10 Years of Aikatsu!

The first Aikatsu TV series aired on TV Tokyo on the 8th of October 2012. 2022 marks 10 years of the Aikatsu franchise and what a journey has been for the franchise. From Ichigo Hoshimiya's goal to become Starlight Academy's top idol to Hana's road to becoming Aikatsu Planet's top idol, five installments showcased the ups and downs of our favorite school idols.

Time to hop into the "lucky train", kids, because it's time for a quick history lesson on the Aikatsu franchise! Let's begin!

Aikatsu 10th anniversary

Aikatsu! (2012) - The saga began on the 8th of October, 2012, when Bandai launched the Aikatsu! franchise. which are made to appeal the little girls in the form of the TV series aired on TV Tokyo and the DATA CARDDASS arcade game where players can play as their favorite characters from the series or create their own character and take on a series of challenges to win Aikatsu cards to personalize their idols. The TV series centers on the life and times of Ichigo Hoshimiya, a middle-school student who wants to become an idol, just like the renowned Mizuki Kanzaki. That's why she, and Aoi Kiriya, are enrolling at the prestigious Starlight Academy to begin their journey.

Throughout the series, they've met various characters in the academy such as Ran Shibuki, Otome Arisugawa, Yurika Todo, Sakura Kitaoji, Kaede Ichinose, and others, all have in common in the academy; to become the best idols in the class.

What's unique about the Aikatsu franchise is that the singing voices of the characters are different from the seiyuus who did the dialogue for them. As a matter of fact, STAR☆ANIS, the singing group was responsible for the songs from the show. They even held concerts where they performed most of the songs from the TV show as well.

In the second season, the girls from Starlight Academy are facing the students from the rival idol school known as Dream Academy. Seira Otoshiro, Sora Kazesawa, Kii Saegusa, and Maria Himesato came from Dream Academy for some matters with the Starlight girls. Later on, with differences settled, Ichigo and Seira teamed up to form 2wings to take on WM, which comprises the school alum Mizuki and rising star Mikuru Natsuki. Apart from them, this season introduces the young Akari Ozora, who idolizes Ichigo and became the girl we know in the third season.

The third and final season of Aikatsu, labeled the Akari Generation arc of the series, centers on Akari Ozora as the main character of the series, and with Akari replacing Ichigo as the main character of the final season, Akari's accompanied by her new friends Sumire Hikami and Hinaki Shinjo on their journey to become the academy's top idols, no matter what lays ahead of them. She's a changed girl since we first met her in an earlier season.

The final season introduces us to another Aikatsu-related singing group named AIKATSU☆STARS, which, like STAR☆ANIS, is responsible for the songs from the final series.

Throughout the tenure of the original Aikatsu series, they have spawned two films such as Aikatsu the Movie and Aikatsu Music Awards, featuring storylines never seen in the TV series, giving fans a more enjoyable experience in the franchise.

Aikatsu Stars! (2016) - As the original Aikatsu series ended in the end of March 2016, its successor story, Aikatsu Stars!, was launched. , Aikatsu Stars centers on a brand new story of friends Yume Nijino and Rola Sakuraba as they are going to fulfill their quest to become the school's finest idols in the same way the four elite students, called the S4, did with their pride and prestige. Using their Aikatsu Cards, the stage is theirs to amaze the spectators.

The second season sees Yume Nijino's role as one of the members of S4 has been tested when the Venus Ark pays a visit, giving her a brand new challenge to take on. Traveling around the world on the Venus Ark, they've collected the best and brightest students from across the globe to nurture them into elite students unleashing the full capabilities of their talents. For Yume and the others, this is a challenge because they've been to the belly of the beast during the long summer months while reuniting with Koharu. This season introduces the Star Premium Rare dress, a powerful kind of dress representing the planets of the solar system and once all nine SPRs have been unleashed, the legendary Sun dress will be unleashed, and whoever possesses it promises the ultimate power.

It was first aired on TV Tokyo in the spring of 2016 to 2018 for 100 episodes and aside from the TV series, there was a movie version of Aikatsu Stars shown in the summer of 2016. The similarly named AIKATSU☆STARS from the final Aikatsu season has returned to perform songs from this series as well.

Aikatsu Friends! (2018) - After Aikatsu Stars ended in the spring of 2018, its successor, Aikatsu Friends!, took over and the third installment breaks away from the tradition because, for the first time, the seiyuu behind the characters are responsible for the songs on the series. Anyway, this series highlights the life and times of Aine Yuki and Mio Minato, two friends who are destined to be the best friends among the rest. This is about the rise and fall and reborn of the duo they formed as Pure Palette and how their road to the Diamond Friends Cup was tested by numerous rivals among the way.

The second season of Aikatsu Friends!, titled Aikatsu Friends! Kagayaki no Jewel, introduces fans to the brand new Jeweling Dress feature where the chosen ones will unleash their brilliance onstage. At the beginning of the second season, the Pure Palette girls accepted Hibiki Tensho’s mission to reunite with her old friend Alicia Charlotte, the crown princess of the Principality of Solvette. The second season features the new Jeweling Dress system and these new Premium Rare dresses add power to their live performances.

The show lasted for about 76 episodes.

Aikatsu On Parade! (2019) - Aikatsu on Parade! is the most ambitious crossover of the Aikatsu franchise, highlighting seven years of Bandai's hit children's franchise that wooed kidults all over Japan. The biggest Aikatsu crossover stars Raki Kiseki and the Pure Palette in their cross-dimensional adventure across the entire franchise, meeting iconic characters, performing iconic songs, and in due course, finding out what's going on with the cross-dimensional crisis that saw every single Aikatsu character popping up to a different world without reason. The show lasted for 26 episodes on TV, followed by a web anime highlighting Noeru Otoshiro, the sister of Seira, as she's representing Dream Academy in the ultimate battle of the schools.

Aikatsu Planet! (2021) - Aired on TV Tokyo from January to June 2021, Aikatsu Planet is the fourth installment of Bandai Namco's Aikatsu franchise that breaks apart from the franchise traditions. The newest installment is a mix of live-action J-drama (tokusatsu, if you like to refer) and anime sequences and instead of cards, Aikatsu Planet uses the swing system where avatars use swings to tame mysterious creatures known as Dressias, possessing wonderful outfits to use on stage battles. This series is about Mao Otoha, also known as Hana in Aikatsu Planet, and her goal is to become Aikatsu Planet's top idol. A year after the series finale, the movie version of the Aikatsu Planet arrived on July 15, 2022, picking up moments after the series finale.

And there you have it. 10 years of the Aikatsu franchise from the original to Aikatsu Planet, from Ichigo Hoshimiya to Hana. What a wonderful journey this series has been but now that we no longer see them on television and the Aikatsu Planet arcade game ending its service very soon, we don't really know what's next for the Aikatsu franchise.

Anyway, happy 10th anniversary to the Aikatsu franchise!