Episode 166 - The First Wind That I Have Found

The First Wind That I Have Found (私が見つけた最初の風) is the 166th episode of Aikatsu! TV anime series and the 14th episode of its "4th Season". The episode aired on January 7, 2016.

Story
''A new year has begun, and Headmistress Orihime has announced the beginning of the next Starlight Queen Cup. Everyone has began to make their entries, but Sumire Hikami has yet to make a decision on "what kind of queen would she like to be". While Akari Ōzora and Hinaki Shinjō are beginning to feel impatient as they already have a clear thought, what will be the answer that deprives from Sumire...?''

Summary
One morning Orhime announces the upcoming Starlight Queen Cup. She reminds everyone of its importance and how the winner will become Top Idol of the school. Everyone can try out, and she asks everyone to heat up this chilly season. She then announces a new addition to this years competition; The Star Dash Party, which will be held to open it.

Akari, Hinaki, and Sumire take off for an event later when they spot Sakura, Otome, and Mizuki -past Starlight Queens- stepping out of a limo nearby. The trio welcome the fans who came to see them and head towards the stage, where an event hosted by Johnny-sensei is going on. Orihime joins him and the trio speak to the other idols and their fans to give them words of encouragement. Mizuki starts by explaining what it means to be Starlight Queen, saying that they must remain hopeful. Otome compares the Queen Cup to a flower, while Sakura expresses support for the idols who will be trying out, recalling how much she's grown since joining the school and when she won the last competition. While they might want to give up on their dreams they must remain courageous and keep wishing to achieve them.

Pumped up after the event, the girls decide to start training. They run by Naoto, who has been outside doing some cleaning again. Akari is quick to catch up with Hinaki and competitively the duo run while Sumire is several feet behind them, finding herself tiring out until she sees them collasping on a bench. With them running so fast they wore out very easily, but they wish to keep that feeling of exhilaration for the Queen Cup. They remain unaware of Sumire's concern when they get a message informing them that the registration has been opened. Hinaki suggests they enter together but Sumire asks for some time to think first. They tell her not to rush since it's a pretty big deal, which makes her feel a little better.

Quickly entries flood the office from all over the school and Orihime, Naoto, and Johnny have come to believe this will be the greatest competition yet. Naoto brings up that many of the Idols were probably encouraged by Sakura to think about what type of Queen's they wished to be.

At TV TKY Akari ends her weather program and she starts to chat with the host of the Idol News segment about the Queen Cup. As this is going on, Sumire is shown watching the program. When asked about the type of Idol she'd like to be, Akari tells them that she wants to work as hard as she can to bring smiles to others, and she wants to make as many smiles as she can. Sumire is happy hearing this and she expected nothing less. It's then she gets a message from Orihime.

Akari leaves while she thinks about her reason some more. She thinks about her dreams of climbing the Idol Stairway, which began when she idolized Ichigo and was encouraged to try out as an idol. She knows she has a long way to go but she continues to climb, imagining Ichigo at the very top. But when she realized she had to become her own idol, the length between them grew even further, but she wants to see how high she can go and refuses to give up her promise to Ichigo.

At Orihime's office, she informs Sumire that she's gotten several interview requests. One from a tv station, three from magazines, and one from a music publication. They are all asking the same question: what type of Queen does she want to be?. She tells Sumire that her turn to answer them will be tomorrow. Akari already answered, and Hinaki's turn is coming up. She turns on the program where they find Hinaki being asked this very question, and she explains her desire to become more famous, because this will let her gain new opportunities. She wants to expand her chance to bring more fun to everyone.

Still unsure of herself Sumire goes out for a jog, but she isn't sure of how to find an answer befitting someone like her. Imagining her own idol stairs, the path is clouded and she feels lost. It's then Hinaki and Akari join her and chat about their interviews when they come to a break. Sumire compliments their confidence before confessing that she isn't sure of herself. Akari claims she knew for a long time though, it wasn't something that just came out of nowhere. Back when she first saw Ichigo on television she wanted to be just like her; someone who can bring smiles to everyone. Hinaki claims the same thing happened to her as she watched her parents work, and how she dreamed of working with them some day. Sumire thinks of how it was her older sister who pushed her to try idoling, back then she had no drive or will to push herself, and she kept away from others. But after meeting them and they began competing, she realized she was changing over time. She found friends, and she started to open up and realized her dream of becoming a song idol.

Suddenly, Sumire's answer reaches out to her: she will reach new heights through singing as Queen. Hinaki and Akari are inspired by this and compliment her, then together they register while making a promise to fight their hardest.

Later, Hinaki joins Akari for lunch to see Sumire is missing. She asks and Akari explains that Maya asked Sumire to pay him a visit and just left.

At Maya's spooky mansion, Sumire steps inside while recalling her first time heading inside, back when she lacked confidence. This time, courageously she steps inside and finds Maya waiting. He thanks her for coming and explains how he heard her speak for the interview, and as he was inspired he came up with a new dress for her to wear in hopes of giving his support that she will become Queen. He asks if this is okay and Sumire agrees, and he tells her that he expects only the best from her.

Eventually the day of Sumire's solo live comes, in which she will be revealing this new dress. She takes a moment to observe the coord cards and changes into it after a few words of encouragement to herself. On stage she appears to perform "Queen of Roses".

Afterwards, everyone goes on about how amazing the performance was. They discuss how she performed the fever appeal, which encourages Madoka and Rin to try even harder to do their best. From the background, Johnny and Orihime discuss the turn of events.

Characters

 * Sumire Hikami
 * Akari Ōzora
 * Hinaki Shinjō
 * Orihime Mitsuishi
 * Nono Daichi
 * Lisa Shirakaba
 * Juri Kurebayashi
 * Mizuki Kanzaki
 * Otome Arisugawa
 * Sakura Kitōji
 * Johnny Bepp
 * Naoto Suzukawa
 * Maya Yumekōji

Trivia

 * This marks the first episode to air in the year 2016.
 * The next Starlight Queen Cup was announced in this episode.
 * The Blue Empress Coord makes its debut in this episode.