User blog:Staraptor Kwan/Aikatsu Stars! Episode 5 Review: Time to Dress Make, Girls!

At first glance, Episode 5 has potential to be an excellent episode. It casts the spotlight on Yuzu Nikaidou and also has a solid premise (explaining the Dress Make System to its viewers). Unfortunately, the narrative fails to deliver more than that to the audience, especially at the end of the episode itself.

Yume and Laura are notified by Anna-sensei of a upcoming test that will check their progress for the last month, and the main subject is none other than '''"Dance Stage." '''Basically, it's just a plot device to justify the explanation for the new Dress Make System. Right now, Yume, Laura and co have only one week to prepare in advance, and that's the plotline that this episode is going to explore.

The scene then shifts to the S4 (who else?) sitting in a private garden, surrounded by trees, the chirping of birds and rose gardens while enjoying tea and scones. Duh. That's pretty stereotypical of elite student council of any anime series (Shugo Chara and Special A, anyone?)

The preview for Episode 5 confirmed that Yuzu would have some of the spotlight, and it's clear from the get go as we witness some of Yuzu's personal charms (see left). Yuzu's introduction is pretty funny, and it also showcases her childish yet interesting personality to the audience while keeping an eye on her hidden maturity (more on that later) that's typical for all S4 idols.

Anyway, all the S4 idols mumble about the fresh rookies from each of their respective classes, and all of them are pretty much hyped over the infinte potential each and every one of them might have. Hime, on the other hand, surprisingly takes her time to ponder when Yuzu pops up and mentions Yume. It seems that Yuzu's taken an interest in her, mainly due to her unpredictability. Keep in mind that this interest alone will play a important role in the storyline later on.

Following Anna's announcement, our two heroines find themselves back at the Dress Make Room where there are greeted by a familar face aka Yuri. She proceeds to explain the mechanics of the Dress Make System to both of them (and the audience), ending her tutorial by explaining that by using items called "Glitter" to change the coord's design. Wait, why does that sound so familar? '''Oh, now that explains the text message Yume and co obtained way back at the end of Episode 3. '''

The basis of the Dress Make System is that, '''instead of relying on designers to design and customise your coords way back in the original series, this time you can create, customise and design your own coords without much hassle involved. While the concept gives idols free rein and control over their own designs, the lack of official designers in the new series is a shame, practically because there will be a shortage of eccentric and interesting characters''', as well as seemingly putting their hard work to good waste by utilizing the easy to use Dress Make System.

Despite the fact that Yume's having a blast while customizing her coord,

Laura doesn't share the same passion as her. Afterwards, Yume starts to become too over-confident, imagining that once she gets the hang of designing, she's going to quickly become famous overnight. That presumption is thrown out of the bag when Yume comes back to her dorm and watches Yozora's Fashion Time along with Koharu. In that show, Yozora states that considering the exact purpose of the dress is important, of which Yume takes notice of. Unfortunately, the show ends before Yozora can elaborate any further, confusing Yume and prompting her to wonder what she meant. Afterwards, Yume's trains alongside Laura while thinking about Yozora's words. This inevitably causes her to mess up and be reprimanded by Laura again.



After receiving some advice from Laura on how to obtain the real answer to the solution, Yume undergoes some training, and pretty soon she's back in the Dress Make Room, ready to put all of her training into practice. Unfortunately, Yume's efforts fizzle out due to her still not figuring out what Yozora actually meant, so she leaves the room in a huff. Unknowingly to Yume, someone just happened to be in the vicinity and had witnessed everything...



Understandably, Yume's in a negative mood, but to be honest it feels pretty         repetitive and tedious to see Yume being stuck in low self-esteem periods for every single episode thus far, even though it's crucial to the plotline. Anyway, she then notices Yuzu lounging on a tree, the latter leaps down to greet Yume and casually tells her that her rhythm is the same as Hime's, but before we get any further explanation on that, two of Yuzu's bodygua-uh, I mean assistants arrive to take Yuzu away for her dress fitting. It's actually quite funny to see those two boss around someone who's ranked higher than them, something that   would never happen to Tsubasa and Yozora, let alone Hime herself.

Yume tags along with her, and while Yuzu's getting changed, the assistants inform Yume that's it's pretty rare for ordinary students, even those from the Wind Dance Class to observe Yuzu's dress fittings ('''This is proof of Yuzu's interest in Yume herself). '''Just then Yuzu arrives on scene wearing a classy if plain dress, then dances to the rhythm of the music. Everyone's naturally impressed, but Yuzu doesn't feel satisfied. What she does next however, is pretty much one of the few highlights of this episode.

She grabs a pair of scissors and proceeds to cut, then pin and also adds a giant ribbon to her outfit, thus turning it into something more fashionable. Not only does this scene show Yuzu's talents lie beyond dancing, it also instantly evokes a throwback torwards Season 3 of the original series, when Hinaki also did something similar. Anyway, having customized her outfit, Yuzu proceeds to shine even further during the second round of rehearsals. By this point, Yume's   fangirling over Yuzu's awesomeness. It's just then that Yuzu comes up to her and  says these important words: " With this dress, I'm gonna exhilarate the stage for sure!"

Yume's hit by a sudden wave of realization upon hearing those words; she finally understands what Yozora was talking about, and more importantly, the key to solving her current predicament. Instead of simply customizing her dress and calling it a day, '''what she actually needs to do is to find the perfect theme for her dress so it can have both meaning and also exhilarate the audience at the same time. '''

On the day of the test, Yume arrives after having customized her dress and goes on stage to show off the fruits of her labor, as well as accompanied by a brand new song. Sounds good, right? Well, sorry to say this, but in my opinion, the entire performance, Yume's customized coord and the new song, Heart Skips all of it is just too...mediocre. And that's the best I can say about this performance.

Everything about this performance was too mediocre, on both musical and graphical grounds. Firstly, the song itself...for god's sake why put on a pop themed song for Yume? The lyrics aren't the worst that I've ever heard, but the tune and beat is just too off. Also, in my opinion, Yuzu should have performed today instead of Yume, the song just suits her much better. Furthermore, if you look closely the CG of that performance was blurry and contained some glitches which ruined the pace. And finally, despite the fact that Anna passes Yume's outfit with flying colours, the short shorts basically ruined what was a great outfit in the first place.

Anyway, nothing spectacular happens at the end of the episode, unlike the four previous episodes, all which had some sort of cliffhanger-like ending. Needless to say, it's a disappointing conclusion to a otherwise average episode.

Verdict:

The Good: ​The Bad:  ​Score: 5/10
 * Yuzu's intoduction paints her as a seemingly childish yet surpisingly hardworking and mature character, which makes her very likeable.
 * The all-new Dress Make System is a very interesting concept that grants idols the freedom and power to customize their coords to their hearts content without having to rely on designers.
 * On the other hand, the absence of official designers in the currents series means that we won't seeing any additional eccentric and interesting characters.
 * The repetitive and tedious plot elements found in this episode slow down the narrative; Yume's low self-esteem moods are now too predictable.
 * Heart Skips is a terrible choice for a insert song.
 * The low quality of the CG during the performance is terrible; the blurry scenes don't help either.
 * Yume's new and customized coord isn't really good at all ; the short shorts seem too out of place.

Conclusion

'''Episode 5: My Dress Make! is one "fine" example of how a concept and premise of a episode, while looking good on paper, can turn out to be less than satisfactory once put into practice. A combination of poor-quality CG effects, repetitive story elements and a completely unsuitable insert song is what makes this episode deserve such a poor rating. Only the expanded spotlight on Yuzu, as well as the interesting concept of the new Dress Make System help make this episode worth watching. '''

Afterword:

I won't lie, this episode was pretty mediocre, especially at the end. Heart Skips was horrible, and like I said earlier the CG and outfit didn't exactly smooth things over. Why did the writers even choose it as a insert song for today's episode is beyond my imagination. On the other hand, Yuzu's extended screentime was a huge bonus; I really did enjoy her mavericks and personality from time to time. She's like Kii, but with a bit of Hinaki inside her. So, I hope you guys comment down below, and make sure to wait for my next review to come soon, after all, like the rest of you, I can't wait for Ako to come much sooner as well. Adieu for now, then!