“One girl, thoughtful, brave, kind and sweet. Her appearance brings a treat.I don’t know why but this is what she means a lot to me, I still can’t figure it out but I think it because… she’s weird! And I can relate to that. Pretending to be someone I’m not, but we both like that…… why? Is it because we have low self esteem? Maybe? I try to act like someone I’m not, just because I like it. But everyone else seems to hate it… I thought I’d never got accepted to society, because of my “fake” personality. But the people who did accept me, the people I can consider my friends… they didn’t care about that. I can relate to her, and who am I and who is she you may ask? Well I’m Yohane and Yoshiko, and she is Yohane and also Yoshiko.”

I can kinda relate to most of what is above, except the last line of course. I remember getting into Love Live watching the first episode of Sunshine and seeing Yoshiko for the first time, she was extremely funny, and I never saw her personality done before (I didn’t use to watch a lot of anime) so I thought she would be my favorite. When I started playing the game I choose her for my starter girl. After rewatching the anime I found out that I can relate to her so much, how we have this weird “persona” and couldn’t accept it, until I met friends who like my “weirdness”. A lot of friends actually, some of them really smart, popular, etc. They said as long as I handle my way of interacting with people and don’t hurt someone in anyway, or I really don’t like it, I’m don’t need to change who I am. I see my friends and a lot like Aqours, and me as Yoshiko someone who has fun altering her characters. Though I do it for a different reason then her, I still can see where she is coming from. Unfortunately my parents don’t let me collect merch, and I am on NYC for a trip, so I can’t do more. But Yoshiko “Yohane” Tsushima is one of the most developed and relatable characters she is, even if she doesn’t seem like it.

YohaneFanAwards2019