Yohane the Parhelion: Sunshine in the Mirror

Yohane the Parhelion: Sunshine in the Mirror (幻日のヨハネ -SUNSHINE in the MIRROR-) is a Japanese multimedia spin-off project from the Love Live! series fantasy musical anime series. It is a fantasy re-imagining of Love Live! Sunshine!!, and follows Yohane, a failed idol turned fortune teller in the quiet city of Numazu, and her exploits with the other members of the community and her talking wolf Lailaps.

Yohane the Parhelion originated as a series of fantasy illustrations included in the monthly Love Live! Days magazine starting in October 2020. In February 2022, these were adapted into Genjitsu no Yohane -Unpolarized Reflexion-, a manga published in ''Love Live! Days''. On April Fools' Day 2022, the Yohane the Parhelion anime series was teased, ostensibly as an April Fools' joke, before eventually being confirmed as a real production and airing for 13 episodes from July to September 2023 on Tokyo MX and BS11. The anime was produced by Bandai Namco Filmworks and animated by its division Sunrise, directed by Asami Nakatani, and written by Toshiya Ono, with Yumiko Yamamoto designing the characters and Tatsuya Kato composing the anime's music. In 2023, two video games were released based on the series: Yohane the Parhelion: Blaze in the Deepblue, a roguelike action-adventure game; and Yohane the Parhelion: Numazu in the Mirage, a roguelike deck-building game.

Premise
Yohane the Parhelion is a re-imagining of ''Love Live! Sunshine!!, featuring characters and settings strongly based on, but not exact to, their counterparts in Sunshine!!''. The exact period the series is set in is left vague. Magic exists, but its prominence varies throughout the project; in Unpolarized Reflexion and the video games, it is a significant factor, while in the anime, its role is fairly limited. A recurring plot element is malevolent entities such as "miasma", "resonance", or "Loveca Gems" (loosely based on the premium currency from Love Live! School Idol Festival), which often affect sentient beings such as wildlife and make them aggressive.

The project follows Yohane (based on Yoshiko Tsushima in Sunshine!!) who, after failing at becoming an idol in Tokai, is reluctantly called back to her hometown of Numazu, where she becomes a fortune teller (more of a "handyman" in practice) and lives alongside her pet and familiar, a talking wolf named Lailaps. Though she views her situation with disdain, unbeknownst to her, she wields magical powers associated with her singing that usually manage to resolve her problems and help the wider community.

Throughout her life in Numazu, Yohane interacts with her friends (based on the other members of Aqours, which does not exist in this universe). Yohane and her friends also maintain their actresses and birthdays as well as some personality aspects of the original Sunshine!! characters they are based on.

Characters

 * Yohane (ヨハネ)
 * Based on: Yoshiko Tsushima (津島 善子)
 * A young girl and wannabe idol who returns to her hometown of Numazu from Tokai to settle down and start a fortune-telling business, though she is established to be unskilled at this and finds herself serving as more of a helping hand more often. She initially hates her situation and dislikes Numazu, but eventually learns to become content with life there. Unbeknownst to her, her singing is magical.
 * A young girl and wannabe idol who returns to her hometown of Numazu from Tokai to settle down and start a fortune-telling business, though she is established to be unskilled at this and finds herself serving as more of a helping hand more often. She initially hates her situation and dislikes Numazu, but eventually learns to become content with life there. Unbeknownst to her, her singing is magical.


 * Lailaps (ライラプス)
 * A large talking wolf that lives with Yohane and has a friendly sisterly relationship with her. Lailaps is implied to be Yohane's familiar, and it is suggested that only Yohane can understand her when she speaks.
 * A large talking wolf that lives with Yohane and has a friendly sisterly relationship with her. Lailaps is implied to be Yohane's familiar, and it is suggested that only Yohane can understand her when she speaks.


 * Hanamaru (ハナマル)
 * Based on: Hanamaru Kunikida (国木田 花丸)
 * A baker who lives in town. She is also Yohane's childhood friend and knows her very well. She is often accompanied by a large boar-like animal named Shishinoshin (シシノシン).
 * A baker who lives in town. She is also Yohane's childhood friend and knows her very well. She is often accompanied by a large boar-like animal named Shishinoshin (シシノシン).


 * Dia (ダイヤ)
 * Based on: Dia Kurosawa (黒澤 ダイヤ)
 * The executive director of the town's administrative bureau, and a talented perfectionist. Dia is a fairy like her sister Ruby; however, she is capable of controlling her size, allowing her to take on the appearance of an adult human. She moonlights as Scarlet Delta, a masked and armored superhero riding a magical motorcycle, inspired by heroes in tokusatsu works that her actress Arisa Komiya also has roles in such as Tokumei Sentai Go-Busters and Kamen Rider.
 * The executive director of the town's administrative bureau, and a talented perfectionist. Dia is a fairy like her sister Ruby; however, she is capable of controlling her size, allowing her to take on the appearance of an adult human. She moonlights as Scarlet Delta, a masked and armored superhero riding a magical motorcycle, inspired by heroes in tokusatsu works that her actress Arisa Komiya also has roles in such as Tokumei Sentai Go-Busters and Kamen Rider.


 * Ruby (ルビィ)
 * Based on: Ruby Kurosawa (黒澤 ルビィ)
 * Dia's younger sister and assistant. She is relatively shy and self-conscious of her unusual appearance. Ruby is a fairy like her sister Dia, though unlike her, Ruby is not yet skilled at controlling her size, and is thus often seen in her smaller fairy form. When Dia is Scarlet Delta, Ruby is capable of possessing her motorcycle, boosting it and allowing her to control it independently.
 * Dia's younger sister and assistant. She is relatively shy and self-conscious of her unusual appearance. Ruby is a fairy like her sister Dia, though unlike her, Ruby is not yet skilled at controlling her size, and is thus often seen in her smaller fairy form. When Dia is Scarlet Delta, Ruby is capable of possessing her motorcycle, boosting it and allowing her to control it independently.


 * Chika (チカ)
 * Based on: Chika Takami (高海 千歌)
 * The youngest of three daughters, whose family runs the Tochiman Ryokan Inn, a ryokan in the Uchira district. She is bright, sociable, and competitive. She has a pet dog named Shiitake (シイタケ), who is the Tochiman Ryokan Inn's mascot. Chika and her family moonlight as Million Dollar, a group of masked vigilantes armed with wind cannons tasked with protecting Numazu; in Million Dollar, her secret identity is "Katy".
 * The youngest of three daughters, whose family runs the Tochiman Ryokan Inn, a ryokan in the Uchira district. She is bright, sociable, and competitive. She has a pet dog named Shiitake (シイタケ), who is the Tochiman Ryokan Inn's mascot. Chika and her family moonlight as Million Dollar, a group of masked vigilantes armed with wind cannons tasked with protecting Numazu; in Million Dollar, her secret identity is "Katy".


 * You (ヨウ)
 * Based on: You Watanabe (渡辺 曜)
 * An energetic girl who works as an aerial messenger in Numazu. She works for a postal service that operates by firing messengers out of large cannons, using gliding flight to maneuver to their delivery points and custom retrorocket boots to land safely. In -Unpolarized Reflexion-, You adopts a bird named Piyosuke (ぴよ助) after accidentally colliding with it in flight.
 * An energetic girl who works as an aerial messenger in Numazu. She works for a postal service that operates by firing messengers out of large cannons, using gliding flight to maneuver to their delivery points and custom retrorocket boots to land safely. In -Unpolarized Reflexion-, You adopts a bird named Piyosuke (ぴよ助) after accidentally colliding with it in flight.


 * Kanan (カナン)
 * Based on: Kanan Matsuura (松浦 果南)
 * A mechanic at a coastal repair shop in the Uchira district. She makes a living making items and repairing derelict structures throughout Numazu, using scrap materials salvaged from Suruga Bay. She built a companion and assistant, Tonosama, out of scrap metal.
 * A mechanic at a coastal repair shop in the Uchira district. She makes a living making items and repairing derelict structures throughout Numazu, using scrap materials salvaged from Suruga Bay. She built a companion and assistant, Tonosama, out of scrap metal.


 * Riko (リコ)
 * Based on: Riko Sakurauchi (桜内 梨子)
 * A zoologist who came to Numazu to research about unusual animals. Though -Unpolarized Reflexion- depicts Riko as an animal caretaker, the anime shows her conducting research-based work instead. As the nature of her work demands her to move frequently, she is closer to animals than humans and tends to try to avoid making friends. She is generally inquisitive and calm, but becomes obsessively hyperactive when seeing a species she is unfamiliar with, such as Lailaps or Ruby.
 * A zoologist who came to Numazu to research about unusual animals. Though -Unpolarized Reflexion- depicts Riko as an animal caretaker, the anime shows her conducting research-based work instead. As the nature of her work demands her to move frequently, she is closer to animals than humans and tends to try to avoid making friends. She is generally inquisitive and calm, but becomes obsessively hyperactive when seeing a species she is unfamiliar with, such as Lailaps or Ruby.


 * Mari (マリ)
 * Based on: Mari Ohara (小原 鞠莉)
 * A woman of an unspecified age who lives in isolation in her castle on Wassimer Island. Mari distinctively has a pair of large ram-like horns on her head and ultrasonic hearing, said to be the result of a genetic condition unique to her family. Her appearance and struggles with her abilities led to her being judged and ostracized by locals, who nicknamed her the "Demon Lord", giving her a distant personality and considerable social anxiety; despite this, she still uses her abilities to help the town from a distance. She lives with numerous familiars loosely based on sea creatures, and is assisted by Pellapie (ペラピー), a rotorcraft-like familiar that follows her.
 * A woman of an unspecified age who lives in isolation in her castle on Wassimer Island. Mari distinctively has a pair of large ram-like horns on her head and ultrasonic hearing, said to be the result of a genetic condition unique to her family. Her appearance and struggles with her abilities led to her being judged and ostracized by locals, who nicknamed her the "Demon Lord", giving her a distant personality and considerable social anxiety; despite this, she still uses her abilities to help the town from a distance. She lives with numerous familiars loosely based on sea creatures, and is assisted by Pellapie (ペラピー), a rotorcraft-like familiar that follows her.

Supporting

 * Yohane's mother (ヨハネの母)
 * Yohane's mother. She is a scholar who often travels for business. In the anime, she calls Yohane back to Numazu after a deal between them (Yohane succeeding in becoming an idol in Tokai) fails to materialize, and tasks her with finding friends over the summer while she is away for work.
 * Yohane's mother. She is a scholar who often travels for business. In the anime, she calls Yohane back to Numazu after a deal between them (Yohane succeeding in becoming an idol in Tokai) fails to materialize, and tasks her with finding friends over the summer while she is away for work.


 * Chika's mother (チカの母)
 * Chika's mother. She runs the Tochiman Ryokan Inn. In Million Dollar, she serves as mission control, and her secret identity is "Big Mom".
 * Chika's mother. She runs the Tochiman Ryokan Inn. In Million Dollar, she serves as mission control, and her secret identity is "Big Mom".


 * Shima (シマ)
 * Chika's oldest sister. Like the rest of her family, she works at the Tochiman Ryokan Inn. She has a personality that is gentle but doesn't like being offended. In Million Dollar, her secret identity is "Marcy".
 * Chika's oldest sister. Like the rest of her family, she works at the Tochiman Ryokan Inn. She has a personality that is gentle but doesn't like being offended. In Million Dollar, her secret identity is "Marcy".


 * Mito (ミト)
 * Chika's older sister, and the middle child of her family. Like the rest of her family, she works at the Tochiman Ryokan Inn. Her personality is lively and bubbly. In Million Dollar, her secret identity is "Tommy".
 * Chika's older sister, and the middle child of her family. Like the rest of her family, she works at the Tochiman Ryokan Inn. Her personality is lively and bubbly. In Million Dollar, her secret identity is "Tommy".


 * Tsuki (ツキ)
 * You's cousin. She is a photographer who runs a photographic studio in Numazu. She has two twin sisters named Miki (ミキ) and Nami (ナミ). The character she is based on originally appears in Love Live! Sunshine!! The School Idol Movie: Over the Rainbow.
 * You's cousin. She is a photographer who runs a photographic studio in Numazu. She has two twin sisters named Miki (ミキ) and Nami (ナミ). The character she is based on originally appears in Love Live! Sunshine!! The School Idol Movie: Over the Rainbow.


 * Kohaku (コハク)
 * Dia's administrative assistant, and an unspecified but close relative to Dia and Ruby who has known them since childhood. It is unclear if she is also a fairy.
 * Dia's administrative assistant, and an unspecified but close relative to Dia and Ruby who has known them since childhood. It is unclear if she is also a fairy.


 * Tonosama (トノサマ)
 * Kanan's robotic companion and assistant, resembling a large bipedal frog, with a personality influenced by exaggerated kabuki theatrics. He is one of the only male characters in the entire Love Live! multimedia project to have a significant role.
 * Kanan's robotic companion and assistant, resembling a large bipedal frog, with a personality influenced by exaggerated kabuki theatrics. He is one of the only male characters in the entire Love Live! multimedia project to have a significant role.

Production and release
In October 2020, the Genjitsu no Yohane: Sunshine in the Mirror fantasy illustration series, drawn by Taira Akitsu, first appeared in the Love Live! Days magazine. It inspired the Genjitsu no Yohane -Unpolarized Reflexion- manga series, launched by Kōta Matsuda in the same magazine in February 2022, both of which featured Yoshiko as the main character. The Love Live! franchise posted an April Fools' Day video in 2022 hinting at the series, though it was not officially announced until June 26, 2022. The series has Asami Nakatani as the director and Toshiya Ono as show writer. It features music by Tatsuya Kato, who composed the music for ''Love Live! Sunshine!!'', and Yumiko Yamamoto as the character designer. Aqours sings the opening and ending songs, "Genjitsu Mysterium" (幻日ミステリウム) and "Kimi no Tame Boku no Tame" (キミノタメボクノタメ).

The series was picked up by Crunchyroll, an American streaming service, where the first episode premiered on June 25, and by Abema, a Japanese streaming service, the same day. It premiered on Crunchyroll India on June 26. The series later premiered on July 2 on Tokyo MX, Nippon BS Broadcasting, Sun Television, KBS Kyoto, and TV Aichi, and on Shizuoka Broadcasting System on July 3.

In June 2023, it was announced that a short video would be posted on YouTube to commemorate the anime, as well as the launch of the Yohane no Uranai Koheya (Yohane's Fortune-Telling Booth) internet radio program, which would accept submissions from fans. The same month, Inti Creates revealed that a game entitled Yohane the Parhelion -BLAZE in the DEEPBLUE- based on the anime would be launched on various platforms on November 16. On June 21, a crossover chibi short premiered using characters from the Genjitsu no Yohane: Sunshine in the Mirror illustrated series and That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime.

Reception
In Anime News Network's "Summer 2023 Preview Guide", looking at the first episode of the series, Nicholas Dupree said it was "accessible to newcomers" but was critical of it for "standard...plotbeats" and called it more of a "musical than a fairy tale adventure", and praised the series for translating Yohane's chūnibyō gimmick "into an actual fantasy world". In the same post, Rebecca Silverman was more critical, said the episode disappointed her and didn't sympathize with Yohane, while James Beckett described the premiere as "boring" but understood the appeal for others, and Richard Eisenbeis said it was "nothing to write home about". Also in the post, Caitlin Moore argued that the episode was like reading an alternative universe fanfiction for a series she "knew nothing about" and called it a "fans-only affair" which would appear to those who like idol anime. Kevin Credo of Game Rant described the series as an "imaginative and isekai-tinged spinoff anime".