Yohane the Parhelion: Sunshine in the Mirror (幻日のヨハネ -SUNSHINE in the MIRROR-, Genjitsu no Yohane -Sunshine in the Mirror-) is a 2023 television anime series directed by Asami Nakatani, and produced by Sunrise, and a spin-off to the 2016 anime series Love Live! Sunshine!!. Staff credits also include series composition writer Toshiya Ono, original character designer Taira Akitsu, character designer Yumiko Yamamoto, and music composed by Tatsuya Katō. The series first broadcasted in Japan on July 2023.
Background:
“This young fortune teller is desperate to escape her dreary small-town life. With dreams of making it big as a singer in Tokyo, Yohane finally makes the move. Unfortunately, she fails every audition and is forced to move back to her rural seaside home. But little does she know that it’s here where she embarks on a magical journey to discover the song within herself.”
Plot Synopsis via Anime Limited, November 2024.
With so many Love Live! projects in the works, I wasn’t expecting more from the Aqours idol group, let alone a fantasy spin-off of all things. Probably a smart move considering the fantasy and isekai genres are amongst the most popular over the past decade. Yohane the Parhelion: Sunshine in the Mirror does bring back the same cast from Love Live! Sunshine!! but we have Yohane herself in the lead role instead which is a reasonable choice considering she was the chunibyo type of the group.
I’ve not had the chance to watch Yohane the Parhelion because it was badly managed over here in the UK. For starters, the series did not simulcast on Crunchyroll, compared to the US who had access. Anime Limited secured the UK & Ireland rights without even announcing them, and this continued the trend for recent Love Live! shows to be constantly left out of availability unless we either had to pirate or wait for home video. The only reason we knew they had the rights was because of a reference made during one of their Q&A sessions.
My assumption is because Crunchyroll being a competitor meant what they wanted to earn to make it accessible for streaming wasn’t valued right i.e. they weren’t going to make much over it, which reminded me of how Manga Entertainment didn’t place Haven’t You Heard I’m Sakamoto on Crunchyroll due to terrible pay offer for UK & Ireland access on their platform. There is also limited options for other streaming platforms given how its just Crunchyroll and HIDIVE for anime whilst Amazon, Disney+ and Netflix would not value it much.
Anyway, back to Yohane the Parhelion, being able to own it is now great. I was also surprised to learn there are at least two video games produced for the spin-off already which are available to own in English over in Asia in case you weren’t aware – those being BLAZE in the DEEPBLUE and NUMAZU in the MIRAGE. I have yet to pick them up but they look like fun to play. Outside of that, a movie compilation is in the works which I’m curious to see how that does.
Collector’s Edition Contents:
All of the previous Love Live! releases have received collector’s editions so it made sense for Yohane the Parhelion to follow suit also. I do like the artwork used here, though you can tell there was a missed opportunity that other pieces of artwork from the Japanese releases could have been used here also.
This release is presented with a rigid box containing a Scanavo case to house the Blu-ray discs, and alongside the case is a 36-page booklet. The booklet contains a few illustrated designs of the world and maps, character artwork and additional artwork related to key moments from the series.
The rigid box artwork is free of any information or BBFC content and the info sheet covers the information and specification like previous Anime Limited releases. The collector’s edition Blu-ray has 1000 units printed for an SRP of £69.99, with a standard edition Blu-ray available for retailers at an SRP of £39.99.
The series was included as part of their October 2024 early bird line-up which I have ordered from. The set was on offer for £39.99 with the Anime Unlimited membership lowering the cost down to £35.99. Going forward, there will be postage fees for orders below £50 on their retail store, which means if this goes on offer again for the same price it will be £43.43 on offer and £39.49 for the membership price.
Physical Contents:
- Rigid Box with Scanavo packaging and clean artwork
- Info sheet for specification and BBFC description
- 36-page Booklet
On-Disc Contents:
Distributor: Anime Limited
Released: 18th November 2024
The collector’s edition release for Yohane the Parhelion: Sunshine in the Mirror contains the complete season, episodes 1-13, across two Blu-ray discs. Both discs have been authored and encoded by Com’ On Screen, the French company who mainly works with Anime Limited’s French branch.
You have the option to choose between English & French menu text at the start and can switch back and forth without having to reset the player. Crunchyroll has yet to produce an English dub for the series so you can consider this as Anime Limited jumping the gun a bit. As such, the only audio option available here is Japanese with English & French subtitles. French’s subtitle options are tied to the French menu, while English’s subtitle options are locked to the English menu.
Interestingly, Crunchyroll’s font and translation have been used for the English subtitles which is a first given Com’ On Screen’s font style is normally thinner and less bolded, which still applies for the French subtitles on the disc. Also to note, both the Bonus Clips and One Scene Log shorts that are included with this release do not include any subtitles.
The white subtitles for the English translation are unlockable during playback whilst the French translation is locked, and the discs are region locked to players set to B.
Blu-ray Specs:
| Languages | Japanese |
| Audio | Japanese DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 |
| Video | 1080p High Definition Native format 1.78:1 aspect ratio |
| Region | B |
| Subtitles | English, French |
| Locked Subtitles | No (English), Yes (French) |
| Discs | 2 BD-50s |
Blu-ray On-Disc Extra Features:
Disc 1:
- Clean Opening “Genjitsu Mysterium” (幻日ミスチリウム)
- Clean Ending “Kimi no Tame Boku no Tame” (キミノタメボクノタメ)
- Trailers:
- 1 (01:57 runtime)
- 2 (01:31 runtime)
- 3 (01:23 runtime)
- Clips:
- 1 (01:35 runtime)
- 2 (02:03 runtime)
- 3 (02:20 runtime)
- 4 (01:56 runtime)
- 5 (01:52 runtime)
- 6 (02:18 runtime)
- 7 (01:45 runtime)
- 8 (04:56 runtime)
Disc 2:
- Clean Opening – Episode 13 “Genjitsu Mysterium” (幻日ミスチリウム)
- Clean Ending – Episode 13 “Kimi no Tame Boku no Tame” (キミノタメボクノタメ)
- One Scene Log Shorts:
- 1 (06:23 runtime)
- 2 (05:22 runtime)
- 3 (07:06 runtime)
- 4 (07:15 runtime)
- 5 (06:17 runtime)
- 6 (05:54 runtime)
- 7 (06:14 runtime)
- 8 (05:47 runtime)
- 9 (06:54 runtime)
Unboxing Photos:
Final Notes:
Yohane the Parhelion: Sunshine in the Mirror is available to purchase on Blu-ray by Anime Limited in the UK & Ireland. The collector’s edition Blu-ray release can be bought through AllTheAnime Store, while the standard edition Blu-ray can also be bought through different retailers including AllTheAnime Store, Amazon UK, and Anime-on-Line.
(Disclaimer: Amazon links are also included when available. They are affiliated so if you decide to order them, I’ll earn a small percentage if they ship which will help me with any hauls or small bills.)
The Normanic Vault 
Leave a comment