What it says on the tin. Just a lil ranking for fun.
Will give a warning off the bat that I am not a music person. I may love listening to music but I have no know-how or technical knowledge. I'm just a fella who loves Aikatsu with a penchant for yapping. So if you see me misuse terminology or repeat myself one too many times, I only ask for some grace. This is purely a taste thing.
We good? Alright, opinions under the cute official art for visibility (and read more);
6. Aikatsu☆Step! - Aikatsu Stars!
It's a doot. A pleasant little doot-di-doot. I struggle finding any emotional response to this. It's not a bad song, but it is so very Just There. It never really changes from the steady tempo held through the whole song, making for a pretty boring listen. The instruments used aren't very interesting, and it's not a song I think any of the singers sound good enough in to be noteworthy either. Hearing it doesn't make me very excited or emotional, and Aistars has songs that does both those things. At my meanest I'd even say it doesn't sound finished.
Actually whenever I try to remember how Aikatsu Step goes, my brain always without fail remember 'We are STARS', the Aistars group song made for the (shut down) mobile game Photokatsu. It's like a redone and vastly improved Aikatsu Step, superior in every way while still evoking Step.
5. Full Bloom! Helianthe - Aikatsu Academy!
It's a nice song, sounds like a series theme, but I do struggle remembering it. But it is also the series theme I have listened to the least. As a result I don't have much to say, but Mieru, Meh, and Parin do sound good in this song and singing together. I think it's lacking some Aikatsu flair? Perfectly serviceable, just not very memorable. But even if I struggle to remember it, when I do listen to it I still prefer it to Aikatsu Step, so into spot number 5 it goes.
4. Idol Activity! - Aikatsu! (Ichigogen)
My big shame as an Aikatsu fan is being more or less lukewarm on Idol Activity, which is pretty much the Aikatsu song. It's far, faaar from a bad song, it just doesn't do anything for me beyond invoking a sense of nostalgia when the first seconds hit me like a truck with how full throttle it starts. Kinda like how Ichigo hit the idol scene like an atomic bomb. It's an iconic song that deserves the props however, and works very well as the first theme song, it fits the energy of Aikatsu S1 and S2 perfectly.
3. Aikatsu Friends! - Aikatsu Friends!
I can't say why I like this song so much, but I really enjoy every listen. The chorus gets stuck in my head almost more than any other Aikatsu theme song, it just pings something in my brain. The guitar strumming is very fun, as well as the drums, and the overall vibe is very peppy and cheerful without being super energetic. There's just something about the "flow" in the chorus, how the singing and music blend together, that is weirdly satisfying to listen to. Aine and Mio sound nice together, as expected from a unit focused series, and this song might be where I think Aine sounds best? Aifriends don't have many memorable songs to me, but this one is among the best no doubt.
2. Let's Aikatsu! - Aikatsu! (Akarigen)
I love this song. It's a bit more lowkey coming on the heels of Idol Activities, but I feel that's fitting for Akarigen, and for the series Akari is the protagonist for. I love the echoy response singing in the chorus, the flow of the song, it's just a very nice listen. I'm linking the STARS version for this one, cause I think it's the best, closely followed by the Ichigo/Mizuki/Akari ver. There's something oddly wistful but also hopeful about this song, and I just love it very much. Easy second place.
1. HAPPY∞Aikatsu! - Aikatsu Planet!
It's simply the best one guys, I don't know what to tell you.
I found Planet's discography a bit of a letdown. A lot of the songs sound similar, in things like instruments used and the tempo. But Happy Aikatsu is the best song from AiPlanet (along with Flying Tips), and also the one that sounds the most unique when compared to the rest of the songs. It's got a killer guitar in there, a really energetic tempo, and the version with all girls singing just adds to this overpowering feeling. Said as a compliment btw. It's like they're singing their hearts out right in front of you. It's just got so much boundless energy packed into it.
Ako deserved to earn her wings in an episode and those wings should have been uniquely hers and hers alone I will preach this to the day that I die, the show runners did her so dirty man😭
Now to be honest I only really watched s1 and briefly sped through s2 with subtitles I didn’t understand so my understanding of the show and the characters are shallow at best and especially my understanding of how the characters earned their wings but! Regardless I tried to form an understanding and came up with a brief concept of how I think Ako would earn her wings
I think Ako is someone who is driven by love whether it’s from her crush or her fans. Her first episode in s1 revolved around her moving her love and motivation to be an idol from Subaru onto her fans and that growth did stick around luckily. However her crush is obviously still there and it’s something she struggles and falls back into later in s2 which is understandable you don’t just stop loving someone in one day. We can also see that by S2 she’s clearly starting to move on from Subaru albeit onto someone else (Kanata) which I’ll be honest I really like. Despite that I would have loved to see her move on entirely from Subaru and have her motivation be sold because of her love for her own passion and self free from romance.
Now onto my understanding of how a character earns her wings. From what I could puzzle out it’s somewhat connected to a characters strong desire to achieve something whether it’s their ideals, their feelings ect. It’s also tied to overcoming/learning something about themselves almost like coming to accept some part of themself.
That’s why I think Ako would design something when she figured out her feelings for Subaru had gone from obsessive crush to deep admiration and that her drive as an idol and individual is devoid of relying on him thus earning her wings and why her theme would be love.
Those are my thoughts and honestly this could all be wrong but I don’t really mind I’m just having fun with this
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