Episode 136 - The Name is, Sweet & Soft☆Nadeshiko

The Name is, Sweet & Soft☆Nadeshiko (その名も、ふわあま☆なでしこ) is the 136th episode of Aikatsu! TV anime series and the 35th episode of its "3rd Season". The episode aired on June 4, 2015.

Story
''The "Unit Cup" of Starlight School has been announced, with the participants only being those of it's Middle School. Exchange Student Idol Kokone Kurisu would also like to participate in this interesting event, and is really pumped up about it. Is it true that the partner Kokone chose would be a really unexpected person...?''

Summary
Orihime has called a meeting for the students to reveal that because of the recent making of units, she has decided to hold the Unit Cup. Everyone is elligable to compete and she suggests that whoever wants to enter should start preparing and making units now.

The girls head into the Cafeteria to chat about the recent news. Akari and Madoka have already decided to enter, as has Juri and Hinaki. Dancing Diva is the most popular idol unit for now, but they are encouraged to try their hardest to keep up with them.

Walking through the hall is Kokone. She doesn't want to miss out and pays someone a visit.

As the girls train they are surprised to learn that Sumire and Rin will be entering, and during their explanation they observe Kokone walk by and tell them of her own plans to enter. She spoke to Orihime about her intentions and her ideal partner, who will be coming very soon. Just then, Miyabi arrives and the girls eagerly swarm her, much to Kokone's shock. Miyabi apologizes for not having said something sooner, but it was last-minute, then she apologizes for making Kokone wait and the girls are quickly able to deduce that she is who Kokone spoke of. She didn't really have a reason to refuse the offer, and she believes it'd be fun to compete against Akari and the other girls for the first time.

In this moment, Rin and Madoka decide to introduce themselves to her. They reveal that they watched her performance against Sakura, and she tells them that she learned about them from Akari. The girls are happy to receive approval from Miyabi, while Kokone is pretty upset that Miyabi is ignoring her. Miyabi claims that this isn't the case though, because she came just to see Kokone. She reaches into her pack and takes out a bag of roasted chestnuts and manages to get Kokone to calm down, who takes the gift as the girls observe their friendship before they resume training.

In their dormitory, Miyabi and Kokone try to think of a unit name. Kokone insists that the name is cute, and shows Miyabi what she thought up. She insists that it fits perfectly, but Miyabi isn't very sure about the name. She hesitantly responds and the girls get to work. They bring some merchandise and ask to have some time on a television show to show their new unit. Miyabi apologizes for not having brought proper paperwork or asking ahead of time, then they go on to ask for a handshake event outside of a CD Shop, and get a recording of them in the park. Kokone scolds Miyabi for not putting her entirety into it, and Miyabi confesses that she is worried over having to act cutesy, since it makes her uncomfortable.

From the distance, Orihime, Johnny, and Naoto observe the girls. They discuss how much work they have alreay put into making their own name and getting it known. But Orihime believes they can still learn some things from the girls here.

On the news program, Good Morning Watch, the hosts introduce the brand new unit and the girls introduce themselves. They discuss the Unit Cup and ask or their support, the Hosts remarking on their adorableness.

This continues as Akari works on her weather program, and seeing them gain more camera time she begins to worry they might get ahead of her pretty quick. But at the same time, this encourages her to work harder.

Later, the girls are going over their unit coords for their debut performance but Miyabi is unhappy with Kokone's choices, because they're too cute, while she is not. Kokone insists that she is and claims that the unit concept is all about cuteness. Akari likes the coord but that isn't enough to make Miyabi feel better, and she can tell that Kokone is lying when she tries to make a claim that she forgot to let her know about the concept, full-well knowing Miyabi would refuse to join if she was told beforehand. She isn't mad but she really doesn't want to wear that dress she chose, and she walks off. Kokone yells at her and Akari starts to worry about them.

Later, she meets up with the others to discuss what happened. Hinaki points out that Miyabi is more into mature outfits and doesn't really do cute, while both Rin and Madoka can easily choose a side to take given their own preferences. Rin understands Miyabi better, since Madoka tries to get her to wear cute, frilly clothing, but on Madoka's end, Rin always rejects what she picks out because she isn't really into cute clothes. However, they have never got into a fight over it before, and Madoka admits that she keeps doing it because Rin looks cute when she gets flustered. The girls determine that while Kokone probably knows that Miyabi doesn't like cutesy things, she insits upon them anyway. They also reason that Miyabi didn't get upset because she understands that Kokone didn't mean any harm, so they try to determine how to help them.

Akari, Rin, and Sumire approach Miyabi to speak to her the next day. She admits that while Kokone has good intentions, she had to refuse. But she does tell them that Kokone always acts before thinking and can be pretty pushy; while her positive-nature is what attracts people to her. The girls understand what she means, and she recalls how they first met some time back. They were on a local show in town called Idol Mountain Climbing Project. As most girls were tiring out, Miyabi was trying to encourage them to keep going while Kokone used her positivity to help. This works and the girls continue, leaving Miyabi to observe her. She could tell Kokone was tired, and when they reached the top of the mountain everyone was so happy and thanked Kokone, who was oblivious as to what she did to help. Kokone tends to effortlessly involve everyone and makes sure they leave happy. She's always been this way, and Akari points out that she's the one to know Kokone the best. So she is able to realize how pure Kokone's intentions were, and why she continues to push cute dresses.

In her dorm room, Kokone looks over the coord she picked for Miyabi. She knows it would look great on her, and Juri, Hinaki, and Madoka agree, complimenting the girlish image it portrays. She explains to the girls that she always feels better whenever Miyabi is with her, and tells them about their first meeting together in the Idol Mountain Project. She kept going, watching as Miyabi encouraged the other girls to keep going. She knew that Miyabi was someone who could help open her world a little more, and she got excited with the thought of being with Miyabi. The girls suggest that she tells Miyabi her true feelings in order to patch things up.

Come the day of their debut performance the girls apologize. Kokone admits that when she got the coord prepared she didn't even think to ask, while Miyabi claims it isn't a very big deal anymore. She asks Kokone if she believes in their unit and if she can see a future for it. Kokone convinces her that she can clearly see it, and how she wants Miyabi to embrace her cuter side and stand on top of the world together. She knows their unit will bring a whole new excitement to the Unit Cup as well, but admits that she got kind of pushy. She's delighted when Miyabi reveals the coord she will be wearing and they embrace before going out to change. They appear on stage to perform "Love Like Caramelize".

After the performance the girls watch as they hear some of their classmates chat about their unit, with Sumire pointing out that the attention from it caused further attention to the Unit Cup. Yuu shows up with her roommate to announce they will be taking part in the Unit Cup too and have already formed a unit together. Akari tells the girls that they need to keep working as hard as they can now.

In her office, Orihime, Johnny, and Naoto discuss the attention brought to the Unit Cup.

Outside, Miyabi and Kokone run laps around the track. Kokone is too tired to keep going and accuses Miyabi of being too hard on her after she tells her they should do at least one more lap. To keep her going, Miyabi mentions that they can go try the brand new donut Yotsuba made afterwards, and together the girls keep running.

Characters

 * Kokone Kurisu
 * Miyabi Fujiwara
 * Akari Ōzora
 * Sumire Hikami
 * Hinaki Shinjō
 * Juri Kurebayashi
 * Rin Kurosawa
 * Madoka Amahane
 * Yū Hattori
 * Orihime Mitsuishi
 * Shun Yotsuba

Trivia

 * This episode marks the debut of the new unit Sweet & Soft☆Nadeshiko.
 * This episode will mark the first time all eight second generation main characters are physically seen together.
 * This episode also marks the return of Miyabi Fujiwara.
 * Yū Hattori returns to Starlight School to join the Starlight Unit Cup.