Episode 76 - Great Shock☆Fresh Girl!

Great Shock☆Fresh Girl! (びっくり☆フレッシュガール！) is the 76th episode of Aikatsu! TV Anime series and the 26th episode of it's "Second Season". The episode aired on April 3, 2014.

Story
''It's Spring―the season of student entrances. Starlight School's new student audition's caravan has begun and it is up to Ichigo, Aoi, and Ran to decide who joins or not. Along the way they meet a strangely familiar girl determined to get in against all odds!''

Summary
Ki and Seira are watching the weekly idol news program that has Ichigo, Aoi, and Ran on it. The three congratulate anyone who has moved up a grade, and announce that they will be attending the high school division now. After the video ends, the duo comment on how they are also high school students now and meet up with Sora and Maria.

Orihime and Tiara are both shown giving their respective school announcements, saying that the students will now be stepping into the world of large-scale idol work. Once the meeting ends, Orihime approaches the girls to inform them that they have been chosen as judges of the upcoming Audition Caravan. It travels in search for new idol prospects, and girls who may have failed the original entrance exams are allowed to reapply. After bringing up how important it is to them, she is happy when they agree.

As a news segment on this is being broadcasted, an excited girl is shown running around her home trying to find something. She is delighted as her mother joins her, telling her that maybe she will finally get a chance to meet Ichigo in person.

At the Cafeteria the trio chat about this job they have been given. It's tradition and they should consider themselves special for having been chosen. Aoi also points out some other nice details about it.

Meanwhile, at Orihime's office Johnny is also shown to be really excited about it as well. Orihime brings up that any idol who enters the school in this way would surely gain a lot of attention and become popular.

The trio head outside while going over their schedules. They see the caravan will make plenty stops at various venue to watch performances, then they will decide who passes or fails. This causes the girls to realize just how difficult their job might be- as this means the decision will rest on their shoulders and they may end up hurting people. Ichigo points out that they will need to think very carefully with each applicant as they head inside, stopping at the hallway of past Idols. As they admire them again, the girls realize how much they relied on one-another to help move forward, so now they must do their best as judges.

In her bedroom, the young girl, Akari, is still beaming with exitement over the announcement. She thinks about the last time she took the entrance exam though, which led to her not being accepted- or even coming close to passing. She was devastated but she is going to see to it that her dream comes true, and inspired, she thinks back to when she attached herself to Ichigo. She was in fourth grade and she saw a girl at the Playground having trouble. But she didn't know how to approach her, and she just headed home. Upon arrival she saw Ichigo helping her friends, including a classmate she wasn't even close to, and this inspired her to go and help the girl the next time she saw her; because she realizes she wanted to see people smile.

Eventually the Audition Caravan begins. An announcer introduces the three judges while everyone cheers and they take their seats. The girls wish everyone luck but Ichigo thinks back to the various details she will need to keep in mind from their prior discussion; like the intervals and rhythm of singing and dancing, watching how well the performers act if they are nervous, overal appeal. She begins to worry that they made too long of a list- but at the same time it feels like it isn't nearly enough.

The auditions begin soon after and end in a flash. The girls who applied stand on stage and wait for the announcement of which girl has won this round and will start attending Starlight Academy. After the reveal the girls head to their next location, where Otome and Kaede join them as judges. Things go fine until the round ends and they announce the winner. Seeing how sad one of the girls is causes them to feel remorse.

Eventually the final day of the nationwide audition caravan tour comes. They see how many girls have shown up but keep in mind that they can only pick two of the entrants, causing reality to set in as Ran points out this might not be that bad of a thing, since it would hurt even more to have to wait later and find out you didn't make it. Aoi suggests they pick extra-carefully and with that the event begins.

Soon it is Akari's turn and right away everyone recognizes her similar hair style and bow as she introduces herself as Ichigo- right before getting flustered and quickly explaining that she had been prepared to say her name, as she assumed they would ask her questions, rather than her name. Everyone laughs at her mistake and she quickly introduces herself as Akari, and knowing she may not get the chance she decides to announce her true feelings now, and she explains how she became a fan of Ichigo's. Aoi and Ran comment on how intense the girl is, listening as Akari brings up her desire to try anything that could bring her loser to Ichigo. She goes on to show them the picture of how sad she looked after failing to get into the Academy, saying that while it isn't a good memory, it is still important. She learned a lot after failing, and its helped her improve now that she realized she couldn't give up, so she came back to get a second chance.

Aoi then asks her what she thinks the best thing about Ichigo is, and Akari claims that its how Ichigo was able to teach her how to dream. She may not be as talented as other girls are when it comes to most things but she couldn't give up her dream without a fight. The girls compliment her before the announcer brings up that she will be performing now. She agrees and mentions that she might mess up- but she plans to do her best. Before she goes, Ichigo wishes her luck.

Akari runs backstage to choose a set of cards, then she approaches the machine to insert them while telling herself that she will show her true feelings to Ichigo today and give it her all. She puts the coord cards on each slot, then changes before appearing on stage, where she performs Idol Activity!.

However- she messes up a few times during the performance. Initially she doubts she could pass, but after being told she was chosen she is confused and delighted. Everyone cheers for her, but nearby Johnny expresses doubt, saying that her skills aren't that great and she doesn't seem to have the aura of an Idol either. Orihime isn't so sure though, saying that if the girls chose her there must be something special about Akari.

Character Appearances

 * Ichigo Hoshimiya
 * Aoi Kiriya
 * Ran Shibuki
 * Akari Ōzora
 * Otome Arisugawa
 * Kaede Ichinose
 * Orihime Mitsuishi
 * Johnny Bepp
 * Tiara Yumesaki
 * Seira Otoshiro
 * Sora Kazesawa
 * Kī Saegusa
 * Maria Himesato
 * Koharu Ōzora

Animation Trivia

 * In the fitting room scene, Aikatsu! used the season one music instead of season two's, as to resound the nostalgic feel of when Ichigo Hoshimiya had her entry test.
 * A few of the posters in Akari's room are the cover arts from season one's DVDs.
 * This is the second episode in season 2 not to use the school cards after previous episode and third overall, after Episode 01

Other Trivia

 * SHINING LINE* and Precious debut as the new OP/ED themes, marking the second half of the second season.
 * This is Precious's second debut overall.

Major Events

 * Ichigo and her companions (excluding Sakura) become high school students.
 * This episode marks the debut of Akari Ōzora
 * This episode marks the debut of the Apricot Torte Coord

Gallery
Main article: Episode 76 - Great Shock☆Fresh Girl!/Image gallery