In an effort to make money, Yohane opens up a fortune telling business. Yoshiko did some fortune telling in Sunshine!! though it was often treated as a joke. Some didn’t take her fortunes very seriously. Others barely paid attention to it. I’m trying to remember if any of her fortunes ever came true and watching Sunshine!! is a recent experience for me! You’d think with actual magic, this new version of the character would have an easier time but much like her original counterpart, business isn’t exactly booming for Yohane. I think getting back to the big city is going to take a while.
Within her first day on the job, Yohane gets dragged away from her house from Hanamaru, the latter showing her around town. Along the way, we get to see some familiar faces. Chika (Anju Inami) makes her first formal appearance, once again helping her family with their inn in the Uchiura district. Dia (Arisa Komiya) is no longer a student council president but the show gives her the equally powerful position of the executive director for Numazu’s administration. The weirdest returnee so far is Ruby (Ai Furihata). In this universe, Ruby is a little fairy. Putting aside the massive change in height, I have to wonder how exactly the Kurosawa family tree works here. Like assuming these two are still sisters, how come Dia is a regular sized human? Is one of them adopted? Is the fairy gene recessive? What’s going on here?
Things get awkward between Yohane and Hanamaru when the former comments on the meager profits the latter makes with her food stand. Hanamru takes offense as she isn’t really doing her job for the money. It doesn’t take long for Yohane to realize she hurt her friend’s feelings. Yoshiko and Hanamaru never really fought during Sunshine!! so while these are new versions of those characters, it stings a bit to see a brief rift form between them. I really like Hanamaru’s response here. She doesn’t yell at Yohane, I don’t think it’d really be in her nature to do so. She just smiles and parts ways with Yohane and that still conveys how disappointed and upset she is with her friend.
The next day, Yohane is visited by Riko (Rikakdo Aida), who is a zoologist in this universe. I’m surprised this show didn’t rename her “Lili”, Yoshiko’s nickname for her in Sunshine!!. That seemed like an obvious thing to do. Riko asks Yohane for a fortune telling. As mentioned earlier, Yohane’s fortune telling is a running gag so suffice to say, it doesn’t go very well and Riko doesn’t pay Yohane for her services. Unlike her original counterpart, this Riko is a dog lover from the get go, as evidenced by her fawning over Lailaps when she firsts sees the wolf. Most amusing is when Riko offers to buy Lailaps for the purpose of zoology (but let’s face it, she probably just wants her own pet wolf). That feels like a callback to the two fighting over the stray dog in an episode of Sunshine!!. At least in this show, Yohane actually owns the dog.
Eventually, Yohane settles with taking on odd jobs for the townsfolk. While not really what she had in mind, these tasks do earn Yohane some cash so it’s better than nothing. More importantly, it helps Yohane understand where Hanamaru was coming from earlier in the episode. If not for the pay, you work for the fulfillment and Yohane realizes that now. Having this development happen before the show has the two reconcile is a smart move; by understanding Hanamaru’s mindset more, Yohane’s apology to her feels more meaningful or more genuine.
After the ED, Yohane encounters some animals who appear to be infected with something. I’m guessing it’s the dark energy hinted in the first episode. Before the animals can attack however, Yohane is saved by a trio of vigilantes called Million Dollar. Judging by their faces and voices, these three are obviously Chika and her two older sisters, Shima (Kana Asumi) and Mito (Kanae Ito). If only because it feels so random at first, this took me by complete surprise. That said, I can kind of see how this twist works. In Sunshine!!, Chika’s biggest insecurity is that she’s a normal girl with nothing special about her. I suppose with this show, Chika doesn’t have that insecurity but by making her a vigilante, you preserve the concept of her being more than meets than eye.
Watch YOHANE THE PARHELION -SUNSHINE in the MIRROR on Crunchyroll
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