Episode 115 - A Warm☆Japanese New Year

A Warm☆Japanese New Year (ほっこり☆和正月) is the 115th episode of Aikatsu! TV anime series and the 14th episode of its "3rd Season". The episode aired on January 8, 2015.

Story
''Juri is preparing for the New Year Fashion Show alone and Akari invites her to spend the new year together. While New Year with Akari is fun, Juri wants to find out the secret behind Akari's heat. ''

Summary
Akari and Juri join Akari's parents for New Years dinner. She thanks them for the invite, expressing her gratitude with her passionate gestures. Akari's father begins to ask of her dad's home land and if she's ever visited it before -but he gets sidetracked thinking about the land and soil- and when Juri expresses confusion, Akari's mother explains that he is a Geologist. So he easily focuses on things related to the land.

He continues the discussion as some potato is offered to Juri and she reveals her mother has been doing ceramics since she graduated from school. Akari puts a stop to it by confessing her desire to talk about something else but Juri claims it's okay, since she just learned something new about her. Akari is confused by this statement.

After finishing the girls retreat to the living room and sit down, where Juri compliments the meal and the dishes her family prepared. Her mother is about to say something but Akari feverishly stops her, so Juri asks her what she likes doing for the New Year. Her dad comes into the room again and he tries to resume discussion by bringing up sand and he shows them the book he found related to Spain. His words strike something in Juri and she is able to make him very happy with her response, although Akari warns her to be careful since it will only encourage him to keep rambling. Juri claims she is having a lot of fun though, and Akari recalls that Juri has a fashion show coming up the next day, and Juri points out this is what led to her being invited there in the first place, causing both girls to think back to a few days prior.

They were in the cafeteria chatting about their New Years plans when Akari brought up the Pon Pon Crepe Year-End campaign that would be lasting until the 29th. Once she's done she plans on enjoying her winter vacation. Hinaki mentions that she also has work, then she'll be leaving for a family trip, while Sumire will be staying with her grandparents once she finishes work on the 27th. Juri realizes that with their shorter work period, she will be the only one still there on the 30th, as her fashion show takes place January 2nd and rehearsals will last until the 31st. Due to this she won't be going on her usual family trip, so her parents decided to make this a trip for themselves. Sumire asks if Juri will be lonely, and she admits that this will be her first New Years alone, and Akari offers to let her spend time with her.

Juri confesses that she was very happy to have been invited because this would give her a chance to learn more about Akari; words that surprise Akari. Juri explains that this is because usually Akari seems shy, but when the time comes Akari is one to heat up and become filled with passion. She thinks Akari may even be more passionate then her, and she recalls the stories she heard about Akari when she was learning how to perform the Special Appeal, and how she spent a long time on the trampoline in order to master it. She believes that Akari may be a very inspiring figure.

Once again Akari's dad joins them and mentions soil and how it inspires him. While Akari tries to stop him Juri agrees to the feelings he describes, and her mother steps in to tell Juri this is their usual dynamic. Akari insists that she doesn't get along very well with her dad, but after a moment of disappointed her dad decides to think up something more exciting to talk about next time. Juri then remarks that Akari must get her optimism from her dad, and while Akari doesn't agree, her mother and dad seem to think so.

Suddenly, Akari's father asks that she does her famous pose for him, explaining how much he's been looking forward to it, and she easily complies- although he attempts to bring up soil once more. Her mother changes the subject by reminding Akari of the New Years cards and to make sure she should get them as she's gotten so many of them. In fact, mostly all of them were hers.

Akari is embarrassed, which further increases when they offer to show Juri some of her pictures from when she was little. She agrees and they grab the albums, starting with an image of when Akari was three. She really liked to build blocks and could spend the entire day playing with them. Juri remarks that Akari has been passionate since she was little, and they look at a picture of her building sandcastles with her dad in the back yard. They describe how much work she spent building them after the one fell apart, and they start to discuss how Akari isn't the type to give up anything. She recalls how depressed Akari was when she failed the entrance exam; but even then she refused to give up, and she kept trying until she got in. Akari's dad says that failure can be a good part of growing up and gaining experience, which makes Juri think that Akari has definitely got her optimistic spirit from her parents.

With that everyone gets dressed in their formal kimono and they head out to the shrine. They walk up through a long path to the very top, where they take a moment to pray and observe the scenery, until Akari's dad states that the shrines are built on very sturdy ground. Akari stops him and she and Jury head over to find a good fortune station, completely ignoring her father as he resumes speaking. After they finish they head to a restraunt in order to have some red bean soup, but as they are eating Juri finds herself distracted after noticing Akari and her father eat it the same way. She reinstates her earlier opinion -that Akari takes after her dad- but Akari continues to insist the opposite. At this point, she realizes how sad it makes him when she says this however, and she begins reconsidering, much to his joy.

Later on that evening, Juri has finished with her bath. Akari is worried she may catch a cold from it, though Juri assures her that she is fine since she her body and heart always remain hot. She thanks Akari for inviting her there once more before claiming a desire to become like Akari. She is able to keep plodding through any hardships, and while she is a new idol she plans to keep at everything, like Akari. With that the girls prepare for bed, and it turns out they share the same sleeping habit of tossing and turning. Akari lets Juri sleep on the side of the bed she wants, though Juri warns her that she has a tendency to shout in her sleep, causing them to share a laugh before they settle in for the night.

The next day, Akari and her family stand in the audience waiting for Juri to perform, full of excitement for her turn. In the changing area, Juri takes out her cards and inserts them into the changing machine, where she appears on stage to perform Passion flower.

Afterwards, Akari leaves with her family and they express how wonderful the performance went. But with Akari's words, the topic of soil come up again. She scolds her father and Juri -who can see them from where she is- begins to think about her own parents and how they feel in regards to her shows. She turns away to look back at the items on the desk and expresses gratitude towards them.

Characters

 * Juri Kurebayashi
 * Akari Ōzora
 * Sumire Hikami
 * Hinaki Shinjō
 * Karen Kurebayashi
 * Serio Kamino
 * Koharu Ōzora
 * Manabu Ōzora

Trivia

 * This is the first episode of Aikatsu in 2015.
 * To mark this said occasion, special opening lines were delivered by both Ichigo and Akari for the episode.
 * Within canon, this episode takes place during Rin Kurosawa's birthday.