Aikatsu Friends!

Oh, Aikatsu, how I missed you being so good! NOTE: This is the first season where Voice and Song actresses are the same people. That's why some of the earlier songs are a little rough around the edges versus the seasons with professional singers, and honestly, I think that's just fine - in fact, it makes sense given their characters are supposed to be 'bad/new' at the start too! CHARACTER: 8 Unlike Stars, which felt like someone slapped new names and hair colours on OG characters, FRIENDS actually creates a very unique crew, with surprisingly realistic arcs. I love Aine's growth from simply following Mio along, to actually being a competitor in her own right. Similarly, Mio's journey from a walled-off professional into an actual friend was lovely to watch. Maika and Ema focused less on character arcs, and more on having fun - and they brought lots of it, complete with the kind of positive, girl-power competitive energy I love in Aikatsu. Sakuya and Kaguya provide a mature, gothic balance to the show with their songs, and their sisterly antics will feel very familiar to anyone with siblings. Karen and Mirai act as the mentor/rival pair Love Me Tear, and while I do like the way they push and challenge the younger girls, they sometimes feel a bit too distant and harsh. The growth of the cast - which numbers 8 leading ladies and many, many side characters - is done over the course of the season, making it much easier to consume and giving every girl a chance on screen. Their relationships and rivalries are truly what make the show worth watching. I also appreciated that they had more than one idol school, as well as independent idols, right from the start. It made the competition and industry feel truly competitive, and avoided several mistakes made by its predecessors. STORY: 8 FRIENDS goes back to the OG, slice of life style that Aikatsu became so known for, but even with all cute girls doing cute things, there's still a clear goal - beating Love Me Tear. Friends does a wonderful job of making sure its characters work for it, to the point where I would have been genuinely mad had they not won (something I couldn't say about Stars.) The new idea of idol 'friends' units gives the show a unique spin, and allows the wonderful relationships between characters to truly drive the narrative, in a way that the changeable teams of previous incarnations rarely achieved. Art: 7 The CGI has undeniably improved since the early days, and the 2d animation - while not always consistent - is at least decent. The dresses and cards are all utterly gorgeous, and the unit co-ords are well designed to suit both the individual characters, and make them co-ordinate. I particularly loved the various school uniforms. Sound: 9 Aikatsu is one of few idol shows that include every genre imaginable, from rock to pop to dramatic ballads, with all of them enjoyable sans context, making each live stage insert a unique and genuine joy to watch. The OP and ED songs are all wonderfully catchy too. Some of the early songs aren't great (see note above,) but they improve tremendously as the series progresses.