User blog:Staraptor Kwan/Aikatsu Stars! Episode 6 Review: Lights, Camera, and...Meow!? (Not finished yet, currently still editing it)



A new drama's been announced (keep in mind that it's the first drama of the new series) and S4 will be starring in it. Naturally, Tsubasa's the main lead, with the drama being a school rock band story titled: " Rock! Rock Girls!."

Said drama doesn't take very long to catch the attraction of the main trio. Both Yume and Laura jump at the opportunity to take part, but Koharu is less than eager. It takes some persuasion by Yume in the form of another one of Koharu's fantasies about Yozora (see above left) to finally make Ms Obvious Fangirl to go along for the audition.



Later on, while the trio debate on the basics of acting and such, Anna makes her entrance in style(dang, why couldn't you just carry around that guitar every week?) and announces that a certain instructor will be coaching them. Said instructor is obviously none other than Tsubasa herself, who proceeds to lead all the auditioners to the lesson room for some hands on training.

Once they are all on scene, Tsubasa begins with the reading of the script. Basically, it's about a studyholic student who one day witnesses a male rock band's performance (no prices for guessing who portrays them) and afterwards decides to form her own band. Tsubasa's description is so realistic to the point that the entire class is totally convinced that it was real, also showing off her pitch-perfect acting abilities in just only one scene.

Both Yume and Laura act out their part with the gracefulness of a elephant skating on ice. '''It's a important reminder to the audience that even acting out a simple scene can be tough, especially for rookies like the two of them. '''

All of a sudden, Toudou Yurika appears from out of nowhere! Oops, sorry, wrong character. It's none other than Saotome Ako, who at long last makes her debut appearance in the series. And she instantly makes a fine initial impression by showing off her superior acting skills, which isn't all that surprising considering the fact that she's the most talented first year among her Bird Theater Class brethen.

Soon afterwards, the main trio decide to head to a local bookstore to do some research in order to prepare for the audition. Over there, they look into gariben (studyholic) and comment about some ideas for their acting (makeup and candy included)...abeit a bit too loudly, raising the ire of other customers. The main trio bail out partly due to embarassment; but their presence has not gone unnoticed by '''two certain guys. Also, we find out that Ako has another hidden side of herself: stalking and fangirling over her "Subaru-kyun." '''

Outside of the bookstore, Yume and co are taking a breather when those two guys walk over to say hi. Yup, it's none other than Subaru himself, accompanied by his friend Nozomi, who sadly still doesn't really get that much character development as of this episode.

Subaru removes his disguise and when his is question deflected by Yume, he simply replies that he was just buying a book. Then he moves way too close to Yume, peeks in her notes and well, naturally laughs because of the sentence "doesn't get candy." Yeah, that's legit for sure. Yume angrily reprimands him and states that they are preparing for the drama audition; Subaru informs them that M4 will star in that drama as well. Then here comes the classic educational Aikatsu montage: Yume and co get schooled by Subaru on acting, namely by telling to just act naturally and confidently, instead of trying to be perfect straight from the start. Afterwards, he and Nozomi leave the scene, with Laura remarking that Subaru has a point.

'At that moment, Ako goes into mad cat mode and claws-uh, sorry shoves Yume  out of pure jealousy. Dang, that Ako is one jealous and possessive cat, if you ask me.

It's the first ever interaction between Yume's group and Ako, and the latter is defintely not in a welcoming mood; she claws at Yume (again!) and does one of those 'I will never lose to you!" fingerpoints before running off. Ako's cat-like traits are just so funny and adorable. Personality wise, she also resembles Yurika; both of them have very extreme tsundere tendencies and have animal motifs as their signature characterizations, the former a cat, the latter a vampire bat.



On the day of the audition, everyone goes through their routines while being overseen by a super enthusiastic director (look at those stars in his eyes, man!). Afterwards, he announces that Yume's group (including Ako, duh) has passed into the next round. The main trio are understandably pleased and for the first time in this series, they high-five each other, thus marking their blossoming friendship.





Later on, Yume and co go through the 2nd round of the audition, with varying if improved acting standards. After their part ends, Yume converses with Tsubasa, and the latter states that while their acting is still unpolished, it wasn't really that bad due to the amount of confidence that Yume and co had displayed. This line of conversation not only proves that Tsubasa, while still being honest, is able to give encouraging praise to those who have truly improved on their acting, and it also means that Yume and co followed Subaru's advice well.

But now it's time for the rest of the S4 to play their part, and they prove to be as good as Tsubasa when it comes to acting. Their acting is neat, and the climax of the act comes during Hime's part: it's worth noting that whlist the dialogue spoken between Hime and Tsubasa is merely acting on their part, it is most likely that this dialogue holds some secret meaning; it's probably an early insight into Hime's past. Or maybe it's just speculation, but at this stage anything is possible.

M4 are also putting in some work, and Laura once again notes that M4 are really living up to their name as the top male idol unit. Notice that Ako is hiding in the background once more fangirling over Subaru. Anyway, during a shoot, the starry-eye director informs Subaru that the scene he's acting in is lacking in something. Subaru, ever the ingenuitive guy he is, decides to give his character a girlfriend in order to give him a motive to win Rock Koshien. Oh, yes, yes, so who's the lucky girl that's going to play his girlfriend? "squeals".



You got that right, people. It's none other than our main heroine herself, Yume who gets picked mainly because of her ribbon again, due to a running gag that began way back in Episode 4. Anyway, due to seeing her crush getting to chump it out with another girl, Ako isn't in the best of moods.

Due to the scene being off-scripted, both of them have to ad-lib it. I like how Subaru's goading at Yume's hesitation instantly transitioned into a well played acting scene. Yume responds to Subaru's challenge by stating that by never giving up, he would defintely realize his dream for sure.

And then this happens.''' Subaru moves forward and embraces her. '''In other words, he just straight up hugged her. Cue pure shrieks of joy from the shippers who have longed for this moment and groans of disappointment from the antishippers (Ako's reaction was too funny if cliched). Yes, while antishippers would argue that this scene was merely an act filled with fanservice, it also serves to''' indicate that Aikatsu Stars! is utilizing the shoujo element to create a far more dramatic and mature storyline, and this is an perfect example.'''

Also, up to this point, it's worth noting that for all of Ako's cuteness and tsundere-like tendencies, not much of her inner character has been shown to the audience. For the sake of pragmatism, Ako's fangirling over Subaru could have been postponed to another episode. While her going all-out on Yume due to being jealous is actually quite funny, Ako has been denied a chance to make far more of an first impression on her debut, and it's a shame nonetheless. Although it's still early in the series so we might get to know her more sometime soon.



With the production wrapped up, it's finally time for 'Rock! Rock Girls!' to be cast on stage. And it defintely does not disappoint at all. The eccentric entrances by the S4 cast, emotional dialogue between Tsubasa and her band members, and best of all, the song being sung by S4 during their live performance is filled with pure awesomeness and totally fits the main theme of the drama. Without any doubt, the traditional quality of dramas from the original series is noticeable, and it's very impressive to see it fit in neatly within the pace of the storyline. It's a pretty good ending for an impressive episode, nonetheless.

Also, dat Ako is just so cute and adorable to the max; oh, you are such a nice little kitty cat,here let me stroke those fluffy ears of yo-MMMEEEEOOOOWWWWWW!!!!!!!!!!!

Verdict:

The Good: ​The Bad: ​Score: 9/10
 * Well-developed drama that sends out a powerful and moral message torwards the audience.
 * S4's portrayal as a rock band is a very contrasting yet interesting concept.
 * Excellent characterization and pace of storyline.
 * Plenty of fanservice in form of shipping within this episode, hinting torwards a far more shoujo-driven plot.
 * Ako's cat-like personality is a nostalgic if different outtake on Toudou Yurika.
 * Ako's debut appearance is tarnished by the apparent lack of focus on her inner character.
 * The rest of S4 (namely Nozomi) are yet to have any sort of character development thus far.

Conclusion:

'''Episode 6: ROCK! Rock Girls! manages to combine fanservice, shipping, throwbacks, a good plot, amazing soundtracks and a important message on never giving up on your dreams into one delightful episode. '''

Afterword:

Wow, just...wow. I had seen the preview for this episode so I knew that Ako would be making her debut appearance and S4 would be staring in a drama with Tsubasa in the lead. What I did not expect was, well, everything else. THAT HUGGING SCENE THOUGH! Anyway, next episode will finally focus on Laura, and I really hope that's going to turn out to be well!