Episode 63 - Red-White Aikatsu Battle!

Red-White Aikatsu Battle! (紅白アイカツ合戦！) is the 63rd episode of the Aikatsu! TV Anime series and the 13th episode of its "Second Season". The episode aired on December 26, 2013.

Synopsis
''The legendary Red-White Aikatsu Battle is coming up and everyone is full of excitement. But intimidation sets in when they realize a sneaky reporter is trying to ruin names with his gossip, as well as hearing rumors regarding how scary the surprise guest supposedly is! ''

Story
Ichigo, Aoi, and Ran are heading to the location of the upcoming 64th Annual Red-White Aikatsu Battle. They watch the video of PowaPowa-Puririn announcing the time and date and it ends as they arrive to the location. Inside, the girls see many idols from both of the schools and are approached by Seira and Ki. Aoi is very excited since this will be the first year she gets to participate, as well as be surrounded by so many Idols in one location. As Ki agrees with her the girls bond over this as Seira claims she will not lose to Ichigo. They mutually agree to enjoy themselves and do their best- with a mysterious figure observing them from afar.

As the girls wait in the lobby, Aoi explains that participants are often interviewed here so that the Idols can get to know the staff. Ichigo compliments how much Aoi knows, and Aoi mentions being a long-time fan of the Red-White Battle. She has watched since she was little and over the years has done a lot of research about it. When they are called for ther turn, they meet with the staff one-on-one. Aoi is asked to appear as her character from the movies she's appeared in, while Ran and Sora will be modeling together in the fashion corner, and Ichigo is informed that she will be doing a concert with Seira- who joins Ichigo and leaves with her.

As this is going on Orihime and Tiara chat about things when they spot the two girls and observe them. They continue chatting and mention how exciting everything has become since Ichigo returned and Seira made her debut- so they are sure this would be a wonderful plan to have them perform together.

As Seira and Ichigo come back to the lobby, they separate for the time being and Ichigo's attention turns to a wisp of purple hair just as it's leaving the room. But she pushes it from her mind as Aoi and Ran return to the room, asking how their meetings went. It's then the special guest arrives and the workers go to see who it is, along with the trio. The person is said to be very influential and Aoi warns them that they should be careful, since Sabuko Nishijima is regarding and rumored to be scary. Such as harming or verbally abusing the people who dare make one little mistake in her presence. This causes the girls to grow tense but they run in anyway, just to find a huge gaudy truck come inside that belongs to her.

It's then Sabuko approaches and explains that it contains her very own, Enkatsu Card, which before that very moment was thought to merely be rumored. As Ichigo sees the workers struggle to move it she volunteers herself, Aoi, and Ran to help- surprising Aoi and Ran but they quickly agree. Together with the staff the five are able to take the card to its location, which pleases Sabuko. She invites the girls to have tea with her in another room and expresses joy, mentioning how a lot of young Idols get frightened by her. But she believes Ichigo, Ran, and Aoi are different, she then goes on to say that she knows of them because Mizuki stopped by earlier to speak with her. They are severely shocked and Ichigo realizes that it was Mizuki she caught sight of earlier and they decide to try to scan the building to see if they can find her.

When they reunite, Ichigo is depressed when they are unable to find anything and she has been wondering why Mizuki left Starlight Academy. She hasn't seen her since she left either, so they continue to look.

Soon Ichigo comes to the auditorium and sees Mizuki seated in one of the front rows and she excitedly runs up to her. Mizuki welcomes her back just as Aoi and Ran soon find their way into the room and together the four sit down and begin to chat with her. She explains that after Ichigo left, she transfered to Dream Academy as an adviser to help Tiara run the school. She works as a producer now and while she had a lot of fun being with the others she feels as though she could have done better, which was what inspired this decision. However, she doesn't know if she wants to stay a producer or return to an Idol yet. She then hands Ichigo a set of coords and asks that she doesn't mention seeing her since she is only an adviser for the time being, and she isn't supposed to be there. Before she leaves she mentions that not only does she want to keep helping Idols grow, but she plans on making her own too.

Near the entrance door is Mister S spying on the girls. He decides he can turn this into a scandal to make it look like Mizuki betrayed Starlight Academy. But before he can get started, Sabuko removes his computers save chip and threatens to run him out of a job should he do such a thing. Feeling defeat he threatens to return and runs off.

Outside, PowaPowa-Puririn are introducing the event while being filmed. They head on stage to announce the events beginning and introduce the special guest judges:  Ame-chan, Llama-chan, and Kuma-chan. With that everyone begins, with Aoi performing as her character, Kaede puts on magic and introduces Sora and Ran, followed by Yurika performing for her crowd of fans while Ichigo and Seira watch from backstage. Lastly, PowaPowa-Puririn introduce Sabuko for her performance as Seira expresses confusion, followed by Ichigo assuring her that Sabuko is very nice and they watch in awe over her large outfit.

As she is performing, Ki and Sora show up to give Seira the coord she will wear for the performance. Sora explains to them what the trend collection is, saying that each of the coord makers came together during the World Trend Conference and decided to use the trendiest items to make the theme. For example, this winter, Animal patterns were popular so each brand put out an animal-patterned dress. Ichgio and Seira run off to hange and appear on stage, being introduced by Otome before they perform "KIRA☆Power".

Afterwards all of the girls step on stage and it is announced which time will win; to everyone's surprise it ended up being a tie. With that Ichigo wishes everyone a Happy New Year.

Character Appearances

 * Ichigo Hoshimiya
 * Aoi Kiriya
 * Ran Shibuki
 * Seira Otoshiro
 * Kī Saegusa
 * Otome Arisugawa
 * Sakura Kitaoji
 * Shion Kamiya
 * Mizuki Kanzaki
 * Sora Kazesawa
 * Yurika Tōdō
 * Kaede Ichinose
 * Orihime Mitsuishi
 * Ringo Hoshimiya
 * Raichi Hoshimiya
 * Tiara Yumesaki
 * Mister S
 * Sabuko Nishijima
 * Asuka Amahane
 * Rei Kamishiro
 * Anna Tachibana
 * Makoto Nijigahara
 * Maya Yumekoji
 * Green Grass
 * Marcel

Trivia

 * On the same original air date (December 26, 2013), the Koh-haku Aikatsu Gassen also starts on the Data Carddass Aikatsu! arcade.
 * This episode premiered on Yurika's birthday.

Major Events

 * Mizuki finally meets Ichigo and her companions once again.
 * This episode marks the 64th Koh-haku Aikatsu Gassen! in the Aikatsu! Universe.
 * The song KIRA☆Power appears for the first time as an insert song.
 * The  2014 Animal Trend Collection Coords appear for the first time.

Cultural References

 * The Enka artist who is featured in this episode, Sabuko Nishijima's name is a parody of a popular real-life Enka artist Saburō Kitajima.
 * Her dress, Gorgeous New Year Tower, is referenced from Sachiko Kobayashi's dress for Koh-haku Uta Gassen.
 * The judges Ame-chan, Llama-chan, and Kuma-chan are parodies of characters from the Japanese drama Amachan (あまちゃん).

Gallery

 * Main Page: Episode 63 - Koh-haku Aikatsu Gassen!/Image gallery