Episode 90 - Shining☆Future Girl

Shining☆Future Girl (ひらめく☆未来がール) is the 90th episode of Aikatsu! TV anime series and the 40th episode of its "2nd Season". The episode aired on July 10th, 2014.

Story
Aoi is given the sudden request to produce and star in her own music video promoting Futuring Girl, but she struggles to come up with a concept until some support from her friends reminds her to step back and think about simplicity.

Summary
Aoi has just finished filming when she finds Orihime waiting for her with big news; she will be put in charge of producing and starring in a music video for Futuring Girl. She was specifically asked to take on this job by the top designer. Orihime shows Aoi a message from him and he explains his reasoning for this, voicing his utmost confidence in her.

At school Aoi explains what happened and how she has to record the song they want her to use. Ichigo recalls how many music videos Aoi spent watching earlier when Ran points out the variety, causing Aoi to point out how alike advertisements they are. She isn't entirely sure what she wants to do yet but she knows that it's important to show the brand and herself to everyone. She then notes that she has nineteen hours left before the meeting tomorrow, where she will be presenting her ideas.

It's then Yurika approaches to mention that back when she did her commercial she wasn't given much time either. Everything began very simple and easy, with the producer and director talking when they came up with the idea to combine her with a breakfast cereal, two contrasting things. It was up to her to put some ideas into it afterwards. Inspired by this, Aoi decides to start with something simple as well- but she remains unsure of how to handle it since she wants to make sure the outfit she wears will be showcased. This makes her realize that a fashion show music video would be the best place to start and she thanks everyone for their help before she starts to write her ideas down. To help her, Ran offers to lend a hand with the fashion show part, and Ichigo remarks on how she wants to help too.

Later that night, Ichigo tries to sleep when she notices Aoi is still awake. She observes her as she looks through the Futuring Girl coords and listens to music, and she quietly wishes her luck before going back to bed.

The next day, Aoi is in her meeting and she brings up how excited she is to be given such an opportunity. The secretary brings up Aoi's ideas and she begins to explain her plan of putting on a fashion show, while showing some alternating trends among other girls. She isn't exactly sure how to present this, but the staff agree that they like the idea and have plenty to work with, so they are sure it'll work. Aoi is relieved to hear this and they note that they will need to film the video and finalize some details.

First, they begin with deciding which outfits would work best in the music video. Aoi especially wants to showcase the Lucky Pilot Coord, because while it is simple, it really shows the style of Futuring Girl. She also decides to pick the Crystal Aquarius Coord because it will show off the brands diversity, and they can't leave out the Prism Cyber Coord.

With the outfits out of the way, the next step is to settle the stage design, with Aoi pointing out a simple runway is fine because the music video is based after a fashion show. They move on to the next step, creating the music video by focusing on choreography, and Aoi asks Johnny for help. He agrees and he gets to work until he's abruptly interrupted by a phone call- an issue has occurred and the runway is going to be smaller than they intended, meaning the choreography needed to be changed. Aoi is alarmed by this, but she calls Ran to ask her for tips on walking down a tight-spaced runway.

Meanwhile, as Ichigo speaks to her mother on the phone she is suddenly inspired to get her some snacks. But she isn't sure what to give her. Ringo suggests something light so that Aoi can eat quickly without it disrupting her work and she agrees.

The next morning Aoi awakens to head out to the filming location. Ichigo also gets up early to start with her plan Ringo helped her come up with, and she pulls out a bag from the closet. She sets it on the floor to pull out a large, furry blue rabbit head and gets changed before going out to meet up with Raichi- who is surprised to see it.

They head inside and try to find Aoi as Raichi voices his concern she will end up embarrassing Aoi. But Ichigo thinks it will be fine and she brings up what their mother said. She told her that it can be vital to inject some fun into a harsh environment, and they think about a past event she told them about, back when she was still in Masquerade. She and Hime had been very tired after filming on Christmas Eve, but after finding everyone dressed up with Christmas items and cakes they felt so much better. Raichi claims that it made sense, but a rabbit really doesn't.

They head inside the room once the on air sign goes out and they find a bunch of strangely dressed up people. Aoi greets them and she's delighted seeing Ichigo in the suit. Ichigo explains how she got the idea as Aoi compliments how cute she looks, then she goes on to explain that everyone came up with the idea to dress up as aliens in order to keep her from getting stressed out. Raichi and Ichigo unveil the refreshments they brought but due to pressed time, Aoi has to get back to work. She thanks them and offers letting them stay to watch before heading off.

With everyone's joint efforts she is able to have fun as she works, and she later explains how they made use of the Aikatsu system to create stage effects. She also goes on to describe the three kinds of scenes in music videos; such as the lip sync scene, where you need to match your mouth movement to the lyrics, followed by dance, and lastly image; where acting, animation, and CG come into play. Ichigo and Raichi compliment Aoi's work and she admits that at first she was worried about messing up, but she had so much fun that she forgot about it.

Everyone heads back to watch the video playback and are shown to enjoy it, but Aoi still feels like something is missing. The crew agree with her, but they are unsure of what it is until she suggests they add some more simple choreography to it. With nothing left go by they agree. It's then Ichigo's phone begins to ring and she apologizes for interrupting. Aoi watches her flail around trying to grab her phone with the large paws of her rabbit costume and this inspires her suddenly, showing the movement to the director. He agrees with her idea and they restart filming after he warns her that they only have enough time for one take.

Eventually a special viewing event is held for the release of the new music video. Everyone has shown up to support Aoi and she happily thanks everyone for coming. Everyone is seated as it's announced the showing will begin, and soon "stranger alien" begins.

Aoi receives many compliments for her efforts, and it is shown that Rei -Futuring Girl's top designer- is also shown having watched the video from his office.

Characters

 * Aoi Kiriya
 * Ichigo Hoshimiya
 * Ran Shibuki
 * Yurika Tōdō
 * Rei Kamishiro
 * Hisho
 * Orihime Mitsuishi
 * Johnny Bepp
 * Raichi Hoshimiya
 * Ringo Hoshimiya

Animation Trivia

 * This is the first episode since early season that Aoi's idol aura didn't appear.
 * The song Stranger Alien appears for the first time.
 * This episode marks the first time a music video is shown instead of a live performance.
 * The Stranger alien music video is the first music video to appear in the anime.
 * This is the first time three stages and three dances were used in a performance.
 * Though it is not used in the music video the Snowflake Coord makes its anime debut in this episode.
 * The Holy Goat Coord and Sunny Dreamer Coord were referenced in this episode.

Other Trivia

 * The rabbit costume from Episode 38 returns. However, Ichigo is the one wearing it, not Aoi.