Episode 19 - The Girl of the Moonlit Night is a Secret Scent

The Girl of the Moonlit Night is a Secret Scent (月夜のあの娘は秘密の香り) is the 19th episode of Aikatsu! TV anime series and the 19th episode of its "1st Season". The episode aired on February 18, 2013.

Synopsis
''Whilst running home late from a job, Ichigo encounters a supposed vampire. This vampire is revealed to be Otome's classmate, Yurika Tōdō, who constantly acts in character. After Ichigo decides to prepare for the same Loli Gothic audition Yurika will be in, she considers taking up her own character. ''

Summary
Ichigo has an upcoming audition for a very minor role on a well known series. Seeing how nervous she is, Otome gives her a special charm to give her luck. When they realize the time, the girls offer to take over the cleaning for her since she hadn't finished.

Meanwhile Orihime and Johnny discuss Ichigo and how well she's been doing as of late.

Later that evening, Ichigo returns to school to find a strange girl. She grows nervous while the girl talks about taking her blood, but suddenly she spots the charm Ichigo is wearing and runs off. Confused, Ichigo wonders if the girl was rehearsing for something.

The following day in class Ichigo discusses how her job went with the others. She wasn't very happy with how it turned out though, since it didn't sound right to her. Ran asks Ichigo to reenact what she did so that they can see, then they claim her lack of character. As Otome insists that she likes Ichigo how she is, Ichigo suddenly remembers the charm and brings up the incident from the previous night while returning it. Before she an answer, Otome flees as the bell rings and Johnny arrives.

He begins to discuss the new rock concert audition that is being sponsored by Loli Goth. At first it sounds exciting, but everyone begins to feel discouraged when he mentions that another student, Yurika Todo is expected to win. Ichigo asks who Yurika is, and Aoi gives her the little information she has before they go to ask Otome once class ends, since Yurika is a classmate of hers.

As they observe the girl, Ichigo recalls how she was the one she saw the night before. They watch as she opens a parasol to cover her from the sunlight and Ichigo questions the strange event. They explain that a Vampire does not like Garlic, or Sunlight, along with Silver- and Ichigo realizes this is why Yurika ran off the previous night.

During lunch, they continue to observe Yurika as she drinks rose tea. Aoi mentions that vampires only drink rose tea, red wine, and sometimes tomato juice, but they don't eat. While Ichigo is taken by her mysterious nature, Otome brings up how popular Yurika is.

Their spying continues as they go outside, until Ichigo decides to greet Yurika. She makes an attempt, but after bringing up how she ran into her and how she wishes her luck for her upcoming audition, she mentions her plan to partake in it as well. Yurika chastises Ichigo for being careless and claims that someone as rude as her would be beheaded, then storms off as the sunlight begins to shine brighter.

Everyone returns to the Dorm Room while they discuss how her character acting it. Ran points out that while they don't know what about her is real and what isn't, Loli Gothic suits her perfectly. Aoi remarks on how impressive this is since Character Acting is a hard talent; but when mastered it is a great weapon for idols. Realizing if Ichigo wishes to stand a chance she would need an even stronger character, and they try to think of one; including a pirate, werewolf, and a strawberry alien- although none of them are convincing. When Ichigo is unable to think of anything else they decide to observe the Loli Gothic brand for inspiration.

Later that night, Mizuki comes by to speak to Ichigo when she finds her. Ichigo mentions Yurika to Mizuki, and Mizuki mentions how impressed she is by her before wishing Ichigo luck.

The following day, they try to figure out how Yurika used to behave before the vampire craze took place. After Ichigo happens to spot Yurika, she tries to speak to her but she is scolded once again. After Ichigo notices that Yurika is listening to a song by Mizuki, she storms off again while Ichigo is left surprised- but happy to be closer to her now. She suddenly gets an idea and runs off to show her friends. She has come up with a character: the Bride of Frankenstein.

This brand new Ichigo is found to be off-putting for everyone, and when she runs into Naoto he questions why she's dressed so strangely. He points out that if she doesn't enjoy herself, her fans won't either.

Later, Aoi runs up to Ichigo to inform her of how her meeting went before they smell garlic. They follow the scent to find Yurika holding a big bowl of garlic ramen and realize that this is why she never eats lunch. She remains in character, then enjoys herself in private.

The following day, they bring up what they saw with Ran and Otome.

That evening Ichigo goes for another run when she sees smoke billowing out of another dorm. She runs inside to find the startled Yurika tripping as she escapes her room. As Ichigo checks on her, she dives into her room after Yurika reveals to have left her cherished parasol in the room. She grabs it and escapes the room, only for Naoto to schol her for being so careless as he gets the fire under control. He checks on the girls and Yurika shamefully admits to accidentally starting it when she knocked down a candle she had been preparing for a ritual. With remorse she invites the girls into her room for tea and they are surprised to see how she looks, with her hair let down, simple attire, and wearing glasses.

Yurika explains that while this is the real her, she is obsessed with vampires; especially sorrowful romance novels. It's because of them that she began to enjoy vampires, and she quickly apologizes for speaking so much. The others believe she can audition like this but Yurika explains that she cannot; since she was little she has always loved European dolls and collected a bunch of them to play with and keep her company. But when she entered Starlight Academy, she felt as though she had nothing in comparison to the other girls and nobody wanted to get to know her. That was when she found the Loli Gothic Coords and her vampire character was born soon after. She can't quit something that her fans love of her the most, along with her own love of the character.

With that thought in mind, Ichigo realizes what she was doing wrong earlier and eventually the day of the audition comes up. The two girls wish each other luck and they change into their desired coords before they appear on stage to perform "Glass Doll".

A bit later, Yurika won due to being able to show off the brand so well and due to her performance skills. While Ichigo lost, the higher ups were indeed impressed that she decided to choose her favorite brand over theirs, and they could see how much fun she had. In fact, it ended up encouraging them to try opening their own line a little more.

Character Appearances

 * Ichigo Hoshimiya
 * Aoi Kiriya
 * Ran Shibuki
 * Otome Arisugawa
 * Yurika Todo
 * Johnny Bepp
 * Naoto Suzukawa
 * Orihime Mitsuishi

Trivia

 * This episode marks the official anime debut of Yurika Tōdō.
 * Along with Yurika's official anime debut, this also marks the first appearance of her primary card brand, LoLi GoThiC
 * This is also the first episode to feature her signature song, "Glass Doll".
 * Unlike the previous main characters, Yurika doesn't use her basic coord in this episode.
 * This makes her the first character to not use her basic coord for her debut performance.
 * The episode's title may be a reference to one of the meanings of Yurika's name which is 'the Scent of Lilies'.