STORY: 5/10
Look, they tried. Barely, but they did. This season does feature a mild mystery but, like AiParade before it, fails to actually make it matter or be at all interesting.
The new Aikatsu system is initially intriguing and fun, but is so underused it's easy to forget that anything has actually changed. Honestly, it feels like a half-hearted rip of early Pripara at times.
Overall, it feels like a cut-and-paste idol with none of the charm the animated series had, most of which was due to the....
CHARACTER: 2/10
The acting makes the poor girls look either shocked or horrified rather than happy sometimes. I hope they're doing okay?!
In all honesty, the characters just aren't that interesting or unique. As much as Raki's catchphrase annoyed me, she was at least sassy sometimes. As much as Ichigo's naivety could frustrate me, she was always up for a challenge. The girls of Planet, on the other hand, have everything simply handed over to them. There's no struggle, no growth, no personality to make me care about them.
ART: 6
Sigh. I can't deny that Aikatsu' CGI has improved over the years, but at what cost? All the texture and sparkle and prints are gone, replaced by basic flat colours and vague checkers. Where are my giant flower decals and lace tiers? I loved seeing the gorgeous designs far more than I cared about the occasionally wonky-armed dancing scenes.
Their characters in animation have zero relevance to their IRL counterparts. It's a bizzare and jerking choice, and I often forget who is supposed to be who, which is a terrible problem given how often it switches between the two.
SOUND: 5
And here we have the worst downgrade of all this season's issues. Past Aikatsu had a bunch of bops, ballads, and rock. This series has generic pop songs and, if heard out of context, I doubt I could guess where they came from. Previous Aikatsu seasons never had this issue, nor should any idol. when the music is as much the selling point as anything else.
OVERALL: A Disappointment
Even on the completion of this series, the sad fact is, it never improved. I originally wrote this as a preliminary, hoping to come back and edit in any good bits, but there frankly hasn't been any worth mentioning.
