Yohane the Parhelion: Sunshine in the Mirror Episode 1

Yohane’s Adventure Begins!

Yohane the Parhelion: Sunshine in the Mirror Episode 1 was even better than I expected. Of course, I expected it to be good. It’s a spin-off of Love Live! Sunshine!!, which is objectively the best Love Live! anime entry. And, Yohane is one of the best characters from Sunshine!!

But, once I heard that this was going to be a slice of life fantasy series, I was a bit worried. I wanted to see Yohane go on a magical adventure. However, it seems that I had nothing to fear. Slice of life or not, it’s a good anime so far.

Also, there do appear to be some adventure elements already. It seems pretty obvious that Yohane is going to have to save the port town of Numaza from some evil force. Though, for now, it’s unclear if the power of friendship will come into play.

You might be thinking, “Of course the power of friendship will be important!” But, I’m not so sure. Remember, this story is all about Yohane, not the members of Aqours as a group. And, based on what we saw in this first episode, not all the girls would be helpful in a fight against evil.

With all that said, I guess now’s a good time to mention that this series is still very much about music. At the start of the episode, we find Yohane attempting to become a famous idol in a big city. That doesn’t work out for her, so she goes back to her hometown.

That’s not the end of her dreams of becoming a singer, though. Yohane still wants to sing and it looks like her singing is magical. At the end of the episode, she turns a stick into a magic staff with her song.

A Girl and Her Wolf

As much as I enjoyed this first episode, there is one thing I’m not sold on. There’s a new character who wasn’t present in the original Love Live! Sunshine!! series. Her name is Lailaps and she’s a giant wolf.

The fact that Lailaps is a wolf doesn’t bother me. In fact, I’d say it makes sense for Yohane to have a wolf familiar. But, that’s not quite what Lailaps is. While Lailaps may be a familiar, she’s not Yohane’s familiar. And instead, Yohane views Lailaps as a sister.

This is where my issue with Lailaps comes in. She’s effectively a human character. She can speak and does so frequently. And this is where I make some of you mad by saying that’s the big problem. I wouldn’t mind Lailaps if she didn’t speak. But, talking wolves don’t do it for me.

Unfortunately for me, it looks like Lailaps is going to be a main character of the series. I have a feeling she’s going to get more screen time than most of the other characters. And, I’ll go on record saying that’s a huge mistake if it turns out to be the case.

The appeal of a series like Love Live! is the girls. It needs a lot of cute girls and they have to be able to sing. Lailaps doesn’t add to that. She’s not a cute girl and she doesn’t sing. And while I know this technically isn’t Love Live!, the same rules still apply.

At least, there is one thing I can hope for in terms of Lailaps. It’s possible that at some point in the series, she’s going to turn into a human. Yohane kind of already tried to do that at the end of this episode. It didn’t work, though.

Hanamaru-chan Appears

Yohane wasn’t the only member of Aqours we got to see in Episode 1. Hanamaru Kunikida also made an appearance. And, I actually like Hanamaru a lot more in this series than the main Love Live! series. In Love Live!, I thought Hanamaru was pretty annoying.

You know, she’s always adding “zura” to the ends of her sentences. I get that’s supposed to be her cute quirk. But, I’ve never really thought verbal ticks like that for anime characters were cute. The only acceptable one is Naruto’s “dattebayo” because it’s so iconic.

Hanamaru still says “zura” in this series, though. So, why do I like her more this time around? Well, it felt like she was saying “zura” less frequently in this episode. I don’t know if that’s actually the case. But, it’s how I felt. And at the end of the day, that’s what matters.

The other reason I like Hanamaru more in this series is her outfit. Hanamaru’s character design got an upgrade. Her outfit is cute. But, she’s also not the only one for whom that’s true. Yohane’s outfit is even cuter. And based on what I’ve seen from the OP/ED, the same is true for the rest of the girls.

I’m looking forward to seeing more of the Aqours girls in their fantasy outfits. My favorite three Aqours girls are Yohane, Riko, and Kanan. And from what I saw, Riko and Kanan have pretty nice outfits, too. Oh, and Mari’s outfit is nice, as well.

But, which girl has the worst outfit? That’s the question I’m sure you’re dying to know the answer to. In my objectively correct opinion, it’s Dia. Dia was always one of my least favorite girls from Aquors. She’s not annoying, but she’s not as cute. That hasn’t changed.

Conclusion

What do you think of Yohane the Parhelion: Sunshine in the Mirror Episode 1? Did this first episode surpass your expectations as it did mine? Do you like Lailaps as a character? And, which of the new outfits for the Aqours girls is your favorite? Let me know in the comments.

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My review of Episode 2 is available now.