Episode 09 - The Melody of Bravery♪

The Melody of Bravery♪ (勇気のメロディ♪) is the ninth episode of the Aikatsu Friends! anime series. It aired on May 31st, 2018.

Summary
Aine has been admiring the Premium Rare Dresses. After asking Aikatsu Navi's Coco and learning that if she is an "amazing idol", then obtaining a premium rare dress wouldn't just be a dream. In order to let herself be more well known among the fans, Aine begins to plot a fan meeting of her own. But despite Aine's enthusiasm―!?

Plot
One morning Mio comes across a delighted Aine admiring her Aikatsu folder filling up with brand new cards. She asks to see Mio's and admires the Premium Rare set she recently used and gets an idea, taking out her phone to contact Coco to ask how she can obtain her own Premium Rare coord. Coco explains that a Premium Rare dress can only be worn by amazing Idols who have earned them from the brand's designer; but after Aine asks how she can become an amazing Idol, she tells her to figure it out on her own and leaves.

Seeing how depressed Aine has suddenly become, Mio tries cheering her up by saying that each Idol grows in her own way, in her own time. With that, she heads off to speak with Tamaki about her upcoming work. Aine longingly observes her binder again and continues to think about Premium Rare dresses.

Later, Aine brings her friends back to her place and tells them of the conversation, only to learn that Maika and Ema have their own sets as well. Mio informs them of what Coco told Aine earlier, and she asks them for help since she doesn't have any ideas. They agree and begin to discuss important, crucial things for all Idols- such as making the fans happy as they play a big role in increasing a brands popularity. Suddenly Aine recalls a fan letter she got and she gets up to fetch it. After returning, she reads it for her friends. The fan writes how they would like to learn more about her, but she hardly makes appearances- causing her to become depressed when Maika reminds her that this is only common for a new idol; but that doesn't change that the letter is right. Aine suggests holding a fan meeting and they agree, telling her to come up with details and show it to Tamaki for approval.

The following day Aine arrives to Tamaki's office and she tells her, Chiharu, and Ken her idea. She explains how she would like to get to know her Fans better by holding this event, and how she sees them as her friends. She wants them to be able to learn more about the brand and herself so that they can grow. Tamaki agrees with this idea, musing that the timing would be perfect since they had just been speaking about holding an event for Sugar Melody anyway. With some final encouragement from Chiharu and Ken, Aine happily embraces and thanks them.

Tamaki leads Aine to where the event will be held and explains how it will take place for two days: Saturday and Sunday, with a mini-live concert held the second day. Aine takes a moment to observe the dock before her, which will act as her stage as Tamaki informs her that she will be in charge of everything. With that Aine gets to work training her dance skills, practicing her autograph, and working on coord designs. As Chiharu prepares to leave she stops upon noticing Aine is still there in her office, and suddenly inspired, she returns to her design room and begins to sketch something.

Eventually the first day of the fan meeting arrives and Ken is finishing Aine's hair as Chiharu arrives with the jacket for her outfit. To her surprise, Mio has arrived- but only for a little bit since she had time before work. She asks for a tour and Aine agrees while explaining her inspiration as they walk through an area surrounded by large family picture posters and several Sugar Melody coords residing in glass containers. Mio is impressed by her efforts when suddenly a little girl runs up to Aine and asks for a picture. She agrees, and before the girl leaves Aine hands her an "Idol Card" she has, saying she should read over it with her mother later. The little girl thanks her and runs back over to her mother, and Mio asks about the card. Aine hands over one and brings up how it not only has her profile, but an autograph as well. She made them after being inspired by her Friend Album, and hopes that it will make her fans happy and understand her a little more.

Mio is further impressed knowing that Aine handmade all of these cards, and she mentions looking forward to seeing her perform the following day. She is relieved in knowing she will be okay and wishes her luck before taking off.

Aine gets to work as her fans begin showing up, showing them various coords while making conversation, handing over her cards, showing girls how to dance, taking pictures, and playing games and giving Penne-inspired prizes to the winners. Tamaki, Chiharu, and Ken are glad that everything is going so well. Not only has Aine managed to put together a wonderful event, but her fans are really enjoying themselves as well. However, Tamaki finds herself unable to shake off her feelings of concern as she notices how cloudy the sky has gotten.

Her concerns are met when it begins to rain, causing Aine to worry as it soon turns into a downpour. Fans are forced to take shelter beneath the various tents she had set up or leave, and she sadly thanks the ones leaving for coming before Tamaki suggests she seeks shelter. But before she can do this she suddenly spots a phone someone dropped. She picks it up and decides to look for the person, running around to ask the fans she can find if they dropped it, including the ones who took off. Despite nobody recognizing the phone, Aine continues to look around for it while using her towel to keep it dry. She soon finds the owner, the girl from earlier who won the game, at a bus stop with her friend. They are surprised that Aine was willing to go this far for her sake and she gratefully takes it back. However, Aine suddenly sneezes as Tamaki locates her with an umbrella.

They return to the fan meeting area, where a sign was put up to inform visitors of the cancellation. She dries off as Chiharu hands her a drink, and seeing how ill she has suddenly become causes Tamaki to express disappointment in her for not taking better care of herself. She tells Aine to rest for now, and the next day she will decide on whether or not she's fit for her performance before storming off.

As Aine sadly makes her way home, she continues to think about what Tamaki said and fears she is nothing more than a failure. But the others show up at her place, deciding to try to help her out so that she can get better. They bring over several items that should help heal her throat, and she decides to use a large pad to write down what she wants to say. With this she explains what happened earlier and while the girls feel concerned, they try to assure Aine that for now she needs to rest. As Maika and Ema pleadingly ask god to stop the rain, Mio suddenly remembers something.

While this is going on, Chiharu works on a new outfit when Tamaki arrives to show her a picture someone took of Aine delivering the phone back to the girl who lost it. With such a positive response from the fans Tamaki finds it hard to be disappointed in her anymore, and they observe the rainy evening sky from the nearby window.

Meanwhile, Aine puts out a penguin humidifier and gets to bed. But she finds it hard to sleep thinking about what Tamaki said as she apologizes to the many fans she let down.

The following day a large crowd has shown up for the second day of the event- including Aine's family. They are impressed by the sight as she sits and continues to try to get better. Her school friends pay her a visit out of concern, pointing out that they heard she got sick. They made several items in hopes of encouraging her with the help of several fans and friends, and they begin to set everything up as Tamaki joins her to show her the post she saw the prior night. Everyone wants to make this a fun event, and even if she is sick Aine insists that she continues regardless. Tamaki is happy by her response and agrees.

As this is going on, Mio is shown to be within a shaded forest. She finds something and realizes that she must hurry back.

Aine arrives on stage and speaks to everyone. She thanks them for showing up and explains that while it means a lot to her, she ended up getting sick due to her carelessness the day before. As she speaks, the various fans are shown concerned, including the girl who forgot her phone, and her brother, who has to be physically restrained from running in to check on her. Aine decides that while she may not be able to speak as much she still wants to make sure everyone enjoys themselves. She is delighted when everyone expresses approval for her and quickly begins the event by speaking to the girl who lost her phone and feels really bad. She also signs autographs, plays with children, and hands out her cards again.

Nearby, Tamaki watches as Chiharu approaches with a brand new coord set for Aine. She asks Tamaki to include them as part of a proposal for the event.

As an announcer reveals that a mini-concert will be held soon, Aine sits backstage again and tries to see if she's doing any better. She is startled when Mio arrives and reveals the Goodforthroatshroom she found. After their trip she looked it up in an encyclopedia to see if she could find the "Delishrooms" Ema mentioned, but instead she found these. She took a picture of it and headed out early that morning to find it. She is sure Aine will feel better after trying it, and she quickly cooks it into a thin liquid. While the color and chunks of mushroom doesn't appeal to her, Ain forces herself to drink it. Mio watches intensely and Aine nearly chokes from the horrible taste- but to their delight the mushroom worked. Aine embraces Mio, who explains that doing this to make them even since she's done so much to help her up to this point.

They are joined by Chiharu and Tamaki, who hand over the cards and explain that they believe she earned them in this time. Chiharu explains that even in trying times like this, Aikatsu cards can be ones best friend and means of support. All of the care and love she has shown to everyone became evident when they came today to return the favor- however, Tamaki claims that from now on she isn't allowed to rely on her fans. She then tells her to go out and perform in order to thank them all. Aine agrees and admires her card again, giving herself a small pep-talk before she changes into her brand new Premium Rare dress. She appears on stage and performs "Thank You⇄It'll Be Alright".

Afterwards, everyone is shown responding to how the coord looked, and how well Aine did for herself these past few days. She returns to her waiting area while admiring her shining, brand new Premium Dress and puts it into her binder. Tamaki joins her, expressing her belief that Aine may be ready to form a Friends unit after all- surprising Aine. However she is happy and accepts, saying she wants to find a Best Friend.

Characters

 * Aine Yūki
 * Mio Minato
 * Maika Chōno
 * Ema Hinata
 * Tamaki Enjōji
 * Chiharu Hachiya
 * Ken Mayuzumi
 * Coco
 * Masamune Yūki
 * Nene Yūki
 * Kazune Yūki
 * Suzune Yūki
 * Momone Yūki
 * Yoshitsune Yūki
 * Penne
 * Himari Hirata
 * Iroha Inoue

Trivia

 * The Sweet Phrase Coord makes its debut this episode.
 * The Melody On Pink Coord, Fleurette Symphony Coord, Light Pink Humming Coord and the Fortissimo Red Coord make a cameo appearance in this episode.