Episode 121 - A Promise to the Future

A Promise to the Future (未来に約束) is the 121st episode of Aikatsu! TV anime series and the 20th episode of its "3rd Season". The episode aired on February 19, 2015.

Story
''As Miyabi prepares for her final performance before she returns home, Akari attempts to deal with her feelings of sadness knowing she is losing her new friend. ''

Summary
Miyabi looks over her journal and notices that she has not wrote in it for sometime. It wasn't that she didn't want to, but she had so much to write that she had no idea where to start. She notes that she only has three days left at Starlight before returning home in Kyoto.

Meanwhile, Akari meets up with Sumire, Juri, and Hinaki to announce she is the official Party Planner for the send-off party they will be holding. As the girls begin chattering about their plans, Akari thinks back to her first time with Miyabi and comments on how much they did this past month. Now that she has to leave she is beginning to feel lonely- but it isn't like them to be sad, she wants Miyabi to leave with nothing more than happy memories.

Later that day, Miyabi is in Orihime's office being informed of a special performance in honor of her last day as an exchange student. She is free to perform as a soloist or bring friends to perform with her, and Miyabi asks if she can use the stage as a competition. Orihime agrees, but voices surprise after she leaves, saying that she was sure she would have liked performing with Akari and her friends. Johnny claims this is fitting of Miyabi and they wonder who she will decide to challenge.

Sakura is running on the track when Miyabi steps in her path to stop her. She thinks about their performance at the Yamato Nadeshiko festival and decides she is the only person she wants to challenge. She explains this to Sakura, who agrees and an official announcement is put out shortly after.

Akari is shocked upon discovering the news and asks Miyabi for an explanation. She explains that she wants it to represent a compilation of her exchange experience, then shows them how she has a profile of Sakura already put together. She is very amazing in her eyes, and Hinaki mentions that Sakura is a top contender for the Starlight Queen Cup when it approaches this time, and Miyabi states that at this time she can't stand up to Sakura yet, so with this competition in mind she is putting more pressure on herself. She takes off to get started training.

She spends the day running for a while until she decides to stop for a break under a big tree. She thinks about one of the other times she did this, and how Akari, Hinaki, and herself talked beneath it, but rather than get nostalgic she gets up to resume training. She heads to one of the rooms in the school to practice singing and thinks about the time she and Akari rolled on giant balls, then begins to practice her dance while thinking about her training with Juri. As she finds herself thinking more about her time with her new friends, she heads to the Dojo one last time and recalls another memory. But when Sakura comes by she stops to take note that they are holding the same items.

Elsewhere, Hinaki shows the girls helping her design the decoration idea she drew. They compliment how nice everything goes together and how it fits Miyabi, with an eager Hinaki agreeing.

In the nearby room, Sumire and Juri take notes from Yotsuba, who is teaching them the best way to handle matcha-based confections. He remarks that he feels happy to be helping out and the girls thank him.

In the dorms, Akari stares at a blank piece of material and is unsure as to what to write on it until she spots the origami bunnies the girls made together sometime back. She wasn't confident in hers but Miyabi claimed the opposite, which made her feel better. But now she feels sad again. The others join her and when she reveals not having done anything yet, she shows them what she was considering but now they feel saddened also. Hinaki suggests that Akari get her mind off of it by doing something else for a little while, then she claims that maybe visiting Miyabi will give her inspiration. Akari is disappointed that she hasn't been able to help out yet, but they convince her that she has plenty of time since they won't be putting everything together until later.

Akari heads to the Dojo and runs inside after a loud sound surprises her. She finds Sakura and Miyabi training, and she admires the beauty of their elegant and swift gestures, and her surprised cry alerts them of her presence. They confess that they didn't notice her there due to being so engrossed within their naginata practice, and Akari admits that she had no idea Sakura practiced naginata too. Sakura points out that while she isn't a practitioner of it, she often partakes in training before a decisive match. They begin to discuss the concert again and Sakura promises that she will make sure to give it her all as a Starlight Academy Student. Miyabi thanks her, then asks Akari why she came to see them. Akari admits that she came to visit Miyabi but worries now that she is only interrupting, but both girls insist its fine.

As the sun begins to set, the girls change and Sakura leaves. Miyabi compliments Sakura and Akari suddenly realizes how much Miyabi has changed, recalling how she was able to shed her hesitation she originally presented upon arrival to Starlight, and now she seems to have truly discovered her Aikatsu. Miyabi wonders if this may be true and comments that meeting everyone helped her a lot more than she imagined.

They leave the dojo and Miyabi decides to go on a jog before bed, with a depressed Akari standing back to observe her. She returns to the room and begins to make more origami bunnies when Sakura spots her and comments on them before asking to speak to her. They get some tea and Akari expresses her sadness over Miyabi leaving, and Sakura recalls how upset she was when she found out Ichigo was leaving for America a few years ago. She was very sad, but she learned that the stronger the bond between two people the harder it is to part; she also learned that because of the bond, no matter how far apart they may be their hearts will remain connected. After she hears this Akari suddenly realizes that Sakura has a point, Miyabi will be leaving but it's not like they won't ever see each other again.

The day of the Special Live finally arrives. The girls stand together and wait for Miyabi, and to their surprise they observe her wearing the Starlight Uniform. They are all taken by it and compliment how cute she looks, but Miyabi is embarrassed over the skirts length. Akari asks her what made her decide to wear it, and Miyabi explains that it makes her feel like one of them- and she always thought of it as cute. She then scolds Hinaki for embarrassing her again and the girls share a cheer before she and Sakura head back to change. They appear on stage and perform Light Pink Day Tripper.

After the performance it is revealed that Sakura is the winner. While the girls feel sad for Miyabi's loss she applauds Sakura, showing her approval for the results. Everyone is happy for how the performance went as Sakura and Miyabi promise to stand on the same stage again. Back in Kyoto, Nagakao-sensei is shown having watched the performance.

At the send-off party, Akari has Miyabi give a speech. She tells everyone that she has learned a lot and she plans to cherish her memories and the lessons she learned for the rest of her life. They then reveal their hard worked treat they made for her, and share a big group photo before they go outside to see her off.

As the sun sets, Akari reveals her banner, which reads "see you again, Miyabi-chan!" and touches Miyabi deeply. Akari hands over the camellia origami she made and mentions the inspiration came from Miyabi's hair ornament. Miyabi thanks her and Akari tells her that she refuses to say goodbye to her; because as long as they have their Aikatsu they will see each other again someday. Miyabi agrees and with some parting words she takes off.

Several days later while on break, Miyabi sits down to watch as Akari puts on a forecast report. She looks at the flower origami that Akari made for her and she begins observing the bright sky.

Characters

 * Miyabi Fujiwara
 * Sakura Kitaōji
 * Akari Ōzora
 * Sumire Hikami
 * Hinaki Shinjō
 * Juri Kurebayashi
 * Yū Hattori
 * Orihime Mitsuishi
 * Mimi Watanuki
 * Arisa Mizukoshi
 * Reika Yūki
 * Matsuri Hasegawa
 * Ichigo Hoshimiya (magazine cameo)
 * Aoi Kiriya (magazine cameo)
 * Ran Shibuki (magazine cameo)
 * Otome Arisugawa (magazine cameo)
 * Yurika Tōdō (magazine cameo)
 * Kaede Ichinose (magazine cameo)
 * Mizuki Kanzaki (magazine cameo)
 * Seira Otoshiro (magazine cameo)
 * Shion Kamiya (magazine cameo)

Trivia

 * Miyabi wears the Starlight Uniform for the first time.
 * Both Miyabi and Sakura use the naginata to clear their minds.
 * This episode marks Sakura's first season 3 performance.

Gallery
Episode 121 - A Promise to the Future/Image gallery