User blog comment:Staraptor Kwan/What would you have changed in the plot line of Aikatsu Stars?/@comment-27086644-20180325144006

The thing with Aikatsu's plotline is that its great at building suspension, but never delivers a satisfying climax; by the way there's a pattern of major flaws in both Aikatsu and Aikatsu Stars that really bothered me and if they could at least fix those two, that would be enough for me.

1. Plot

So I'm not sure about the details, but it seems like Aikatsu Stars has the luxary of actually being able to make 100+ episodes compared to most 13 or so episode anime, and to be honest, still lacks in a great story compared to those. Its like they tried to simplify the anime so children would understand, not knowing how many teenagers and adults enjoy this show as well. I mean fair enough, I guess; but if I did have the power to change Aikatsu then I'd like it to benefit my interests. I'd just fluff the whole plot and make my own story.

Although that would take a lot of work so talking specifically about Aikatsu Stars, it would be deciding what's important and what's not. And of course this includes Yume's rainbow power.

Rainbow Aura: Either they could just leave it out or let it be useful. The fact that it already happened to Hime before, and she overcame it, means Yume can too. Also, because it chooses idols with 'great potential', it really doesn't justify Hikaru trying to expel Yume if his character was meant to be villainous and at this stage, only caring about the school's reputation. Instead, he should've saw this as an opportunity and gave her some kind of life-threatening training that Hime went through before. Although if the rainbow aura appears, and its not meant to be used... then its useless right? Instead I would change it so that Hime was a 'failed experiment', and that Hikaru was waiting for someone who can control the aura. Hime gets fed up and gives up on the aura making it go away rather than consume her, setting out to shine in her own way. Yume gains the aura and evolves it to make it her own. Laura learns that Yume was cheating through most of those stages, and she won't be the least bit angry at Yume. Instead, she's angry at herself and continues to find a way to surpass that rainbow power, following in Hime's footsteps. In summary, introduce that rainbow power and let aura play a huge role in the story, or leave it out completely (not bring it in and literally dismiss it halfway through the storyline). It also could've been a great time for Yume to focus on dancing if singing was dangerous at the time; hence Yuzukosho.

Laura, Yuzu and S4 Selection: The second thing I want to address is Laura's losing streak despite being speculated to be the most powerful first year. I was impressed by her first appearance, actually. Egotisical, enters class late because she thinks she's better than everyone else and can afford to break the rules. So what would I change about the plot? Her sense of urgency and competitiveness, and how that affects everyone else. Clearly she wanted to be in S4 really badly, so I would have Laura be the one to introduce the S4 Selection and its procedures RIGHT FROM EPISODE 1 or as early as possible, so they can start preparing for it. In the first place, there were conditions for selection, including first-part selections where I assume singers would have to demonstrate their vocal ability (or perhaps do the Himetrain). Just to get an overview of the gap between the bare minimum and what Yume can already do.

Also the fact that they collected Glitters along the way, I think they should include the fact that they needed all the Glitters to actually be able to participate. So rather than 'everyone can participate', its a more demanding audition that Yume and Laura will have to work from Day 1. Not to mention they are prodigies, so perhaps maybe a first-year becoming S4 is unprecendented; however Yuzu managed to defeat a 3rd year on her first day as explained in Season 2 so she could be the basis of Yume and Laura's determination to directly face higher level idols. The S4 Selection would have to be longer than 4 Episodes, but now it won't seem rushed.

Not to mention that Mahiru and Ako manage to be the only respective first years to manage that feat, exempting them from the category of side characters, with Yume and Ako barely making the cut. That could also justify many drastic things they do, the desperation to achieve their dream and directly going to the S4 members for help.

Also Ako's love life is actually an interesting concept towards this show, firstly for being the only female character to actually like someone, and because idols aren't allowed to fall in love in the first place. I mean, since I heard that rule in the first ever season of Aikatsu, the least I'd expect is to have actual forbidden romance right? The Season 2 film, where Ako acts with Subaru and becomes a mermaid that can't fall in love, should've been an allegory for idols who can't do the same. It would be more interesting if she produced that drama as well to parallel with her growing feelings for Kanata. With her database and and studying skills, its not impossible - if Koharu switched to designing temporarily, then Ako could switch to scriptwriting to make up for her absence. Also those Subaru x Yume moments where they act like best friends were the best.

As for Season 2, I would've made Elza lose a bit earlier in the story. It doesn't matter who defeats her (I'd say Laura), just so she could get that peptalk from Hime and participate in the Aikatsu Final Tournament at her greatest potential. Anyway I don't get why it has to be Final Four, why not make it Final Ten then we can have Elza vs Laura (rematch), Yume vs Aria, Yuzu vs Lily, Rei vs Mahiru, Kirara vs Hime (w/ Moon Wings, if she has them might as well see them).

2. Character

All the character's first impressions are really good actually, and I feel like the creators do have a concept in the mind of how they want to portray these hard working girls and be inspiring towards young children. They just don't do it well. Aikatsu has a habit of holding back making a character 'ugly', and yes, Elza is not an exception either. Their biggest mistake was her backstory actually - the fact that she actually doesn't have such a bad ulterior motive (even though she claimed to be 'using' the Venus Ark students) means she was never really a true villain. I would've been more satisfied if she simply wanted the Sun Dress to feel good being heights above everyone else. I also wouldn't mind her being an adult as well, you know, so it'd actually make sense.

The character problem mainly lies in Laura and what I mentioned about her drastic change in character. Slowly she becomes someone who can accept defeat; but I think the part of her that wants to be the best and hates losing should be part of her individuality - it would've made a great clash with Elza. I'm not saying she shouldn't change, I'm just saying that the confidence, spark, inner fire or whatever you may call it, should've been part of Laura's best traits and something she shouldn't have lost. The only difference is that she stops being arrogant and faces her opponent with an improved version of herself each time.

The second is pretty much how they handled all the characters overall. Besides Elza, which was a first, none of the others have that 'desperation' or 'hunger' to be the best. I don't mind if Ako didn't get wings, but at the very least she could've tried and honestly deserved a well-earned gracious defeat. (And maybe get comforted by Kanata when things don't work out hehe). Also, I think most characters don't have enough credit for what they do to influence others, *cough*S4*cough*. Besides Mahiru who uses Yozora as her main ideal role model, I think the others should've used S4 and Lily in some way  so they could be useful for once  as a way of seeing what they lack in themselves - especially Tsubasa who can literally pull off anything to make things succeed. However, I did liked Yume's idea of 'everybody shine' and I think it could still be used even with these changes.

Ok I never intended this comment to be long but I couldn't help it.