What a strange off-shoot this is proving to be. I suppose that’s to be expected when you take a series originally set in our world and move it to a fantasy setting. But man, some of the execution has to be seen to be believed.
So we resume right where the last episode left off with Million Dollar coming to Yohane’s rescue. Chika, Shima, and Mito apparently go by codenames – Katy, Marcy, and Tommy respectively. Their mother (Rie Kugimiya) is also in cahoots with them, acting as an overseer codenamed “Big Mama”. Despite the supposed secrecy, Yohane immediately figures out their identities. I suppose that much is obvious, especially if you’re coming from Love Live! Sunshine!! so there isn’t much point in treating the secret identities as a secret. As for how they fight, the trio is armed with some sort of cannon that disperses the fog that envelops the deer with dark energy. Chika then plays an ocarina that somehow freezes the deer out of their possession. It’s all pretty pacifist. Honestly, if it wasn’t, we’d have to call Chika a murderer and that just sounds strange.
As if that isn’t enough insanity, we then switch over the administration who has caught word of the fight. So naturally, Dia dons a suit of armor, grabs an electric katana, and heads off on a motorcycle that Ruby can magically control. I swear, I’m not making any of this up. As insane as this all sounds, I can kind of see the thought process. I mean, it’s a stretch but the thing about Dia is that she gives everything, and I do mean everything, 110%. This over the top superhero nonsense isn’t entirely out of place for her.
Hilariously, Chika and Dia are aware of each other’s identities. At this point, I wonder if everyone in Numazu knows of their secret. At first, Dia demands that Million Dollar withdraw. She simply doesn’t want civilians to get involved. At Yohane’s urging however, Chika and Dia agree to work together as they are fighting for the same cause. Yohane contributes to the action as well by playing Chika’s ocarina, allowing her to channel her powers and free the remaining deer.
After the fight, Big Mama suggests to Yohane to visit Numazu’s Demon Lord, Mari (Aina Suzuki), on Wassimer Island for some answers regarding her powers. I guess Italy and America doesn’t exist in this world so the creator(s) opted to make Mari a demon to keep her as the foreigner in the cast. Actually, because of the change in background, Aina Suzuki doesn’t appear to be voicing Mari with an accent like she did in Sunshine!!. The new voice Suzuki provides still sounds like Mari but the change does take some getting used to.
Another change is Mari’s personality. The original version in Sunshine!! had a somber side but she was generally very cheerful and eccentric. This new version on the other hand is a lot more stoic, barely cracking up a smile. She doesn’t have a lifelong friendship like the original Mari did with Kanan and Dia and she’s afraid of being judged by Numazu’s human populace so she lives a more lonely existence compared to her counterpart. With Yohane’s arrival however, that may start to change. Once she sees Mari in person, she stops being afraid of the Demon Lord and instead sees her demonic features and powers as cool (chances are, the original Yoshiko would feel the same way). Perhaps once we have the whole gang together, we’ll see some of the original Mari resurface in this new incarnation.
As for the mysteries, Mari confirms that there is some sort of dark energy festering in Numazu, inferring that it may be born from human ennui. She believes Yohane’s powers to be her “Resonance” and that it may be the key to saving the town as it can protect people from the aura. It’s all still bit vague, to be frank. One wild guess I’m willing to make is that this somehow ties back into the idol music. They have to factor that back into the plot somehow and between the insert song in Episode 1 and the ocarina, it does seem like music is the catalyst for Yohane’s powers. It’d be silly but then again, this show is currently pretty deep into whacky territory.
Watch YOHANE THE PARHELION -SUNSHINE in the MIRROR on Crunchyroll
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