Episode 14 - That's The Way I Run

That's The Way I Run (これが私の走る道) is the fourteenth episode of the Aikatsu Planet! TV series. It aired on April 11th, 2021.

Summary
Meisa Hinata, who had vanished, is the mysterious girl who appeared before Mao. Meisa reveals her reason for leaving the Aikatsu! world and proclaims her return as an idol, bewildering Mao and others. Meanwhile, reuniting with Meisa lights a fire in Ayumi, who decides to take on the rigorous Planet Marathon. There lies the passion of rivals who recognize and improve each other.

Plot
Continuing from the previous episode, Mao is left baffled at Meisa announcing her return. Izumi suggests for them to talk back at the agency, reminding Meisa that there's one more person she needs to speak to.

Meisa feels nostalgic after returning to the agency. She calls out to Segawa and Sala, who engrossed in their work, habitually respond to her without paying her actual notice. After finally coming to the realization that Meisa is back, they berate her for vanishing on them despite being happy to see her.

Ayumi also arrives and is greeted affectionately by Meisa. An exasperated Ayumi demands for her to explain her sudden reappearance. She questions why Meisa left Aikatsu behind, but Meisa denies this and says that everything she's done is for the sake of Aikatsu.

Meisa reminisces about how much fun she had devoting herself to Aikatsu. After wondering how she could better Aikatsu, Meisa told Izumi she wanted to go abroad and study music. Izumi was concerned due to her busy schedule, but Meisa promised to keep up until there was a good opportunity to stop. However, it never came, causing Meisa to jump ship.

Izumi admits her faults, recognizing that she only thought about Hana's fans without taking Meisa's feelings into account. Meisa tells her not to blame herself, going on to reveal that she learned a lot of things overseas that she can now use in her Aikatsu. While on her travels, she learned of the new Hana.

Meisa became interested in Hana and hurried back to resume her idol activities. Ayumi expresses her relief at this, saying that she didn't believe Meisa could've ever given up on Aikatsu considering her love for it. On the other hand, Mao is apprehensive, thinking Meisa intends to become Hana again.

Meisa affirms that Hana belongs to Mao now, and that while she was the original user, it was Izumi who had actually created her. Meisa enlightens them on her plan to establish her own agency and start from scratch with a new avatar. Ayumi also wants to show Meisa her new self, giving her a flyer for the Planet Marathon.

The Planet Marathon is an event in which idols hold a performance after running a marathon. Meisa acknowledges its difficulty, recalling how no idol has ever been able to finish successfully, not even her and Q-pit. Q-pit is entering again this year as proof of her improvement.

Ayumi makes her exit, leaving Meisa elated seeing her so ardent. While walking home together, Mao informs Meisa that she's never seen seen Ayumi like that before. Meisa explains that while Ayumi seems cool at first, she's very passionate deep down and has a lot of love for Aikatsu. Mao states that Meisa is the same way.

Meisa then takes off, but not before telling Mao to address her informally. The next day at school, Mao, Ruli and Shiori are exercising together. Ruli muses that it's even harder to figure out who will be in the Planet Princess Grand Prix with Meisa back in the game.

Although Shiori brings up that it'll be hard for Meisa to make it as she's unranked, both Mao and Ruli believe there's no telling. Mao mentions that even Ayumi is fired up and taking on the Planet Marathon. Kyōko shows up and reveals that she's also entering, and is even more enthusiastic at the prospect of facing Q-pit.

Meanwhile, Ayumi is also training diligently at the beach. Ann finds her and gives Ayumi refreshments in a show of support, knowing that she's going extra hard due to Meisa's return. Ayumi admits that Meisa is special to her, having always been impressed by how natural she was while performing.

As her first ever rival, Ayumi declares that she doesn't want to lose to Meisa and thus will strive to surpass her own limits. The day of the Planet Marathon, Q-pit approaches Beat, stating that this event is a fight with one's self. They both resolve to do their best. As the race begins, Q-pit takes the lead with Beat right behind her.

An exhausted Q-pit ends up collapsing in the middle of the course. She then begins thinking of Meisa, as the reason that she's been able to make it so far is because Meisa was there as her rival. Getting a second wind, Q-pit continues running in an effort to surpass her limits. Unbeknownst to her, Beat is hot on her trail.

Beat musters up the energy to catch up to Q-pit and they manage to cross the finish line at the same time. Proceeding to the battle stage portion of the event, Beat summons Bloody Rock and Hip Hop Break while Q-pit calls on Love Sagittarius and Noble Leo. The pair perform a duet of "See You See You See You See You See You Tomorrow".

While Q-pit is the victor, she asserts that both she and Beat are winners, as they were both able to overcome their own selves. The other girls cheering from the crowd are inspired to continue doing their best. Meisa, having watched the performance online, is also motivated to stop resting on her laurels.

Characters

 * Mao Otoha/Hana
 * Ruli Tamaki/Ruli
 * Kyōko Umekōji/Beat
 * Shiori Motoya/Shiori
 * Ayumi Tsukishiro/Q-pit
 * Ann Kurimu/Ann
 * Meisa Hinata
 * Sala Itoi
 * Izumi Watanuki
 * Itsuki Segawa
 * Bloody Rock
 * Hip Hop Break
 * Love Sagittarius
 * Noble Leo

Trivia

 * Episode Title Reference: "That's The Way It Is" (これが私の生きる道) by PUFFY
 * As revealed in Episode 25, the scene with Meisa and Mao walking at night was the last scene filmed by Narumi Uno.