Episode 117 - Sumire-Colored Singing Voice

Sumire-Colored Singing Voice (歌声はスミレ色) is the 117th episode of Aikatsu! TV anime series and the 16th episode of its "3rd Season". The episode aired on January 22, 2015.

Story
''Sumire is forced to make a tough decision upon realizing a lot of her job offers come due to her looks. After she chooses to just stick with the thing everyone else thinks she is good at, Akari tries to show Sumire that it is up to her to decide her path.''

Summary
Akari suddenly awakens after a night of tossing and turning to find Sumire watching her. At first she worries she woke her up, but Sumire explains that she wanted to see Akari off as her first day as a Weather Girl. After Akari thanks Sumire they share a laugh after Sumire comments on her bed-head. After Akari gets changed Sumire lends her a hand in fixing it and Akari thanks her before stating she would like to have smooth, straight hair like her. Sumire mentions liking Akari's hair as she sees her off, then she decides its now up to her to find out her specialty.

For breakfast the friends get together to watch Akari's first official broadcast of her weather program. The hosts announce her and she nervously stumbles while greeting the viewers and welcoming them to her segment, then she starts by telling them of the time and how it currently only 3 degrees. She is about to go on, only to forget the next part of her segment unil she's joined by a large blue and white otter, who will be her weather helper. She taps on the shell Ozorotter is holding and they reveal the weather will be sunny, but because of the wind its very chilly. She reminds viewers to wear warm clothing if they leave the house today, and her segment concludes.

The girls compliment Akari's efforts and while she messed up a couple of times she did very well. Juri was especially passionate regarding the program, while Hinaki pulls out a magazine to reveal her own news as of late; she passed the audition to be signed up as the exclusive model of Puchi-Puchi. She admits that it was Soleil who encouraged them to seek their special aspirations, and she didn't have any ideas until Akari went for the forecasting program and because of her love of fashion, she decided to try this. Her excitement deeply strikes Sumire and she realizes that she's the only one without a specialty in mind.

Just then she begins coughing, causing Juri and Hinaki to express worry. She explains that her throat is sore today, but she didn't want to miss her singing lessons, so she'll endure it. Noticing the time she leaves to change into training gear and heads to the lesson room to find her instructor waiting for her; but when Sumire starts coughing again the woman asks if she is okay. Seeing her struggle she decides they should skip the lesson if she isn't feeling well, and while Sumire tries insisting otherwise the woman refuses to let her, leaving the disappointed Sumire to change back into her uniform and take off.

Walking down the hallway Sumire gets a call from Orihime and she reports to her office, where she informs her that she was invited to partake in an audition to become image girl for a new shampoo brand. She shows Sumire an image of the audition poster and mentions how her name was brought up as one of the promising candidate for it, then she goes on to remind Sumire that its up to her on whether or not she takes the audition after noticing her disappointment. Many idol have walked down several paths before they found the Aikatsu they could call their own- she has many choices because its still early in her career, and it should be only her choice as to what kind of idol she wants to be.

Before Sumire leaves Orihime points out that she has until the following Monday to decide if she wants to participate in the audition. Sumire begins to cough before she leaves, and Orihime recalls hearing Sumire say she really loves to sing, but a lot of her job offers only come to her due to her beauty. She has a choice of pursuing her own idol goals, or picking to do something that would be too easy for her.

That evening, Sumire returns to her dorm room to think over her options. She looks over the audition poster when Akari arrives to see it, voicing that she is sure Sumire would pass. As Sumire begins to cough again Akari asks if she is okay, and Sumire brings up the Herbal Tea her sister use to make for her when she got sick.

A bit later the girls turn in for bed but neither of them can sleep, and Akari brings up Sumire's hesitation for this shampoo audition and asks if she really wants to do it. Sumire claims that she doesn't not want to do it, and Akari mentions her assumption that Sumire would focus on singing raher than continue taking modeling work. Sumire admits that while she loves to sing she is also really happy that she was singled out for a job offer as a sign of her growth as an idol. She really wants to do her best, and if all of the industry veterans think this is the path she is suited for, then she should just stay on it. She wishes Akari a good night -seemingly unaware of her disappointment in this answer- and goes to bed.

The next day Sumire takes part in a photo-shoot. They call a break and begin to overlook her pictures, commenting that they are really nice. Sumire happens to listen to them discuss her and the upcoming Shampoo Girl Audition and she becomes a little sad while overlooking her phone. To her surprise she spots an audition for Rookie Singers who can win a CD Debut for coming into first place, but she sees the audition will take place on the 19th, the same day as the shampoo audition.

On her way back to Starlight Academy, Sumire stares at the audition post until arriving, in which she thanks the driver and exits the vehicle. She is still saddened and comes to the decision that she can't blow off the modeling audition.

Meanwhile, Akari has been waiting for Sumire's older sister, Azusa, and she sees her with a friend as they leave a building. Akari apologizes for dropping by so suddenly and they head off to discuss Sumire due to her worries. Azusa admits disappointment since she assumed Sumire would be pursuing a Singer's path after the concert she had been invited to a while back, and Akari agrees before saying that she's sure if Azusa gave Sumire a little push she would make the right decision, but Azusa counters by saying it's entirely Sumire's decision regardless of their own opinions. Akari then brings up that it was Azusa who encouraged Sumire to come to Starlight Academy, but Azusa claims that was her decision too. She often worried that her reserved personality would make it hard for her to fit in, but she thinks the reason she can do so well is because she made a good friend like Akari. As the big sister, her job is just to watch over Sumire.

Sumire comes into the office to find Orihime with someone. She is introduced to Mizutani-san, the woman in charge of the shampoo commercial they would be doing. She dropped by in order to meet Sumire and provide her with some samples of the product and Sumire thanks her, easily winning the woman over. She is sure that Sumire fits the look they are searching for and is excited to see her Audition, but while Sumire seems happy Orihime can't avoid being suspicious.

Later, Sumire returns to the dorms with the bag she was given and she sets it down, deciding to take it as she planned as Akari appears with her own bag. She tells Sumire to wait a moment and runs off, and after a few minutes she returns with tea, much to Sumire's surprise. She quickly recognizes it as being her sisters and Akari reveals what happened earlier, and how she asked for the recipe to help Sumire with her cold. Sumire thanks Akari and thinks about how much she loves singing, and how before joining the school she was too shy to sing in front of others. But she began to open up when Azusa convinced her that she was very talented, and she really liked how it felt. Sumire remains uncertain unil she decides to read her fortune, then with Akari's friendship and words, she finally realizes what it is she must do.

The following day, Sumire heads to the location of the Shampoo Production. Johnny-sensei, dressed in a nice suit joins her to lend her a hand talking to Mizutani. At first Sumire apologizes for turning down the offer, and she explains that above all else she wants to be a singer. Even though she doesn't know if she will pass this Audition she still wants to try and follow her feelings, then she apologizes again due to having been specifically chosen. Mizutani admits that she is disappointed, but above all else she's very happy Sumire is going to be honest and came to see her to let her know that. She mentions that she would like to hear Sumire sing, and Sumire promises to do her best for the upcoming audition she signed up for.

From that point on, Sumire uses the remaining time left to sing and train for her Audition. Her cold passed with help from Akari and her sister, and one day as she was practicing Orihime was walking by and stopped to observe her. She is glad to see Sumire chose to follow her passion.

Sumire goes out for a run and she is joined by the others. While surprised to see them she happily runs to catch up to them.

During the day of the Audition she watches as Akari ends her Forecast Segment. Then she leaves, where the announcer reveals that the winner of the audition will be granted a Debut CD and there are seven girls in total who have showed up from Starlight School and Dream Academy. As this is going on, the girls are shown to watch the audition go on from where they're at.

Sumire runs to the Aikatsu changing area and with her desired coord, she appears on stage to perform Tarte・Tatin. Once the auditions finish its revealed she won, and Sumire returns to the Academy to find the others waiting for her. She embraces them as they congratulate her and she thanks them, then calls Azusa to inform her of the news.

Characters

 * Sumire Hikami
 * Akari Ōzora
 * Hinaki Shinjō
 * Juri Kurebayashi
 * Azusa Hikami
 * Mitsuru Nagahama
 * Ayako Mizutani

Trivia

 * The record company A-Palette Records that opened an audition in this episode is a parody from a real-life idol-producing record company T-Palette Records.