Episode 27 - Story of the Little Dress

Story of the Little Dress (小さなドレスの物語) is the twenty seventh episode of the Aikatsu Stars! Anime Series. It aired on October 13th, 2016.

Summary
Yume and Lilie are invited by one of the S4 members, Hime Shiratori to visit the headquarters of the most admired brand, "My Little Heart". There, they get to see, up close, the creation of a Premium Rare Dress, making the two girls very excited. Within that, Yume learns the big goal of Lilie. But.....

Plot
Checking out the latest fashion magazine, Yume, Laura, and Koharu make plans to go out and do some shopping that weekend. But suddenly Yume recalls that My Little Heart will be holding its Autumn fashion reveal at the same time, including the release of its Premium Rare coord, so they reconsider and decide to do that instead.

Excited over the brand new coords, Yume decides to Dress Make for a bit. But while she observes her choices she happens to overhear Hime from the second floor and is invited to join her. There they quickly begin to chat about the upcoming event when Lilie intervenes, requesting to come and join Hime's meeting. Hime agrees, and allows Yume to attend as well.

Later they join Hime at the My Little Heart office in town. Yume and Lilie sit off to the side and observe the meeting, with Hime showing an adult side to herself that impresses Yume greatly. Lilie explains that Hime has to show a serious personality here since she is in charge of the brand- something that surprises Yume, as she goes on to bring up how each member of S4 is the muse of the existing brands. But in Hime's case, rather that join one already made she decided to go and make her own. When the meeting ends, Lilie and Yume join Hime for lunch and bring up how the meeting went. While Hime has drawings and ideas, they're not finalized and they don't actually know what plans to go through with. As Lilie recalls something she asked Hime, she brings up her desire to join S4 in hopes of making her own brand a reality at some point. They ask Yume of her aspirations and she recites her desire to be like Hime, which also means joining S4. This shallow answer leaves Hime perplexed, and while she is happy that Yume admires her, she points out that Yume should make sure this is what she truly wants.

Confused by Hime's words Yume and Lilie take off after Hime leaves to do some recording. She watches as other students train, too distracted with her thoughts to do much else and decides to ask her friends of their desires. Laura wishes to become not only an S4 member, but a US4 member- an Ultra S4 who wins everyone over with her singing and dancing. Mahiru wants to surpass Yozora as top model, while Ako claims that she only plans to become a Star actress and her joining S4 has nothing to do with getting closer to Subaru. Yume returns to her room and brings up what happened with Koharu, and momentarily feels relieved when Koharu brings up her original desire to become just like Yozora. But now she realizes she has to find her own unique path; which disappoints Yume when she realizes she's the only one who had yet to think over a true goal.

Meanwhile, Hime is preparing to leave when Subaru approaches. He was also recording and had to wait for his ride, so Hime invites him to share one with her. He accepts and Hime invites him to attend the upcoming fashion event. Subaru then brings up Yume, discussing her amazing performances and the strangeness about them in hopes of getting Hime to open up. He recalls how something similar happened to her, but rather than answer she brings up that they have arrived. Frustrated by not getting an answer, Subaru takes off- only to bump into Hikaru, who seemed to be waiting for him.

Yume is snapped out of her day dream the following day, where she dreams she told everyone of her desire to be like Hime and join S4. She is met with stunned silence, and attempts to find why why they responded like that. She heads into the hall once class ends, with Laura trying to convince Yume that over thinking it probably wouldn't help her much, and that she has to figure it out some other way. Inspired with a sudden idea, Laura leads Yume to the Library and brings up the past S4 members. So together the girls begin looking up information on past members; surprising them when they see a girl named Hotaru, along with Anna, Tamae, the sister of Tamagoro who inspired an interest in Paris Fashion, and Momoko, who was the first student to land a Hollywood movie role. Each member was unique and never wanted to be like someone else before them.

That night Lilie works on sewing together an ornament when Yume joins her to chat. She apologizes and admires the dress Lilie has been working on, asking Lilie what inspired her to want to create her own brand. She explains that while she wanted to be like Hime she knows that isn't practical, and has no idea what she truly wants from S4. Lilie recalls her inspiration, locating a book that Yuzu got for her when she was younger and bedridden. Within it were gorgeous illustrations of dolls, all adorned in amazing attire, each of which touched Lilie deeply and become inspired to create her own brand. Had Yuzu not gotten her this book she knows she wouldn't be standing where she is today. She is sure it was a sign of fate, but whether someone accepts or denies their fate is entirely up to them.

Eventually the day of the reveal arrives. The girls watch as the various Rare dresses are revealed, with the trio fawning over them while Lilie takes notes. This is followed by Hime revealing the Premium Rare dress after she introduces herself and expresses happiness in seeing the crowd, going back stage to change into it. She appears on stage to perform "So Beautiful Story".

After the performance ends, Koharu and Laura compliment it while Yume realizes she really has to become her own person. She admires Hime and can continue to do that- but she has to travel down her own path rather than chase after hers.

As Subaru admires the power behind a Premium Dress and Hime's performance he attempts to approach Yume, only to recall what Hikaru told him. He caught onto Subaru beginning to look into the strange behaviors, so he asked Subaru to stay away from Yume rather than bring it up again. He takes off to avoid being noticed as Hime leaves the nearby room to approach the four girls. She thanks them for coming and Yume compliments the Premium Rare Dress, along with Lilie. Yume then decides that from this point on she won't ever talk about wanting to be like Hime anymore, she will focus on trying to find her own true goal. Lilie recalls a famous quote and encourages Yume, along with the other girls and Hime.

Characters

 * Hime Shiratori
 * Yume Nijino
 * Lilie Shirogane
 * Subaru Yūki
 * Laura Sakuraba
 * Koharu Nanakura
 * Mahiru Kasumi
 * Ako Saotome
 * Anna Hibiki
 * Hikaru Moroboshi

Trivia

 * Its revealed that Anna Hibiki and Momoko Yachigusa were students of Four Star Academy, and members of S4.
 * It's explained that, when joining the S4, the members either partner with an existing brand and become its muse or create their own.
 * Hime is revealed to be the creator of My Little Heart.
 * The Secret Diary Coord makes its debut in this episode.
 * So Beautiful Story makes its debut as an insert song.