Episode 126 - A Warm♪Offtime

A Warm♪Offtime (ぽっかぽか♪オフタイム) is the 126th episode of Aikatsu! TV anime series and the 25th episode of its "3rd Season". The episode aired on March 26, 2015.

Story
''Akari, Sumire and Hinaki go on their first off-time together! After careful thought, the girls decide to go to Dreamy Lake for a day camp full of activities.''

Summary
Akari is woken up by Sumire and Hinaki one day and sleepily performs her catchphrase for her Weather Program before realizing she isn't actually doing the show right now. She brightens up instantly being reminded that its to start of their off-time and she gets up to prepare.

The girls go to the Cafeteria for breakfast and Akari thanks them for waking her up. Hinaki corrects her by saying to an Idol, they do not have a Vacation, but off-time. The girls sit around for a moment before realizing that they should find something to do to avoid wasting their time, especially with knowing that soon new students will be coming and they would hate to be disappointing. Sumire says they should make the most of the time they have right now and they begin to dig through some magazines for ideas back in the Dorm.

Akari happens to find a bunch of nice eateries, while Sumire comments that she would love to visit some tea shops and look around the general stores, and Hinaki wants to visit anything trendy. However she thinks the best idea would to be doing something outside of the usual for them, so Akari suggests they visit Dreamy Lake, where Sena lives. She compliments the wonderful aspects of the area, until Hinaki wonders if they would be bothering Sena, but Akari claims it should be fine because they can pitch a tent and make it a day trip, and she calls Sena to ask first. He agrees that its fine and the girls leave for home to get ready.

At her place, Hinaki asks her mother for help with some food-related tasks after she thinks about an article she wrote recently. Her mother tells her that anything is okay to eat when camping, but it's really important to prepare it properly and some items can take really long so it's best to microwave them the night before going. She also tells Hinaki to have fun trying to find her own style of making the food and warns her to bring some seasonings.

While sitting down for some tea Sumire voices how she would like to bring some iced tea for the trip but she hasn't been able to make a good cold tea before. Her sister tells her that it can take longer, but steeping the tea in water will help to cool it. She allows Sumire to use some of the brand new tea she got for the Spring and while she goes to fetch it she remarks on how Sumire has changed since befriending the girls. Initially Sumire seems confused, but she's happy as she gives it some thought.

Akari speaks to her dad while he studies some crystal he found in a rock. He begins to discuss the wonderful digging opportunities she would have while there until her mother reminds him it is only a day trip. He begins to discuss how well Akari has been doing since she began idoling a year ago while her mother recalls that she wished to do something before Akari left. She takes a photograph of her and Akari decides to turn in for bed.

The next day the girls meet up at the train station. They happily discuss the warm weather and find Akari with way more items than they thought necessary, but Akari explains how her dad helped her pack it; showing that she has a tent, ground sheet, hammer, shovel, and pick-axe. The girls point out that those are items for digging, causing Akari to realize her father tricked her- but with no time to spare they board the train and sit down for lunch to eat the bento they each packed. The girls enjoy their meal while driving past the country-side and soon arrive to the forest.

They walk through it and comment on how long it has taken since their arrival, so they begin worrying they aren't going the right away and Hinaki brings up the possibilty of them running into a bear. Just as some nearby plants begin to shake the girls panic until realizing its only Sena, who asks about Akari's big bag and explains coming to collect new materials for dye. With it being Spring now is a good time for fresh, new plants. He leads them to Dreamy Lake and offers to let them stay at his place, but the girls refuse, saying they came to camp out.

They set up their tent but are shocked upon realizing they can't do it and are very confused. Sena -who was watching- comes out to help them, and they invite him to join their barbecue. He rejects as he just ate, then calls them hopeless upon noticing the trouble they have, and he's forced to help them again.

They enjoy the meal and begin to discuss their plans of taking part in the following years Starlight Queen Cup and how much it would mean for each of them to win it, but Sena points out that while its a worthy cause, this also means that from this point on they will have to be competing against each other. He heads inside afterwards and they decide to go for a walk.

The girls think about what he told them, but it makes them express concern. For fun, Akari suggests they hold a little competition here, but seeing how confused they are, she points to the nearby dock and boats and explains that they can see which girl gets to the middle of the lake first. They agree and begin preparing.

Sena happens to hear them and looks out of the window in time to see that it was a three-way draw. To settle this, the girls decide to go fishing and see who gets the first bite, but for a while no fish come. Suddenly, all three of them get a bite but upon discovering its only trash, they try determining a winner from this. They ask Sena for help and they will each yell and see who does best with him as judge, but to their surprise, they all yell out touching words of encouragement to each other, much to their -and his- surprise. After all of this competing, they realize they had a lot of fun and they yell out to Sena together, and when he yells to them in response they begin to laugh.

Soon its time for the girls to return to Starlight School and they fall asleep on the train ride back after dropping off their items at home.

While school hasn't entirely changed, with their off-time over they are official second years now and right away they got an offer that surprised them greatly. Sakura comes by to tell them about the Newcomers' performance, to welcome all of the new students and she was hoping they would star in it. The girls eagerly agree, but Akari is worried they may not be good enough until some new girls spot them from nearby and begin to excitedly chat about them, which lifts her spirit and encourages them to agree to the offer in order to be good, older classmates. They run off and quickly begin preparing.

On the day of the performance, the girls exchange words of confidence before they change outfits and appear on stage to perform ''Pretty Pretty. ''

They exit the building to find a whole crowd of new students who watched the performance. The girls are surprised by their words as they didn't think of the performance as being special or different, but they are touched by their kindness and happily share a cheer with them.

Characters

 * Akari Ōzora
 * Sumire Hikami
 * Hinaki Shinjō
 * Tsubasa Sena
 * Sakura Kitaoji
 * Koharu Ōzora
 * Manabu Ōzora
 * Azusa Hikami
 * Hinaki's Mother

Trivia

 * This is the second time an idol wears their first Premium Rare in a performance despite already having obtained various others after it.
 * BS Japan and later broadcasts has different aphorism from TV Tokyo Network's broadcasts. It is unconfirmed whether the TXN version or the BSJ version will make it to the home video release.
 * The song Pretty Pretty appears for the first time.