One year after Ichigo left for America, a new rival idol school, Dream Academy, has been formed, raising its own idols. Meanwhile, at Starlight Academy, where Otome is the current Starlight Queen, Aoi and the others meet a peculiar girl, though can't identify her amongst the listed idols.

After Ichigo rekindles with everyone, Seira decides to test if she can pull off a Constellation Appeal, with Aoi letting her take her place in the concert. Ichigo manages to pull off a Constellation Appeal, which results in the contest ending in a draw.

After failing to find some concrete details on what Ichigo got up to during her year in America, Kii sends Seira over to Ichigo's house to ask her in person.

As the idols have some new promotional photos taken, Ichigo, Aoi, and Ran, along with Seira, are asked to help promote a new camera model by letting fans take pictures of them. After running into each other while practising their candid expressions, Ichigo, Aoi, Ran, Seira, and Kii go shopping together to explore the range of expressions they can make, before stopping by Seira's café.

With an audition for the next Pon Pon Crepe image girl to replace Aoi coming up, Seira suggests Kii give it a go, but she states it wouldn't suit her since she's a producer.

The presence of a reporter known as Mister S, who is infamous for exposing idol love affairs, puts the other idols on high alert. Meanwhile, Aoi and Kii are asked to participate in a fashion show themed around 'first love'. Feeling that Mister S may be targeting Seira, Kii has her take asylum in Starlight Academy, as she feels her secret hobby of cutely talking to cats clashes with her rock idol image.

As the subject of mascot phone charms is brought up, Ichigo notices Ran seems to have her own mascot charm. Meanwhile, Ran is given a Constellation Premium Dress by Spicy Ageha's top designer and is tasked with performing a Constellation Appeal at her next fashion show.

Seira and Kii are due to do a performance together, with Kii suggesting they do their own choreography. Wanting to learn about choreography, the two seek out Johnny, who decides to give them, along with Ichigo and co, a lesson on how to compose choreography.

Aoi is approached about creating a TV drama to promote some new chocolates. After deciding to make the drama about a chocolate-eating detective, Aoi asks Ichigo and the others to audition alongside her, with Seira and Kii also brought in to audition.

After Otome, Sakura and Shion pay a visit to Seira's café, Ichigo, Seira, and Kii tail them to get a glimpse of Powa Powa Puririn's activities, which happen to include line-balancing, leaf sweeping and games of tag. It is then shown they are filmed in secret for their television show in order to capture their appeal.

Sora Kazesawa, a Dream Academy student studying in both idol and designer courses, is approached by Tiara to start her own Aikatsu brand. However, Sora feels a bit nervous about the responsibility of running a brand, as she's always been free in the way she's designed her clothes.

Dream Academy decides to hold a Christmas party with Kii as producer and Sora at the designer, while Ichigo features on a Christmas cake designed by Asuka.

As idols from both Starlight Academy and Dream Academy gather to participate in the Red and White Aikatsu Battle, Mister S is spotted, hoping to find the person responsible for Dream Academy's rise to fame somewhere among them. After interviews, Ichigo, Aoi, and Ran go to greet the event's super special guest, enka singer Sabuko Nishijima, helping to carry her giant 'Enkatsu card' that she had brought to the event.

At the start of the new year, Starlight Academy and Dream Academy are poised to compete in a Lucky Idol Race, with a custom-made Constellation Dress up for grabs for the winner. All the idols make preparation for the race while Raichi is busy preparing his Aikatsu Newspaper.

Ichigo and the others are informed of a Starlight Idol Festival occurring in March, with Ichigo as the headlining act. However, on the day Orihime announces the festival, it is also revealed that Dream Academy is holding its own Dream Academy Carnival on the same dates. Feeling that it is too much of a coincidence, Ichigo, Aoi, and Ran follow Nao, the only other person who heard about the festival in advance, and learn that he is in fact Tiara's younger brother.

After producing a successful makeup commercial for Seira, Kii is lined up to audition for the poster girl of her favorite beverage, Brain Thunder. Wanting Kii to audition, Seira tries to take her to search for Magical Toy's top designer while he is in town, but finds it hard to drag her away from producing her next commercial.

It's almost Setsubun and Starlight School is busy in preparation of the event. But when Ran decides to enter she tries to choose between being her self or offering something that will please others- even if she doesn't like it.

Dream Academy idol Maria Himesato, who is due to appear on an 'Idol Princesses' television program where she will receive a Constellation Dress from Green Grass, decides she wants daisies incorporated into the design to remind her of the mountains.

Given the chance to appear in a special episode of Idol Princesses, Maria decides to invite her friends from both Dream Academy and Starlight Academy to a house party at her mansion.

Seira, Kii, Sora, and Maria are invited to audition for a four-girl drama series. Unable to decide on which roles to audition for, they let Kii's computer choose for them, with Kii ending up as the leader character. The girls ask Ichigo, Aoi, and Ran for advice on drama auditions, learning how to utilise their skills to fit their assigned roles and make them their own.

Aoi is requested to appear in a concert promoting a Futuring Girl Constellation Dress, in which she is expected to perform a Constellation Appeal. As Aoi wonders how she can pull off a Constellation Appeal, Tiara tells her that she is much like water, though doesn't get an opportunity to explain why, leaving Aoi with more questions than answers. Noticing her unease, the other idols each do their part to give Aoi some encouragement.

The day before the Star Dream Festival & Carnival begins, Dream Academy is busy with preparations for the Dream Carnival day. Seira, who has been nervous about being the headlining act, learns from Ichigo that she plans to perform alongside her friends.

Otome explains that she was so focused on including everyone into her schedule that she forgot to include herself, refusing to make any further changes to the timetable.

With graduation approaching for the third year students, Ichigo, Aoi, and Ran are put in charge of the graduation album committee, collecting a large amount of pictures and reminiscing about the memories they possess, particularly from the year Ichigo was away.

Upon beginning their lives as high school students, Ichigo, Aoi, and Ran are requested by Orihime to act as judges for an Audition Caravan scouting the country for potential new Starlight Academy idols.

Akari begins her first day at Starlight Academy, meeting up with Orihime and receiving her cards, ID, and Aikatsu Phone before moving into the dorms with her new roommate, Yuu.

Akari shows up with a shorter haircut, which the others help to straighten up. Later, Ichigo ends up encountering Mizuki, who reveals she is forming her own unit from a new agency she founded herself, before leaving some cryptic words concerning waffles. The next day, both Starlight and Dream Academy announce the revival of the Partner's Cup, a tournament for idol pairs.

With the appearance of WM proving a threat to both Starlight and Dream Academy, Ichigo and the others turn their focus onto choosing an ideal partner, with Starlight students allowed to pair up with Dream Academy students. The girls who had yet to find a partner gather up together and try some test runs with different partner variations to see what works for them.

Noticing Akari's poor grades, Orihime signs her up for Aikatsu Boot Camp, which has a reputation for having harsh training. Akari and the other trainees arrive at the boot camp on a remote island, where they are tasked with building a stage to perform on.

With the Partner's Cup approaching, Ichigo, Aoi, and Ran head to Dream Academy to practise with their partners. Wanting to learn more about WM, Ichigo and Seira visit Mizuki and Mikuru, who explain how they came to meet each other.

After being informed by Raichi and Noelle, Aoi and Kii go to visit Ichigo and Seira, who are nervous about going up against WM following their performance, with both of them expressing how they don't want to hold the other back. As each of the pairs give their performance, Ichigo and Seira observe how the partners compliment each other perfectly in unique ways. Before their performance comes up, Ichigo and Seira are told that their feelings of not wanting to hold each other back already makes them the perfect partners.

Having become close friends with Otome during the Partner's Cup, Maria becomes keen to learn more about her, wondering how she became how she is. Meanwhile, Otome hears from Makoto that he is designing a Constellation Premium Dress for Happy Rainbow, but is struggling with ideas. Afterwards, Maria comes across Otome at a kindergarten, which is revealed to be Otome's home, and helps her with preparations for a play of The Wizard of Oz.

As Mizuki and WM reach the top of Aikatsu Ranking charts, Mikuru is tasked by Mizuki to reach the top ten rankings of the individual charts, suggesting that she needs to obtain a Premium dress from Vivid Kiss' top designer, Kayoko, who is currently in America. Whilst pondering about how to accomplish this, Mikuru is tasked with growing and delivering a golden Miracle Flower, which requires watering at specific times of the day whilst also working around her busy schedule.

Ran is invited to audition for a drama based on Aladdin alongside Sora, who is also asked to design outfits for the audition. Ran, along with Ichigo and Aoi, undergoes swordsmanship training for the role, with their teacher not only teaching them about the basics, but also how to break realism for the sake on putting on a good show.

Orihime and Tiara announce the beginning of the Aikatsu8 Elections, in which fans will show their support for their favorite idols, and the eight most popular idols will form a special unit known as Aikatsu8. They declare that the Elections are not limited to idols from Starlight and DreAca, so Mizuki and Mikuru from WM are eligible to participate.

Mizuki and Mikuru announce they want to challenge Soleil in a contest. Deciding to bring Soleil out of hiatus, Ichigo, Aoi, and Ran accept the challenge, but find their conflicting schedules give them little time to practice with each other. Noticing Akari and her roommate being Otome's managers for the day and remembering the time she herself became Mizuki's manager, Ichigo decides to arrange everyone's schedules so that whenever one person is working, the other two act as their managers.

Whilst awaiting WM's performance, Mikuru worries that she won't be able to match Soleil's performance, but Mizuki gives her some assurance, stating she chose to face Soleil because they would be tough opponents. Meanwhile, Ichigo receives a call from Ringo, who states it is thanks to WM's appearance that Soleil is able to shine as a legend.

Yurika appears on a variety show to promote a cereal commercial she appeared in, announcing she will appear at a handshake event. As dozens of fans come to the event to shake Yurika's hand, Yurika feels guilty when she is unable to answer a shy fan's question on how to become strong like she is.

Aoi is requested to produce and star in her own music video to promote Futuring Girl. As Aoi struggles to come up with an idea in the short time she's been given, she hears from Yurika about how her commercial was built up from a simple idea, inspiring Aoi to use a fashion show as the basis for her music video.

The results of the Aikatsu 8 elections are announced, with the chosen idols being Seira, Otome, Sora, Maria, Mikuru, Yurika, Ichigo, and Mizuki. The chosen girls soon set off on their summer tour, with Mizuki put in charge of producing their performances.

On the night before the last concert in their tour, the girls decide to hold a pajama party, taking pictures to use in their final concert.

Mizuki meets up with Orihime and proposes a Twinkle Star Cup, in which both Starlight Academy and Dream Academy will each put forward an idol to team up and challenge WM.

Aoi and Kii hold a meeting to come up with a name for Ichigo and Seira's unit, also receiving some input from Raichi and Noelle.

Asked by Kii's computer to find out the differences between Starlight Academy and Dream Academy, Ichigo and Seira trade places and spend a day attending each other's school.

Akari, who has been struggling with performing Special Appeals, has to stay at school over the summer break for a training camp, whilst Ichigo sees Aoi and Ran off as they go to the Amazon for a film shoot before resuming her training with Seira.

As Akari continues to struggle on her own, Ichigo tries to think of a way to help her out. Thinking about her experiences in America, Ichigo decides to open the letter Aoi gave her back then, reminding her that no matter the time or place, she can always talk to her.

Ichigo and Seira start thinking about what outfits they should wear for their concert against WM, struggling to come up with an exciting coordination. Aoi and Kii hear rumors about an unused coord concept Masquerade was planning, so Orihime gives the girls the key to Masquerade's reference room, where they learn Masquerade planned to have their favorite designers make a pair of twin dresses that complimented each other like butterfly wings.

Mizuki and Mikuru announce they plan to disband WM following the Twinkle Star Cup, regardless of if they win or lose. Curious as to how they came to that decision, Ichigo and Seira pay them a visit to find out why.

With the crowd awed by WM's performance, Ichigo and Seira become excited thinking about the opportunities that await them even after the concert. Using this excitement, the girls step on stage and give a stunning performance, bring the Twinkle Star Cup to a close. With the votes across the nation tallied together, the winning unit is revealed to be 2wingS.

With the first years due to perform a yearly recital, Akari tries to keep thoughts of admiration for Ichigo out of her head so she can focus on her performance. As such, when Akari comes across Ichigo on the day of the performance, she attempts to run away from her but is eventually caught.