Episode 52 - Welcome Home♫Strawberry

"Come together"

- Aikatsu Aphorism

Welcome Home♫Strawberry (おかえり♫ストロベリー) is the is the 52nd episode of the Aikatsu! TV Anime series and the 2nd episode of it's "Second Season" (２年目), this episode premiered on October 10, 2013.

Yoichi Kato wrote the scenario and Nobuhiro Kondō did the storyboard. Mitsuhito Yamaji directed the episode while Hatsue Nakayama and Ken'ichi Watanabe directed the animation.

Story
''During the stages of the Duel between Starlight School and Dream Academy, Ichigo returns from America! However, with the new Constellation Appeal comes a new despair. ''

Plot
Shocked, everyone stares at Ichigo as she remarks how it only feels like she's been gone for a week. It's then a man comes in to inform Aoi that she has to get ready and will be going on stage in a few minutes, but Ichigo spots her nervousness as Seira and Kii come by. They greet Ichigo, having heard of her and express surprise to see that she has suddenly shown up. While Kii is worried, Seira goes in to speak to Ichigo- only to be interrupted when she hugs her.

To everyone's surprise she was able to perform the Constellation Appeal, and the girls remark on how much she has grown since last year as Orihime arrives to speak to her. Aoi explains why she made this switch, bringing up that she overheard her speaking about retirement, and she was worried over losing and ruining them. Orihime believes Aoi could have handled it though, saying that she chose her because of her trust she has in Aoi's abilities. These words leave Aoi concerned as it is soon announced that the event ended in a tie. While mostly everyone is happy, few are left in shock.

As Ichigo leaves the stage she is met by Orihime and is complimented for pulling off this special new Appeal. Ichigo claims it was only luck but Orihime claims that has given her hope for the Academy's future. As a reward she hands Ichigo the brand new upgraded Aikatsu Phone, as well as the Scorpion mark for using the Constellation Appeal.

Seira prepares to leave when she brings up her plans of not losing to Ichigo anytime soon. As they seprate, Kii curiously asks what "Width is missing", after Ichigo says it to them and she finds out the Japanese variation of it would be "haba naissu ne", which sounds like "Have a nice day" in English. Inspired, Seira says it back to Ichigo.

Ichigo has come to visit Otome, who now lives where Mizuki used to live during her time at the Academy and has renamed it "Otome Mansion". Ichigo is delighted to find a party being thrown in her honor and they exchange a cheer before the party begins. Ichigo brings up why she is returning so soon, recalling how she had a lot of fun but she thought it was time to return home. They ask what she did while she was gone, and Ichigo says instead of attending school she went around doing whatever she could find: like singing in a gospel choir, street dancing, selling seaweed bento in Manhattan, cleaning the statue of liberty, training in the army, and she even met an Orca she befriended and named Thomas. They go on to ask her if she learned any English and Ichigo admits that she made do with what she could, such as saying "fried tofu" to get off of the bus, because it sounds like "I get off". She also learned "Come together", "don't mind", and "wash my car". These cause the group to show concern but they let it go since she managed to get by one way or the other.

Later, the girls have fallen asleep- with the exception of Ichigo, Aoi, and Ran. Ichigo brings up that there is still a lot of information she hasn't told them yet, but rather then say it she points out how Mizuki quit attending the Academy. Aoi mentions that when Mizuki left she announced that she would be halting her Idol career for the time and nobody knows what she is up to now. Ichigo admits that while this may be true, she wants to stand on stage with the idol she admires someday.

Aoi continues on to describe how much Aikatsu has changed there, bringing up how designers throughout the world have combined to form a World Designer Council. This years theme is Constellations, so everyone at Starlight Academy needs to learn how to perform the associated Appeals if they want to help the school keep up with Dream Academy.

As this is going on, Seira offers Kii her favorite drink in order to get her to find more information about Ichigo.

In their dorm room while Ichigo unpacks, she hides a note and shuts the drawer when Aoi walks in with some drinks. Ichigo suggests that they do some research on Seira, following by trying to get a closer look at Dream Academy.

The following day, she, Aoi, and Ran approach the school and Ichigo is left feeling discouraged since it isn't as dramatic as Aoi incidentally made it out to be. They girls use swimming gear in order to sneak onto school grounds, and while they hide Aoi asks her how she learned to do this. Ichigo claims it was on a mission, but she is unable to go into detail when someone catches them. They apologize for sneaking onto the grounds and he tells them to just go through the main entrance.

As they step inside Aoi fills her friends in on what she has learned abotut the school in the mean time. While Starlight Academy focuses on Idols exclusively, Dream Academy offers that and two other courses: Producer and Designer. While they observe the various students, Aoi also brings up a popular designer and Idol by the name of Sora Kazesawa. She has won awards and is attempting to start her own brand.

Nearby is a dark hallway with a strange room. The girls decide not to bother with it however, unaware that Seira and Kii are in there awaiting the results of data. As Seira observes what Kii managed to find, Kii fills her in on Aoi and Ran, and how they were a trio unit with Ichigo before she left. For a moment Seira gets distracted, believing she heard someone but when she looks she is unable to find anything.

In the hallway, Aoi scolds Ichigo for almost getting them caught. She admits to being impressed and she catches Kii and Seira walking by, so they follow them to a nearby room and watch as Seira calms herself down, then watch as she uses the fancy machinery to tone her lower body, sign autographs, and put coords togther. Aoi remarks on how different this is from their own school, but as they wonder who could have come up with this stuff, they are unaware of Mizuki; who is nearby observing them from another hall.

Character Appearances

 * Ran Shibuki
 * Aoi Kiriya
 * Otome Arisugawa
 * Kaede Ichinose
 * Sakura Kitaoji
 * Yurika Todo
 * Ichigo Hoshimiya


 * Orihime Mitsuishi
 * Johnny Bepp
 * Tiara Yumesaki
 * Seira Otoshiro
 * Ki Saegusa
 * Sora Kazesawa


 * Mizuki Kanzaki

Trivia

 * Starting with this episode, Ichigo has changed her intro to the episodes.
 * Ichigo has listed some english words she learned in America:
 * 揚げ豆腐・・・I get off (Ageobu)
 * 噛むと餃子・・・Come together (Kamuto gyoza)
 * うどんうまーい・・・Don't mind! (Udonmai)
 * うおっシューマイか・・・Wash my car (Uo~ Shyuumai ka~)
 * This Episode marks the debute of the Suite Devil Coord, which is the only rare constellation coord to be featured in a performance.