'Aikatsu Friends!' Release Date, Latest News: Special Unveiling Event to Take Place on Feb. 4; Series to Launch With New Arcade Game
An upcoming spinoff series has been announced for the "Aikatsu! Idol" franchise. The upcoming anime series, which is titled "Aikatsu Friends!" will be featuring a brand new protagonist from a prestigious new idol academy.
The official key visual art for the series, which can be seen above, bears the taglines, "Let's go together! Head for the goal, Diamond Friends!!" as translated by the Anime News Network. It perfectly embodies the theme of the spinoff series, which is "Aikatsu with your friends!"
The new protagonist named Aine Yuuki is described as a girl who is good at making friends. She is enrolled in Star Harmony Academy's general education track. When she met Mio Minato, the school's top idol, and performed with her on the "Aikatsu!" stage, it opens doors for Aine to meet many other idols with great individuality like Maika Chouno and Ema Hinata.
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This will, in turn, motivate her to become an idol by forming a two-member idol unit with Mio called "Friends." Together, these two girls will aim to ultimately become the top idol unit.
The "Aikatsu!" franchise was first launched as one of Bandai's Data Carddass line back in October 2012. The arcade games went on to ship over 250 million cards and have since inspired two anime series, "Aikatsu!" and "Aikatsu Stars!" The term "aikatsu" is the short form of "aidoru katsudou (idol activities)."
Additionally, the staff of the "Aikatsu!" franchise will reportedly be holding an "Aikatsu Friends!" unveiling event, which will partly be streamed on the franchise's official YouTube channel, aikatsuTV, on Sunday, Feb. 4. The event will then be streamed in full on Wednesday, Feb. 8.
The special unveiling event is expected to reveal additional details about the upcoming anime series.
"Aikatsu Friends!" premieres sometime in April along with an accompanying "Aikatsu Friends!" Data Carddass arcade game.
