode. And that includes Hibiki. She kept pestering Alicia for 5 years about reforming their Friends and never talked about anything else? That's not devoted friendship. That's being a creepy yandere stalker. Alicia was totally right to cut off ties from what I'm seeing.

54. Alright, Aine trying to act so mature was funny. Like Kaguya, she needs to incorporate it more naturally or don't even bother, as the fans will notice. I guess they're already used to being haunted by magic space idol rocks. Of course Aine wouldn't be far behind Mio. With 3 out of 7 claimed already, the pace is moving fast. Meanwhile Wakaba exists. She didn't really make much of an impression. At least Mirai is still the keikaku master. I hope she keeps trying to kill Hibiki out of nowhere.

Edited by Sterok on Apr 28th 2019 at 5:05:12 AM

55. I see Aikatsu is leaning more into its crazier side now. Shuffle Friends is an interesting concept that should be used more. But here it looks like it's just filler to give the jobber quartet something to do. I think Maika/Kaguya was the best one, though none of the new pairings got time to breathe. No shuffle performances either, which is disappointing. Mio even got one because? Real MVP is Mirai, who looked like a dark overlord keikaku master this episode, and now is probably an actual wizard. Who also now has a magic shrine idol rock, which may or may not have a connection to the magic space idol rocks.

Edited by Sterok on May 5th 2019 at 4:23:39 AM

56. So while Hibiki is a possessive yandere, Alicia is just a dick who wants to drive away her Friend for likely understandable, but still stupid reasons. Am I supposed to believe they're a threat to either Love Me Tear or Pure Palette? Still, pretty good episode actually, as Hibiki has some good drama for having no idea what to do. Even for a hotshot idol, sneaking into a princess's castle is a bit above her. Should've called in a favor from Karen, who has already weaseled her way into Alicia's country. I'd complain about being blueballed on a space performance, but the Star Wars parody audition was fun. Also even more gay than usual. That director knows what's up, bringing in Japan's top 4 idols to his movie. Crazy times ahead with illegal espionage coming up soon.

57. A PSA episode about traveling abroad? Huh? Also, Aine has been part of Japan's, maybe the world's, top Friends for over a year. How has she not gone overseas once? And how does she not know anything about the subject? She needs to go back to regular school. I'd complain about how a top idol's agents should be taking care of the passport issue, but that actually did happen. So I guess this episode is really about managers scrambling to cover for their charges' incompetence. Ichigo puts Aine to shame once more. And boo, I was hoping for some spykatsu when they finally arrived at this country halfway across the globe whose princess came to Japan to be an idol for reasons.

58. They almost started an international incident between the the Principality of Solvette and the Aikatsu industry. Pretty sure the idols would win that. So the country is freezing to death (because of climate change), the king is sick, and the queen is likely dead, so Princess Alicia has been running the country for 5 years. They're so cut off from the world that they get no help from the outside and barely any communications since no one knows what idols are. Everyone's just kind of depressed. Also apparently everyone speaks Japanese, because that makes sense.

Alicia really should be using her connections to get some sort of relief aid. I get that they don't get much news from Solvette, but did Hibiki really not consider something like this might be the case? She doesn't deserve Alicia. Pure Palette are trying to cheer up the country with performances. Which is noble, but they should use their fame to help stop climate change or something. I know they've super hologram tech, but the performance stage should've had more snow. I think I've figured out Love Me Tear's endgame though. They're clearly positioning Aikatsu to be the savior of Solvette and use that to bring the country under the industry's heel. Using an impoverished country's plight to boost their own political power. That's top idols for you. Season just keeps getting more and more whack.

59. With Love Me Tear's arrival, all relevant idols are in Solvette. A full episode of Mirai asserting superiority to an entire country. I'm game. The mad genius and true overlord of Aikatsu is the first one to break through to Alicia just a bit and force everyone to acknowledge she's a killjoy. Semantics are powerful. Obviously she has a Jewling Dress, though I was hoping we'd see her and Karen actually earn them. Would help humanize them.

60. Aikatsu vs the military. Sure, why not. Not like the rest of this arc hasn't already felt like a different show. Maybe they can fight the oil industry next. I appreciate Hibiki's efforts to bring smiles back to the country, but that's just a symptom, not a disease. Surprised they were that explicit about mama Alicia's death. Hard to ban Aikatsu when idol activities are whatever idols say they are. Industry already has a firm grip on the country. Not long until they have more power than the royal family.

61. Okay, this was stupider than Aikatsu normally is. They just bs'd the executive branch of the nation that they were all going to freeze to death tonight if a bunch of idols don't perform. All very emotional, yet too absurd for something simple, that Alicia needs to smile. Oh well. At least her performance was great. And they've turned Aikatsu into their national symbol. Which means they sold their country out to the idol industry. Score one for Love Me Tear. I must apologize to the Magic Space Idol Rocks. They're actually Magic Space Snow Idol Rocks with the power to fight climate change. My mistake.

62. Now that we're back to actual idol activities, it's time for the jobber quartet to pretend that they're relevant. Sorry moon twins, but at this point I only care about idols with the new super dresses. And it seems the writers do too with a random frog invasion driving conflict in the second half and Mirai also getting a performance for no reason. Kind of sad how easy it is to spot when they're just killing time.

63. And here I was hoping Alicia would uncover Karen's secret experimental idol factory she keeps hidden under her mansion. Karen might have gotten a sweet new performance (probably her best one yet), but this is far more an Alicia episode as she integrates back into idolhood and figures out how much of herself to expose to the world. Admitting she's a princess might make Mio's job easier, but could also present a security risk. But I guess we won't be seeing the repercussions of this admission. Still, this did more to endear her to me than any of her previous episodes.

64. Does Honey Cat have a hate-boner for Russia, or was it nuked by the Aikatsu industry already? Glaring place they've missed at first glance. Anyway, not focusing on the chosen Jewling Dress idols, so I don't care, but this was a better episode than their last one. It actually followed up on their world tour, how they've grown from it, and where they want to go next. Karen getting a performance for no reason was weird, but it did lead to learning she's now an elephant tamer I guess. I do enjoy when Aikatsu shamelessly shows idols as being corporate plugs. Did they really just completely change the marketing, branding, and even design of those bags at the very last minute? Seems like you'd need a lot more meetings for that. Guess they're off to space next. Which just reinforces that we better see some proper spacekatsu before the show ends.

65. I get that dating again (and it's clearly dating with how the whole date was framed) after a long break can make things awkward, but not even bringing up the whole reason Alicia came back to Aikatsu is just sad. At least now their Friends can actually be Friends. Been a big lack of Friends concerts this season when the whole premise is about duos. Hibiki and Alicia are both highly passionate, but Hibiki is more about the relationships with everyone, including her Friend, staff, and fans. Meanwhile Alicia devotes her all the actual Aikatsu like when she was running her country. I remain unconvinced they're particularly effective as Friends, but they're finally starting to sell how they bring each other up at least.

66. Wakaba time. She's okay and all, but I'm having a hard time getting behind someone that's being pushed so hard by all the top idols. She's guaranteed success, unlike idols who had to build a base of support from the ground up. Telling kids that starting by imitating is a perfectly fine message, but she did get rewarded for impersonating her friend, and that raises an eyebrow. Mio + Wakaba performance looks weird. Must be payback for that Aine/Mirai duet. Mirai is the true keikaku master, planning this all out.

67. Yeah, I just can't get into Wakaba. Sure she put in all that work training (off-screen along with most of her relationship with Mirai), but she's not earning or building up this fanbase on her own merits. All the elite idols are pushing her. She's a guaranteed success as the next big thing. Now this might be realistic, but I don't think we're supposed to get a cynical reaction toward idols from Aikatsu. And she really just gets the 7th Jewling Dress like that? At least Alicia was a proven star with actual popularity. I don't care for Honey Cat and Reflect Moon, but they deserved better than this. Song was cute though. Best scene was Mio reflecting on how her relationship with Love Me Tear has changed. Subtle, but good stuff there.