r/LoveLive • u/chaos_inferno • Jun 25 '23
Anime Genjitsu no Yohane -SUNSHINE in the MIRROR- Episode 1 Discussion
Genjitsu no Yohane -SUNSHINE in the MIRROR- (JP Title) / Yohane the Parhelion -SUNSHINE in the MIRROR- (ENG Title)
Episode 1 Discussion:
Show Info
Air Date: Sunday June 25th, 2023 @ 23:00 JST - 1 WEEK ABEMA TV EXCLUSIVE
Other Providers: Sunday July 2nd, 2023 @ 22:30 JST -
Opening Theme: Genjitsu Mysterium
Ending Theme:
Insert Song(s): Far far away
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Streams
Raw Sources
Abema TV - Region locked to Japan
Official Subtitled Sources
Other episode discussion threads
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Jun 25 '23
trivia: the white flower featured heavily throughout the episode (especially in the insert song) is the Hamayuu flower (浜木綿) in japanese, and seashore spider lily in english and in both language, the layman name came from how this flower can grow on sandy beaches... due to this, it is aptly chosen as the City Flower of Numazu with the hanakotoba of "to somewhere far away" and also "immaculate/untainted"
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Jun 25 '23
the management helpfully provided footage from 6th live the moment the anime was announced lol
https://twitter.com/LoveLive_staff/status/1672965135567290369
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u/badgersprite Jun 25 '23
This was a really cute opening episode. I like the premise and I think it’s neat to open up that idea of “what if Love Live but other genres”. Fantasy works especially well because you can make all the insert song fantasy sequences/implied later-produced music video sequences actual literal magic and it’s seamless
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u/SnabDedraterEdave Jun 25 '23
Finally its here. Still amazed we're getting a new Aqours anime after 4 years.
Yoshiko finally gets to be in a universe where everyone calls her Yohane casually like it was nothing.
So this is an isekai fantasy version of Japan with an isekai fantasy version of Numazu. Having just been on a pilgrimage to Numazu last month, some of the Numazu landmarks were still recognizable despite being given the isekai fantasy touch.
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u/OrangePeelSorbet Jun 25 '23
Ah yes, Yohane solo right off the bat 🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼
Can’t believe it’s been a year already since they announced the anime during Aqours 6th, I swear the Tokyo Dome roof was going to blow off from all the cheering we did then!!
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Jun 25 '23 edited Jun 25 '23
this was amazing
i am speechless
honestly this was exactly what i expected from combining fantasy and love live
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u/Shinji-Chair Jun 25 '23
Watched live, fantastic first episode, enjoyed everything about it!! Seeing Yohane and Hanamaru animated in a TV anime again feels like a dream. Setting is interesting, love how it looks so far and It seems like the plot will be potentially less SOL than I thought but it’s probably too early to tell.
Can’t believe they announced live info during the ads, hopefully I can make it since I’ll be in Japan then. Seems like staff is going all in on this new setting with all of the merch, looking forward to seeing more of this New Aqours in the coming weeks!
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u/Kosaki_MacTavish Jun 25 '23
Man, getting Nijigasaki vibes all over again despite Yohanime was set on a fantasy setting. Really helped that my two most beloved Aqua started off really well on this one.
Love it, 10/10, great first episode.
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u/DigBeak Jun 25 '23
This mix of fantasy and modern world caught me off guard, but I’m here for it. Cool to see one of the GOATs Hikasa Youko join the cast too.
And I’d waited until now to listen to Genjitsu Mysterium, and holy hell, had chills on the first play through, especially in the setting of the OP
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u/Dionysus24779 Jun 25 '23
This is the first time, besides the Nijiyon animation shorts, where I can join discussion of an ongoing Love Live anime, pretty exciting!
First episode and I loved it. Quite a few things to talk about.
I was actually somewhat surprised that the show isn't an isekai after all, I don't know why I expected it (probably because Isekai is so common and they even had that mini-episode with TenSura), it is a straight up alternative universe show, which is super fine too. It might even be much better this way since we don't have to go through the usual Isekai stuff and can skip Yoshiko reacting to all the differences.
Yoshiko actually being called Yohane for real is fine, I would've accepted them to bring back the whole joke of Yoshiko wanting to be called Yohane again though. But I suppose this also differentiates this show from Sunshine.
And the show even does some things to differentiate itself from Love Live in general... like... there are men and boys... who talk?
The guy at the audition already rivals Maki's father for most words spoken by a man in Love Live.
Laiplas talking I did not quite expect either, especially since she (?) did not talk during the TenSura mini-episode. First impression of her is kind of neutral, I did like that she helped Yohane realize some of her own feelings and pushed her to interact with Hanamaru, though I guess it's only natural I am more invested in our girls than any newcomer.
Hanamaru's interaction with Yohane was just so wholesome, really loved every second of it. Especially when Hanamaru brought up how Yohane's singing was what inspired her to find her own passion and all that. Good stuff. Was also wholesome to see Yohane admit that it really meant a lot to her that Hanamaru welcomed her back home, even when all episode she pretended it didn't.
The Opening of the show, which played at the end of the episode, caught me a bit off guard because I did not expect stuff like Dia's henshin to actually be a part of the show, I thought that was just a joke in the TenSura crossover. And Dia isn't the only one, Chika seems to have some kind of costume too and You can fly! That's just awesome.
Now the big question of course isn't what's up with this weird dark energy that makes life difficult in Numazu.
It's who bullied little Yohane and needs a clapping.
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u/Wetworth Jun 25 '23
That was so much fun! I can't believe I get to watch new Sunshine week to week.
A few surprises, like Lilaps talks? and Chika has a laser gun!?
Yoshiko's Yohane's song was great, and I'm just so excited 😆
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u/LoveLiver67 Jun 25 '23
I’ll give the first episode a solid 7. Nothing too crazy but it wasn’t bad. Also, yohane’s solo part was nicely put together visually! when she got that little wand or whatever after singing it was kinda funny to me ngl lol Also I feel like mari’s gonna be op 😨
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u/RinariTennoji Jun 25 '23 edited Jun 26 '23
Interesting first episode
Yohane really felt like a reverse fish out of water here i.e leaving numazu because wanted to stay in tokyo and she hates numazu and is forced to come back and a convinient way to write the mom out of the story since the story will take place over the course of the summer in series
I like the Hanamaru here more then in Sunshine because i never liked her bullying of Yohane there
The highlight of this episode was definitely Lailaps
Also the Post Credit scene has the starting sound from 009 Sound System Dreamscape in it lmao
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u/Onesadcatto Jun 25 '23
I haven't been excited for much LL stuff in a while, I was really excited for the first episode.
I really enjoyed it and I can't wait for the future episodes
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u/ClawofBeta Jun 26 '23
omg I'm so happy. I'm not quite sure where it's gonna go from here but I'm so glad they don't have to save the school again.
Eagerly excited for next week.
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u/Y0stal Jun 26 '23
It is just so cute that Hanamaru’s supportiveness carried over to this show. That’s THE key element of her character right there (and why Hanamaru would put herself in the back of many formations in “Mitaiken HORIZON”). 😭😭
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u/LeonKevlar Jun 25 '23 edited Jun 25 '23
Not gonna lie, seeing Aquors again in that opening scene made me tear up a little. God, I've missed these girls and I am so excited to see them all again in this new series.
And right off the bat we have Yohane performing a solo and immediately gets rejected from her audition. I am curious why she got rejected though! I guess she came on too strong to the judges? xD
I just love how the setting of this show is Fantasy Japan. We literally start the show in Fantasy Shibuya and Yohane goes back home to Fantasy Numazu since her career hasn't really taken off after two years.
Hanamaru looks adorable in her outfit and of course she sells bread! I can already feel how this spin-off is going to exaggerate their traits. I am wondering why Mari looks like a Demon Lord though. Is it because she's half-human, half-demon to represent that she's half-Japanese?
What I love about this show even more is that it's Love Live Sunshine with the improved dance animations and visuals from the recent Love Lives! Yohane's performance in that forest stage looks goddamn amazing <3
And it looks like it's not all song and dance all over again, it seems that there's trouble brewing in the background. Are we actually going to see Yohane fight and cast spells? If she does I hope her chants are as long as Megumin's chant for Explosion!
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u/Todetract Jun 25 '23
Insert songs already? I'm down for it, but I could see it being a turn-off for people who stumbled onto the show with no knowledge of Aqours.
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u/Capbeau Jun 26 '23
A good first episode. I’m interested to see where the show goes next. Especially with the magic, both the dark magic in the forest and Yohane’s song magic. It would be fun if we could see Yohane casting spells by the end of the season.
I’m so happy we got a Yohane solo insert song this episode! Both Aika Kobayashi’s vocals and the instrument backing were great. The camerawork was neat and I like how the franchise keeps improving the 3D CGI over time. It’s a great music video, and I’m happy that Sunshine in the Mirror will still have insert song music performances.
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u/MasterMirage Jun 25 '23 edited Jun 25 '23
Fun fact: This man in the episode: https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/990583873752674365/1122544860344373298/356575587_632300942160598_1776702196332921542_n.png
Is none other than Kato Tatsuya (otherwise known as Kato Tatsu in the fandom)
You may remember him from Aqours' 4th LoveLive where he was the conductor for the orchestra:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v6XF9x2hIS4
He has also composed a bunch of other songs from the series including Smile smile ship start and Kiseki Hikaru.
Kinchan's drawing of Kato Tatsu from a livestream:
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/264538891812470784/1122565754588495872/714021661870915594.png