As the New Year rolls in, Orihime informs Mizuki of her planned partnership with Ichigo for a special stage event. Meanwhile, Ichigo ends up eating too much over the New Year's break and gains weight by the time school starts up again.

Ichigo, Ran, Otome and Yurika are given the chance to audition for a movie remake of Stylish Thief ☆ Swallowtail, a show which previously starred Masquerade, the idol pair Orihime was a part of. As the gang train for the audition, Yurika chooses not to in order to keep with her vampire character.

As a new school year arrives and Ichigo and the others move up a year, the now second year students are assigned to help mentor the new freshmen.

As Ichigo, Aoi and Ran ponder on how they can catch up to Mizuki, they meet a first year named Akane Mimori, who is an admirer of Aoi.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.