Episode 31 - An Idol on Mother's Day

An Idol on Mother's Day! (母の日はアイドル!) is the 31st episode of Aikatsu! TV anime series and the 31st episode of its "1st Season". The episode aired on May 16, 2013.

Story
''As Mother's Day approaches, an audition is announced in which student pairs will be performing Wake up my music, Masquerade's song. With the theme being "Nostalgic Melody", Aoi puts everyone on a 'retro' training regime.''

Summary
Ichigo and Aoi find Sakura overlooking the statue of Masquerade. They tell her which is Hime, and which is Miya, before mentioning that Hime is actually Orihime and bringing up how they debuted twenty years ago and became instant top idols. Even though they are disbanded as of now, they still hold the records for both show attendance and record sales. Nobody knows why they suddenly quit though, with Miya suddenly vanishing one day and how nobody knows who she is. Sakura asks why they disbanded, and Aoi brings up the most popular theories; some believe they got into an arguement, while others believe Miya got injured and could no longer perform. Ichigo compliments Aoi for knowing so much, and Sakura promises that one day she will become a top idol as well.

With that the girls chat about Mothers Day coming up, and Aoi brings up why it takes place on the day it does- explaining how it celebrates the day of a well-known womans rights movement. Ichigo asks Yurika about her mother, and she claims she is a vampire named Carmilla, followed by Sakura, who breaks out the Kitaouji theater and describes her as a noble hearted woman who is very popular in theater; only to stop after informing Ran her story would take about an hour and a half. When Aoi mentions that they wouldn't have time to finish it before break ends, Ichigo realizes she never ate her strawberry rice cake pudding, trying to hurriedly dig in before she gets yanked away from it as break ends.

In class, Johnny mentions the next audition that has come up, known as the Nostamelo Girl audition. He brings up that it has a nostalgic theme in order to connect to their parents, and everyone gets excited after he announces that the song will be by the legendary Masquerade. The audition will also be held in pairs, and he tells the girls to give it their all.

Once class ends the girls chat about how popular the song is an Aoi shows everyone some pictures from the units performance. They decide to get to some special training, which consists of pulling really heavy rollers with thin bars to hold onto. Aoi explains that is a very old method and she is sure it will help them connect with the retro theme, and while the girls find this unbearable they continue on- until they notice Yurika won't do it. She claims she is unable, since she could risk turning into a big pile of ash from sun exposure. She remains insistant, watching them from the safety of her parasol.

Back inside, the girls strap on devices to help them stretch and pose, with Aoi announcing their name of ''Supermodel Training Braces. ''Sakura complains of how tight they are, while Otome ends up falling to the floor curled up in a ball and unable to pull herself apart. Ran tries to encourage her by saying that Yurika is still hanging on, and Yurika claims this is because of the strength of her vampires body, as well as the fact that she drinks a lot of tomato juice. Encouraged, Otome attempts to get back up.

Eventually they remove the braces and lay around to try and relax for a bit, only for Aoi to suggest that they divide into pairs to try practicing the song. Ichigo asks if they should each pick, but Ran thinks it would be more fair by picking them at random, so Aoi decides to do it with a game of rock-paper-scissors. She is partnered up with Ichigo, followed by Sakura and Otome, and lastly Yurika an Ran; or just Ran after Yurika claims to be kind of busy. Ran accuses her of slacking off and not even trying, while Yurika brings up that she can't be in the sunlight. She informs her that she won't do well without training but Yurika refuses, so Ran grabs her parasol and runs off, causing Yurika to chase her while demanding it back. With everything settled, everyone resumes their training.

Later, Aoi and Ichigo are in the middle of a special dance class. The woman training them begins hurling insults, causing Ichigo to fear their training isn't paying off if there isn't any improvement. The woman goes on to point out that without improvement, effort means nothing, causing both girls to feel deflated and ready to give up as they continue.

Returning to the dorms, Aoi decides to leave a message on Kirakiratter and Ichigo suddenly remembers something. She takes a picture of Aoi for mothers day, but Aoi doesn't understand why until later, when Ichigo reveals getting them for Raichi.

Visiting her mother, Ichigo and Raichi hurry to locate her to present her with their flowers. Ringo cuts some of the stem and she explains why she does it before placing them into a flower pot, going on to notice that they are both wearing aprons. Raichi explains that because it's Mothers Day they want to do more work to help her out, so they insist that she just relaxes. They bring her some items in order to ensure she has a nice and easy day and get to work after massaging her shoulders and feet. They run off to do some spring cleaning, dusting and cleaning floors, doing laundry, and picking weeds.

By this point the duo are worn out, but they want to keep working to make her proud of them and so that they can show her how much she means to them. They come inside later to find her missing, going into the kitchen to find her in the middle of cooking. She explains that she is making dinner and Ichigo asks her how she makes this dish, causing her to explain that stir-fry is composed of thin, cut up pieces of vegeables that you cook with sake, mirin, and soy sauce. A person can tell the food is done when the liquid boils off, and she claims it's an easy dish. Ichigo asks her some more specifics, such as how much each of the liquids get put in but Ringo doesn't really know, bringing up that after making it so many times, ones body just naturally learns how to measure everything. Ichigo goes on to claim that it sounds hard, but Ringo compares it to Aikatsu while letting her try a bite. It's may be hard to remember if one tries to focus- but if you keep doing it then the body eventually learns how to do it on it's own.

Ringo then presses on to guess that Ichigo seems to have hit a wall recently. While Ichigo is surprised, Ringo explains that because she is her mother she can tell. Ichigo confides in her by bringing up the Nostamelo Girl live audition and how she's struggling to get the piece they're performing right- she keeps giving it her all but it isn't enough. Ringo asks what the song is, and when Ichigo informs her of it, she appears very surprised and quickly tries to dismiss it. When Ichigo realizes the song sounds familiar to Ringo, she asks if she's ever heard of it or sung it before, and Ringo mentions that it used to be a favorite of hers. She then invites Ichigo to join her on a walk.

They come to a park that the Hoshimya's frequently visited, and as they walk by a tree she brings up the contest Ichigo had with her father once. They tried to see who could climb higher but when their dad fell and broke a branch, one of the parks supervisors got mad at him. They share a laugh before coming to a stage, where Ringo points out that this was her intention for the walk. Ichigo recalls it as a spot she used to come by to sing often, and she wonders if perhaps this was her first step at becoming an Idol. Ringo goes on to point that it was also the first spot of many, with the stage being very old, even being there before she was born. Ichigo asks about it and Ringo mentions that when she was little, she liked to sing there like Ichigo did. She would always pretend that an audience was there, where everyone clapped for her. It may have been fake but she really enjoyed it, so as she grew older she would pay this spot a visit when she felt sad or when things got harder. She brings up how she met Taichi during winter one day as well. It was snowing but with her mood she came to sing, but upon finishing she heard clapping and found him watching her, much to her surprise. There had been a lot of snow on his body, so she was able to tell he had been standing there watching her the entire time.

Suddenly, Ringo suggests that she and Ichigo sing together as they stand there. Ichigo agrees and they head up on the stage, singing and having fun while performing Masquerade's song. When they finish, Ichigo suddenly realizes what her mother had been trying to tell her of earlier and she prepares to take off, only for Ringo to remember something. She hands over a very special accessory coord card, causing Ichigo to express shock as she admires it, admitting that she doesn't know how or why her mom would have it. Rather then answer, Ringo tells her that every girl dreams of becoming an idol. Ichigo thanks her and promises to use it before asking Ringo if she will be attending her next audition.

With a few days remaining the girls resume practice. Everyone notices Ichigo's newfound energy compared to before, and eventually the day of the Audition arrives. Johnny mentions that they have a special guest that day, Asuka Amahane, Angely Sugar's top designer, and everyone cheers for her before the auditions begin.

As they stand in the changing area, Ichigo and Aoi share a word before they change and appear on stage. The girls perform Wake up my music, and while this is going on Orihime mentions her surprise to see Ichigo donning the Starlight Tiara.

Once the performance ends, Asuka also expresses surprise since it's been over ten years since she's seen someone use it. After everyone finishes their auditions, Aoi and Ichigo are announced as the winners, and Ichigo quickly runs over to her mother to thank her for her support and help, claiming that it is because of her that she won. Ringo claims it has to do with Ichigo's efforts, but Ichigo claims it is because of her mother that she never gave up hope. As the two embrace, Orihime and Ringo exchange smiles.

Characters

 * Ichigo Hoshimiya
 * Ringo Hoshimiya
 * Orihime Mitsuishi
 * Aoi Kiriya
 * Ran Shibuki
 * Otome Arisugawa
 * Yurika Tōdō
 * Sakura Kitaōji
 * Asuka Amahane
 * Johnny Bepp
 * Taichi Hoshimiya (flashback)
 * Raichi Hoshimiya

Trivia

 * This is the first appearance of the Starlight Tiara, which leads to a future Premium Rare Dress Coord designed by Angely Sugar.
 * The song Wake up my music appears for the first time