Aikatsu Friends! Anime Gets New Series in April

The official website for the Aikatsu! anime franchise announced on Monday that the Aikatsu Friends! anime will get a sequel television anime titled Aikatsu Friends! ~Kagayaki no Jewel~ (Shining Jewel) that will premiere in April. The anime will be set two years after the story of Aikatsu Friends!, with Aine Yūki now in high school. The story begins with her encounter with the mysterious idol Hibiki Amakake (character name romanization not official), who wears the shining Jeweling Dress.

The anime will also have the accompanying Aikatsu Friends! ~Kagayaki no Jewel~ Data Carddass arcade game launching in late Mrch.

Aikatsu Friends! premiered on TV Tokyo last April, and is currently airing. The accompanying Aikatsu Friends! Data Carddass arcade game also launched last April.

The anime has the theme of "Aikatsu! with your friends!" and centers on protagonist Aine Yūki, who is good at making friends, and is enrolled in Star Harmony Academy's general education track. She befriends Mio Minato, the school's top idol, and becomes an idol herself.

Tatsuya Igarashi (Unlimited Psychic Squad) is directing the anime at BN Pictures. Yuuko Kakihara (Digimon Adventure tri., Tsuki ga Kirei, Aikatsu Stars!) is in charge of series composition. Satomi Watanabe is designing the characters. Ryuichi Kimura, the director of the Aikatsu!and Aikatsu Stars! anime, is credited as supervisor. Hiromi Kikuta is the sound director, and DIGZ MOTION SOUNDS is composing the music.

Aikatsu Friends! is the third entry in the Aikatsu! franchise, which beganwith the original arcade card game in October 2012. The original game inspired a television anime that ran from 2012 to 2016, and three anime films. The second entry in the franchise, Aikatsu Stars!, inspired a television anime that premiered on TV Tokyo and its affiliates in April 2016. Aikatsu Stars! received an anime film in August 2016.

Source: Aikatsu! franchise's official website, The Mainichi Shimbun's Mantan Web
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