Episode 06 - Hinata EMAgency!?

Hinata EMAgency!? (日向エマジェンシー!?) is the sixth episode of the Aikatsu Friends! anime series. It aired on May 10th, 2018.

Summary
Ema Hinata is a reliable big sister in the year above that is under the same production team. Even at the camp where everyone went to, she demonstrates great leadership abilities. Meanwhile, Mio is somewhat thrown off by the environment around her, causing a series of confusions. It appears that something worthy of attention seems to be happening......?

Plot
Together with Maika, Aine is tasked with interviewing a senior member of the Idol Track at school as part of the "Idol Unmasking!!" project. This member being Ema Hinata, a member of the schools Lacrosse team. The staff recording captures her scoring another goal as the girls introduce her; with Aine incredibly flustered the entire time as she accidentally slurs her words. As she begins clamming up, Ema laughs and observes her while everyone else looks on in annoyance, leading Aine to think back to what led to this predicament and silently watching Maika casually chat with Ema. She brings up how Ema is able to balance lacrosse with Aikatsu and asks if she has any plans to focus on one or the other- but Ema bluntly claims it isn't like that because she plans on improving on both.

As this is going on Aine tries to regain her bearings when she sees the card held by a staff member. She tries reading it, only to react in shock when they reveal she will be playing a round of lacrosse against Ema. She has never played before, but Ema calms her down by assuring her she will be okay and helps Aine get the hang of it. She effortlessly scores points and has her chase after her until the recording session ends, and the staff compliment Aine's efforts and how she was able to help them further Ema's own qualities as the girl in question embraces Aine suddenly. She insists on being less-formal and tells Aine to address her by "Ema-chan", and Aine asks if they can be friends. She agrees, making her very happy as Maika remarks on how she was sure they would become fast friends.

With that, they begin to discuss how today was the final day of Lacrosse camp and Tamaki joins the girls with a surprise; for all of their hard work, they will be going on a camping trip. She leads them to the nearby campgrounds, where Chiharu and Ken are waiting as they express excitement to see everything is already packed and ready to go.

As they chatter, Mio anxiously waits inside the van for them and attempts to determine how she can greet Aine. She wants to be casual but is worried she might not be happy to see her, and seeing the trio get along so easily causes her to become uneasy.

Tamaki brings up how a "special guest" will be joining them and the door opens to reveal Mio, leaving Aine surprised as Ema remarks on having all of the members of the "MT2" there, explaining to Maika that it means "Manager Tamaki-san's Team" as they playfully begin to bicker. Aine excitedly runs up to Mio and brings up how happy she is to have her there, but asks what happened to Mio's photo-shoot that day. Mio claims to have finished early- although Ema appears to notice that something is off with her. She wonders if she imagined it after Maika is shown not to understand.

With that the girls change into their training gear and decide to have some fun. First they start by climbing a tree as Mio worriedly watches from the ground, followed by trying to catch fish in the river using their hands as she warns them that the water is too cold, then they try to lure over a tanooki- with her trying to tell them that it could be dangerous. She finds herself worn out and gloomily takes a break as Ken, Chiharu, and Tamaki prepare dinner and recall how she ended up joining them earlier. Despite being an indoor type, she begged to come with them- which Tamaki thought was very surprising considering she normally doesn't get involved with recreational activities like this.

While watching the other girls, Mio sadly remarks on how excited she was to enjoying the trip as Maika suggests they have a badminton match. She joins them and they draw sticks to determine pairs, with her being partnered with Ema. Initially things go well until Ema happens to catch the look Mio is making while observing Maika and Aine, and this causes her to realize what the problem is, and they end up losing the game. Maika informs the duo that they would need to go and get groceries as punishment when Ema gets an idea and claims she can see "delishrooms" high up on the mountains, then claims they are much better then normal mushroom. She wants to head up there in order to fetch some and asks Maika to join her, then asks Aine to go shopping with Mio. She happily agrees.

At the store the girls gather the various items, with Aine requesting some snacks as well, although Mio rejects the idea. A litte girl approaches her, eager to see them as Mio quickly asks her not to report seeing them to anyone, offering to shake her head. The girl agrees and runs off afterwards, leaving Aine impressed by her popularity, having been recognized even this far out from home. Mio claims that someday Aine will have this as well and recalls finding out about the fan mail she's been getting recently. Recalling how she is right, Aine brings up how happy it has made her felt since it's like she is gaining a bunch of new friends.

Meanwhile, Maika calls out Ema for such a cheap lie. She quickly deduces that it had to do with Mio -with Ema confirming it- and brings up her growing concern for Mio. She even Approached Tamaki about the photo-shoot, and she explained that Mio worked hard enough for them to wrap it up early so that she could join them for this trip, and she was really looking forward to hanging out with Aine. Maika is surprised to hear this, and Ema remarks that she seems to have changed lately due to her friendship with Aine, also known as Frienergy.

Later, everyone begins to enjoy the food they worked to gather and prepare. They observe how Mio chooses a bunch of healthy options along with Maika- who instantly chastises Ema after she suggests that she just eats as much as she wants on a day like this. It's easy for someone like Ema to say that considering she never gains any weight. As this is going on the girls are unaware of the distressed Tamaki and Chiharu who are too worried over their weight to enjoy any of the food as Ken -who brought a lot with him- returns.

Suddenly Aine recalls the "delishrooms" and asks what happened to them, and quickly Maika explains that Ema mistook them for something else. But when the girls try to ask Coco about them and she finds no information, they begin to grow even further curious. Maika is shocked to see how seriously they took Ema, but decides not to say anything.

As the girls sit around a campfire Mio shows Aine the spring-summer clothing she wore earlier. Aine is taken by the cards she has, and she compliments them while Maika and Ema watch from the side. Ema brings up how much Mio admires Love Me Tear, and she explains her desire to someday surpass them as a Friends unit before Ema goes on to ask Maika about her future goals, explaining how she wishes to learn more about her "darling little sisters". Maika criticizes such a statement, but she answers anyway, expressing her goal of gaining the title of Muse for the sexy-type brand Dancing Mirage. Maika then turns it around by asking her to elaborate her goal she stated that morning, and Ema explains her desire to become the number one Idol in Japan, as well as lacrosse player. Each girl promises that she will also be aiming for this goal as well, even the just starting Aine; although she would be happy just being able to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with them one day as she aims to continue making one million friends.

The following morning the girls peacefully sleep during their ride home. Tamaki, Chiharu, and Ken discuss Mio's improved mood and how reliable Ema is, and later she pays Aine a visit as she prepares for her show. She mentions that she had a game that day but wished to pay her a visit beforehand, and after exchanging words Aine runs off with and changes into her chosen coord, appearing on stage to perform "Thank You⇄It'll Be Alright".

Afterwards, Ema is shown scoring the winning goal of her game. She claims this is due to her "Aine-chan power" and she promises to become the top in Japan.

Characters

 * Ema Hinata
 * Aine Yūki
 * Mio Minato
 * Maika Chōno
 * Coco
 * Tamaki Enjōji
 * Ken Mayuzumi
 * Chiharu Hachiya

Trivia

 * The title serves as a pun, referring to both Ema herself and the word "emergency".
 * This episode marks the debut of Ema Hinata.