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Aikatsu! Episodes Compiled for Limited Screening Run in Theaters From June 20
posted on by Joanna Cayanan
The official X (formerly Twitter) account for the Aikatsu! franchise announced on April 1 that popular episodes of the Aikatsu! television series are being re-edited into a compilation for a limited three-week screening run in theaters throughout Japan, starting on June 20. The Aikatsu! Memorial Stage screenings will include never-before-seen bonus clips.
The Aikatsu! franchise began with the original arcade card game in October 2012. The 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.
The third entry in the Aikatsu! franchise, Aikatsu Friends!, premiered in April 2018 along with the accompanying Aikatsu Friends! Data Carddass arcade game. A sequel television anime titled Aikatsu Friends! ~Kagayaki no Jewel~ (Shining Jewel) then premiered in April 2018 with its own aracde game tie-in. The sequel is set two years after the story of Aikatsu Friends!, with the main character Aine Yūki now in high school.
The Aikatsu on Parade! television anime premiered in October 2019 with the new lead character Raki Kiseki and characters from the previous Aikatsu! anime series.
The Aikatsu! Planet series premiered on January 10, 2021 and ended in June 2021. BN Pictures' Gekijō-ban Aikatsu Planet! film opened in July 2022 alongside Aikatsu! 10th Story ~Mirai e no Starway~ (Starway to the Future, an apparent reference to the Japanese translation of the Led Zeppelin song "Stairway to Heaven"), the franchise's 10th anniversary film. The latter spawned another new film that opened in January 2023.
