Kirarin Revolution, episode 17

(きらりん☆レボリューション) 2006

Kirari (voiced by Koharu Kusumi of Morning Musume!) is a middle schooler who LOVES her food. So much so that it's scary! While girls her age swoon over idols, Kirari swoons over her dad's cooking, and couldn't care less about the life of a celebrity. But when she saves the pet turtle of Seiji of pop group SHIPS and falls in love, she decides to become an idol herself so that they can be together (or so she hopes).

It's time for an idol swimming meet! Included in the lineup is SHIPS, Kirari (of course), Erina (who doesn't want her designer French swimsuit getting wet), Arashi (who seems to have debuted as a magicial idol), and Mochida (who has debuted as a "muscle idol"). They are divided up into teams - White Team (Arashi, Mochi, and Erina) and Red Team (SHIPS, Kirari).

The first game is called "Water Basketball" - basically, the team that gets the most tiny balls into a basket wins. Erina tries to cheat by scooping everything up in a fishing net, while her dog Tantan pushes the raft she's sitting on (she got wet once, she won't ruin her designer ITALIAN suit now!) - however, this backfires when her teammates try to climb aboard, knocking them and their basket over.



The second game is a treasure hunt - whichever team finds the most items under the water wins. Poor Kirari has trouble holding her breathe and can't dive far enough to be of much use. Erina, who is now wearing a designer suit from London, throws Arashi into the water to look. When she tries to push Mochi in, she accidentally sends herself. Coming to the surface, though, she finds she is holding a few coins, putting White Team in the lead. At the last minute, however, Kirari is approached by Kame-san, who is holding a diamond. This alone is enough for Red Team to win, as it is the most valuable treasure. Arashi laments that Kirari didn't get to see how cool he is, and Erina comes up with a plan upon hearing the love-sick illusionist. She can use this person. During break, she approaches Arashi and flatters him, suggesting that they should work together in making Kirari quit the idol business.

The third game is a sort of obstacle course involving rafting over waves and a water slide. Arashi gives White Team a lead by causing sea urchins to poke holes into Red Team's raft. Luckily, Naa-san is quickly there with tape to save the day. When everyone gets to the water slide, Arashi then makes seaweed appear, and Kirari and SHIPS are sent sailing into the nearby ocean. Things look helpless and hopeless, but thanks to Naa-san and his ocean whistle, they are given a ride back by friendly dolphins. Knocking White Team over, they sail to the finish line.

For the fourth and final game, each team must swim two laps, from one side of the pool to the other. Kirari is afraid, due to the fact that she can't swim very well. But because Erina and Arashi messed up, she helps bring victory. Red Team wins the idol swim meet.

Watching this episode, I got to thinking that Erina and Arashi might make a cute couple. Considering that this show doesn't stray far from cliches, it's not impossible. Nothing particularly special about anything, but it's cute. Erina was in comedy form here.