Episode 01 - The Beginning of a Dream

The Beginning of a Dream (ゆめのはじまり) is the premiere episode of the Aikatsu Stars! Anime Series. It aired on April 7, 2016.

Summary
Yume Nijino is a first year middle school student who attends the idol school, Four Star Academy, as a freshman student. Within the school is an idol group consisting of four idols known as "S4", and within that group is Hime Shiratori who Yume yearns to be partners with. To start this new life, there will be a show on the main stage for all freshman students to compete in. As this is the first stage, Yume is to show herself on that stage!?

Plot
Yume hurries along the train station to meet up with her best friend, Koharu. She's nearly late and she almost runs into a man before exiting the station. As she is running, she thinks about earlier in class when she and Koharu were tasked with writing down their future plans and aspirations. She saw Koharu was struggling until revealing hers, where she suggested they join S4, a popular idol group.

At the concert hall, Yume apologizes for keeping Koharu waiting and they head inside. They are seated and S4 appear, thanking the audience for showing up today. Their leader Hime then heads off to change clothes, and on stage she performs Start Line! for everyone.

With their dreams firmly set, Koharu and Yume mail in their submission forms to join Four Star Academy.

On the day of the entrance ceremony Yume and Koharu compliment their cute new uniforms while wondering if they will get the chance meeting the S4. They are led to a large room where the Principal steps on stage to welcome everyone after tossing aside a flower. He formally introduces their upperclassmen and challenges them to become as radiant as they. One by one the four give words of encouragement to the students, starting with Yozora of the Moon Beauty Class. She tells everyone that while it is hard, they can make it through together; followed by Yuzu, who reveals she is part of the Wind Dance Class and promises to help everyone new do heir best. Tsubasa of Bird Theater Class proclaims of her intentions to whip everyone into shape using love, and lastly Hime, who introduces Flower Song Class and asks that if anyone feels loss they seek them out.

With the meeting over, Yume sadly laments not sharing class with Koharu. Before they split up Koharu reminds her that they will see each other plenty. Yume enters her classroom and their teacher Anna Hibiki introduces herself. She starts the lesson by bringing up how vital individuality is for self-production, a tool idols must seek out if they want to get far. She hands over everyone's ID and Aikatsu Mobile and suggests everyone stop by the Dress Make Room later to get their first coords. Yume anxiously returns to her seat when she hears a gentle knock on the nearby window. She tries ignoring it until she spots a pink-haired girl, and she opens it to let her in. The girl asks for Yume's name after she is seated, but before she can give her own Anna suddenly calls out to her, revealing her name is Laura. Anna chews out Laura by remarking that she must have high opinions of herself if she thinks showing up late is okay. Laura gives an offhanded apology, which earns approval from Anna and she lets it slide for today. This surprises everyone as Laura sits back down after receiving her items.

Eventually the bell rings, where Anna warns everyone to wisely use their free time. Yume and Koharu reunite and chat as they wonder what they should do next, noticing some students heading to the dorms while others prepare for training. Yume suggests they explore the campus to begin with and Koharu shows her a special App that has a guided tour hosted by S4. They use it to find their way around to the Cafeteria, the dormitory, and the Dress Make room. An older classmate introduces them to the system and explains how it works through demonstration, explaining Dress Making as a system where one must pick a color and style. Once they finish the cards are printed out and they can use them for performance. She hands over the cards used in the demonstration and the duo head outside. Some girls rush by excitedly chatting about S4 and out of curiosity, Yume and Koharu follow them to find a limousine waiting for the glamorous S4 who have some recording work. After some chatting, Yume suddenly gets an idea and runs off, much to Koharu's surprise when she turns to find her missing.

Yume wanted to see Hime leave, so she climbs a tall tree further down the path that the limo will be traveling. But by the time she reaches the top she sees the vehicle is too far away. Just then a boy yells up to Yume and calls her out on doing something like that while wearing her uniform. This flusters Yume and she falls, right onto the boy's lap. He rudely asks her to get off, stating she's heavy and Yume awkwardly apologizes and gets up. He attempts to figure out what she was up to but Yume points out that he shouldn't be there and is a stranger, which causes the male to express amusement before informing her that she can call security all she likes; but as she's trespassing on the boy's side of the Academy she is technically in the wrong. He begins to pick on Yume after she panics, remarking that at least one girl does this each year. He compares her reddened, frustrated face to a tomato and takes off.

The following day, class sorting auditions are about to begin. The girls start their singing warmups, where Anna wastes no time criticizing Yume and complimenting Laura. Throughout the day, Laura shows superiority over Yume when they train until they end the session. Despite how terrible she was, Yume remains hopeful that she will do better and tells this to Koharu, who reminds Yume that she's a great singer. Even if Anna didn't like it, her singing always cheers her up. It's then Anna comes by to inform everyone to change and gather in the concert hall for the Trainee Debut Concert- alarming the girls as they were unaware of this being a thing until now.

On stage, Anna sends everyone off after giving them a pep talk and explaining that they will be performing before their senior S4 members, along with teachers and other faculty watching. The girls retreat to the waiting room, with Koharu admitting that she is nervous until she is called on the stage. Yume encourages her and attempts to keep calm. When her turn is called, she thinks about her desire to shine like Hime and the rest of S4 and runs down the corridor to put her cards onto the panels before the room transforms. She changes into her coord and now on stage, puts on a performance of Aikatsu☆Step!.

Everyone applauds Yume and S4 teasingly wonder if she is actually new or not because of how well she did. Yume stands on the stage, overwhelmed by everything and suddenly, she blacks out. Everyone is alarmed and they rush to her side.

Yume awakens later on to find herself in the Infirmary with Hime. Yume is so shocked from embarrassment that she begins to cry as Hime compliments her. She wipes her tears and Yume proclaims herself to be a long-time admirer of Hime, who calls her by name, much to her surprise. Hime says nothing more other than to suggest she rests more and promises to talk again later. As she leaves Koharu runs into the room and Yume apologizes for worrying her. She feels fine and doesn't really know what happened. Koharu brings up her amazing performance but when Yume is unable to remember it, Koharu shows the recording and reveals the various comments made by the upperclassmen and staff members. Yume is amazed, but she feels concerned as she can't remember any of it.

Characters

 * Yume Nijino
 * Laura Sakuraba
 * Koharu Nanakura
 * Hime Shiratori
 * Tsubasa Kisaragi
 * Yuzu Nikaidō
 * Yozora Kasumi
 * Subaru Yūki
 * Hikaru Moroboshi
 * Anna Hibiki
 * Ako Saotome (cameo appearance)
 * Mahiru Kasumi (cameo appearance)

Trivia

 * This episode marks the debut of the anime adaption of Aikatsu Stars!
 * This episode marks the debut of Yume Nijino, Laura Sakuraba, Koharu Nanakura, Hime Shiratori, Tsubasa Kisaragi, Yuzu Nikaidō, Yozora Kasumi, Subaru Yūki, Hikaru Moroboshi and Anna Hibiki.
 * This episode marks the cameo appearance of Ako Saotome and Mahiru Kasumi.
 * The songs Start Line! and Aikatsu☆Step! debuts as an insert song.
 * The ending theme song episode Solo is first used in this episode.
 * The Dreaming Princess Coord and the Pink Star Coord makes its debut in this episode.
 * The word Dream (ゆめ) from the episode title implies both a person's dream and the character Yume Nijino.