Episode 98 - Twin Dresses

Twin Dresses (ふたごのドレス) is the 98th episode of Aikatsu! TV anime series and the 48th episode of its "2nd Season". The episode aired on September 4, 2014.

The script was written by Yuichi Nomura.

Story
With the Twinkle Star cup drawing closer 2wingS realizes they are in need of a unit dress, so together with Aoi and Ki, Ichigo and Seira turn to the top designers of Angely Sugar and Swing Rock after finding Masquerade's old coord concepts in hopes of obtaining dresses that'll take the unit to the sky.

Summary
Seira and Ichigo come to the end of an interview and head to the lunch room for a drink and to discuss their training regimen and bring up their plan to start at Dream Academy- although Ichigo would rather discuss dinner. Seira brings up that lately Ichigo is more hungry than usual, only to point out that they need to focus on deciding their outfits.

Over at Cafe Vivo, the girls meet with Ki and Aoi and bring up the outfit situation. Nobody has any sort of idea or theme in mind as Noel joins them to drop off some sweets. Aoi takes out her phone to ask the girls to name some of their favorite coords right now, and Ichigo brings up the Pearl Shell coord from Angely Sugar, while Seira mentions the Paw Print coord from Swing Rock. The girls agree that their models look nice in these coords, but it's not enough to compete with WM. Seira suggests that she and Ichigo switch coords for the surprise factor, but again the result doesn't entirely satisfy them.

That evening the disappointed four girls still have nothing to work with. They had a bunch of ideas but none of them measured up to what they need. Ichigo attempts to put something totally random together as a last resort but she ends up making a mess. They decide to call it a night for now and the two groups separate.

In bed, Ichigo and Aoi struggle to sleep when Aoi brings up that she and Ki plan on going over some idol history the next day to try to get a good idea. Ichigo goes on to compare them to paper lanterns, saying that they are helping to light the path for her and Seira. Because of this they can continue without worry. Aoi is very happy to be complimented in such a way and she remarks on how Ichigo has always exceeded her expectations.

The next day at Dream Academy, Ki shows the newspaper clipping she happened to find reguarding an interesting rumor involving Masquerade. They were planning a sensational, never-before-seen coord concept but because they disbanded not too long after the article was made nothing has surfaced on these supposed concepts. Ki feels a little disappointed by this but Aoi believes they might be able to find out more and they take off for Starlight Academy to speak to Orihime. She isn't able to remember anything though, saying that she and Miya had many ideas in the past and most of them had been forgotten and left behind. However, she wants to help the girls and she gives them a big key, saying that they are more than welcome to try to figure it out.

The girls head out to the hall to reunite with Ichigo and Seira and explain that Orihime gave them the key to the Masquerade reference room. Together the four head straight there and Ichigo quickly takes a moment to pray to a large poster within the room hoping to get inspiration before they start looking around. They go through several books, magazines, and videos when suddenly, they find a notebook the costume staff used and within it, there was a plan that each girl would use her most suited brand -something that sounds normal- until the next part mentions that their designed costumes would also contain a pair of wings, with one dress representing the right and the other the left, and together these wings could form a single butterfly. With this, they could take flight as a unit.

Suddenly it dons on Ichigo that by putting together the two dresses that have different charms by themselves, they were able to give themselves a lot of power as a unit. This inspires them to speak to their preferred brand designers until Aoi and Ki point out that Angely Sugar and Swing Rock both have designs that are a complete 180 from each other, so there's no promise that either of them would be willing to work for this sort of cause. But with nothing to lose and the time winding down, the least they can do is ask.

At Cafe Vivo, Ki is busily practicing her greetings for the designers out of fear one of them will refuse their request. However, the two designers show up and they aren't given time to worry. They bring Asuka and Makina some coffee and give them the booklets containing their ideas of combining the two brands in order to reach a new level of perfection. They know that it is a hard request, but they are hoping that they will be willing to work together for the sake of surpassing WM. Aoi also points out how much publicity this would create for Angely Sugar and Swing Rock, and they are the only ones who can help them.

To their surprise, both women appear to be eager regarding this unique idea. They agree that it's rare to see designers work together and they agree. From that moment they get straight to work designing and eventually a conference is held between each unit, asking them to send a representative in to draw for the order they will be taking on stage. Mizuki and Ichigo both put their hands into the lottery box and it is shown that WM will go first, followed by 2wings.

Afterwards Ichigo and Seira decide to take a break at a cafe in town. They're both super excited over the approaching event and can't help but wonder how the dresses are doing. Ichigo offers to try to ask and dials Asuka's gardener, but after he updates her on how things are going she hurriedly calls Aoi to inform her that neither woman has left the workshop since they began working.

Out of concern the four girls decide to pay a visit to Angely Mountain. They take the elevator to the top and are brought inside by the gardener as he explains how the designers asked not to be disturbed and he didn't want to go against them so he couldn't check on them himself. Ichigo knocks on the door an receives no response, so she walks right in, alarming everyone when they find the room in disarray and find Asuka laying on a pile of clothing as Makina sleeps at the desk, with many designs before her.

After the girls check on them they suddenly awaken and express surprise to see them. It takes them a moment to recall what was going on and they are seated for a much needed break. As it turns out, with so much work they spent the previous day asleep, but everyone is relieved knowing they aren't sick from this. Makina goes on to reveal that they actually showed up at the perfect time because the designs they chose are finished. With that they reveal to the four the Gemini Coords.

Ready for debut, the dresses are transformed into cards and they hand them over to the girls with their encouragement. They thank them and change, arriving on stage to wow everyone as they perform their newest song "Friend".

Later, at Cafe Vivo, the four girls sit down to have some sweets while discussing the brand new coords. Ichigo struggles to decide which sweet she wants and is interrupted by a phone call from Ran, who worriedly tells them to turn on the television. To the four girls' shock, they find WM in the middle of an interview revealing their brand new dresses for the Twinkle Star Cup.

Characters

 * Ichigo Hoshimiya
 * Seira Otoshiro
 * Aoi Kiriya
 * Kī Saegusa
 * Ran Shibuki
 * Mizuki Kanzaki
 * Mikuru Natsuki
 * Orihime Mitsuishi
 * Makina
 * Asuka Amahane
 * Noeru Otoshiro
 * Shōichi Fujisaki

Trivia

 * The Angely Gemini Coord and Swing Gemini Coord debut in this episode.
 * The song Friend appears for the first time.
 * WM announced that they will use their Love Moonrise coords for the Twinkle Star Cup.
 * It was suggested that Masquerade may have worn coords from different brands during their time as a unit.
 * This is the first episode in which Ichigo visits the Angely Sugar Headquarters without climbing Angely Mountain.
 * Both Starlight School and Dream Academy students return to wearing their winter uniforms for the remainder of season 2.