Kiniro Mosaic Review (Anime)
Shinobu Oomiya is a Japanese girl with a passion for England, and as a young child she participated in a homestay where she became close friends with Alice Cartelet, despite neither of them being able to understand each other well due to a language barrier.
The two have kept in close contact via letters but Shino, who received a letter from Alice in English and couldn’t understand it, is pleasantly surprised when, in her first year of highschool, Alice appears in front of her! Alice included the same letter in romaji, but Shino is a bit of an air-head and didn’t realise — Shino rarely studied English whilst Alice became fluent in both languages. I know! Shino is a bit lazier than Alice, isn’t she?
The two girls and their friends get to learn about about each other’s cultures and their differences each day, and it’s a pleasant, funny slice-of-life show. I’m not really into the whole ‘here’s a bunch of super cute girls doing super cute things’ genre but Kinmoza is a bunch of fun, and it’s nice seeing these two cultures come together. Don’t expect much in the way of development, and it’s obvious that it’s based on a 4-koma manga due to how many of the scenes come across as skits. But, if you’re looking for something uplifting and humourous, then Kinmoza is a good pick.
Studio Gokumi has recently finished work on the amazing Tsuredure Children, and it’s clear that they learnt a lot from their time working on Kinmoza. It can be difficult to switch from skit to skit without it feeling jarring, but Gokumi manage to do it fluidly. There’s a bunch of eyecatches thanks to how they handle the transition, and you can’t be displeased with more lovely art! The character designs are adorable and there’s a big emphasis on facial expressions for laughs, and everything is enveloped in a nice, warm feeling. This may be cute girls doing cute things but, damn, it’s hard not to smile — maybe I’m a changing man, readers.
I went into Kinmoza fully expecting an English dub because of some of its British characters, and was surprised to see that nope, there’s no dub in sight! There’s a fair bit of English dialogue and this is handled by seemingly fluent English speakers from Japan — it still sounds a little stiff, and wouldn’t pass as someone’s first language, but it gets the job done. Kinmoza has a soundtrack as light and fluffy as the show itself, blending well with the show’s upbeat atmosphere.
Kinmoza is a chill anime to unwind with, and one that strives to provide laughs and warmth and does a great job in doing so. If you’ve been watching a lot of plot-driven shows and fancy a change of pace, then Kinmoza is worth looking into, and you can kick back and relax as two unique cultures come together in a heart-warming way.
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