Episode 05 - Just Like a Butterfly, Maika!

Just Like a Butterfly, Maika! (蝶のように　舞花！) is the fifth episode of the Aikatsu Friends! anime series. It aired on May 3rd, 2018.

Summary
Aine who wants to let many people know about Sugar Melody —the brand that is only hers— recklessly signed up in an MC audition for a Love Me Tear event. And with that comes the encounter of the festival loving idol: Maika Chōno! Will Aine be able to become friends with Maika―!?

Plot
One day, Maika and Ema are heading to the Academy while discussing their plans for the day. Ema brings up her desire to pay the Lacrosse team a visit, while Maika mentions how disappointed she was with the soccer team and plans on speaking with them. Her wording catches Ema's attention, but while musing to herself she doesn't notice Maika suddenly run off. By the time she does, she finds her nearby, excitedly partaking in a festival celebration.

Meanwhile, Aine is excitedly looking over the cards she recently obtained. She wonders what she should do next and Mio suggests she participates in a big event before expressing disappointment. Aine asks why she seems so down, then finds a topic about the upcoming "Love Me Tear Worldwide Celebration Fest". Auditions are being held to find an MC for the event, and Mio is sad because she can't partake in it due to her busy schedule. It's a major event that proves your status as a celebrity if you can get an invite; even Presidents will be coming.

Aine thanks Mio for her resourcefulness after she begins to teach her more about Love Me Tear and she asks Mio if it would be possible for her to audition for the MC event. Mio is momentarily caught off-guard by how serious she appears to be in hopes of increasing the fans of Sugar Melody, but she agrees and they head to Tamaki's office so that she can pick up the entry form. There, Tamaki explains the purpose of the form and asks Aine if she will be okay since she will be doing everything on her own for a change, and she wonders if Aine is daring or just reckless for choosing such a huge event for her first real audition.

Aine and Mio head into another room to observe the form and fill it out. Mio brings up various points, like how Aine should be honest; as well as pointing out that she forgot to list Penne under her family.

That evening, Aine's family helps her by offering a "test interview", but she is disappointed after it takes a personal tone and struggles to answer. She is scolded for not doing it quick enough before her little sister asks Aine to give her a really good "squee". To nobody's shock, all of the siblings are able to do it- with the exception of their eldest brother, who finds it questionable and wonders if this will even help.

The following day, Aine happily admires the other girls in the room when she shows up for the audition. When she spots a nervous girl she approaches her to wish her luck, followed by approaching another girl and pointing out that it is her first audition. She then proceeds to wish another girl luck as a man arrives, telling her that it will be her turn and right away things start off poorly; with Aine nearly leaving the building and sitting in the wrong spot.

It begins and she, along with two other girls are asked to tell them what their favorite proverb is. Aine answers "To make a million friends", although the man points out that this isn't one he's ever heard of. She is embarrassed, and while this is going on Mirai is shown to observe the group from a nearby room. A man approaches to speak to her, but she asks him to be quiet because she didn't want anyone to know she was there.

Saddened by how bad things went, Aine sits beneath a tree wondering if she made a mistake entering. In her lament she fails to notice the branch above her about to break and panics as it falls. But suddenly, another girl arrives just in time to kick the brand away, landing before her with a stern expression. The girl tells her not to get discouraged so easily over a bad interview and reminds her that she didn't start off by thinking it would be easy, people will grow bored of her if all she does is stand around doing nothing. As the girl takes off, Aine realizes she has a point and begins to reflect on this. She wasn't trying to reach above her normal self and struggled to get past her uneasiness, so she caused her poor impression.

With that she moves on to the next part of the audition, which involves singing and dancing. She messes up but continues to try, and thanks the group before rejoining the other girls. She is surprised upon noticing the next girl dancing will be the girl she saw earlier, and watches as she manages to capture the entire crowd with her skill.

After the auditions finish, everyone changes back into their normal clothing and waits for results, with the staff member containing a list of all the girls who passed returning a moment later. Aine isn't chosen to move on to the finals of the audition, but she feels good knowing she did her best with what she had. She approaches the girl from before and brings up how she felt watching her. The girl thanks her before remarking that while she could see Aine struggle technically- she could feel the warmth and desire and believers she can do great things as long as she keeps trying. Aine happily thanks her before running off to speak to the various girls who she saw audition while the girl observes her.

Aine returns to inform Mio and Tamaki about what happened, feeling a bit flustered as she recalls her day. Tamaki is impressed she managed to make it to the dancing part of the audition however, and mentions that it worked out because she already found her a job for that day anyway. Aine then brings up the amazing Idol she ran into earlier, and describes her as being really passionate and cool; so she would like to befriend her.

A few days later Aine arrives for her job with two other girls. The man they will be working with apologizes for providing them with such a small stage, but today the mall is celebrating it's twentieth anniversary and they wanted to make it special. He asks them to put on a lively show and Aine promises they will do their best. He takes off as the girls begin to grow uneasy seeing the large amount of audience members they have. But after Aine remembers what she was told by the other girl, she tells this to the other girls and points out that even if they make a mistake- it's also a part of who they are, so they should be people who can continue to smile and laugh through those times. They agree and calm down, and they go out to put on a grand performance.

As Aine happily admires the pleased crowd, she happens to overhear a girl who sounds familiar to her: the girl from the auditions. She decides to join her for coffee at a nearby cafe and claims that it was because of her words that she was able to do so well, but the girl admits that she should apologize for getting involved the way she did- she just can't help herself when she sees someone look so down. They formally introduce themselves, and Aine claims this makes them friends. Maika is confused but she quickly takes to Aine due to her personality, delighting the pink-haired girl before she expresses concern and ask how the audition went.

Maika admits that she never made it to the audition though -shocking Aine- and she explains how she got lost on the way over. She was only able to do the first part of it because she recognized the area. But today she had been so anxious that she was almost driven to tears, seeing Aine cheered her up though. Aine asks how long Maika has until the audition ends, surprising Maika and telling her they can't let it end this way. To their surprise, a woman Aine knows is driving by and she calls out to her. Aine introduces her to and Maika and the woman agrees to give her a lift to the auditions, mentioning how she was unable to leave seeing how upset Aine looked.

While on the way there Maika sees how anxious Aine is and questions it, further surprised as Aine tells her that as her friend she can't help but want to help her and see that she does well. But suddenly they are forced to stop when they get stuck in traffic. The woman suggests that they walk from this point due to the unforeseen traffic jam, and they thank her, heading her advice.

Together the girls run until Maika realizes she is in familiar territory. She tells Aine that she doesn't need to keep running with her now, but Aine refuses; only to realize Maika isn't worth her anymre. She looks to find her several feet away, uneasily observing the temple they are nearly approaching and Maika confesses that ghosts make her uncomfortable. But Aine refuses to let her quit now, and tells her that everything will be okay; the ghosts don't come out on such nice days like this. Maika doesn't believe her and refuses to remove, too afraid to go further. When Aine realizes something, she points out that ghosts probably get bored haunting people every day 24/7, so they are probably holding their own fest at this moment. Maika is surprised by this and asks Aine how she could understand a ghost so easily, and after Aine claims they are also her friends, Maika pictures this and is suddenly encouraged to keep going. If she didn't she would surely be a disgrace to her name.

Later it is revealed that Maika has won the event and acts as the MC for the program. She introduces Love Me Tear and they change to perform "Believe It" for everyone. While everyone is wowed by the performance they also find themselves in awe of Maika and her chosen outfit.

After the performance, Karen and Mirai also thank her for doing so well, bringing up how she managed to inspire them to perform better. She is amazed by this as she goes on to thank them, then brings up how her new friend played a large part in her being able to do this. She helped her remember what was important and encouraged her to keep going.

As Karen and Mirai are driven home, they begin to chat about Aine and wonder if she's the girl Maika was referring to. Mirai is sure of it and brings up how interesting Aine was during the auditions.

The following day, Mio and Aine watch the MC event and Mio is surprised Aine already knows Maika. She realizes this was the girl who must have helped her during the auditions, and apologizes or not introducing them sooner since she attends their school. She brings up that there is another girl she should get to know too.

As this is going on, Ema happens to see she has gotten a message from the girl Maika told her about. She wonders if this is why Mio got her involved in the Idol world when suddenly she is called to work as the half-time announcer. She accepts the microphone and runs forward as everyone cheers.

Characters

 * Aine Yūki
 * Maika Chōno
 * Mio Minato
 * Ema Hinata
 * Karen Kamishiro
 * Mirai Asuka
 * Tamaki Enjōji
 * Masamune Yūki
 * Nene Yūki
 * Kazune Yūki
 * Suzune Yūki
 * Momone Yūki
 * Yoshitsune Yūki
 * Penne

Trivia

 * This episode marks the debut of Maika Chōno.
 * The Strike Carrot Coord and the Ethnic Green Coord make a cameo appearance in this episode.