Kiniro Mosaic - 12

With the end of the season being juxtaposed by the beginning of a new year, Kiniro Mosaic burned the fire of hope in my soul for a second season, despite there being no official announcement made for one. In all hindsight, it would be depressing to simply just leave off at the start of a new year, without any plans to recommence the series. Not only will there be many disappointed, crestfallen fans should the production of a second season never happen, but for all I care, they could've just ended the series at the end of the year, rather than giving a glimmer of false hope. Anyhow, read on. Alleviation from my bleak, pessimistic optimism comes in the form of my long delayed review!

Kiniro Mosaic - 11

Generally, as a rule of thumb, animes should only make Christmas episodes at Christmas time, and if the anime isn't airing around Winter, then please just make a movie/OVA and release it around Christmas time. Since this episode aired in the middle of September, I just couldn't pick up on the festive vibes, or the traditional Christmas feelings. 

Not to mention my mood got ruined by Alice's phone call, in which she said 'Have a happy holiday, Mum'. No, No, NO! First of all, if it's Christmas, then you've got to make it so that the word actually makes it into the sentence, and the conventional manner of the seasonal greeting in England goes 'Merry Christmas'. In the Christmas Spirit of Forgiving, I suppose I'll let this tiny mistake drop. Anyhow, what actually happened in this episode?

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Meet Sakura Karasuma, the nicest Middle School teacher in all of anime (not a hard achievement considering most are set in High School). Starting from this Kiniro Mosaic review, I'll be dividing the review into key sections that cover the most important aspects of the episode. Hope you'll enjoy it!

Kiniro Mosaic - 9

I'm not sure if you'll be shocked by this sudden epiphany I came upon... but I realized Alice is a full on, hardcore Weeaboo. Another realisation I came upon was... there are only 4 episodes left! NOOOOOOO! Well, Kiniro Mosaic is one of the anime, which should in my opinion just go and get another S2 as soon as possible (though I hope they don't do a Haruhi Suzumiya, or Recorder and Ransell). Already, this is probably one of my favourite Slice of Life's in all history, second only to the ever enthusiastic Minami-ke, which has four successful seasons up to date.

In reference to a Japanese Dictionary

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I'll be quite honest, in all the School Festival related episodes I've watched, not ONE gives a proper explanation in how they're run, or prepared for. Not only is the matter thoroughly broken down, but it's extracted, analysed, and explored from every angle. Our girls went to visit the exhibition put on by other classes, giving us yet more of a taste as of what to expect from a school cultural festival. Normally, it's as if Aladdin's genie made it all happen in an instant, so this episode really came as a natural relief.

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At first, when Alice and Karen burst out into a sparkling duet, I thoroughly believed this was going to be the new OP for Kiniro Mosaic, especially with all the picture animations going on. Not only did I think the singing was completely moe, I'd go so far as to agree with Shino's simple statement of 'Let's broadcast it across the nation'. If anime was widely broadcasted on TV, I wouldn't suffer from the abhorrent lack of Otakus either... Ok, maybe I was foolish for not noticing the lack of credits (not to mention HorribleSubs never sub an OP), but surely it's understandable how disappointed I felt? Being Kiniro Mosaic (aka Slice of Life Anime 2013), I couldn't stay that way for long. In fact, the OP did wonders to immediately lift my spirits. Slice of Life has one redeeming quality over most other genres in one aspect, that is to say it's usual to go in without too many expectations, and end up being completely bowled over.

The Ayaya

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Art: Why does every anime series under the sun have to have a fan-service episode? An episode in which the cast all wander around in swimwear or less for no real reason? It's so low-brow.
Pip: Shall we confirm that by watching it again?
Art: Absolutely.
— Sequential Art

Inevitably, the beach episode was somehow going to find a way, as it always somehow does in your typical anime production. However, a struggle was going to be necessary before this could be achieved, for another girl firmly suggested going to the mountains. In the end, the chosen method of settling this dispute was playing cards, with the winner being able to make the group decision. Fortunately, the Beach triumphed yet again...

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A moment I'm incredibly familiar with... calling your teacher 'Mum'. Only the most embarrassing thing that can happen to you, and something for which your friends will relentlessly tease you about should they ever catch you in the act. But to make that mistake twice in a row? You'd have to be a Shinobu Omiya to do that.

Shinobu deserves a medal

Kiniro Mosaic - 4

Carrying on from last time, Karen's hype still hasn't died down. Looks like she'll be holding a revolution at the rate she's going at! Anyway, taking up the vast majority of this episode was... Shino's birthday! However, therein lay the catch that Karen and Alice, having recently come over from England,  didn't have any clue about it... (and apparently Shino had totally forgotten). All in all, it was pretty uneventful. Maybe there's a difference in culture, where birthdays aren't so commemorated in Japan, but I couldn't help feeling bad for Shino. Presents which are better than a carton of Orange Juice, or a $1 Snow Globe are problems I've never had to worry the night before. Nevertheless, she was lucky to be surrounded by all her closest, beloved friends. That's enough to make any birthday worthwhile, not to mention it's the though that counts. Nothing is more substantial than everlasting friendship. Reminds me of when my friend told me his proudest moment was hanging out with us (me and some other friends).

Alice says 'No!'

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Standing on the lone horizon was McGullible. There, her friends joined her in an instant. Now, McGullible was having a tough time making friends in her class, possibly because she was newly transferred, mixed race, and rather withdrawn. After being tricked into believing there was a McStupid Cult, McGullible decided to give a speech to her class about how she wanted people to talk to her. With an initially slow start, it became a resounding success; everybody wanted to be friends with McGullible. And so they lived happily ever after.

PLEASE!!! Don't add Yuri to this...

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'HNNNG!'

First off, this is ridiculous. The Japanese aren't renown for being very tall, while the English generally are. So having many jokes centered around Alice being shorter than every other Japanese girl on the series seemed like a fantasy to me. To be blunt, these kind of events can only take place in ficiton. I don't know what the Japanese producers are trying to get at here, Japanese height dominance? Like I said, there's a Kim Jong Il disillusion going on here, but in this case, Alice would be a hyper midget among the typical, purebred English populace. Alice's parents are quite tall, so maybe she'll receive a random growth spurt and surpass her smug companions. Even anime can't deny the inherent potential of genetics, or maybe it can...

Kiniro Mosaic - 1

...in Wonderland (one of the MCs is called Alice)

Touchdown, Heathrow, OH MY GOD. Finally, something in anime I would consider home turf: England. Left insatiably excited by this turn of events, my immediate impressions of this anime greatly skyrocketed, and boy am I considering reviewing this series. Any blogger would feel comfortable reviewing something within their area of expertise, and I am no exception. No questions really, and I eagerly look forwards to examining this unique, rarely seen episode in anime.

In case you can't see, it says 'very' instead of 'vary', and 'dose' instead of 'does'