STORY: 5
The separation of classes creates an unequal skill balance between the many, many characters, and makes their competitive stories far less interesting, given tit makes the results of every audition even more predictable. Right from the start, it's clear that only one character can ever achieve their goals, and it's going to be the lead. At least in previous Aikatsu seasons, the lead wasn't always - in fact, rarely was - the winner.
Then, there's the second season. Hoo boy. The ONE arc the fans unanimously hate - *cough* DreamAca *cough* - from the OG series, they basically went and repeated, only this time there was an active villain rather than a cast of competitors. More on that later.
Another major issue is the ridiculous amount of contradictions within the show's lore. I understand it was an attempt to make a system that stood out from it's predecessor, but instead, it's confusing, bizarre, and they regularly break their own so-called 'rules'.
CHARACTER: 5
What starts as Yume and Koharu - two best friends forever - following their dreams, soon becomes Yume and ... not Koharu? Maybe it's Rola/Laura? Honestly, I don't know any more. This show just kept throwing extra characters into the plot with no real sense of purpose - in fact, their characterizations are so generic and barely fleshed out, it's difficult to get attached to even the recurring and regular cast.
Only the most exaggerated and OTT characters are remotely memorable and original, but they get very annoying, very quickly - especially given their total lack of backstory to explain their weirdness.
Remember the evil villain character? She's got a whole 'evil plot to steal everything from everyone for selfish gains' thing going on. Only, she just sucks at it, and comes of as obnoxious rather than threatening or mysterious. In fact, her antics do nothing but distract our poor heroines from the actual plot! Aikatsu has always been about positive competition, but this addition in the second season tries- and fails - to throw that out the door.
They did, however, introduce full-time boy idols, and a boys-only Idol part of the school. I thought that was a great change, and brought about some interesting and dynamic relationships between various characters.
ART : 6.5
Aikatsu s1-2 had bad CGI. 3-4 was tolerable. And Stars? Well, they try darn hard on a relatively small budget. The dresses are gorgeous, the scenery is spectacular, and there's so many cool aesthetic moments. But the dancing scenes are nothing short of awkward, and the 2d movements are actually terrible, which is a shame.
SOUND : 7.5
It's Aikatsu, so the music is as great as you'd expect - there's so much variety, from pirate jives to gothic ballads to pop princess bops. And they're all really, honestly, fantastic to listen to! The OP and ED songs are all catchy and thematic. I just wish they'd had more team- and unit-based songs!
