After leaving the popular idol group JPX48, Ai Narata starts a new journey into the world of the Kouka Revue, an all-female musical theater troupe. It's there that she meets Sarasa Watanabe, a tall, semi-obnoxious go-getter with lofty dreams.
The Kouka High School freshmen meet their sophomore advisors, and Sarasa needs to think about her aspirations. Later, the freshmen take a backstage tour of the Kouka Theater.
Ai confronts an overly pushy Sarasa. A traumatic experience in Ai's past leads to her cold disposition, her decision to join JPX, and her fall from grace.
When Ai runs off, leaving Sarasa with the stalker, Sarasa decides to hear out his side of the story. An explosive argument threatens to end any hope of friendship between Ai and Sarasa.
Yamada struggles to keep up with the rest of her class. As her diet grows more extreme and more detrimental to her health, she begins to wonder if she really belongs in the world of Kouka.
A surprise present from Tokyo rings in Sarasa's sixteenth birthday. When the class is assigned a scene from Romeo and Juliet, Sarasa's group struggles to put together their performance.
Sarasa and Ai head back to Tokyo for summer vacation. Kabuki actor and Sarasa's boyfriend, Akiya Shirakawa, reflects on his childhood with Sarasa and their memories of kabuki.
Kaoru looks back on her last summer before attending Kouka, where she struggled with misplaced assumptions about her on her fourth and final try at auditioning for the illustrious school.
The first-year class learns they'll be participating in the once-a-decade Kouka Grand Sports Festival. A spark of jealousy and deep-seated resentment tear a rift between Chika and Chiaki.
When the Superiors grant a rare opportunity to Sarasa, the decision earns her the ire of the second-year students. Finding herself uncharacteristically nervous, Sarasa turns to Ai and her senpai for advice as the Sports Festival begins.
The first-year class gets another opportunity to act, this time in front of a crowd at the Culture Festival. However, there are only four roles, and forty students, which only means one thing: auditions.
The Romeo and Juliet auditions begin in earnest. Yamada looks back on her pre-Kouka years as she finds her bearings in her role. Sarasa revisits a conversation she overheard between Kouzaburou and Akiya.
