Episode 17 - Serious Switch!

Serious Switch! (本気のスイッチ！) is the seventeenth episode of the Aikatsu Stars! Anime Series. It aired on August 4th, 2016.

Summary
The quartet, Yume Nijino, Laura Sakuraba, Koharu Nanakura and Ako Saotome will make a guest appearance on the popular variety program for M4, and they hope they are ready for it. But Ako, only longs for Subaru Yūki who seems rather worried, as she appears to have forgotten her role as an idol...

Plot
Yume, Laura, and Koharu watch a program hosted by M4, a program they will be getting a chance to appear on. Koharu is very excited as Laura reminds the girls that this opportunity is because of their efforts. Ako fawns over Subaru as she watches. Her chance to be with Subaru is coming.

Back in the dorms, the girls observe their scripts. They will be participating in a few segments, which involve talking, cooking, and singing. As they realize the guys have a program like S4, they begin to wonder what sort of segments their show would have if they had one too.

Meanwhile, Ako happily thinks about how much she knows about Subaru in her room. But recalling that Yume will be there, she begins to recall the last time they interacted. To distract herself she decides to work on her outfit for the program.

Eventually the girls arrive on day of filming and Yume attempts to kindly greet Ako seeing as she's already there. Ako tells her off and the director appears to share some words with the girls. The M4 join them and quickly Subaru teases Yume and they begin to bicker, with Ako attempting to get their attention. She expresses delight when he addresses her by name, and the guys suggest to the girls that they should focus on enjoying themselves and have fun. The Director takes off and Ako celebrates her minor victory until the girls compliment her cute behavior- which flusters her greatly.

With that, they have a quick practice and go over the days events. Ako finds herself unable to concentrate until Yume brings up the "blank lines" in the script, which is explained to be a free space section, for people to discuss without the use of a script. The guys also provide further exposition about various little things to make sure the girls understand, and they remind them not to become too stressed out during filming. Ako barely pays attention when Subaru and Yume resume bickering, and she becomes frustrated. When the show begins, everyone introduces themselves, where Ako quickly attempts to ruin Yume's intro in hopes of getting Subaru to respond. It seems to work, but she continues butting in as they try to ask the others some questions.

Soon the director gives Yume a reminder that the guys released a new song, so she takes the cue and asks them about it. They discuss the meaning of the song, which turns into them asking if anyone has played volleyball before. Yume admits that she used to be in volleyball club in elementary school, so she tries to think back to those days whenever she feels lazy or unmotivated. She starts bickering with Subaru again, making everyone -but Ako- laugh.

A break is called and the girls are warned the cooking segment will begin shortly. Ako heads into a hall when Kanata stops to chat with her. She grows flustered when he brings up how much she likes Subaru, but he calls her transparent and warns her to be more careful- as idols they are equal, but she's acting like a fan. Ako claims not to understand and storms off in a poor mood. When the program resumes Asahi announces the cooking segment, which is usually split between the four of them. But because of the girls being there, they will split into two groups, while they act as the judges. Laura and Yume go on one side, while Ako and Koharu go on another. Ako attempts to go over what she knows and decides they should make an egg dish, so Koharu gives her permission to lead them. Kanata shows concern for Ako as she fixes the eggs Koharu accidentally burns.

When the two teams finish the girls take the foods to the table. Both sets of foods are very delicious so they call it a tie- but Ako saw how much Subaru liked the dishes Laura and Yume made, so she considers this a loss. She is approached by Kanata again and he criticizes her lack of concern for others; all she sees is Subaru. He asks her what made her become an idol and asks if pursuing Subaru is a good enough reason.

Ako is startled by his words and she leaves for the waiting room, where she puts more thought into it until Koharu apologizes for making them lose the cooking challenge. Ako assures her its unnecessary since she was to blame for not focusing enough, for now they should put it behind them and focus on the final segment of the show, the singing portion. Ako notices how nervous Koharu is suddenly, so she calms her by suggesting she take a deep breath and imagine herself singing like she normally would.

Koharu feels better and decides to go outside for some air before they go back out, and as Ako prepares to leave the room she finds the scripts left opened, and it dons on her that she was too focused on Subaru. She sees notes and other little details Yume did for her script that she realizes she barely put in any effort in comparison, focusing more on appealing to him then everyone, like an idol should. When the show is ready to resume, Ako decides that as an idol she will go out to sing for herself. She changes coords and performs August Marina.

Afterwards, the guys are dazzled by her performance and they compliment her. Ako is delighted as Subaru approaches her with a bottle of water, and she prepares to run after him when she bumps into Kanata. He comments on how she is acting like an Idol now, but she only pays him attention for a moment before she resumes chasing after Subaru.

Characters

 * Ako Saotome
 * Subaru Yūki
 * Yume Nijino
 * Laura Sakuraba
 * Koharu Nanakura
 * Nozomu Igarashi
 * Asahi Kasumi
 * Kanata Kira

Trivia

 * August Marina makes its debut as an insert song.