Yohane the Parhelion -SUNSHINE in the MIRROR

Episodes 1-4

It feels like this spin-off buried the lede a little bit. That's perhaps a strange thing to say when we start immediately with a different world and dynamic from the original Love Live! Sunshine!!, but with a full month's worth of episodes under its belt, Sunshine in the Mirror has revealed itself to be a much larger leap than its fairly grounded premiere would lead you to expect. I know I certainly wasn't expecting a Symphogear-esque team battle against the forces of evil after that premiere, at least.

Let's start a bit out of order and talk about just how much of a swerve that whole episode is. Sure, the OP told us Chika would get a gun and Dia has a motorcycle, but it left out that the motorcycle flies and that Chika's entire family is part of a covert vigilante team who fight off the dark magic threatening Numazu. That's a decidedly wilder place to take these familiar characters, and it's exactly the kind of zany stuff I was hoping to see from this spinoff. Love Live! has always had madcap comedy in its DNA, and since the characters are no longer tied to even a semblance of real-world physics or technology, they can go all out on wild ideas and slapstick that just wouldn't have worked even with the fantastical whimsy of your typical School Idol story. There's just no way the original Aqours could have gotten away with shooting Yohane out of a cannon in the original continuity without somebody going to jail.

Though that's not the only interesting change the shift in genre allows here. One of those unavoidable parts of the whole School Idol premise was that all the characters effectively had the same goal and aspiration. Sure, they have distinct personalities and bespoke motivations, but in the end, everyone's big goal was to win the titular idol competition. Now that script is flipped, with every Aqours girl filling her niche within the cozy streets and shores of Numazu. Giving these familiar characters new, diverse roles allows them to express themselves in a new light that's rewarding for existing fans, but also just engaging on their own. Yes, it's endearing to recognize Mari's role as the lonesome "Demon Lord" as a shoutout to the loneliness and guilt that tormented her in Sunshine's first season. Yet even without that context, it's just as sweet to see Yohane, an outcast herself, unwittingly break through Mari's defenses and make a genuine connection with her – and just as sad when she fumbles that connection by hiding behind her defenses.

That wrinkle is key to making this whole show work: Yohane, and her insecure, counter-productive ego. Her original iteration was always a lovable loser, but the dynamic has changed ever-so-slightly. In Sunshine, many of the jokes about Yohane were built around everyone just ignoring her chuuni antics, always cushioned by the knowledge that they did care about her, even if they refused to call her by her fallen angel nom de guerre. Here, Yohane's still insecure and lonely, but instead of setting herself apart through a fantastical secret life, she's desperate to be a star, or to be a fortune teller, or to just have something special that will make her feel confident enough to confront the small town she never felt comfortable in as a kid.

That was always at the heart of OG Yohane, but without the comedy to undercut the sentiment, it lands with far more impact. Maybe it's because I grew up on Naruto. The image of a lonely kid trying not to cry on an isolated swing set has a Pavlovian effect on me, but Yohane reminiscing on her loneliness while working to build a new, more welcoming swing for the next generation got me to tear up a little. That's pretty impressive, since Yohane was previously liked by the 30th favorite Love Live! character. It's indicative of how this spinoff isn't simply resting on its laurels and existing fanbase.

While it's hard to call anything a franchise this big and successful does a gamble, this is still the furthest the IP has ever stuck its head out, even if it's hedging that bet with familiar characters. So it's gratifying to see that they commit to the bit without losing the humor and sincerity that make this whole mess work. This could easily have been a goofy side series full of in-jokes and fanservice, and I probably would have enjoyed it, but what we have here is a lot more robust and engaging.

Also, I swear to God, if all the gloomy foreshadowing surrounding Lailaps is setting her up to die at the end of this, I swear to God-

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Yohane the Parhelion -SUNSHINE in the MIRROR is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.