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Love Live! Sunshine!! Fantasy Spinoff Genjitsu no Yohane -Sunshine in the Mirror- Gets Anime Series in 2023
posted on by Egan Loo
The Love Live! Sunshine!! school idol project's Genjitsu no Yohane -Sunshine in the Mirror- magazine illustration series is inspiring an anime series next year. The confirmation came in Sunday's "Love Live! Sunshine!! Aqours 6th Love Live! ~Ku-Ru-Ku-Ru Rock 'n' Roll Tour~ Windy Stage" concert at the Tokyo Dome venue.
The "story no one knows about a girl everyone knows" reimagines Yoshiko Tsushima, the school idol afflicted with chūnibyō (adolescent delusions of grandeur), as a fortune-telling girl. The story is set in Numazu, a scenic harbor town surrounded by the sea and mountains. Ever since she was little, the girl Yohane has never fit in, and has always felt apart from everyone in town. Her aspirations and true place in this world lie elsewhere. The story follows this girl who can't follow rules as she journeys through this wondrous world.
The returning cast includes:
- Aika Kobayashi as Yohane
- Kanako Takatsuki as Hanamaru
- Arisa Komiya as Dia
- Ai Furihata as Ruby
- Anju Inami as Chika
- Shuka Saitō as Yō
- Nanaka Suwa as Kanan
- Rikako Aida as Riko
- Aina Suzuki as Mari
Asami Nakatani (Ensemble Stars!! Road to Show!!) is directing the anime at Sunrise, and Toshiya Ono (86, Land of the Lustrous, The Promised Neverland, Suite Precure) is supervising the series scripts. Yumiko Yamamoto (Seven Senses of the Re'Union, Sword Art Online: Alicization - War of Underworld) is designing the characters, and Tatsuya Katō (Ensemble Stars!, Fate/kaleid liner Prisma Illya, Free! - Iwatobi Swim Club) is returning to the Love Live! Sunshine!! franchise to compose the music.
As in previous Love Live! projects, Sunrise's collective penname Hajime Yatate is credited as the original creator, and Sakurako Kimino is credited with the original concept.
Taira Akitsu has been drawing the Genjitsu no Yohane -Sunshine in the Mirror- illustration series in the Love Live! Days Love Live! Sōgō Magazine since October 2020. The story already inspired the Genjitsu no Yohane -Unpolarized Reflexion- manga series that Kōta Matsuda launched in the magazine in February 2022. The Love Live! franchise had posted a video on April Fool's Day this year to tease a Genjitsu no Yohane -Sunshine in the Mirror- anime next year, only to make the video private later.
The staff plans to stream a "Genjitsu no Yohane -Sunshine in the Mirror- Travelogue" short movie on YouTube to commemorate the anime series news. The picture drama short will give fans a glimpse into Yohane's daily life, using illustrations by Akitsu and voices by the Love Live! Sunshine!! cast.
In the spirit of the franchise's user-participation theme, fans can submit ideas for back stories on the Numazu residents, and the staff may incorporate those ideas into the actual production. A "Yohane no Uranai Koheya" (Yohane's Fortune-Telling Booth) web radio program will also launch, and fans can already submit messages for the program.
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