Seeing Honey Cat’s performance in the last episode of Aikatsu Friends! has got Aine doubting herself. She seeks some last minute advice from Mio in order to improve her Aikatsu even further.
Aine takes notes on her weak points
Aine wants nothing more than to improve in this episode, as she has doubts about being able to beat Honey Cat’s spectacular performance. She asks Mio for advice on what she can improve – there’s enough for Aine to fill out an entire notebook.
After that, Aine immediately goes to work practicing in order to overcome her weaknesses. She even decides to isolate herself from her friends and family for a while so she can focus.
Mio is impressed by Aine’s rapid improvement, but notices she has lost the thing that makes her unique
Aine’s training does pay off – sort of. She is able to improve rapidly, but at the cost of the thing that makes her unique. Mio tells her this, resulting in Aine worrying about what it is that she has lost.
Sakuya(?)
Moving on, Mio ends up bumping into a girl she believes to be Sakuya. Mio asks her to divine what is important to Aine, and the girl agrees. Her method of divination is different, though she is unable to see anything regardless.
Divination didn’t work, but bumping into Aine’s friends gives Mio a spark.
Aine’s fans gather to offer their support
The thing that Aine had been missing was her friends. So-called ‘Frienergy’ is what makes Aine unique, so Mio encouraged all of her fans to show their support.
Pure Palette prepare to perform
Aine’s doubts are all cleared away, which means that she and Mio can now go and perform without any worries.
Pure Palette’s Friends Appeal
Pure Palette put on a performance that even gives Ema and Maika goosebumps. The results of the Star Harmony Cup follow shortly afterwards, and it is Pure Palette that claim victory.
Kaguya and Sakuya
The girl that Mio talked to earlier? That wasn’t Sakuya at all, but Sakuya’s sister Kaguya. She is curious about whether Sakuya will be entering the Brilliant Friends Cup. Sakuya has formed a Friends unit yet, though she does like the idea of sharing the stage with ‘those two’ – presumably Aine and Mio.
Honey Cat intend to topple Pure Palette
The final part of this episode shows that Pure Palette was able to win due to the support of their fans. Of course Ema and Maika aren’t exactly pleased with the results, but they intend to topple Pure Palette.
That brings the Diamond Friends Cup to a conclusion, with victory going to Pure Palette. It seems that Mio understands just how important fans are, particularly for someone like Aine. That’s a lesson I imagine that Honey Cat will be taking to heart – they were already formidable foes, so I imagine they’ll have quite the impressive showing at their next event.
Of course, this is Pure Palette’s episode. Aine had an obstacle to overcome here, and she did so thanks to Mio’s support. I imagine things are only going to get tougher for Pure Palette from her on out.
Aine started showing her doubts in the previous episode, though this was where they really came to light. They didn’t last long, but there’s still quite a few episodes where Pure Palette may find themselves facing seemingly insurmountable obstacles.
Then we have Sakuya and Kaguya. Sakuya mentioned not having formed a Friends unit yet – my guess is that she will form one together with Kaguya. Presumably we’ll have to wait until the Brilliant Friends Cup to see how things turn out for them.
Rory Muses 