AiCatch!

*"Singing our way to the stardom!" - Hello! Wink!'s catchphrase*

**AiCatch** (「アイキャッチ」?) is a fan-made idol series written by Umehara Miyuki and is her first work in non-magical girl stories. The story tells about a set of girls training to become top idols while trying to revive the good image of Yumesaki Academy. It is scheduled to air on May 1st, 2021.

## Synopsis

Amachi Kanon has long admired her mother, Amachi Yukina, who was a legendary idol in the past. However, Yukina's sudden retirement has crushed her daughter's dreams of sharing the stage with her. Hoping to inspire her mother to take the stage once again, Kanon enrolls at Yumesaki Academy, a newly opened idol where she will take her first steps towards fame. After taking her entrance exam and passing it, Kanon starts her idol training and meets new friends and rivals.

### Development

After watching idols/band shows Zombieland Saga, Ochikobore! Fruit Tart and Garupa☆Pico, Miyuki went to take a break of magical girls stories and tried something more light-hearted. Feeling inspired by Aikatsu! Passion Stars, AiCatch! was an aikatsu story named "Aikatsu! Strike", and would focus on tournaments. However, since Miyuki don't enjoy the Aikatsu! franchise, the idea was quickly dropped. The series was named after GOATBED song, Ai Catch, just like the main idol unit would be named after Poppin' Party song, Hello! Wink!.

## Characters

### Yumesaki Academy Students

#### **1st Year Students**

* **Kanon Amachi** (「雨知観音」」?) - A 1st year student at Yumesaki Academy. Kanon looks up to her mother, Yukina, as goes as far as attempting to mimic her posture and be responsible and professional. However, her clear lack of experiences often leads her into saying something wrong and getting teased, In spite of being comic at times, Kanon is serious (sometimes way too for her own good) and eager to learn as much as she can, but tends to rush things out of impatience.
	+ CV: Hondo Kaede, image colour is yellow.
* **Rinko Minowa** (「箕輪凛鼓」?) - A modest and serene woman who, in spite of being 23-years-old, enrolled at YumeGaku to fulfill a dream first achieved by Rumi, her younger sister. Because she doesn't want to be Rumi's shadow, Rinko hides her blood ties and studies under a fake surname. Prior to an idol, Rinko was an english and mandarin private teacher and will often use foreign words and expressions in her speech.
	+ CV: Kuwashima Houko, image colour is red.
* **Momoe Sakuragawa** (「櫻川百恵」?) - A bright and fashionable student at Yumesaki Academy who was transfered not too long ago. Born in a humble family, Momoe wishes to achieve fame but the amount of bad luck surrounding her is unrealistic. However, this never stopped her from keeping her optismism. Adding to her good fashion sense, Momoe likes sewing her own clothes and doing her friends hair. The awful lot of idol-related media she consumes is the base to her claim of having years of theorical experience in celebrity life.
	+ CV: Shiraishi Haruka, image colour is pink.

#### **2nd Year Students**

* **Miyu Totaka** (「戸高美雪」?) -A not-so-talented idol but technology enthusiastic sophomore at Yumesaki Academy. Helpful, smart yet scatterbrained, Miyu choose to become an idol wishing to use it as marketing for her game project, an idol-themed, action RPG. She is independent and likes to do things on her own. Sometimes to the point of taking long roads just so she won't ask for help. As mentioned before, she is not the best at singing and dancing but excells at composing songs as well as remixing them. Oddly enough, she is fond of breasts.
	+ CV: Onishi Saori, image colour is green.
* **Kayano Rui** (「「海谷野瑠衣」?) - A modeling sensation and sophomore at Yumesaki Academy. Under the stage name Lobelia, Rui works as a model, using her european charm to pose as a "bewitching, imposing figure". However, different from her reputation, Rui is, in fact, introverted and not very proactive. She also have a hard-time expressing herself with words and prefers let her acts do the speaking. This, by accident, gives her something of a princeling side that easily charm girls who often mistakes her "flower talking" for flirting.
	+ CV: Koga Aoi
* **Suzukaze Fuusa** (「涼風ふうさ」?) - A sympathetic and passionate girl who longs to be a heroine.
	+ CV: Yamamoto Ayano
* **Hikasa Rokka** (「日笠六花」?) - A smart and polite girl who shares her idol activities with her acting jobs. She's a huge fan of Lobelia's.
	+ CV: ???

#### **3rd Year Students**

* **Kirigoe Rumi** (「切声るみ」?) - Rinko's younger sister. She is a popular idol part of Wind, Flower, Snow, Moon unit. Has something of a rebelious side and loves her sister wholehearted.
	+ CV: Nonaka Ai
* **Miyoshi Michiru** (「三好満」?) - A cool and friendly girl who is Rumi's best friend. She is a lone child and loves to hear Rumi's tales about Rinko.
	+ CV: Nakashima Yuuki
* **Usui Kazumi** (「笛吹和美」?) - 3rd year student at YumeGaku and leader of V-Singer, an idol unit chosen to be the face of Usui Company. Idolized by Momoe.
	+ CV: Sakamoto Maaya

### Staff

* **Fukushima Tsubasa** (「福島つばさ」?) - Tsubasa is the principal of the school. She aims to restore YumeGaku's good status.

### Supporting Cast

* **Amachi Yukina** (「雨知幸奈」?) - Kanon's mother. She is a retired idol.
* **Amatsuchi Hina** (「天地日奈」?) - A deceased student. She is an urban legend among the students.
* **Umebashi Hoyumi** (「梅橋歩友診」?) - A private music teacher (specially singing) and caretaker of YumeGaku dormitory.

## Units

* **Hello! Wink!** (「ハロー!ウインク!」?) is a five person, happy-typed unit. It is composed by Kanon, Rinko, Momoe, Rinko and Rui.
* **Wind, Flower, Moon, Snow** (「風花雪月」?) is a four person, pure-typed unit who has attained a lot of popularity as of late. It is composed by Suzukaze Fuusa, Kirigoe Rumi, Hikasa Rokka and Miyoshi Michiru.
* **LaMusique** (「ラ・ムジーク」?) is a legendary, powerful-typed unit who used to represent YumeGaku back in the day. The unit split after the IS-07 incident, the one where one of the members lost her life.
* **FIRE BIRD** (「FIREBIRD」?) is a twelve person, powerful-typed unit. It was formed to represent YumeGaku and mark a new step towards a new future for the school.

## Locations

* **Shiongahara** (「紫苑ヶ原」?) is the city the season takes place.
* **Yumesaki Academy** (「夢咲学園」?), formely named Ryuseidou Girls' Academy 「流星堂女子学園」, is the music school the girls attend to. Besides the default idol course, they also have a producer and top design courses. All to help students to reach their full potential. Even though the respectable status, there are many troubled stories of the academy's past with "Dormitory Ghost Girl" being a famous scary tale among the students. They serve under the mottos "Guiding Stars to the Stardom" and "Helping Dreams to Bloom". FIRE BIRD is the current representative unit, succeding La Musique in their initial time-slot.
* **Calliope's House** (「カリオペの家」?) is the school's dormitory. Hoyumi is the caretaker.

## Trivia

* Many names come from Kobayashi Tsubomi's Idol Star Pretty Cure.