Episode 03 - Vivid Inspiration

Vivid Inspiration (ビビっとインスピレーション) is the third episode of the Aikatsu Friends! anime series. It aired on April 19th, 2018.

Summary
Also taking up dress design, Mio announces that her brand, Material Color, will have a Premium Rare Dress presentation a week from now. However, she feels that "something is missing" and can't quite approve of the dress's design. During this time, Aine becomes Mio's "attendant for a day". Can Mio complete a Premium Rare Dress that she approves of!?

Plot
Mio tells a shocked Tamaki that she wants to keep designing her Premium Rare Dress until the last minute, even though the debut for it is only a week away. She doesn't believe it's enough yet, and she thinks that staying by Aine will make her see what's missing. With this, Tamaki informs Aine that she will be staying by Mio's side the following day as a one-day attendant, which is considered a commendable Aikatsu.

Excited, Aine gets up early the next day and she sees Mio running near her house. Mio figured that since she was going for a run, they might as well together. Aine agrees and they begin, until they stop for a moment to take a picture of a red flower.

Mio is introduced at the filming location for a show, with Aine being given a staff pass allowing her permission to go anywhere in the venue, so she enthusiastically greets most of the staff members in different locations. Aine looks through the backstage with awe, and Mio tells her that getting ready properly is also important.

During their downtime, they go exploring through the woods, where Mio continues taking photos of the nature around them until a big flies by and startles her. She gets back on track and takes a picture of it regardless.

Back at one of the backstage tents, Mio and Aine talk about their practice, and Aine says that though she's learning song lyrics little by little, her choreography practice isn't going that great and points out the parts she doesn't understand. Mio teaches her the steps, and while Aine imitates her, she accidentally bumps the tent and worries it would fall, but once they see it's fine they profusely apologize to the director, who noticed the commotion. They claim it's fine though, asking Aine if she would like to be Mio's assistant on stage. Aine happily agrees.

When Mio comes on stage, the host and she discuss how Mio is not only the muse of her brand, Material Color, but also makes designs for it. Mio says that the unveiling of her newest Premium Rare Dress will be in a week, then they move on to Mio's Spark Coord Class, and Aine comes on stage with a board for the lesson, which is color coordination. Mio talks about how using just one color in your entire outfit makes it look weak, and that you should use an accent color, to which Aine unexpectedly blurts out a question about what an accent color is. Mio quietly reprimands her not to ask a question that isn't in the script, and Aine apologizes, saying that it just came out. The crowd laughs, and Mio calmly says that she will tell them if they insist. She teaches them what an accent color is and gives an example by putting an indigo shoulder bag with a pink outfit. Aine says it looks great, and the audience agrees.

After the show, Aine and Mio apologize to the crew, but they say that the crowd was raving about the side of Mio that they'd never seen before, so it was okay. On the car ride to their next destination -a photo-shoot at a cafe- Aine sees that Mio is on all of the covers for the Aikatsu Style Times magazine. Mio asks the driver to stop, and tells Aine that since they're early they may as well walk the remainder of the way to the cafe.

They walk beside a small lake surrounded by trees, and Mio resumes her picture-taking. She shows Aine the pictures she took, which Aine giggles at because they're all blurry. They encounter the manager and a member of the crew, who say there was a slight miscommunication and they couldn't use the cafe they booked. Aine and Mio grin and eagerly tell them they know the perfect place.

At the Penguin Café -which was closed for the day- Mio's photo-shoot goes well, and during a break, the manager thanks Aine for getting access here. She claims it's fine since they were closed, and Mio meets Penne the penguin, and is immediately taken by his cuteness. Aine notices her smiling face and asks the photographer to take a picture of it. Mio sees it afterwards and is embarrassed, but they say that it would be good to have a picture like that for the fans to see her other side of.

Later, Mio is sitting at a table outside the cafe and brainstorming for what's missing in the dress. Aine helps her by preparing a "tomato, basil, and cheese sandwich, Aine-version", which cheers her up. Suddenly, she gets a spark and realizes that what was missing to her blue dress were pink accents, an extra color to make one smile. With that, she quickly manages to finish her dress.

Before Mio's performance, Aine sits with Tamaki and is highly on-edge, causing Tamaki to remark that she isn't the one on stage and doesn't need to be. But Aine says that she is anyway because Mio worked so hard on the dress.

Backstage in the waiting area, Mio thanks Aine for helping her realize what the dress needed. She then proceeds to change and perform "The Scene Above 6cm".

After the performance, Tamaki is relieved that it went of without a hitch. Meanwhile, Aine feels further motivation to continue doing more Aikatsu.

Characters

 * Aine Yūki
 * Mio Minato
 * Coco
 * Tamaki Enjōji
 * Ken Mayuzumi
 * Kazune Yūki
 * Momone Yūki
 * Penne

Trivia

 * The Neo Combination Coord makes its debut in this episode.
 * The song The Scene Above 6cm debuts as an insert song.
 * A plain magenta version of the Mosaic Blue Coord and a plain light blue version of the Smart Straight Coord was seen in this episode.