Episode 25 - Surpass Love Me Tear!

Surpass Love Me Tear! (ラブミーティアをこえろ！) is the twenty fifth episode of the Aikatsu Friends! anime series. It aired on September 27th, 2018.

Summary
In a talk show that gathers all the leading experts on Japanese culture, Mio has been recruited in a hurry to replace Love Me Tear as the host. Not only does it take multiple attempts to have these experts, who are not straightforward at all, to open up, among them is one super cultural expert that super・hates idols!

Plot
One day, Pure Palette, Honey Cat, and Reflect Moon get together for drinks at Aine's. Everyone is in high-spirits and prepared to shoot for even further, higher goals to become Diamond Friends, but Sakuya wonders if she and Kaguya can rightfully be as ambitious as them since they only just recently formed. Aine assures them they can as Kaguya questions her lack of confidence suddenly, and Aine shows them a picture that was uploaded online from the Idol Music Count-Up that aired the prior day. During the program, everyone had become worried upon realizing Sakuya had fallen asleep, except for Kaguya, who explains how common this was of her. Although it should technically be the same for her, she knows it's important that one of them stay awake and focus on the job at hand. The girls assure the duo that this is a sign that they're already finding the thing that makes their Friends unique. Even if they just made their debut, they have been Friends since birth and they are given an edge.

As Mio brings up how much Ema, Maika, and Aine have grown, she sadly comes to the realization that she's hardly changed as an Idol. The others try to say that because she's so talented, there isn't much she could improve on right away, but this does nothing to ease Mio's heavy depression.

Suddenly, she gets a call from Tamaki. She is shocked when she finds out that Love Me Tear's private jet is unable to take flight and how they wont be able to make it back in time for a program they were to be featured on. They have no choice but to cancel and apologize for this last-minute change.

Due to this, Tamaki has decided to call Pure Palette to her office to discuss the predicament. She wants the girls to be Love Me Tear's stand-in for a show they were to be working on; but she's uncertain that they can handle this and would rather not do it. But considering they had to beg a group of cultural arts experts in, cancelling would be out of the question. A request was sent out for Idols to take their place but everyone refused out of concern they couldn't measure up. Mio can understand their feelings and she uneasily thinks it over until Aine takes out her phone to call someone. She asks them to speak to Mio- and to her shock it's Karen and Mirai, who have been put up in a hotel during the storm. They feel bad hearing Mio's anxiety, but Karen asks her if she plans on giving up so easily on becoming Diamond Friends. Mirai goes on to teasingly say it would be better for them to back down now, but their words manage to lift Mio's spirits and she thanks them before hanging up.

The girls happily agree to take on this fill-in job; only for a heartbroken Aine to realize they had a prior commitment that day for a food review segment. But luckily Tamaki has already thought it out; she'll have Aine go to Pure Palette's prior obligation and send Mio to the arts program. Meanwhile, she will be handling the last-minute details and updates she will need to make.

With that in mind Mio gets to work studying the various cultural arts. She heads into the library with a list given to her for assistance, and takes notes on various subject. She even calls on Coco to help her get some advice on which schools and locations would be more beneficial in helping her learn, and helps Aine improve her description skills as she eats delicious food at her place. Mio assures her that she doesn't mind lending her a hand in order to ensure they do well, and they share words of encouragement.

Eventually the day of the program arrives and Mio arrives to see that the one in charge is Monsieur Zack Baran, the man who did the macaron commercial a while back. She didn't realize he was in charge of this program, but she isn't that surprised by it either since it seems like something he would do. He admits that he is also surprised to see her filling in for Love Me Tear, and Mio admits that at first she was very uneasy about it- especially since Tamaki and Aine aren't here today. She's relieved to see him there, but just then she is called to get ready by a staff member. She takes off and Zack wonders if she will feel the same way later.

The program begins and the Cultural Experts are introduced by Mio as she explains the focus on dance, calligraphy, martial arts, flower arrangement, pottery, and tea ceremony. There is a large number of potential behind them, and they have called upon the experts who have taken these arts a step further to add to their history. She calls out a man who has managed to combine both calligraphy and dance, Odorinagara Kakunosuke.

As this is going on Aine happily enjoys a dessert. She compliments it as the staff anxiously observe her in hopes that she is capable of getting through the take, and Tamaki congratulates her after they finish. She's impressed with Aine's improvement, but when Aine brings up that Mio had helped her, Tamaki begins to worry about Mio again.

Meanwhile, Mio is now thanking Kakunosuke for his informative explanations. She then introduces their next expert, a man capable of balancing flower arrangement with martial arts, Hanaiketemendou Kotenoshin. Followed by an artist who combines pottery and tea ceremony, Ochatatetsubo Yakuyo. Her confidence has been restored by now, and Mio happily thinks about how her research paid off. She was easily capable of keeping up with everyone, and she's been doing perfect as Love Me Tear's substitute. At least until she's informed that there's still one last artist, a man above the others whose name alone sends many cowering: Gankoyama Oniemon. Having not been told about this, Mio begins to panic while Zack thinks about his decision not to inform her of their special guest. Not only that, but he detests Idols and believes they have no place in Japanese Culture. He knows Love Me Tear could probably take him on, but he's unsure if Mio is capable of standing against him.

As he approaches Mio, Aine and Tamaki slip into the studio quietly in an attempt to witness the event in progress. Aine is startled by the intense situation as Gankoyama brings up that he has three things he doesn't like: one being people who chew with their mouth open, young people who walk around with smartphones out and constantly use them, and Idols. As far as he knows, Idols constantly prance around while spreading lies about granting others happiness; it's nothing more than a brainwashing scheme to gather slaves, or as people call them "fans". Mio insists that they don't lie and he challenges her to bring him happiness, leaving her to stress out over the inability to study him prior to the program like everything else. If she did, she could have known more about him and made him something he liked to eat. If she fails then he refuses to let the program keep going. Before they can turn off the camera, Zack quickly intervenes and says they must leave them on. Knowing that Love Me Tear would have been capable of beating this challenge, Mio believes that the odds aren't in her favor.

Just then, Aine yells out from the side, alerting everyone to her presence. After Aine brings up how well Mio knows Love Me Tear, Mio realizes that she does have an advantage. She might not know Gankoyama at all, but she knows Love Me Tear enough to think like them in cases like this and can use that to help her. She asks where the cooking items are and asks permission to use them, and she heads back into the nearby room to prepare a dish for Gankoyama. She reminds herself that no matter what wall gets in their way, Love Me Tear would never let it stop them. She focuses on preparing something wonderful and soon finishes with a full meal of egg and vegetables, dried fish, rice, and soup. He tries the soup she has prepared and is shocked by how good it tastes. Even though it isn't anything like his mothers cooking, he is filled with happiness eating the food she lovingly prepared. Although he gets flustered and claims it isn't enough.

Mio is disappointed by this, but she refuses to let this show go unaired- she won't let her mistakes harm their reputation. For that, she must perform a song to finish his meal. She runs backstage to change into her desired coord, then she reappears to perform "The Scene Above 6cm".

Gankoyama is thrilled by the performance, with Zack surprisingly remarking on how Mio was capable of helping him see how wonderful Idols are. She's truly a talented Idol to be able to do it on her own in comparison to Love Me Tear, who would have worked together to do the same task. As Aine compliments Mio's job well done, Tamaki wonders if Mio had entered "the zone", leaving her concerned. The zone is a term used in sports as well, it is used to describe one who has surpassed the realm of concentration. Only certain Idols who are capable of honing their skill and effort put in from Aikatsu can reach it.

As this is going on, Karen and Mirai are shown watching the program from their hotel room, discussing the same thing. They aren't surprised by the turn of event, but express the same concern as Tamaki while remarking on how it usually triggers in those with strong-willed, but fragile heart.

Confident, Mio snaps out of her silence and announces that she can now taken on Love Me Tear.

Characters

 * Penne
 * Mio Minato
 * Aine Yūki
 * Maika Chōno
 * Ema Hinata
 * Sakuya Shirayuri
 * Kaguya Shirayuri
 * Karen Kamishiro
 * Mirai Asuka
 * Tamaki Enjōji
 * Coco
 * Nene Yūki

Trivia

 * This is the last episode where Thank You⇄It'll Be Alright and Believe it are used as the Opening and Ending Theme songs.