Episode 08 - Mio's Great CM Operation!

Mio's Great CM Operation! (みおのCM大作戦！) is the eighth episode of the Aikatsu Friends! anime series. It aired on May 24th, 2018.

Summary
As a top idol, Mio gathers attention from the public. Word says that a world-class famous creator is chosen to be the director of a commercial for macarons. However, a surprise happened right when the filming was about to begin! The commercial song was no other than a song that was way off from the image of a macaron: an "Ondō"!? As everything had gone the way Mio expected, can she bring a "Big Bang" to this commercial?

Plot
One day, Ema, Maika, and Mio are in the middle of a radio program as its host. While this isn't a common occurrence, the station got a huge stack of requests asking for the three of them and it made sense to make a segment where they got together. They start by reading one letter from an overly-excited fan who is unable to sleep due to anticipating the upcoming Diamond Friends Cup. As they respond to it, Aine is shown listening from her bed room, and they explain how the upcoming competition works. It will take place during winter, so the girls mention that they will need to begin forming Friends soon, and they share a laugh upon realizing most of the other letters involve the same topic.

Elsewhere, a man approaches to observe various images of idols he has been considering for an upcoming project. Each girl has her own appeal, but he ultimately chooses Mio.

The following day Aine admires the view from Mio's home, along with Maika and Ema. She expresses surprise, assuming they have been there before; but they explain how unapproachable Mio was in the past. So nobody ever thought to ask. Just then she returns with tea and snacks and they sit down to discuss their recent progress, along with Aine's recent progress lately. To her disappointment though, Tamaki doesn't think she is anywhere near Friends-level yet. The others recall hearing the same thing, but they can understand why she would say that since it requires a lot to gain Friends status.

Finishing their snack, the girls continue to chatter while playing a game together. Mio points out that this is usually why people form Friends units early, to build up on the relationship. They soon quit to head into her bedroom and observe it's simple, orderly nature until spotting a laptop nearby. She explains how she used to upload videos on AiTube, then leads them to a cabinet full of Love MeTear merchandise, causing the girls to express surprise as she explains how long she was following each girl separately until they formed a Friends unit; which inspired her to become an Idol. Concerned she will keep speaking about the unit, Ema decides to ask Mio what her own ideal friends unit is like, claiming this could be beneficial as her rivals- but at the same time she could end up choosing one of them.

Before she can respond, she gets a phone call. It's Tamaki with a job offer, and upon hearing the director is one she admirers, Mio quickly accepts and informs them of the news.

Later, Mio heads to the location of the job and greets the Director. He is surprised that she already knows of him but she explains how she became a fan through his work featuring Love MeTear, and he explains what the commercial is to her, then offers her a mint chocolate macaron. He eagerly agrees with her accurately delicious description of it- but it might have been too refined for what he was hoping to achieve. They have decided to throw away their original idea, and now he wants an "ondo appeal". While confused, Mio doesn't argue and changes into her new outfit. She is intstructed to take a bite of the macaron and perform a small song and dance for the product, and with ease Mio manages to get the desireable affect.

After only one try, everyone calls it a day and compliment Mio as she heads back into the nearby waiting area, where she finds Tamaki and asks for her opinion. Tamaki is a bit concerned, saying that while it is interesting she doesn't understand why they changed their minds so suddenly. Mio tries to think it over and she recalls how they will be sold in convenience stores, and most noticeable by children and elderly. It isn't a comfort food -although some see it as luxurious- so it was probably changed to be more approachable. She respects the Directors decision and now that she understands, Tamaki agrees.

Suddenly Mio gets an idea and she approaches the Director to ask that he leaves her in charge of the next step, and she immediately heads home after gaining his approval. However, in order to make her idea come together she will need a lot of people to give her a hand, and once Maika and Ema join her, she explains how she came up with an idea to hold a folk dance to include with the macaron due to its new concept. They agree and offer to help out.

The following day Aine approaches Mio and offers to help as well, bringing up how she found out through Maika and Ema. She rushes off to speak with the other girls within the idol track to ask them for help as well, leaving Mio to watch with amazement as she manages to gather a large crowd and explains the plans to them.

With that, Mio and various classmates head out through town performing her macaron dance and song to gather attention and entice people to learn more. As this is going on, Aine's younger siblings and Penne are shown watching a program, where the Host of it explains what has been going on before the screen cuts to footage of the press conference involving Mio. She explains how they have turned it into a campaign, and how everyone who purchases the product is automatically entered to win a contest they will be holding.

A bit later the girls sit together while going over how popular the macaron have become. Not only that, but Mio has gained more attention through the video of her performance as well. Mio claims it is only because of them helping her that she managed, and together the girls enjoy the macaron. As Aine asks of her plans on what to do with the years supply she will gain from doing the commercial, Maika and Ema suddenly announce that although they helped her, they are still rivals. They are encouraged by her recent success to work harder- including Aine, who says that even if she can't form a Friends duo yet she will continue to work hard with her Aikatsu.

Later, Mio gives herself a small pep talk while admiring her Aikatsu cards. She runs forward to change into her chosen coord, then appears on stage to perform "The Scene Above 6cm".

Afterwards, Mio heads back to her room to find the Director. He compliments her performance and coord and asks if she really did design it herself. She confirms she did and listens as she explains her inspiration behind her brand and he appears taken with the idea since he understands. He then brings up how well her idea went with their changed concepts regarding the macaron, surprising Mio as she correctly deduces he had this planned from the start. He confirms it and takes off.

That night Mio thinks about how well everything went as she admires the view of the evening city. She thinks about Love MeTear and realizes what it is she truly wants in a Friend unit.

Characters

 * Mio Minato
 * Aine Yūki
 * Maika Chōno
 * Ema Hinata
 * Karen Kamishiro
 * Mirai Asuka
 * Tamaki Enjōji
 * Zack Balan
 * Momone Yūki
 * Yoshitsune Yūki

Trivia

 * The Champagne Pink Coord and the Champagne Red Coord make a cameo appearance in this episode.
 * The video hosting service iTube that Mio uses is a reference to the video hosting service in real life, YouTube.
 * Mio's channel: /MioMinato - Minato Mio Official Channel (湊 みお　公式チャンネル)
 * Love Me Tear's channel: Love Me Tear Official Channel (ラブミーティア　公式チャンネル)
 * Karen's channel: Kamishiro Karen Official Channel (神城　カレン　公式チャンネル)
 * Mirai's channel: Asuka Mirai Official Channel (明日香　ミライ　公式チャンネル)
 * Aikatsu general channel: Aikatsu Channel (アイカツ　チャンネル)
 * Aikatsu music channel: ＡＩＫＡＴＳＵ　ＭＵＳＩＣ