Yohane the Parhelion -SUNSHINE in the MIRROR- is a fantasy anime series in the Love Live! franchise that premiered on June 25th, 2023. Based on the illustration series from Dengeki G's Magazine of the same name, it is a Spin-Off of the 2016 anime Love Live! Sunshine!! and the fifth major anime series in the franchise following Love Live! Superstar!!. Two tie-in video games based on the series, Yohane the Parhelion -BLAZE in the DEEPBLUE- and Yohane the Parhelion -NUMAZU in the MIRAGE- released in November 2023 and February 2024 respectively.
The stage is set in a version of the real world far removed from reality. Yohane, a young fortuneteller from the rural seaside city of Numazu, wishes to escape the confines of her dreary life and travels to Tokyo to make a name for herself. Unfortunately, the unlucky Yohane discovers that she has yet to unlock the music in her heart, and after a failed audition, is forced to return to the countryside, where her magical journey to find her own music begins...
Trailers:
Yohane, descend!:
- 2D Visuals, 3D Effects:
- The performances are a blend of 3D CGI and 2D animation as per franchise standard.
- When Dia takes up the role of Scarlet Delta, she is animated in CGI alongside her Cool Bike.
- Tonosama, Kanan's giant robot frog companion, is also animated completely in CGI.
- A Boy and His X: A girl and her dog. Big time. Big dog.
- Actor Allusion: Dia's alter ego as a toku style superhero riding a Cool Bike may be yet another throwback to Arisa Komiya starring on Tokumei Sentai Go Busters.
- Adaptational Species Change:
- Lailaps is a giant wolf in this series, rather than a dog.
- Of the human cast, the only ones to become non-human are Ruby, who is now a fairy, and Mari, who is a demon queen. The third Blu-Ray audio drama confirms Dia is a fairy as well.
- Alternate Continuity: Yohane the Parhelion is set in a version of Japan where medieval magic blends together with the modern world. The show stars alternate versions of Aqours cast into various roles that vaguely resemble their prime counterparts, such as Chika being an innkeeper, Kanan being a mechanic who works closely with the sea and Mari being a demon queen who lives in a castle on Washima Island.
- Alternate Character Reading: The title of the show is "Genjitsu no Yohane" in Japanese, with an unusual reading of the kanji "ๅนปๆฅ" being used to represent the word "genjitsu". Taken literally, "genjitsu" can mean "reality", which would cause the title to read "Yohane's Reality", but the kanji used can also be read as "phantom sun", alternatively known as a "parhelion". In English, the term "parhelion" can also be used to mean a type of reflection, representing how the universe of the show is a reflection of Love Live! Sunshine!!.
- Angels Pose: Million Dollar makes such a pose during their introduction, adding to the Shout-Out to Charlie's Angels.
- April Fools' Day: The anime adaptation was originally announced this way, initially framed as a joke announcement before being revealed to be a real announcement shortly afterwards. A later April Fools' Day joke featured a trailer for Yohane the Parhelion -BLAZE in the DEEPBLUE- as well as a promotional poster parodying the cover art of That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime.
- Art Evolution: Being the first Sunshine!!-related anime since the release of Over the Rainbow in 2019, Aqours finally gets to enjoy the improvements to the series' CGI made throughout Nijigasaki and Superstar!! on a TV anime after only getting them through post-anime singles.
- Art-Shifted Sequel: The art style for this go around is somewhat cuter and more stylized than the original Love Live! Sunshine!!.
- Ascended Extra:
- The series stars an alternate counterpart of Yoshiko Tsushima, who otherwise had rather limited influence and appearances in the original Love Live! Sunshine!!, as a real version of her Chuunibyou alter ego "Yohane".
- Lailaps is one of the main characters despite only appearing in a single episode of the original series.
- Beach Episode: Episode 7, serving as a stand-in for the series traditional training camp (technically it's an all-day girls' gathering and slumber party, but quite a lot scenes are on the beach itself). It also marks the first time in this series that all nine Aqours girls come together.
- Beat the Curse Out of Him: Downplayed; Million Dollar and Scarlet Delta "fight" miasma-afflicted animals to cure them, but do so in non-lethal ways. Million Dollar uses their air guns to remove the miasma then heal the animals by playing a magic ocarina, while Scarlet Delta uses a more hands-on approach by slicing through the miasma with her katana.
- Big Friendly Dog: Lailaps, well-known as this throughout Numazu.
- Breaking Old Trends:
- This is the first major anime project in the franchise that does not have "Love Live" in the title.
- This is the first major anime protect in the franchise to have male voice actors.
- Birthday Beginning: The story opens with Yohane's mother telling Yohane that she must return home on her 16th birthday as she no longer wishes to support her in Tokyo.
- Childhood Friends: Hanamaru (once again) with Yohane, although the friendship is initially mostly one-way compared to Yohane wanting little to do with Numazu at first.
- Cliffhanger:
- In episode 5, After Yohane guides Mari to her (yohane's) stump, Mari asks her to sing for her, but before Yohane could sing the first notes, a lighting of darkness strikes the stumps, leading into a fog of black miasma cornering our heroines into the stump.
- In episode 10. After the Miasma invaded Yohane's farewell party, Yohane was in search of her friend Hanamaru, she finds her looking after her pet Shishinoshin being scared of it's surroundings, but before they could help it, a miasma-clouded Deer happens to be on the way...
- In episode 11. After Yohane went outside to find Lailaps, she heards from Ruby that she and her sister found her, after she jumped to the river to retrieve Yohane's staff after she dropped it into the water. She's currently exhausted.
- Creator Cameo: The male judge at Yohane's audition in Episode 1 is voiced by Tatsuya Kato, the background music composer not only for Yohane the Parhelion but also the original Love Live! Sunshine!!.
- Crossover: Following up on the above April Fools' Day joke, an animated short
crossing over with That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime was released ahead of the show's premiere to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the latter. - Cue the Rain: In Episode 2, following a series of incorrect fortunes, Riko tries to simplify her query by asking if it will rain, which Yohane adamantly denies. As soon as she says so, thunderclouds immediately roll in.
- "Do It Yourself" Theme Tune: Aqours once again provides the theme song as with their original anime, this time performing the opening theme "Genjitsu Mysterium" and ending theme "Kimi no Tame, Boku no Tame".
- Dramatic Ammo Depletion: When Chika gets tackled by one of the deer and is captured by miasma in Episode 3, Mito and Shima scramble to counterattack but find that their air guns have yet to recharge. The aggressive deer manage to attack in the time they are charging up, dispatching them and rendering them out of commission for the remainder of the fight.
- Early-Bird Cameo: Similar to the first episode of Nijigasaki, we get a quick collection of shots showing off the rest of the main cast besides Yohane and Hanamaru near the end of Episode 1 before they've been properly introduced.
- Fighter-Launching Sequence: When Dia receives word from Kohaku about miasma phenomenon in the forest, we are treated to an elaborate sequence of a secret underground maintenance team preparing Dia's motorcycle for launch while Dia suits up as Scarlet Delta. The exterior of the city office unfolds to reveal a launching mechanism designed to slingshot Scarlet Delta into action, with Dia and Ruby firing off the ramp and into the forest where danger awaits.
- Fusion Dance: Ruby has the power to combine with Dia's motorcycle, changing its color scheme to a glowing scarlet red and granting an immediate power boost. When fused this way, Ruby communicates with Dia through the heads-up display on her bike's dashboard.
- Genre Roulette: Fitting in with the experimental nature of Aqours discography, most of the insert songs are of a distinctly different genre from one another.
- "Far far away" from Episode 1 is a mellow and uplifting pop ballad.
- "Be as one!!!" from Episode 3 is a high-octane hard rock track.
- "R.E.P." from Episode 4 is smooth R&B.
- Genre Shift:
- This is the first major entry in the Love Live! franchise to not be predominantly associated with the Idol Genre, due to its alternate universe nature. It is, however, still a music story at heart.
- Jarringly for a Love Live! anime, the first half of Episode 3 is dedicated solely to an extended combat sequence.
- Gossip Evolution: In episode 10, Yohane is invited by one of the judges from Tokai in the first episode for another audition. The news spreads across town, and by the time the news gets to Dia and Ruby, they think that she's been invited as a singer representing Numazu and she'll be performing on a big stage with people cheering for her. Yohane lampshades that the news must have been exaggerated on the way.
- Gravity Is a Harsh Mistress: In Episode 4, Kanan, You, Hanamaru and Yohane decide to run to a nearby harbor to relax for the day. The other three stop at the harbor's edge, but Yohane runs straight off without watching where she's going, causing her to hang in the air briefly as she realizes her mistake before plunging feet-first into the ocean.
- Hard-Work Montage:
- Played with in Episode 4, where a montage occurs when the girls are renovating a broken swing set but mostly shows the parts where Yohane is fumbling her attempts at using tools.
- Played straight in Episode 7, when Yohane spends two weeks planning out an itinerary for girls' night so all the girls will be able to do the things they like.
- Human Cannonball: Long distance mail delivery in Numazu works by shooting couriers out of a cannon mounted atop the post office. Once airborne, couriers use glider backpacks to achieve Not Quite Flight and air-powered booster shoes for landing.
- Idiot Ball: In Episode 8, when Yohane realizes she lost her staff, everyone rushes to help her look for it and Dia even tells the "analytics team" to look for it in CCTV recordings. But for quite some time nobody thinks of asking Yohane when she last saw her staff. Not even Dia, who is normally a very competent city chief.
- Incredibly Obvious Tail: Yohane while sneaking after Lailaps in Episode 9.
- Instant Costume Change: Yohane transforms into a performance dress for the Episode 1 insert song, "Far far away", similar to how it occurs in Love Live! Nijigasaki High School Idol Club. However, it's justified in this case as she soon discovers that she possesses magical powers, which is marked by a stave manifesting itself before her.
- Island of Mystery: Washima Island has this reputation to the people of Numazu, and backs it up by being perpetually gloomy and populated by odd plants and ghostly marine creatures. Since it's Mari's home, however, it's likely most if not all of them are harmless.
- Kabuki Sounds: Tonosama is often accompanied by these whenever he speaks in his noticeably theater-like expression.
- Ms. Exposition: At Chika's mother's suggestion, Yohane and Lailaps visit the demon queen Mari for further details regarding Yohane's mysterious magic. Mari reveals that Yohane's power is known as a Resonance (literally referred to as "voice of the heart"), and that she may be The Chosen One destined to save Numazu as she believes that Numzau is in danger of suffering a great calamity as once told in ancient tomes.
- Mythology Gag:
- Some illustrations seen in the show depict young Yohane as having a black feather pinned in her hair bun, which was how Yoshiko distinguished herself from her alter ego "Yohane" in the original series. This seems to have evolved into a feather hair accessory that wraps around her hair bun in the current age.
- Just as Mari's van in Sunshine!! uses her birthday (6-13) for its license plate, Scarlet Delta's bike and Dia's car have 01-01 plates (Dia's birthday).
- Ruby performs Ruby Kurosawa's "Ganbaruby!" catchphrase and motion during the Episode 3 insert song.
- The decorations hanging off of Mari's horns resemble the sparkles in Mari Ohara's character icon. Also, when Mari presents a gift box to Yohane in Episode 3, the box is decorated with said icon.
- The Episode 4 insert song, "R.E.P.", features You, Kanan, and Hanamaru performing, all of whom have won a center single vote ("Koi ni Naritai AQUARIUM", "HAPPY PARTY TRAIN", and "Mitaiken Horizon" respectively).
- For the festival in Episode 8, many of the townspeople wear a white-ish dress that seems to serve as their universe's happi coat. While most people have blue coloring on the front, the Aqours girls' dresses have coloring matching their school ribbons from the original (yellow/red/green).
- The same colors were used for the aprons during the dessert-making party in Episode 7.
- At some point in Episode 8, Ruby is seen holding a stick of cotton candy, bringing to mind her main self's "Cotton Candy Ei-Ei-Oh!" MV.
- Non-Lethal Warfare: Million Dollar is equipped with guns resembling a giant blunderbuss that shoot powerful air blasts. They are primarily used to stun and disorient their targets and are effective against the black miasma.
- Nothing Exciting Ever Happens Here: Much like her prime counterpart, Yohane resents Numazu for essentially being a nothing burger in terms of having anything of remotely any interest. Of course, this statement was made before she found out about the weird psychic earthquakes that started happening after she left.
- Paper-Thin Disguise: Million Dollar and Scarlet Delta's identities are extremely obvious at first glance. It takes Yohane very little time to figure out who's who.
- Power-Up Full Color Change: When Ruby is powering Dia's bike, its color (along with Dia's suit) transforms from a dark red and black to a brilliant red and glowing green.
- Real-Place Background: As per Love Live! tradition, even though the architecture is modified to have a more fantasy look. The library where Riko spends most of her time is modeled after the Numazu City Library, for example.
- Running Gag: Yohane insisting that she is a fortune teller when people identify her as an errand girl. Functionally replaces the "Yohane!" schtick that Yoshiko had in Sunshine!!.
- Sentai: Chika and her sisters Shima and Mito go under as the sentai-style team Million Dollars to protect the innocent.
- Schizo Tech: The technology standards in this world are a weird mix of the mid-20th century and modern technology. Characters can be seen using pay phones, rotary phones and cable cars and riding diesel trains while simultaneously co-existing with skyscrapers and digital billboards. Episodes 3 and 4 make this disparity even more obvious, with Chika and her family wielding ripcord-powered giant air guns, Dia being Badass Biker with a futuristic Magitek Cool Bike powered by her own sister, and Kanan having a sentient kabuki-themed person-sized Steampunk robot frog. An old-style photo camera (apparently a twin lens reflex) is seen in use several times, but then in episode 8 the city analytics team apparently uses a keyboard to search through digital CCTV recordings.
- Sdrawkcab Alias: Chika, Mito, and Shima go by "Katy", "Tommy" and "Marcy" respectively when in disguise as Million Dollar, which are just their normal names with the Kana inverted. note
- Sleep Cute: The ending animation includes a shot of all the main characters sleeping peacefully in a circle. Highlights include Riko smiling while hugging Lailaps's tail, and fairy Ruby sleeping cradled in Dia's arms. Might also serve as a Mythology Gag, as ยต's and Nijigasaki both have had similarly-arranged visuals.
- The Stinger: Episode 2 has a post-credits scene where Yohane gets caught by the strange black miasma in the forest and is surrounded by hostile animals. Just before she is attacked, a van suddenly appears and Chika, Mito and Shima jump out of the vehicle as a caped crusader team called Million Dollar.
- Sudden Musical Ending: Episode 4 has You, Kanan and Hanamaru performing "R.E.P." near the end of the episode, except unlike previous performances there's no explanation to the musical number happening. The show immediately transitions to an elaborately performed music video without warning between Yohane diving around in the ocean and resurfacing, with Yohane gaining additional crests on her Resonance once the musical number is over.
- Throwing Your Sword Always Works: Dia's Dynamic Entry in Episode 3 involves throwing her katana at Chika, which slices through the black miasma and frees Chika before falling back down into the palm of her hand.
- Tron Lines: When Ruby fuses with Dia's motorcycle, the black highlights on the bike and Dia's suit illuminate into a brilliant green hue.
- Red Eyes, Take Warning: Wild animals influenced by the black miasma have glowing red eyes and are hostile to humans.
- Vagueness Is Coming: Halfway through Episode 1, the entirety of Numazu experiences a strange quake, which appears to manifest as a collective psychic headache and the source of which is noted by a cutaway to dark magic appearing in the nearby forest. Hanamaru and Lailaps note that the quakes have been occurring for some time since Yohane left for Tokyo and have been bringing misfortune to the area. Episode 3 has Mari explaining that the phenomenon is mostly experienced by animals and children and may possibly be a prelude to an even greater disaster.
- Voice with an Internet Connection: Chika, Mito and Shima's mother serves as Mission Control for Million Dollar, communicating with them from their home base via a walking/flying CRT TV.
- Waiting for a Break: Yohane, who is already struggling to get her singing career off the ground, decides to take up fortune-telling to earn enough money to leave Numzau. For better or worse, her ad campaign for her fortune-telling shop fails to attract customers (except one curious Riko) but does manage to put her name out regardless, which winds up turning into Yohane running a bunch of odd jobs for folks around town for small change.
- Wingdinglish: The written word in this world uses glyphs that substitute for Roman letters. The parts written in kanji are left unchanged, however.
- Word Salad Title: The "SUNSHINE in the MIRROR" portion of the title represents the fact that it's an Alternate Universe to Love Live! Sunshine!!, but if you don't know anything about Sunshine!! this can be a rather confusing title to parse.
