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Aikatsu! 10th Story: Starway to the Future

Early Spring 2023

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Ako: Oh no, however will we get past this treadmill that only takes up, like, a quarter of the width of the stage?!

Mahiru: We must moonwalk!  And thus move backwards by moving forwards!

Tamaki, halfway around the obstacle: you guys. are you serious right now. pls.

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I love Yume but she has such a huge forehead and it’s so evident in this frame

I pause the episode right at the start to let it load and I keep freezing it right here, where it looks like she’s bouncing back up faster than her eyes are

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I get that these are supposed to be dorky childhood nicknames for one another, but it kills me that they didn’t go with “Morning, Noon, and Night,” or “Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner,” but “Morning, Lunch, and Dinner.”

You open with one theme and switch in the middle.  It makes no sense.  Just like the rest of this ridiculous franchise I love so much

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Gosh I want an idol game in the US, but like. Designed more like DDR than the hit-the-button rhythm games. I suck at those. I want a home system where I can make an avatar, put them in a frilly impractical outfit, and look stupid while I learn the dance. All from the safety of my own home.

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I officially like the teaching staff at Four Star better than the teaching staff at Starlight.

.....This is not because two out of the two we've met so far have been attractive.

....Okay it's not just because of that.

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It's James Pokemon's even bishier twin brother

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I kinda dig that the apparent 'top idol' in this series is a position shared by a four-man unit.

It's also neat that they're pretty clearly parallel universe versions of Aoi, Ichigo, Ran, and Otome -- the first four protagonists, and the first ones of each type we got to know.

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And that's the end of ogkatsu. s4 felt a little rushed, if I'm being honest, and the final episode felt a bit strange.

But I really liked that they ended it on a note that implied that Akari and Ichigo -- and by extension everyone else -- were continuing to aikatsu their hearts out. I wish we'd gotten one last performance from Tristar and PowaPuri, since we saw just about everyone else get up on stage, but c'est la vie. This was the end of a chapter, not their story. The series doesn't continue for them after this, I don't think, but I'm happy to know their world continued without us.

Idk man, I'm just having a lot of emotions over the end of an anime from most of a decade ago

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I knew this was gonna happen but I'm still so proud of her... ;u;

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The more I think about it, I wanna do an original brand for Sasaki. My Little Heart is cute and I like the coords a lot, but it's not *quite* the right fit.

I've already got two different idol fiction wips, though. Granted, only one of them is in the vein of Aikatsu and Pripara, and is undergoing some heavy rewrites, but do I really wanna start coming up with idol coords for a fanwork when I've already got original works to do that with?

Hmmm......

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There's never gonna be another Aikatsu protag like Akari. She was never naturally graceful, didn't start out singing like a bird. Yeah, Ichigo tripped during her first big show, but she got the hang of it pretty quick. Akari worked for every step, and while Ichigo did too, they made sure to show us how hard Akari was pushing herself. Showed us her struggling with it, her self-doubt and her worries in a way that we never saw with Ichigo. I love 'em both, don't get me wrong, but they resonate with me for different reasons. I think Akari's always gonna be my favorite.

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I'm nearing the end of ogkatsu -- Which comes next, Friends or Stars?

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Sorry, been bouncing between hyperfixations.

Anyway I was looking at the Planet coords and... Is it just me or do they feel kinda plain? Like, even the normal Aikatsu outfits are so detailed -- Ageha's Houndstooth Coord, Angely's Heartful Argyle, and LoliGothic's Candlelight are solid examples.

In comparison, things like the Ivy Sleeping Coord, the Warm Kyubi Coord, and even the Twinkle Aquarius Coord seem to fall a little flat? Some of them are nicer than I'd thought at first, like the Sweet Whole Cake Coord, but I'm not sure if that one's comparible to the normal coords or if it's more similar to the rarer ones. Frankly, I'm not sure how rarities work in Planet. The whole system has me confused.

I've said before that my opinions on this series are of near-negative consequence to the franchise, but I'm just. So puzzled. By the lack of detail and the huge deviation from past Aikatsu series. While I, in theory, like the idea of idol anime taking a step closer to shonen martial-arts anime, with bigger tournament arcs and 1v1 battles, I just don't quite get how this all shakes out. Experiments are important, they keep a franchise alive. I just wish some things still felt like Aikatsu, and the intricately detailed outfits are, to me, one of the signature aspects of the franchise.

I dunno, I'm writing this at five AM after digging through two different wikis for good examples and I'm super sleepy. I hope this little ramble makes sense.

I of course mean no ill will towards Planet or its fans, I just noticed something and felt like rambling a little bit. Hope y'all have a nice whatever-time-of-day-it-is! <3