After the amazing experience I had with the original Aikatsu, Stars had a big challenge to face trying to live up to its quality, did it succeed? Definitely!

What is about, and differences with the original

Aikatsu Stars keeps most of what makes the franchise shine with it's wholesomeness, heartwarming moments, and the constant pain in your mouth due to how much you're smiling watching it, but what this entry has is considerably more drama and serious moments through the story attached to the character development of the cast. If you prefer that this is a big bonus towards trying out Stars, while not really being a negative if you liked the original and you're thinking about watching this one since in my opinion it was well handled through the whole run.

Outside of two fantastic crossover episodes with the original (which are perfectly skippable if you haven't watched it) this is a stand-alone story set in an idol school which focuses on “self-producing” (finding your way to stand out and shine, encouraging the search of what makes each of the students unique and great).

There are four classes, each specializing on different things, like singing and performing, with the best student of each becoming part of the S4 (best school uniforms in anime btw), the top members of the school that everyone admires and wants to become a part of. The protagonist of the story, Yume, is one of the tons of fans they have and she joins the school wishing to reach the top, will she succeed?

With the people behind Aikatsu having more experience with the franchise, there comes two quite strong positives in comparison to the original:

• The dances are great from episode 1. The CGI of the original at the start of its run was… mediocre to say the least, but at this point of the franchise things are way different. If you can't stomach the performances at the start of the first series, Aikatsu Stars (or the also awesome Aikatsu Friends) is there for you.

• The story is more compact and less repetitive: While the original has a ton of positives on what happens during the episodes, it's clear that they were just trying stuff at times and ditching them later on to do other things instead, or some parts were like doing 2-3 episodes in a row of the same thing but with different characters, Aikatsu Stars handles this way better and presents a well paced story while keeping the quality and the character development that the original shines with.

Characters

The strongest part of the Aikatsu franchise is its fantastic characters, and Stars is definitely not an exception to the rule.

Before touching on the main characters, I will talk a bit more about the S4 girls, who are some of the best role model characters I have seen. They are at the top of the school and it's well deservedly so, being extremely good at what they do and always there to help the others to improve. They also get focus and development through the series, and the interactions between them and the main characters are some of the best moments of Stars. My own favorite character of this anime is the cheerful Yuzu, there are so many favorite-worthy characters even outside of the main ones!

Now let's talk a bit about the main characters:

• Yume Nijino is our protagonist of the story. She's a cheerful girl with strong determination and her talent for singing is incredible. You will see yourself cheering for her success and the smiles she wants to give to everyone.

• Rola/Laura Sakuraba she's Yume's rival (and therefore best friend by Aikatsu standards) and one of the strongest characters when it comes to their drama and development. She doesn't like losing at all, and in a world full of competition like hers this proves to be a problem.

• Ako Saotome, usually looking calm and confident, but actually quite hot-blooded, our (cat)girl loves acting and has a talent for it. She also has a massive crush on Subaru (a member of the M4, basically the S4 of the boys and source of lots of awesome interactions with the main cast) which leads to a lot of fun moments.

• Mahiru Kasumi, the most mature girl of the main cast. She shines at modeling, and while her strong aura makes her look difficult to approach (her karate skills don't help with that), she's actually pure kindness.

• Koharu Nanakura, a quiet girl and Yume's childhood friend. She joined the school together with her due to her admiration towards the S4, and they are always helping each other.

This is just a part of the whole cast and it's definitely missing other characters you will probably get to love as much or even more as them (looking at you Lily!)

Dances

As mentioned above, unlike the original, Stars has quality performances right from the start, that together with the great songs the series has makes for such a fantastic experience and a filled playlist. When it comes to the visuals, this anime is always on point, with some of the most important episodes delivering crazy good animation to add to the impact of the moment.

Here is just a taste of the CGI you will see watching this anime:

Episode 10 (dance starts at 1:01)

Spoiler, click to view

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Episode 19 (starts at 1:07)

Spoiler, click to view

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Episode 38 (I love this one)

Spoiler, click to view

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Conclusion

Keeping strengths from the original, presenting another fantastic cast, and giving us more awesome songs that will go to our playlists, Aikatsu Stars delivers a fantastic story full of both fun and emotional moments that, together with the solid character development, makes for a very memorable experience.

Thanks a lot for reading! I hope this review convinced you to at least put Aikatsu Stars in the endless void that is the plan to watch from your list, now that I'm up to date with this franchise I feel so empty, a feeling I wouldn't be surprised if you felt as well after watching it!