Aikatsu and Pripara

Look upward where the poplar trees
Sway and sway in the summer air,
Here in the valley never a breeze
Scatters the thistledown, but there
Great winds blow fair
From the mighty murmuring mystical seas,
And the wave-lashed leas.

Look upward where the white gull screams,
What does it see that we do not see?
Is that a star? or the lamp that gleams
On some outward voyaging argosy,--
Ah! can it be
We have lived our lives in a land of Aidoru Katsudou and Prism Paradise!
How sad it seems.

Sweet, there is nothing left to say
But this, that love is never lost,
Keen winter stabs the breasts of Mizuki
Whose crimson roses burst his frost,
Ships tempest-tossed
Will find a harbour in some bay,
And so we may.

And there is nothing left to do
But to kiss once again, and part,
Nay, there is nothing we should rue,
I have my beauty,--you your Art,
Nay, do not start,
One world was not enough for two
Like me and you.

...

>gelatinous maximus
sasuga Momoka

No dreams, only tears now.

Love You, and everyone else in this thread!

...

First for lilyfags tears.

Aikatsu is DED.

Long live our Strawberry Queen.

Let us discuss the recent defeat of the 2nd Year Song Class Idol Shirogane Lily at hand of the 1st Year Song Class Idol Sakuraba Rola.

I'd rather discuss how much I want to coat Lily's hair in my semen.

It's something that mostly kills my interest and hopes for Stars, I'll still keep watching it but with no more expectations. I hope I've learned my lesson.

I'm dead inside.

Lily worked hard to achieve her dream of making her own brand, and accomplished it. She then set her eyes on a new goal, to create a Premium Rare dress after joining S4. But she always worked towards it alone, aiming to keep her promise to Yuzu, but never relying on anyone. She had to be forced to accept basic help during the dress competition, and pushed into dancing with Yuzu. She went her way, but kept to herself.

Rola grew up in a privileged home, and began as the best in her class. Her confidence was at first validated, but then slowly began to crumble as she lost to Yume, but never blamed anyone but herself. Her troubles in finding her own individuality started early, from the ice cream audition in episode 7 where at first she could only give a textbook answer in her interview. Though she lost her way, she always had a shining beacon, a goal to fight her rival at the top of their abilities, whether that included a mysterious power or not.

But still she struggled, never quite understanding what it is that makes her unique. Indeed, it's a difficult question that even many of us viewers have trouble fully embracing. She gained a hint due to Lily at the hot spring, and put aside the superficial view that winning is everything thanks to Anna. And finally, thanks to her rival Yume literally slapping some sense into her, she broke through the wall that had been stopping her this whole time. Rola's individuality is not something that can be so easily expressed in words, or limited to calling her style "rock". It's the culmination of all the effort and worrying and thinking she's put in up until now, and she expressed it all in her performance.

As Yozora said, though both of them had the desire to step forwards, Rola's step was just a little big bigger.

After cooling down a bit and ignoring the results I actually did like a lot of this episode. Lily's scenes with Yuri and Yuzu were really cute, although the scene with Yuri congratulating Lily is even more heartbreaking now that they've both lost, I teared up rewatching it. I honestly thought a lot of Rola's scenes this episode were good, her scene with her mother, and her admitting that she's just copying Lily, which is actually one of the complaints that people have brought up about her character. The scene with Yume highfiving Rola was cute too.

Overall, I can't help but feel the results ruin an otherwise good episode, I'm just frustrated and disappointed.

I would hug you if I could.

The Lily and Yuri stuff was heartbreaking. Made me all the more mad afterwards.

...

For me, everything else you talked about that happened justified the results, not made the results invalidate it. A lot happened this episode, and I felt that no time was wasted at all to create a cohesive flow. Even showing the Felicitaiyaki president, Lily's Russian designer, and Nico and Coco was a small, clever way of reminding us of the paths each of the idols took to get here.

Rola's voice > Lily's voice

Easy as fuck.

I should finish watching Aurora Dream. I stopped midway a few months ago. Mion was cute.

Rola = Lily
in ma 'pinion

Finished Coloring project when?

Seiyuu singing > Separate singers
And I love Aikatsu.

I don't see how you can say the whole Yuri congratulating Lily in tears was justifies her getting smacked down by the very next performance.

This should have been a wake up call for Rola, not her suddenly becoming a significantly better idol, who's only going to lose to Yume again next episode anyway. Plus, unlike Lily, Rola's character has never been about making S4, of course that's one of her goals as it is of every Yotsuboshi student, but it's not a central focus of her character arc. The two main characters who it's been central to their development are Yume and Lily, and they easily could have had Lily win this year, and Yume next year.

I'm looking forward to Human Peridot's guest appearance in Idol Time PriPara.

>suddenly becoming a significantly better idol
>suddenly
No. We've already been over this more than once.

>of course that's one of her goals as it is of every Yotsuboshi student, but it's not a central focus of her character arc
No one's character arc needs to be about making S4. Can be, but not necessary.

Reminder that it doesn't matter who wins because Hime is gonna reign supreme.

This.

There is, however, a consistent pattern. Ako will be S4, but she lost to Tsubasa. Mahiru beat Yozora, but she'll be moving away to France, and Mahiru has been shown multiple times emotionally relying on Yozora and asking her for advice. Lily beat Yuri, which gave Yuri the closure she needed after Lily dropped out due to sickness in both the CD audition and also the previous S4 Selection. Lily, meanwhile, now lost to Rola, but she still gained her own brand, which was one of her dreams. Rola is currently on top and will likely lose next episode, but she overcame the uncertainties and insecurities she's had for the entire series. Thus far, everyone has both gained and lost. We'll see how this continues next time.

As for Rola, don't forget that she's been saying she'll get into S4 since the very first episode (or maybe 2 or 3) also. That has been her goal too. Her secondary goal, if you can call it that, is to be rivals with Yume, which will continue regardless of what else happens.

Kind of matters when the runnerup will become S4 once Hime graduates

...

>As for Rola, don't forget that she's been saying she'll get into S4 since the very first episode (or maybe 2 or 3) also. That has been her goal too. Her secondary goal, if you can call it that, is to be rivals with Yume, which will continue regardless of what else happens.
You've got the order of her goals swapped.

What will have Yume lost once she inevitably becomes S4 next episode?

People's respect

Still a fucking loser.

You are forgetting that yet another goal of Lily was to become S4 ALONGSIDE Yuzu. And that's been cockblocked forever now. But hey, she got her brand so that's something, right? Who cares about her reaching S4 was directly tied with her brand.

>Rola is currently on top and will likely lose next episode, but she overcame the uncertainties and insecurities she's had for the entire series
Which will make her current win meaningless as Yume, the reason of all her insecurities, will BTFO out of her again next week.

So what was the point of having Rola beat Lily for absolutely nothing? Everyone loses except Yume whose only possibly "loss" will be not be able to defeat Hime except we already went through that with Ako so it won't have nowhere as much impact now.

Good answer.

It's not that beating Yume is her goal. Being rivals is the goal in itself. They can support each other whole-heartedly while at the same time fighting for the top at full strength. A goal or dream is something you can achieve. Rivals are a way of life. I'm deliberately using a different definition than the one HaruHaru uses of dreams never really coming true, though I think both are valid.

Losing to Hime maybe? Clearly predictions aren't our strong suit.

Nobody gets everything they want, that was my entire point. Also, you thinking that Rola's current win will be nullified is not justified. That's just your own opinion of how you would feel if you lost. Rola literally said that winning and losing doesn't matter to her. Don't project your feelings onto her.

>No. We've already been over this more than once.
My point was that Rola basically went through what should have been multiple episodes of development in this single episode. She shouldn't have suddenly been able to surpass Lily the moment she realized she was just copying her.

>Can be, but not necessary.
Are you not watching the show? It's literally the central point and driving force of both Lily and Yume's character arcs so far.

>Rola is currently on top and will likely lose next episode
Exactly. She's going to go right back to playing second fiddle to Yume and they threw Lily under the bus just for it to happen.

>That has been her goal too.
That's what I said, but it's not a central part of her character arc. Becoming S4 has been central to Lily's character not just because she wants to be able to stand alongside her childhood friend who's supported her this entire time, but also to show everyone that put her down that with hard work she could become one of the best, but well, I guess those people were right all along.

>Yume "wins" but is disqualified to last place and joins Venus Ark with Koharu

8 and 9 are free for all. 1, 5 and 6 are finished but not shopped into the board yet. 7 is working on it.

>Nobody gets everything they want
Except if you are Yume apparently.

>Also, you thinking that Rola's current win will be nullified is not justified.
No. It's an objective fact based on reality. If Yume outscores Rola it means that she lost to her again. "I lost but I won in my heart" is meaningless platitude. There's no projecting here, a win is a win and a loss is a loss.

Wait I mixed 5 and 7.

What do they learn at that school if third years aren't any better than first years?

I want to add that setting these episodes up as Lily vs Rola and Yume vs Hime keeps Rola hopelessly outclassed by Yume by design, and the gap will become insourmontable now that Yume will become S4. So much for being true rivals, I feel they only felt that way for the first half of the season, ironically before Rola made her declaration of rivalry. They should've set these episodes up as Yume vs Rola instead of giving Yume the bigger fish already.

Okay, so you're intentionally not understanding Rola. You also assume the results of next week when just a few hours ago many people were proven wrong. It's on you to change your way of thinking, not the series.

I can't believe there are people who legitimately think winning is everything and can't accept people thinking otherwise. Don't even try to turn this around on me either, you're the one directly contradicting how she feels.

The entire point is how each generation is supposed to be better than the previous one, but it's hard to say it now when nobody could defeat Yuzu and Tsubasa.

>There's no projecting here, a win is a win and a loss is a loss.
Indeed.

When an entire year long series has been leading up to a competition, I'd say yes, winning is a pretty fucking big deal.

>You also assume the results of next week when just a few hours ago many people were proven wrong
Yeah, there's no way to tell with absolute certainty that Yume will beat Rola if not even Hime after today's episode, right?

Is that what you meant? Then I apologize, I thought you meant Yume would beat Hime.

And it's on the series to make the writing make sense and all it's build-up give a satisfactory conclusion. Which as of this episode clearly failed to do as you can see from all the disappointment around.

>I can't believe there are people who legitimately think winning is everything and can't accept people thinking otherwise.
Gee, it's almost like it is a competition or something. Since when people compete if not to, you know, win?

Once more, the source of all insecurities of Rola is Yume, she may have "gotten over it" but, for me, as the viewer, it will be completely nonsensical if all her supposed effort to get over that is thrown under the bus by having Yume beat her, again. No matter how much the show tries to tell me that Rola is totally okay dokey with such a result, me, as the viewer, doesn't have to accept it is a complete logical contradiction of everything the show has been telling us and building up so far.

Once more, if Yume's "loss" will be the same "loss" Ako felt it'll be pretty damn cheap and meaningless, firstly because it'll be a repeat of something we've already seen, and secondly, because compared to everyone else Yume is will still the big winner of everything despite her oh so dreadful loss of becoming pity S4.

I'm not the one you originally replied to, but I wouldn't rule that out. Yume beating Rola is completely certain however, and that's what matters in regards to the discussion we were having. Rola's destiny is to keep losing to Yume, to the point that this time they decided to not even directly focus on their rivalry since Yume is facing off against Hime instead.

>Lily will win against Hime they said

Heh, fucking delusional Lilyfags I swear.

Honestly, even if Rola somehow manages to beat Yume and become S4 instead it'll still be sour as fuck because she managed to beat Lily. And god forbid is Yume scores higher than Lily too while still losing to Rola. Shit is fucked no matter what.

And before you point out again that Rola doesn't care about winning or losing, you also just said being Yume's rival is one of her goals. The point of having a rival is striving to beat them, not being fine with losing every time. I can't believe I'm saying this, but Ichigo vs Seira was miles better as a rivalry.

Someone last thread brought up the idea of Yume losing hard and defecting to Venus Arc and honestly at this point that's the result I'd probably be happiest with.

Why do you think Rola got barely 100 points more than Lily and finished in the 27k range? Mahiru got 29k and so will Yume, if she won't break 30k through rainbow or whatever. That they've set up this specific range of scores makes me think she will.

Yume was not the cause of Rola's insecurity. She may have been a factor in it, but if you look all the way back to the episode 7 audition, before Yume was even a match for her, she was already showing signs of it. That much is absolutely true.

When I saw Lily got 27k I knew everything was gonna be completely fucked.

My point was that Rola basically went through what should have been multiple episodes of development in this single episode. She shouldn't have suddenly been able to surpass Lily the moment she realized she was just copying her.
You're grasping at straws here.

>It's literally the central point and driving force of both Lily and Yume's character arcs so far.
And?

They set Hime as the bestest best bestest at everything. She's not going to lose.

How were the idle activities?

I need to catch up. The last episode I saw was 44

She's gonna get 30k for sure.

So what? I'd give you that point if it had been brought up again recently, but you can't deny that her entire character for the last 20+ episodes has been focused around Yume.

Don't underestimate them, I mean overestimate them.

Lily lost and everyone is going nuclear for pretty obvious reasons.

The series tragically got cancelled right after episode 47.

Yuzu still has one more year though so Dance gets a pass.
Ako still managed to do well without glitter though and I actually though she would be able to pull it off when they went that route but look what happened.
Concerning Hime, I don't see Yume beating her. I imagine Hime will pull out all the stops and show Yume exactly what she "had to reach". Granted Hime was already painted as really fucking good from an early age so it'd be hard to top something like that and will be another Talent>Hard-work & Skill that nips love to pull.

Her fucking flashback this episode was literally nothing but YUME YUME YUME. It's like I'm seeing one of those "When Poochie is not on the screen everyone shouold ask "Where's Poochie" but concentrated on 100% on Rola.

>You're grasping at straws here.
Please explain to me how I'm grasping at straws.

>And?
Well, you claimed that no one's character arc needs to be about making S4, and then I provided examples of two characters who's character arcs are in fact, about making S4.

I think it was more like all the pieces fell into place for her at once. Anna said to stop comparing herself to Yume and to find what's unique. Lily said to go her own way. Yume believed in her sincerely with not a hint of doubt in her words.

Simple is the best. Going my way. Omoshiroi janai. This is Sakuraba Rola.

Not a single thing was new this episode. All of it was built before and came together in her mind.

>Granted Hime was already painted as really fucking good from an early age so it'd be hard to top something like that and will be another Talent>Hard-work & Skill that nips love to pull.
Hime popped out of the womb singing and dancing and has literally her whole life as work experience. She may be talented, but to say she has not worked hard is bull, specially when Rainbow happened to her and she had to control it.

Hard Work + Talent > Hard Work > Unpolished Talent

This, Hime's like a good Mizuki in that aspect.

I actually liked her scene with Anna because they weren't talking about Yume, and she came to the realization that she has just been copying others this entire time, and then what you said happened.

>stop comparing herself to Yume and to find what's unique.
Yep, real convincing when immediately afterwards she has a scene going on and on about Yume right before she performs.

You should get ready to see her sucking Yume off some more next episode after Yume defeats her.

Elsa's the new hottie.

I wish she renders the concept of S4 irrelevant so I can forget about all of this.

>they think Lily's entitled to S4 just because her character arc concluded with Lily's new motivation matching many other characters' same motivation
like, wut

Even Yume isn't this delusional

It is convincing. She said Yume is this presence that inspires her to do her best, but that she doesn't need to directly compare herself to. Maybe there's something lost in translation about the concept of rival from there to here. Rola admitted this was her best performance ever, which is exactly what she wanted.

Can't wait for her to job to Yume too.

As a Lilyfag, I'm mad.
As a viewer, Rola deserved some bones after a whole season shitting on her and her smugness becoming memeness.
Final score: Keeping my rage one week more.

Please save Stars.

Not until mid S2 after she defeats all of the S4

Is that "good" implying Mizuki didn't work hard to get where she stands?

Nah.

Not him, but I would say "good" in that she's not a loner, is more lovable, and isn't a semi-restrained megalomaniac

My issue is how it was set-up

All the people defending Rola's win forget or seemingly don't realize that what is most annoying people is that Rola's win pretty much trampled over Lily's character arc and made it utterly meaningless and a failure. Becoming S4 to stand alongside Yuzu who has supported her since forever? Nope. Making her PR when she becomes S4 after she worked her ass to set-up her own brand? Nope. Proving everyone who told her she was a failure and was never gonna become an idol and much less S4? lol no.

If Rola's culmination of her character is to get over her insecurities and find her own way there's no better way than doing it than having her Yume who has been her main source of anxiety for quite a while. What is the purpose of having her beat Lily?

Even worse, let's assume that Yume ends up beating Rola too next week. That would mean that Rola beating Lily and as consequence making her character arc completely fail was for absolutely nothing. And likewise for Rola, how are we supposed to believe she got over Yume when Yume comes in and beats her again?

It's all set-up wrong and if Yume ends up winning like most people are expecting then it will be extremely unsatisfactory for everyone. Ako and Mahiru get a free-pass to becoming S4 on their first year because there was no other real competition, but am I supposed to believe that Yume of all the people on the super loaded Song Class is the one who become S4? On her first year? And without using Rainbow? No way in hell.

What was the point of ANYONE not named Yume in the Song Class if the only one who actually ends up fulfilling all her goals in a satisfactory manner and without any loss is Yume?

Implying Mizuki was a bitch and used people for her next-level of Aikatsu shenanigams.

Ultimately, putting Lily in song class was a mistake. She should've been an obstacle to another first-year from a different class if they weren't going to let her beat not just the S4, but even the two song-class first-year protagonists.

There's one or two guys here who will defend Stars no matter what it throws at us and I just cannot understand their thought process at this point. I like Stars, but god damn it am I going to call it out and be mad when it pulls some bullshit like it did this episode.

>pleople call her a meme
>carrying Stars
>having the best episodes and development
Is Ako, I dare to say, /ouridle/?

I don't like Lily losing, but people are trying to force the idea that the only acceptable outcome was Lily becoming S4, and nothing else makes any sense at all.

Heck, even the guy who usually makes those huge-ass posts every episode about how good Star is every week was completely appalled at this episode. When that guy doesn't know what to say then you know shit went really really wrong.

I fear she's going to get relatively sidelined in S2 since she's not getting top billing in advertisement like Yume, Rola and Mahiru are.

>Proving everyone who told her she was a failure and was never gonna become an idol and much less S4?
I really think you guys took that too far. Immediately after Lily said that she also said she had moved past it. Hell, she already had just by making it as an admin of Song Class.

I guess I can't convince anybody that Rola can be rightfully satisfied unless they reach the same conclusions as her, and it took her almost a year to do that.

The way I saw the entire season since Lily's introduction, Yume and/or Rola beating her are unacceptable outcomes. I'm sorry, it's how I feel.

Actually, the internet ate my post. I meant to put it at about 8:50 this morning but it disappeared for some reason. If it's there when I get home then I'll let you see it.

She doesn't deserve that, dear user, I will cry

Would people have preferred a Roller/Lily tie beating Hime/Yume