Episode 15 - Rose of Passion

Rose of Passion (情熱の薔薇) is the fifteenth episode of the Aikatsu Planet! TV series. It aired on April 18th, 2021.

Summary
Meisa finally resumes her Aikatsu! There's lots of things to do, from planning a surprise party to make peace with Izumi and creating an avatar! Meisa returns to the Planet world as the new idol Rose, overcoming the thorny path to reach Luxury Rose. Placing her passionate feelings within a rose, her new Aikatsu! blossoms!

Plot
Mao and Shiori are on video call with each other the morning of Mao's day off. Mao intends to train at the school gym while the other girls are at work, excited for Meisa's second idol debut. On her way to the school, she finds Meisa cloud watching. Meisa then asks Mao for her help with something, to which the other girl agrees.

Meisa, feeling bad for leaving unexpectedly and causing Izumi to blame herself, is planning a surprise party to make up with her. Meisa has Mao assist in setting up at the agency while Izumi is out busy attending to everyone else. Meisa wants to decorate and cook dishes based on places she's visited overseas, then finally show her new avatar to Izumi.

Although she hasn't finalized her avatar yet, Meisa wants Izumi to be the first to see it as a show of reconciliation between them. Mao contacts Shiori, Ruli and Kyōko to inform them of the plan while she and Meisa begin decorating. However, Meisa keeps getting distracted by her souvenirs and telling Mao stories of her travels.

An exasperated Mao has Meisa focus on creating her avatar while she takes care of the preparations. Shiori calls to warn Mao that their interviews are ending soon, and Mao urges them to stall. Mao manages to finish cooking the food, but Meisa is still putting the finishing touches on her avatar as the other girls struggle to draw out their interviews any longer.

With no other choice but to forcibly prevent Izumi from returning, Mao heads out and meets up with Shiori, Ruli and Kyōko. Izumi separated from the group earlier, having taken a taxi back to the agency citing urgent work. The girls rush to stop Izumi, only to find her already at the agency cheerfully conversing with Meisa.

Meisa reveals that Izumi has helped her perfect her new avatar, before greeting Ruli and Kyōko and introducing herself to Shiori. Mao reminds Meisa about the party they were planning for Izumi, leading them to sit down and talk. Izumi apologizes to Meisa for not taking her feelings into consideration.

Sala enters and states that even without the party, she could hear Izumi and Meisa from her room laughing just like old times. She presents Meisa a new Swing commissioned for her by Izumi, a rose-themed dress. Meisa begins to tear up, recalling how her first gift from a fan was a rose a girl had saved up money to buy.

Meisa thanks Izumi for entrusting Hana to Mao as she sets off on a new journey. Kyōko brings up that while Meisa was successful in making up with Izumi, there was no surprise involved. Ruli then suggests making Meisa's second debut the surprise. Meisa concurs and enters Aikatsu Planet as her new avatar Rose to find a new Dressia.

Rose is welcomed into the forest of Flower types by one of Hana's previous Dressia, Luxe Sunflower, who doesn't recognize her new appearance. Rose requests to meet with Luxury Rose to ask for their power. Sunflower refuses as Luxury Rose is their best friend, and they don't want to introduce them to a 'total stranger'.

Rose teases Luxe Sunflower for their stubbornness and takes out the Swing they had infused their power into before. Finally recognizing Rose, Sunflower leads her to a large formation of thorny vines. Luxe Sunflower explains that Luxury Rose in inside, with many idols having attempted to borrow their power but were deterred by the vines.

Rose makes her way through the vines and discovers Luxury Rose in the center. She asks to borrow the Dressia's power for the sake of bringing smiles to everyone. Moved by her passion for Aikatsu, Luxury Rose enters her Swing. Meanwhile, news of Rose's upcoming debut reaches fans and fellow idols alike.

Rose summons Luxury Rose and Luxe Sunflower for her battle stage against Ruli, who uses Bright Sapphire and Glossy Ruby. The pair perform a duet of "Inner Voice", with Rose as the victor. The crowd is left thoroughly impressed, wondering how a newly debuted idol could pull off such a performance.

Rose introduces herself to the fans, revealing her true identity as a returned Meisa. Ayumi, watching the performance online with Ann, solemnly states that Meisa has exceeded her expectations. Izumi affirms that Meisa has come back much stronger than before, with Meisa herself declaring that it's Hana's turn to show her what she can do.

Characters

 * Mao Otoha/Hana
 * Ruli Tamaki/Ruli
 * Kyōko Umekōji/Beat
 * Shiori Motoya/Shiori
 * Ayumi Tsukishiro
 * Ann Kurimu
 * Meisa Hinata/Rose
 * Sala Itoi
 * Izumi Watanuki
 * Keito Kirihata
 * Shō Kurosaki
 * Ryōka Dōba
 * Bright Sapphire
 * Glossy Ruby
 * Luxury Rose
 * Luxe Sunflower

Trivia

 * Episode Title Reference: "Rose of Passion" (情熱の薔薇) by THE BLUE HEARTS
 * This episode premiered on the birthday of Maria Himesato from the original Aikatsu! series.
 * This episode marks the debut of main character Rose.
 * Luxury Rose and Luxe Sunflower make their debut in this episode.
 * "Inner Voice" makes its debut as an insert song in this episode.
 * Although Beat and Shiori appear in the episode, they have no dialogue and as such are left uncredited.