Episode 85 - Fantasia (Rhapsody) in the Desert of the Moon

Fantasia (Rhapsody) in the Desert of the Moon (月の砂漠の) is the 85th episode of Aikatsu! TV anime series and the 35th episode of its "2nd Season". The episode aired on June 5, 2014.

Story
''Starlight Academy's Ran Shibuki and Dream Academy's Sora Kazesawa, team up for a new drama audition. As they prepare, they learn that Ran is to play the "Swordswoman" while Sora is to play the "Princess." Ran chose to use this as a challenge, however, the action seems to be a little more than she bargained for.''

Summary
Ran has recieved a personal invitation to partake in an audition for an upcoming drama and she looks over it in Orihime's office. She accepts the offer before Orihime reveals that the audition will be done in pairs, and she will be paired up with a girl from Dream Academy.

Meanwhile, Tiara has just finished going over the same information with Sora. She would also like Sora to make the costumes for herself and Ran, and she accepts, heading back to show Ki and Seira. She gives them a brief summary of the story when they fail to recognize it, explaining that it takes place in a far-of land, where a poor, but honest young man named Aladdin lives. One day an evil sorcerer tempts Aladdin by telling him about a special magic lamp that could grant anyone's wish, and Aladdin went off to find the lamp after overcoming many trials. He rubbed it and a genie appeared, and he was able to marry the beloved Princess. But then the sorcerer came and stole the princess and magic lamp from him, so Aladdin was forced to go on an adventure to save them both. Then, he and his princess lived happily ever after.

Seira begins to look through the pamplet and comments on how different this drama will be in comparison to the original tale. But it still sounds interesting, and they think Sora fits the Princess role very well. They also think this is a great opportunity for her as a designer.

At Starlight, Ichigo and Aoi comment on how perfect the role of Aladdin is for Ran. However, Ran brings up that she will need to study swordsmanship, like fighting and movement, in order to make it more believeable.

The following day, the trio head to a buidling to find someone fighting off a group. They comment on how great he did and compare him to a true Samurai with his movements, and as it turns out he will be teaching them. He surprises them upon noticing them and asks about the lessons, then brings up that Orihime gave him specific instructions for the girls, asking to know which one is trying out. After Ran points out it's her, he reveals that today is his only day to teach them anything to avoid getting in the way of their busy schedules. Practice begins, with the girls starting by learning the proper way to hold their wooden swords until he decides that it would be more important they stretch first. Then he has them swing the sword several times in order to memorize the necessary rhythm needed with it, then he tells the girls to take turns coming at him with what they got.

Ichigo goes first, but with how she plans on attacking him, he stops to inform her that she'd most-likely only slice her foot. He brings out a real sword, and Ran seems to understand as he goes on to tell them not to hold back. Their fans will want to see cool and exciting action scenes, so they need to be as realistic as possible. For example, in some action scenes most actresses change their shoes to avoid injury, and the cameramen works in a way to avoid showing the actresses feet as much as possible to hide this.

By now the trio appear comfortable, and he has them try to attack him again and has them spar with the others. Ichigo and Aoi are amazed by how naturally Ran manages to pick it up, and they admire how cool she looks until the teacher stops them to bring up how often idols are likely to revert to doing dance steps out of natural habit. Ran realizes she did this, and she tries again, this time doing much better and soon arriving to the final lesson, which involves fighting off a group of attackers. The instructor informs the girls that this is the part where most people mess up; and Ran stumbles in her attempt to get the timing down after an attackers voice distracts her. However, he doesn't have any more time to teach the girls, disappointing Ran as he suggests she focus on fixing her weak points until the audition.

As the girls head back to the Academy they notice how quiet Ran has become. She asks Ichigo and Aoi to help her overcome this, and seeing how serious she looks they agree.

Later that night, Sora shows Seira and Ki the drafts of the outfits she made. They compliment them, but seeing as she has second thoughts, she wonders if they truly fit the Princess, then asks them for opinions. She admits that she did research for it, but she still feels troubled.

The next day Ran heads outside when Ichigo and Aoi suddenly burst fourth from the nearby area and prepare to fight her. She "defeats them" with ease and the girls compliment her, although Ran is unhappy since they still surprised her.

As this is going on, Orihime is discussing what they are doing with Johnny. She overheard Ran ask the girls to surprise attack her at every chance they can to help her train.

In the hallway, Ran is then attacked by Kaede, who tries to distract her with a long, flowing cloth, followed by Yurika who gets her outside; although Ran ignores her when she reveals her weapon, annoying her relentlessly. As she heads to the fountain Otome confronts her by pretending to be a cat. She jumps out from a bush and swings at her- only to realize Ran is nowhere near her to be hit, then Ran appears and hits her while saying that cats don't say "love", just "meow", so she didn't fall for it.

Later, Sora comes to Starlight Academy to find Aoi, and they walk together as she explains coming by to deliver Ran her outfit. However, she isn't entirely sure about her Princess outfit so it's not finished yet. It's then they spot Ran, Ichigo, and Otome training together and they watch, with Sora quickly being taken by the display. She then realizes what her ideal Princess is, but the trio stop upon hearing her and approach. Sora hands over the cards containing Ran's outfit and claims that now that she has enough inspiration she can finally finish her own, expressing delight when they admire Ran's outfit.

Eventually the day of the audition arrives, and the girls appear, dressed in their clothes. Ran is surprised by Sora's outfit, and she explains that she got the inspiration of a Princess who admires the gallant figure saving her, while wanting to be closer to her object of adoration. The sword teacher approaches the girls and reveals he was asked to judge the action of the audition, then he brings up that by using the Aikatsu system the fight scene will look more authentic by putting them on location.

With that the auditions begin. Sora plays in the water while Ran observes from afar. It's then she spots a strange object in the water and when she picks it up, she hears a voice inside that belongs to a man. He begs for her help and explains that he has been trapped in the bottle. Sora, seeing no harm in it opens it up before Ran can stop her, and the figure -played by Johnny- reveals he is a genie. The girls are surprised to see him, but they quickly shrug it off to continue acting. He then traps Sora in a bubble and Ran demands he releases her. But instead he runs off with Sora back to his lair and summons his sword as Ran appears to save her.

The fight begins, and the judges of the auditions quickly express approval towards Ran's work. They compliment her skill and how easy she makes it look, and they heavily consider letting her win the audition on this alone; but they decide to wait and see if she can overcome her weakness first. It's then Johnny summons a bunch of clones to attack her but Ran isn't intimdated. She uses what she learned to defeat them, then Johnny then uses his magic to blind Ran and attack her. It works and he catches her off guard, sending her sword in the air.

But before he can finish the fight, the sword happens to burst the bubble Sora was in, freeing her and allowing her to grab the sword. Ran is surprised and brings up that this isn't in the script, but Sora tells her that she's doing this in order to be closer to the person she adores. Her princess won't just stand aside and do nothing- she will fight too. While she's unable to do much against Johnny, Ran admires her words and claims to like the idea of fighting hand-in-hand, and together they hold the sword and fight against the evil genie.

As the judges watch they compliment the sudden change as Ran finishes off Johnny by using a special attack against him. He vanishes and drops his sword as Sora approaches Ran to hold her hands. The audition ends and the man announces that both girls have passed.

Some time passes and in narration, Ran reveals that the filming of the drama went very well. The ending of the film is shown, with Sora and Ran on the flying carpet together. Ran asks Sora where she would like to go for their next adventure and they hold hands, flying off into the distance.

Characters

 * Ran Shibuki
 * Sora Kazesawa
 * Ichigo Hoshimiya
 * Aoi Kiriya
 * Seira Otoshiro
 * Kī Saegusa
 * Otome Arisugawa
 * Kaede Ichinose
 * Yurika Tōdō
 * Tiara Yumesaki
 * Johnny Bepp
 * Palm

Trivia

 * This episode serves as the anime debut of the Arabian Fencer Coord and the Arabian Princess Coord.
 * This episode marks the third drama episode in the second season.
 * The song Arabian Romance appears for the first time.
 * The episode's drama, Rhapsody of the Desert Moon, is based off of the classical story Aladdin.