Yohane the Parhelion: Sunshine in the Mirror Episode 4

Yohane’s Summer Homework

Yohane the Parhelion: Sunshine in the Mirror Episode 4 may be the best episode yet. I was getting a bit worried about the state of the series after Episode 3. That one was pretty bad. But, things have already turned around.

Episode 4 is good for many reasons. But, the biggest two reasons are the Aqours members who make their debut in the episode. The first is You Watanabe, who seems to be a fan favorite from Love Live! Sunshine!! She’s not my favorite, and I probably called her bland back when I watched the main series.

But, I’ve come to appreciate You more over the years. Yes, she’s a bit generic. But, she’s not annoying like some of the other Love Live! girls are. And, I’d now say that the fact that she’s generic is actually something that makes her stand out.

In this world, You is a mail carrier. She meets Yohane when she has to deliver a letter to Yohane’s home and Hanamaru shows her the way. And it turns out that this letter is from Yohane’s mother. She wants to know how Yohane’s “summer homework” is coming along.

So, what is Yohane’s summer homework? Well, she’s not in school, so it’s not real homework. Instead, Yohane’s mother tasked her with finding something fun that only she can do. Basically, Yohane’s supposed to find her calling (and a job) by the end of the summer.

The thing is, Yohane doesn’t know what she wants to do. Even though she calls herself a fortune-teller, that’s not her dream job. But, how does one figure out what their dream job is? By experiencing other jobs, of course. So, that’s exactly what Yohane does. And she starts by helping You deliver mail.

The Best Love Live! Sunshine!! Girl

For the most part, delivering mail with You isn’t anything special. Yohane likes it, though. She likes seeing the smiles on the townspeople’s faces when she hands them their mail. However, there’s one aspect of mail delivery she wasn’t prepared for.

To deliver the final letter on time, Yohane and You will have to hit the skies. They get fired out of a cannon and glide to their destination on a pair of magical wings. And to land safely, they’re each equipped with a pair of air-blasting hover boots.

Coincidentally, the final letter they need to deliver is to the creator of those hover boots. And, this is where the best Aqours girl makes her debut into Yohane the Parhelion. That’s right, Kanan Matsuura is better than every other girl from Love Live! Sunshine!! and it’s not even close.

In the main series, Kanan worked as a dive instructor or something like that. In this series, she has a somewhat similar role. She still spends her time diving in the ocean. But, it’s so she can collect ocean trash which she then uses to develop gadgets.

She’s a scrap tinkerer. But, don’t think that means the things she makes are simple. No, she makes some crazy stuff, like Tonosama — a giant, robot frog with a personality of his own. Not everything Kanan builds is as impressive as Tonosama and the hover boots, though. She makes normal things, too.

At the end of the episode, Yohane, Hanamaru, and You help Kanan with her next project. A swingset in town has become dilapidated and run-down. So, the girls use ocean trash to fix it up like new — and give it a fresh Kanan-inspired design while they’re at it.

Between the Sky and Sea

With the introductions of You and Kanan, all nine of the Aqours members have debuted in this series. And, of course, they saved the best (Kanan) for last. Though, my other favorite Aqours members debuted earlier — those being Riko and Mari. I’m excluding Yohane since she’s the protagonist.

Anyway, at this point, I feel like I need to justify some of the things I’ve said about Yohane the Parhelion. I called Episode 3 bad but also called Episode 4 the best, so far. What’s the difference between the episodes? Is it just the characters?

As you might expect, the characters are a big part of it. Episode 4 had a higher average score in terms of characters I like. Hanamaru’s fine, You is pretty good, and Kanan is top-tier. Meanwhile, Episode 3 had Chika (lame), Dia (lame), Ruby (fine), and Mari (good).

There’s more to this episode being good than only the characters, though. Do you remember how I complained about the superhero stuff from Episode 3? That just wasn’t good content. Even if it involved better characters, it was never going to be good. But, the content in Episode 4 is better.

Kanan being a steampunk tinkerer with a robot frog is cool. Dia being a TRON Avenger and Chika being a cat superhero aren’t cool. I know that’s not going to make sense to some people. But, it makes sense to me. Steampunk stuff fits better in a traditional fantasy setting.

And yes, I know this isn’t actually a “traditional fantasy setting.” After all, in Episode 1, Yohane was trying to make it as a singer in a large, modern/almost futuristic city. So, in many ways, Dia’s not out of place. But, she goes against the vibe of the series.

Conclusion

What do you think of Yohane the Parhelion: Sunshine in the Mirror Episode 4? Of all the Aqours girls’ jobs, which is your favorite? Are you a based Kanan enjoyer like myself? And, do you agree that this has been the best episode, so far? Let me know in the comments.

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My review of Episode 5 is available now.