The Mascot Idol Carnival is a regional idol collaboration show that takes place at Esha SS Mall in Super Minami, Osaka City.[1]
Overview#
The whole event was originally a market event where regional goods and trademark products were sold, before they added the program to promote local idols to it.
Everything takes place inside the shopping center, where numerous souvenir stalls are set up to promote local specialties and there is a stage where idols and mascots from various companies from different parts of Japan perform for the people who attend the place.[2]
Known participants#
- Pop☆Step, representing Marukane Department Store, from Naruhata.[1]
- Monika Kaniyashiki, representing Kanidoge, from Osaka.[1]
- The Willows, representing Oyanagi Confectionary. from Nagoya.[1]
- Akashiya Kids, from Huogo.[3]
Synopsis#
Osaka Incident Arc#
Because she is too busy to deal with it personally, Makoto asks Pop to attend the Mascot Idol Carnival, knowing she’s pretty good at handling its own scheduling. Koichi accompanies her, acting as her manager. Shortly after arriving in Osaka, they meet the hero Fat Gum, who gives them directions to the Esha SS Mall.
Once at the Green Room, they meet Monika, the representative of the Kanidoge food company at the event. Although somewhat puzzled by her eccentric personality, they get along well with her, and she wishes Pop good luck in her performance.[1]
Pop's turn on stage arrives, and she sings a solo version of the theme of Marukane Department Store in the Idol Show. Once he finishes her act, she and Koichi decide to see the exhibitors and the souvenir shops of the venue, as Makoto advised her to check out the place in order get some material for any inspiration.
They walk along the floor and look at the food stalls and regional products until they meet Monika again, riding a crab-shaped Mech. Monika’s handler explains to them that they had remodeled the industrial lifting arms into Walking Advertisement, and Monika insists it's her mascot costume, which leaves both Koichi and Kazuho confused.
Monika is then called to head for the stage in preparation for her act. She goes to the place with the mecha, but suddenly she apologizes to her manager because she needs to go to the restroom, with the man warning her to be mindful of the small window of time.
The show goes on, with other idols and mascots performing on stage, but Monika still hasn't returned from the restroom. Due to her lateness, her manager asks Pop to fill in for her, teaching him how to operate the Kanidoge Mech.[4] What even the manager didn't know is that Monika is actually an undercover cop, and used the excuse of going to the restroom to put on her police gear.[2]
She is working on an operation to dismantle a Trigger drug distribution line known as the Crab Route, since the Villain Factory infiltrated the food distribution network of Kanidoge to smuggle the drug among legitimate products, arranging for them to be delivered to specific customers, taking advantage of the fact that it would be much easier for them to sneak in their products in short-term, free events like Idol Mascot Carnival because they have comparatively lax security. The operation is lead by detective Naomasa, and as he expected there might be problems, he turned to the services of Fat Gum.[1]
Monika goes to the SS Mall loading dock, when she sees three Kanidoge workers unloading the food packaging, two of them mounted on crab mechs. Continuing with the operation, Monikas and asks the workers to let her check the merchandise, using as an excuse that the books just weren’t adding up, over in the market, asking for the tablet they're using to work with. Doing her job as a cover agent, Monika sees that there is a batch of products that does not correspond to the company's catalog, and upon investigating one of the boxes, she finds out that the criminal organization was hiding the drugs in fake cooling packs.
Monika is then interrupted by a part-time worker who questions her about wha she is doing. However, due Monika knows everyone who works for Kanidoge, she immediately realizes he's a villain in disguise and points her gun at him. The woman alerts her team of a possible suspect, and that the drugs are located in the cooling packs. Naomasa states that the rest of the team is proceeding to her location. With a witness at gunpoint, plenty of evidence, and additionally finding the address of the buyer on the tablet, Monika openly declares this case closed.
Having been discovered, the villain Number 6 commends Monika for her slick deductive skills, and uses his Overclock Quirk to snatch her gun and the tablet in a blink of an eye. Surprised by this, Kaniko quickly takes cover and requests for reinforcements. Fat Gum and the Police Force enter the loading dock and order everyone to stop what they’re doing and get their hands in the hair. The innocent workers obey, but Number 6 enters a code into the tablet that causes the crab Mechs to start attacking law enforcement.
While this is happening, at the idol carnival, the Kanidoge segment is taking place, which only frustrates the audience and embarrasses Pop, as it's treated less like an idol performance and more like a direct advertisement with the manager on stage talking about the company. Suddenly, the mech Pop is riding starts moving on its own and rampages the place, much to Pop's panic.[5]
Back at the loading dock, Monika uses her Snip Clip Quirk to free the workers trapped in the machines, allowing Fat Gum to make quick work of the mechs. Believing that threat had been neutralized, Naomasa orders the villain to surrender, but the damaged mechs approach the batch that containing Trigger and explode, destroying all evidence. Then Number 6 takes advantage of the distraction to escape.
While Naomasa and the others recover, they hear a commotion coming from the mall, and Monika remembers that her Kanidoge Mech is still there, and fears that it might explode too. Fat Gum decides to take Monika with him to handle the uncontrolled machine, while Naomasa, along with the rest of the police force, goes after the speedster villain.[6]
Outside, the Police Force has trouble with Number 6, as he's using his Quirk to zip around and evade their lines of fire, but Naomasa manages to wound him in the leg with a gunshot, having deduced his speed Quirk needs a few seconds of cool down time after using it. With no time to waste, the rest of the officers rush to subdue the villain, but Number 6 activates his overclock again, increasing his body speed so much that the world around him seems almost frozen.
Number 6 shakes off the policemen and checks that they are using rubber bullets. Then he proceeds to take their guns and fire back towards the officers while aiming specifically at their body armor. When the world "unfreezes", all the police officers are hit by gunfire, which, although it doesn't kill them, leaves them seriously wounded. With the the opposition dealt with, Number 6 connivingly bids farewell to a wounded Naomasa and escapes with the last evidences without any problem.[7]
Back at the Mall, Fat Gum and Monika chase after the latest rampaging Mech, but it's too fast for them. Koichi manages to get on the machine, but he is unable to either stop it or free Pop.[6] Upon realizing that they will not be able to reach them in time, Monika asks Fat Gum to throw her to the crab mech. the Hero complies and she uses her Ultimate Move Rocket Crab Clip to slice the mech's legs.
After this, she quickly cuts Pop out of the device and tells everyone to evacuate as the device is going to blows up, but Pop accidentally stumbles and Koichi launches to protect her, still too close to the mech.
Fortunately, Fatgum manages to arrive on time and body slams the mech just as it bursts to pieces, absorbing the shock of the explosion with his Fat Absortion Quirk. The hero contains the explosive energy inside his body long enough for everyone to get away before releasing it in a massive burst at the cost of his protective fat.
Although the whole place is wrecked, everyone is relieved that no one was seriously injured. Monika and Fat Gum run back to Naomasa, only to find him and the other police officers injured, and that the villain had escaped. When they return to the mall to question Koichi and Pop, they discover that they have left, although they had left behind a Marukane business card so they could contact them.[7]