Yohane The Parhelion Episode 1: The Legend of Yohane

The wait is over fellow Super Love Live fans! The Legend of Yohane is finally here!

I’m also excited for this show because people will HAVE TO CALL HER YOHANE and not Yoshiko anymore. That’s been a pet peeve of mine throughout my coverage of Sunshine back when it aired. I’m sure some will do it just to annoy me but I’ll tell right away. That being said this Yohane is so far more “Yoshiko” than the Fallen Angel I love.

We kicked things off with a look at things to come before the show truly began with Yohane in an audition. Unfortunately she failed due to trying too hard or perhaps the judges thought she’s too egotistical in her ambitions of becoming a mega star. Whatever the case she didn’t make it. We would soon learn it was her 7th failed attempt.

Can’t decide if her present mom or other world mom is hotter. Eh. Both are sexy.

As Yohane reported to mom she reminded her it’s her birthday. That and time was up. Yohane had two years to find a career as a performer in the big city but she failed so mom would stop supporting her and she’d to come back her hometown. Yohane didn’t want that at all but had no choice. Also because anime parents mom went on vacation. Common tropes with anime/manga parents is that they work abroad, travel a lot or are dead.

Fortunately our heroine wouldn’t be alone as Laelaps, her dog sister (they couldn’t agree on who was the onee-chan) greeted her at the station. Again she wasn’t thrilled to be back as she didn’t want to say “tadaima”. Laelaps tried to have her behave but Yohane insisted on being a rude tsundere even though it’s clear there’s more to her dislike of the town than it being “boring and in the middle of nowhere”.

As she sulked near the riverbank Laelaps showed her Hanamaru serving baked goods to customers. She didn’t want to greet her but when a bakery flier landed on her head she’s about to call her. Suddenly a dark force deep in the forest caused everyone pain for a bit. Yohane tried to leave again but Laelaps stopped her until Hanamaru spotted her. It’d been over 2 years but the Zura maiden still recognized her old pal. Laelaps and her both told Yohane how the mysterious darkness hurt the crops but Hanamaru hung in there thanks to baking. Yohane didn’t want to stay long so she left.

As she continued to sulk about the town Laelaps had had enough and took her to a familiar place. It was her special stage in the forest. She used to perform all the time back in the day but when people bullied her she wanted to escape to the city and make it big there. Sadly that didn’t work out. It’s why she didn’t like the town. Her not making it in the city felt like the last straw. She thought she couldn’t make it anywhere and was destined to be a failure. Fortunately Hanamaru remembered always watching Yohane’s performances and was greatly inspired by her own passion, hence baking.

As is often the case for the franchise the performance was excellent complete with Yohane transforming into a lovely idol. Afterward her stick baton turned into a magic kitty staff though we wouldn’t know its origin or power just yet. For now Hanamaru’s support brought joy to our heroine’s heart. She would later say “tadaima” to Laelaps too. After the ED we saw the darkness start to infect Yohane’s special stage too.

Pretty good premiere. Excited for more especially because next time SHE will return to me.