User blog:Staraptor Kwan/Aikatsu Stars! Episode 20 Review: Fly, Fly, Fly!



Tsubasa is the best S4 girl.

I'm quite aware that a few readers might accuse me of favoritsm because of my positive altitude towards all cool-type idols, but Tsubasa is by no means your average cool-type (which really isn't saying much because every single one of them is awesome too). She's cool and hot at the same time, always assumes the initiative like a true leader would, runs the entire student council with an iron yet gentle fist and best of all, her acting skills are second to none, which is a given since she's literally the lovechild of both Aoi and Shion.

Adding credence to that idea is the plot of Episode 20: when  Yume and co learn about Tsubasa's upcoming new film, it doesn't take very long before our three amateur sleuths decide to Solid Snake into the filming location...only to be discovered and caught in the most hilarious way possible. Fortunately for them, Tsubasa bails them out and being the good senpai she is, allows them to observe the location shooting. This being a Aikatsu adaptation, one can only expect the usual expository dialogue and plenty of movie-related shenanigans as per Aikatsu tradition, with the only major difference being this archetypal actor who thinks he's the king of Hollywood, what with his inflated ego and unwarranted snobbery towards idol-actors like Tsubasa.



A bit of general exposition reveals that this guy used to be a passionate actor, which clearly isn't the case right now. Speaking of which, his presence pretty much reflects Aikatsu Star's more realistic approach to conflict compared to its predecessor; antagonistic characters pretty much never saw the light of day in that Aikatsu utopia full of people forever trapped in a neverending loop of positivity and joy, which to be honest should make for a far more engaging narrative than usual. Oh, and he's still a massive douchebag by the way.

Following another round of expostion by Tsubasa regarding the rules of the set and so on, she takes the trio to lunch while explaining it's homemade. Is it any surprise when the rest of the S4 gang show up later?

This is the point where the quality of the animation starts to drop, which pretty much sums up the inconsistency of Aikatsu Star's animation team. You would think that the guys in charge of the smooth and beautiful animation of Episode 19 would do the same for Episode 20, right? Nah, not really. Don't believe me? Here, take a look at this:



Then at this:



Since she's undoubtedly the main focus of today's episode, we get to witness, from Tsubasa's perspective a rather eye-opening scene featuring Mr Afro Douchebag and his assistant, where she finds out how much the former has fallen from his high standards and passion for acting. If that was a tiny attempt made by the writers to make us sympathise with him, then they obviously didn't do a great job as in the following scene he once again kicks up a big fuss over a small pronunciation mistake that Tsubasa made.

Sarcasm aside, the series continues to offer no shortage of story elements to chew on and is defintely ramping up its drama side. This is shown in one particularly defining moment for Tsubasa; when the stuntman covering her can't make it to the set, she volunteers to do so herself. If previous events in earlier episodes weren't good enough evidence, any doubts about my claim regarding Tsubasa as the most well-rounded and developed character among the S4 should be put to the sword by now, as this scene shows precisely why she deserves to labelled as the best S4 girl.



Yeah, no kidding.



(Later~)