Episode 93 - Twinkle・Stars

Twinkle・Stars (トゥインクル・スターズ) is the 93rd episode of Aikatsu! TV anime series and the 43rd episode of its "2nd Season". The episode aired on July 31st, 2014.

Story
''WM comes to Orihime and Tiara with a challenge and the headmistresses ask Aoi and Ki to work together to choose their school representatives. The girls accept the challenge and they attempt to show the duo they choose that there is more to their combination than just synchronization.''

Summary
Ichigo confides in Ran and Aoi that she surely believes that by surpassing Mizuki she can see Aikatsu's future. The girls are supportive but they wonder if Ichigo may be getting head of herself or if she is only doing what she would do any other time.

As this is going on Orihime recalls the time when she and Ringo were Masquerade and recalls that while they were always busy, they always made time for each other. As she eats the marmalade pancakes she ordered, she is suddenly approached by Mizuki, who asks to speak to her. She asks that a special event be held between the students of Starlight and Dream Academy to find the strongest duo unit composed of one student from each school. Orihime asks of her reasoning for wanting to do this, and she mentions that this might be what WM needs to achieve her goal. She leaves after telling Orihime that they welcome any opponent.

Upon finishing Orihime returns to Starlight Academy and calls Tiara, who informs her that Mikuru came by to speak to her earlier about the same thing. Both of them have decided to accept the challenge, and they discuss Mizuki's goal to surpass Masquerade by creating a venue even bigger then the Milky Way Stadium- the very one they filled. They are very excited about this idea and show support, and they begin to prepare the work for it; with a little teasing from Orihime towards Tiara before they hang up.

Later, she is shown to still be thinking over who to pick when Aoi comes inside to speak to her. Orihime decides to select Aoi as the selection representative because of her special ability to analyze an Idol's talent and abilities. Initially Aoi is confused by her request, but after Orihime explains what led to it, she accepts and leaves to reveal what happened to Ichigo and Ran. She is very excited but she worries about whether or not the idol she chooses will accept, leaving Ichigo to ask why until they explain that whoever is chosen will need to push themselves past their limits just to stand up with WM. Ichigo understands now, but she wishes she could be the chosen one because they will get to stand on stage with Mizuki.

At Dream Academy Aoi and Ki get together after realizing they were both chosen to make the selection, and Ki believes that working together would be beneficial for the two of them. They head out into town to think it over and she recalls what Seira said earlier, causing Aoi to compare it to Ichigo's response. She then pauses and takes out her Aikatsu Phone to look at the current idol ranking. She thinks that Ichigo and Seira stand the best chances against WM in terms of that and Ki agrees. But unsure if the girls will accept, they decide to purchase a strawberry parfait and baked cheesecake -their favorite foods- in hopes of inspiration on how to go about asking. But as the waitress returns she accidentally spills the items, but before she can clean it up Aoi stops her to try the combination of parfait and cheesecake. She likes it and has Ki try, and she agrees, causing them to realize that pairing two of the same items doesn't make anything special; but by blending two different things something wonderful can be created.

With that, they split up and go after their prospective candidates. Aoi brings Ichigo into town and asks how she would feel about being chosen to compete in the Twinkle Star cup with Seira, and she is greatly surprised. While she likes being with her, she thinks they would need to be in an even further sync in order to do well. Aoi isn't surprised to hear this, as she and Ki guessed this would be their response.

The same thing happens when Ki leads Seira to an unknown location and asks her what she would focus on if she and Ichigo got together for the upcoming cup. As Seira gives her an answer, the two sets of girls become a foursome. They head inside to find Makina and realize they are at the Swing Rock office, who Seira happily greets before mentioning that it's been a while since they last saw each other due to her being in London on tour. As Makina brings up that she will be leaving for Berlin soon, the girls explain who she is to Ichigo. Ichigo is surprised that someone so rock-oriented would be a designer, but Makina decides to take it as a compliment and thanks Aoi for contacting her earlier.

They reveal their plan of having Ichigo try on a Swing Rock coord in order to see if she can grow more in sync with Seira. She agrees and really likes the outfit, and then they do the same thing by paying Asuka a visit at Angely Mountain to have Seira try on one of her outfits. She is a bit hesitant but agrees anyway and she is joyed by their compliments and warms up to the idea as they mention the spice she adds to the look.

Afterwards, Aoi suggests they head out for some fun now since it's rare for the four of them to have the same days off. They agree and Seira suggests they should go somewhere that will give them inspiration for their Aikatsu. They think a zoo or aquarium would work, and Aoi provides a compromise by bringing them to the recently opened Zooquarium.

Eventually the girls take a break after spending time looking at animals, and Ichigo and Seira are happy by what happened because seeing all of the animals move together has inspired them. Aoi suggests that they should go and do some more things together, and they head to the hair salon to try out each others hair style, and work at each others family shop before meeting up again. The girls had so much fun trying these new experiences, leading Aoi and Ki to believe one, final big thing will complete their day is in order.

Suddenly, Maria shows up in an airplane to pick up the girls. It takes them up to a big mountain, where she explains that the Headmistress' told her to bring the girls to an urgent assignment, but suddenly the plane begins to struggle and she asks Ichigo and Seira to get off. While they don't understand, they agree and the plane flies away after safely dropping them off. Seira is frustrated by this and thinks that because it is getting dark soon, just walking around in the forest will get them lost, but Ichigo thinks standing around will only cause the wild animals to seek them out. So with nothing left to lose the girls begin to walk.

By now the sun is starting to set, and Ichigo is very hungry. She thinks they should keep walking to try to find the main road, but Seira doesn't think it would be smart to keep wandering like this. She is now beginning to doubt they will do well in the Twinkle Star cup, sure they will just argue and realize how different they are, just like now. Ichigo agrees, however, she also thinks these differencces make them interesting. It's then they spot the main road nearby and eagerly head towards it. Ichigo continues on to bring up that while they are in sync in some ways, the fact that they can still be different is what makes it exciting, and together they can make fans very happy. Seira relates this in music terms and agrees with her.

Meanwhile, at a Live House where WM Is performing, Mikuru approaches Mizuki to ask about Ichigo and Seira. Mizuki seems surprised, but Mikuru claims that she could tell by looking at her who she had on her mind. Mizuki admits that she is excited about performing with them, and they go to get ready and perform "Adult Mode".

Later that evening, after the girls have found Aoi and Ki again, Aoi voices how sure she was that they would eventually figure things out. They are delighted as Ichigo and Seira agree to come together and form a unit to compete against WM.

Characters

 * Ichigo Hoshimiya
 * Aoi Kiriya
 * Ran Shibuki
 * Seira Otoshiro
 * Kī Saegusa
 * Sora Kazesawa
 * Maria Himesato
 * Mizuki Kanzaki
 * Mikuru Natsuki
 * Orihime Mitsuishi
 * Johnny Bepp
 * Tiara Yumesaki
 * Makina
 * Asuka Amahane

Major Events

 * The Twinkle Star Cup was announced.
 * Makina, Swing Rock's top designer, makes her anime debut in this episode.

Animation Trivia

 * The Ruby Cancer Coord and Sapphire Virgo Coord make their anime debut in this episode
 * The Topaz Scorpion Coord and Aquamarine Pisces Coord also make a cameo debut, but were not used in a performance.
 * WM did not perform any type of appeal during their performance.
 * That makes this the first Season 2 episode with a stage performance to not have an idol perform an appeal.
 * This is the first episode to have idols switch their hair style with one another.