User blog comment:Staraptor Kwan/What would you have changed in the plot line of Aikatsu Stars?/@comment-32319446-20180324202846

Oh goodness yes. Finally the real question! I'm not saying that I'm so bitter and dissatisfied with the series as a whole, because I'm not and I personally find it more enjoyable than the original seasons. That being said, there are MANY things I'd have changed from the very beginning;

1. S4's importance - S4 was said to be the absolute top idol group in the first season. While they were certainly admired for their talent and performance ability, they were so... under-utilized. Especially considering that Hime and Yozora received bulk focus for a majority of the S4-relevant episodes. I'd have particularly made it so S4 would have performed more together in the first half of season 1 rather than a bunch of Hime solos or that Hime/Yozora duet of Episode Solo in episode 4. That being said, Tsubasa and Yuzu also needed to perform much sooner than episode 20/19 respectively.

2. Koharu and Ako - Ako and Koharu arguably got the worst treatment in the entire series. Neither of them have their own brand, nor have ever worn a Premium Rare dress. In Koharu's case, the issue of a singing voice was remedied by Nanase well back in Season 1, so the writing her off to Italy idea became null and void. If it was to make room for Lily and her own storyline, then it was a poorly thought out one. In Ako's case, the DCD treated her fairly during the S4 Selection competition by giving her a Rare Coord to use, but was instead erased from the anime for some unknown reason, keeping her from achieving a personal victory or sense of accomplishment. This is only worsened by the writers giving Kirara her own brand and writing in Ako's desire for that brand (which doesn't suit her anyway, if you ask me). Ako could have easily been given another brand or even worked around the issue. The writers instead chose to ignore her and instead relegate Ako to a secondary character (despite featuring her prominently in the OP animations.

3. Class Distribution at Four-Star Academy - This is an obvious one for most people. The class distribution from the very beginning lacked a singular character other than Yuzu that was from Wind Dance Class. This created an imbalance for all the characters; three from Song Class (Hime, Yume, Rola), two from Theater Class (Tsubasa, Ako), three from Beauty Class (Yozora, Koharu, Mahiru), and only one from Dance Class (Yuzu). This was even worse after the addition of Lily to Song Class instead of Dance Class. I really believe the connection between Yuzu and Lily would have benefitted the Dance Class and given an arc of Lily overcoming her stamina disability to achieve success in Dance Class. She also would have been better able to take over Yuzu's spot in S4, giving it proper recognition. It also would have helped to balance the typing in S4 during Season 2 (Yume, Mahiru, Ako, and Lily would maintain the Cute, Sexy, Pop, Cool balance and even prevent having to work around Kana singing for two characters earlier than they did).

4. The Study Abroad Arc - For me personally, this was the sticking point in Season 2 that really messed up the story. The decision to send only three girls to Venus Ark for a study abroad was an absurd idea. Not only was it showcased very poorly, only being important during the transition between the schools and then during Venus Wave, it completely threw off any importance and valor in Four-Star Academy. The study abroad also felt unnecessary with all the focus of Yume and the others being at Four-Star for S4 work and other things. If they were going to include the study abroad, they could have condensed those relevant episodes (55, 56, 58, 65, 66, and 68) into a shorter arc, giving back some time to focus on S4 and Four-Star Academy. Personally, I would have made those six episode run from Episodes 55-61, putting Mahiru's SPR episode among them and pushing up the appearances of those two SPR coords. Then shuffling around the other episodes to better focus on the characters and such.

5. Star Premium Rare Coords - Speaking of, I also would have wrapped up the SPR arc way earlier. This was not the best way for the producers to do it. I understand the importance of spreading them out for the DCD, but they could have made it work. I would use the same set-up as above (51-54 as is, then use episodes 55-61 as the placement for the six study abroad episodes) as well as shuffle around the SPR appearances. I would eliminate the heck out of Yume's horrendous Berry Parfait PR coord and replace it completely with her SPR coord. I would have used Koharu in the same way they did, and simply reinvent the brand earlier, preventing the DCD from even using it until it became Rainbow Berry Parfait (this was another issue in that there are two brands in the DCD with one completely going useless without any new coords after DCD Part 3 for Hoshi no Tsubasa). I would have used the S4 set-up mentioned above (Yume, Mahiru, Ako, and Lily), and having Yuzu off on some dancing world tour with Haruka or something, leaving her brand to Ako, thus giving her the SPR for Saturn and Shiny Smile. Aria could also be eliminated if needed to give Hime the Jupiter SPR, but I also don't mind Hime being the trump card with the Moon dress. However, I would have liked if Hime's Moon dress was more prominent and important earlier in the season. Like I said, I would have ended the SPR arc earlier. Aside from condensing it down to end earlier, I'd have made it so all nine SPR coords had appeared by mid-season (episode 75, let's say). This way, the Sun Dress arc could start, giving each girl the chance to get her DCD Sun Dress before the final tournament. I'd have really included all nine idols (Kirara, Elza, Yume, Rola, Aria, Ako, Rey, Mahiru, and Lily as well as Hime in the final tournament). Having ten idols battle it out in a tier system would have been much more enjoyable. It would have prolonged the tournament, but given each girls some extra focus. I wouldn't mind the top four being Yume, Elza, Mahiru, and Hime for balance sake (two cute, two sexy) and to show growth. But I would have enjoyed Elza being knocked out by Hime, who then goes on to be beaten by Yume only to achieve her tagline of being the number one star. That's an appropriate conclusion for the series anyway. An alternate take would be for Yume to lose to Elza and have Elza lose to Hime instead. This would keep Yume leveled and still give her something to continue stiving for even after the show ends. The remaning part of the series would have been from around episode 90-onward. Including the S4 Selection tournament again, but featured more prominently, and even giving Koharu her own solo performance, as well as showing our girls growing more and more. Using the Sun Dresses of course would be likely, but not a bad thing honestly. I'd leave the final two episodes of so to wrap up remaining things, like their decisions to go abroad or the graduation ceremony for Lily and Yuzu, etc.