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.

With spring break arriving again, Ichigo, Aoi, and Ran once again attempt to go to the hot springs they missed last time, stopping by the rape blossom field again along the way when they discover a bus stop has been built next to it.

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.

During a rainfall, the roof in Akari's dorm room starts leaking, resulting in Akari and her roommate, Yuu, having to move into separate dorms, with Akari moving in with Sumire Hikami, who she met by coincidence that morning.

On the day before her job with Ichigo, Sumire gets a less than favorable horoscope, but finds a way to twist it into something positive. Later, Akari helps Sumire read up on Ichigo, with Ichigo herself giving her a bag of things to look over.

Akari meets Hinaki Shinjyo, a child actor from Sumire's class, who has been interested in her ever since her entrance audition where she inadvertently introduced herself as Ichigo.

As part of her role as the Pon Pon Crepe Girl, Akari needs to come up with a pose for a promotional poster. With help from Hinaki, Akari manages to come up with a variety of poses, but also notices Hinaki seems to be downhearted about something.

With Halloween approaching, Johnny tasks students with collecting as much candy as possible in order to star in the annual Nightmare Party.

Akari is informed about her first solo concert, which will take place in a shopping mall. Feeling that this could be a decisive moment for her, Akari decides to try and obtain a Premium Dress from Dream Crown's designer, Tsubasa Sena, who is wrapped in mystery.

Wanting to get a Premium Dress herself, Sumire and the others visit Yurika for advice on how to appeal to Loli Gothic's top designer Maya.

As an audition is held for the starring role in a new drama alongside Ichigo, Aoi, and Ran, a new transfer student, Juri Kurebayashi, expresses her passionate desire to win the role.

Juri feels downhearted as she isn't satisfied with her own performance for an upcoming episode. Karen explains to her that when she was in an acting rut, it was a premium dress from her favorite brand, Sangria Rosa, the helped her overcome it.

Raichi and Noelle's classmate, Asahi Azuma, who is a big fan of Akari, learns that she'll be appearing in her first handshake event alongside Sumire.

After Ichigo announces her own Great Starmiya Ichigo Festival, which is being produced by Aoi and Ran, Akari decides she wants to help with the preparations.

With a week until Christmas, Sakura is put in charge of preparations for the Christmas Party, which includes a special Aikatsu Christmas Stage. Aiming to audition for the stage alongside Akari and Sumire, Hinaki decides she needs to get a Vivid Kiss Premium Dress so she can perform a Heroine Appeal.

After Hinaki receives her Premium Dress from Kayoko, the girls focus on the preparations for the Christmas Party. Both Akari and Juri reminisce about three years ago, when Ichigo and her friends cut down a large Christmas tree to cheer up their fellow student, with Akari taking up the challenge of cutting down another tree in the same way.

With her family on vacation, Juri joins Akari and her family in celebrating the new year, where Akari becomes a little embarrassed by her parents' obsession with soil.

With the start of the new semester, Akari makes a new year's resolution to find something she is good at. To this end, Akari decides to audition to become a weather girl, with Sumire and the others helping her to train.

As Akari begins her job as a weather girl, Sumire decides she needs to find her own speciality too. However, she gets a throat cold just as she receives word of a shampoo girl audition, which seems to favor her beauty rather than her singing talent.

Yuu goes off on a month-long exchange program with Himezakura Girls Academy in Kyoto, who send one of their own students, Miyabi Fujiwara, to Starlight Academy in her place.

Miyabi meets a fan of hers named Tomoyo who feels downhearted because of her boyish looks, feeling she can't be 'cute' like she considers Miyabi to be.

With literally truckloads of chocolate arriving from fans for Valentine's Day, Orihime announces a "Thanks, Valentine" event to show not one piece goes unappreciated, with cafeteria chef Shun Yotsuba put in charge as head patissier.

With only three days remaining before Miyabi must return to Kyoto, Akari and the others make plans for a proper send-off. Meanwhile, as Miyabi is offered a stage for her final day, she decides she wants to compete against Sakura in order to challenge herself.

The girls get together to watch a mystery movie that they all starred in together. When Sumire Gelato is abducted by the vampire Yurika, vampire hunter Jurius Caesar Salada is sent to Starlight Academy to investigate.

As Tsubasa struggles to come up with a design for his next Premium Dress, Akari's popularity as a weather presenter earns her a stage during a concert being planned by her TV channel, feeling she needs to up her game to earn the right to wear the Premium Dress.

The Starlight Queen Cup is moved up to Spring, with the entire middle school section eligible to participate. As the girls are asked by Otome to help her move out of her current dorm, which is reserved for the next Starlight Queen, Sakura, who had previously lost against Otome, keep her distance, feeling she doesn't yet have the right to enter the dorm just yet.

Soleil announce they will be launching a half-year long nationwide tour in the spring, setting up a project room at Starlight Academy to plan the tour.

With Akari, Sumire, and Hinaki on their long-awaited off-time, Akari suggests they go on a camping trip at the Dreamy Lake near Tsubasa's headquarters.

As the second year begins, Akari and Sumire are assigned as the respective mentors of two new freshmen; Rin Kurosawa, a skilled dancer who admires Johnny, and Madoka Amahane, the granddaughter of Angely Sugar's Asuka Amahane, while Naoto becomes the freshmen's new homeroom teacher.

When Rin gets an offer to appear in a dance event, she decides to get a Premium Dress from her favorite brand, Dance Fusion, whose top designer, Sonny, used to be in a dance unit with Johnny.

Akari, Sumire, and Hinaki are set to appear together on a popular talk show. However, after meeting the show's host, Maguro, Akari has doubts she'll be able to keep up a conversation with him on the real thing.

When asked to form an idol unit for her next single, Sumire decides to ask Rin to become her partner, feeling that the new song fits Rin's dancing ability perfectly.

After Sumire and Rin name their new unit Dancing Diva, they are approached by the same shampoo company who approached Sumire before, who want to use their song for their next commercial.

Juri tries to search for a partner for her own unit, but finds herself turned down by everyone she asks. As Hinaki helps Juri search for partner that contrastly compliments her like a chocolate-covered potato chip, Akari and Madoka notice that the two seem perfect for each other.

With Sumire busy with Dancing Diva, she asks Akari to watch over Madoka, who is offered a gig. Madoka wants an Angely Sugar Premium Dress for her performance, but is reluctant about asking her grandmother for one as she doesn't feel she is worthy enough. Akari decides to spend the next week training with Madoka to build her self-confidence, assuring her that even the pros aren't perfect when it comes to being confident.

Deciding she wants to be in a unit herself, Madoka asks Akari to become her partner, to which she immediately accepts. Jumping straight into meetings to decide the nature of their club, Akari takes Madoka with her as she goes about her daily work schedule, seeing how she interacts with her fans and learning about why she chose her as her partner. Inspired by Madoka's spontaneous skipping, Akari decides to name their unit "Skips".

Yuu goes on another exchange program, this time to Etoile Academy in Kobe, who send over their student, Kokone Kurisu, who is friends with Miyabi. Upon arriving at Starlight Academy, Kokone, used to being the center of attention, becomes downhearted that she's not as well known outside her hometown.

Following the formation of so many units, Orihime announces a Unit Cup for both existing and new units. Wanting to enter the event herself, Kokone invites Miyabi over to be her unit partner, naming their unit Fluffy Sweet Nadeshiko.

As the Unit Cup gets underway, it is revealed that, in addition to their stage performances, the participating units will also be ranked on backstage reports conducted inbetween performances.

With only a matter of time til their performance, Akari and Madoka search their room for their missing cards with no such luck. When Hinaki and Juri come over to do their report on Skips, they deduce that the cards got mixed up with the gifts, which were taken back to the Academy.

After Akari and Sumire are requested for a wedding-themed event, they overhear Johnny discussing an upcoming wedding over the phone, jumping to the conclusion that he's getting married.

Akari and the other idols all star in a broadcast play, in which Juri and Madoka run a failing restaurant that is struggling to get any customers.

Hinaki and Juri are hired to be image girls for a Mexican food booth at a world food festival. While helping with the booth's preparations, Hinaki suggests calling in Juri's father, Kamino Serio, to make a special dish using jalapenos, among many other ideas.

As the end of her transfer program approaches, Kokone seems defiant about Akari and the others holding a send-off party for her, leading them to think that she doesn't want to leave.

After Orihime gives Akari and the others a day off for summer vacation, Naoto arranges for them to spend a day on an island, which turns out to be the same island where Akari faced her hellish boot camp.

Akari and Hinaki participate in a hidden camera show in which they must try and spring a surprise on Sumire. After their initial pranks fail to provoke any kind of reaction from Sumire, the girls try using raw fish to spook her, only to discover that she had learned how to manage them since last time.

Rin and Madoka look forward to attending a summer festival wearing yukatas designed by Suzuha, also being joined by Juri. As the girls enjoy the sights of the festival, Rin and Madoka become curious when they overhear Juri talk about going on a date and decide to follow her, eventually learning she is just meeting up with her father, while Tsubasa and the teacher enjoy a guy's night out.

With the Aikatsu8 Election results drawing hear, Akari speaks with Ichigo, who had just returned to Starlight Academy, hearing about her desire to get all of Soleil into Aikatsu8 this time around, whilst also stating those who don't get chosen still have a chance to shine on their own.

Hinaki decides to join Akari and Sumire for their three person unit, wanting to become more passionate after losing out on the Aikatsu8. After doing some model shoots for Kayoko, Hinaki is a bit concerned when she is asked to retake them, only to learn that Kayoko wants her to demonstrate a new Fine Drum Coord that she made just for her.

As PowaPowa Puririn prepare for the Great Starlight School Festival, Shion learns that the recording schedule for the movie she is starring conflicts with their concert, but becomes determined to attend both.

Madoka, Rin, and Juri all decide to form a unit together, but soon become concerned that their preferences and styles clash with each other. Looking for a way to feel united, the girl meet up with Encierro's disciple, Atsurou Muleta, who offers to make them unit dresses. However, Atsurou struggles to come up with a design that unifies the girls all together.

As Luminas work to improve themselves before the festival, Kaede approaches Yurika about entering the festival as Tristar. While initially believing it to be impossible, Yurika eventually realises from spending time with Powa Powa Puririn that she wants to reform Tristar too. After being approached by Kaede and Yurika, Mizuki feels the same way and gets Orihime's okay to reform Tristar.

Both Soleil and Luminas are lined up for the final day of the festival, with Akari and the others struggling to nail their unit appeal. Nonetheless, with Akari's optimistic outlook, the girls train until the last minute, finally managing to perfect their appeal.

Wanting to challenge themselves, Akari, Sumire, and Hinaki decide to take Luminas on a nationwide tour. After they manage to get Orihime's approval, the girls receive help from their friends to decide on the theme of their tour; encounters.