Kiniro Mosaic

Episode 11. In which there are ducks.

I almost expected Asami to wave away the Alice bubble. Well, she got her punishment for blocking her anyway.

They all have their own war cries.

Is that an Arpeggio of Blue Steel reference? But she's a shipgirl in the other shipgirl series... Sure, she was in that series too, but as a "normal" human. (It's also a painting.)

Oh, she does mention the painting.

Hesitate, and you'll miss your chance.

Getting your opponent gets wet in a water fight is mandatory. Avoiding getting wet yourself is optional.

Ayaya does not think fast.

Honoka is not all talk.

Two bokes does not a tsukkomi make. Well, Curry can do that in a pinch.

Duck!

Does it count as forgetting if it's something you can't do at the time anyway?

Ducks!

That's some high roof she's got on the wish if she has to specify that.

I think there's a reason she forgot about that.

Curry is awake.

Such a supportive sister she's got there.

She's a total summoner, all right.

Doesn't take more than a suggestion for her to get in the mood. It's rather forward of her to actually act it out for once, though. Emphasis on act.

I'm pretty sure not even the end of the world would be able to stop her from smiling when Alice returns.

Awesome reaction from Ayaya. Sometimes, love is not blind.

They're just treating her as she acts.

Early ED.

And everyone's a Magical Girl. Except Shino. She's the same as always. As expected, Curry is an awesome villain. Then again, we already knew that.

I think I possibly detect a small amount of yuri in that Dangerous Forbidden Technique.

Episode 11

In Which The ED Is Completely Ex-rectonned.

Yoko, you are so cute singing. :3

… Karen you have a funny way of presenting a gift to someone.

I'm glad Honoka's getting so much time to share with Karen.

Poor Honoka. All she'll ever get air trinkets from the trips? :(

TAKE SHINO WITH YOU!!

… Shino I wouldn't breathe like that. It's seriously freaking me out.

"GET THE BLONDE KIT!!! SHE'S GOING INTO BLONDE SHOCK!!"

… woah. The ED already?? We have a full 3 more minutes!

:D Alice Magical Girl!

"I woke up from a dream! I knew I shouldn't have watched Crystal before bed!"

Oh Aya, the Romeo and Juliet stuff was very cute, and that dream was pretty cool, loved Karen's evil laugh.

edited 14th Jun '15 8:28:58 PM by asellus111

I need that dream made into a Magical Girl spin-off.

edited 14th Jun '15 9:32:32 PM by HanabiraKage

The 11th Hello:

• Shinobu sure got ice to shave. Alice may not be so grateful for that...
• Karen, you were a Fleet Girl in your past life. At least. And don't think about it too hard, Kuzehashi-sensei. You'll get a headache.
• Souvenirs for all.
• Yoko, no gloating in the middle of water fights.
• Honoka's as much of a true friend to Karen as the others.
• Alice stocks up on a week's worth of Shinobuium.
• But Shino needs a lifetime's worth of Alicium. If that fails, then quick! Where's the blonde-aid kit!?
• You'd make a fine Juliet, Aya. And a fine summoner, too.
• That all said, it's a rare treat to see just those three hanging out.
• Shino, that dream was awesomesauce! Golden magical girls! Karen had a marvelous laugh, and two cool minions. And her deadly eraser monsters.
• What part was forbidden, you ask? Oh, you know. The dancing. The very close hand-holding. The—

edited 16th Jun '15 7:48:06 PM by Diamite

This is it. The last episode and possibly the last one for these girls. ;_; I don't wanna see them go.

Episode 12

"Because I Love You More Than Anything" Awwwww GOD! :3 My heart.

… Okay It's clear that Shino isn't the only one here with missing a friend too much! :D Getting Karen to play Shino is way too obsessive, yet utterly hilarious and a welcome joke in this show! "D :D

Oh god Alice wrote "Shino" in the cookies! ;_;

"Made you yawn." :D

Aww hello konichiwa!! We have the title!

Oh no. :( She never gets to see her own mother. I already feel so bad for her.

OH MY GOD! I'M CHEERING FOR REAL HERE! THEY REUNITED!

Hahahaha they're really watching the Depressed Alice Misses Shino compilation!

Aya with an Aya hand puppet to impress Yoko = easily the most adoring thing ever witnessed.

Alice gets into her Tough Love uniform.

—:O Is that it?? Is that the end of the show!?

edited 21st Jun '15 2:53:43 PM by kyun

Hmm? Aren't those the cookies from the ED?

Why are Alice and Karen still speaking to each other in Japanese, anyway? Speaking of which, Alice's mom suddenly gained the ability to speak in Japanese! Which she promptly lost at dinnertime...and regained the next morning. ._.

Couldn't Alice's mom always speak Japanese.

It was a cute episode, a fun episode and probably the last episode unless we get an OVA. Shino never got good at studying (but she really is an amazing dress maker). Ayaya never confessed.

Need to go back to episode one of the first season, but I don't think Alice's mom specifically said that she could speak Japanese, only that she was friends/acquainted with Shino's mom. You count interpret it as a weird case of Translation Convention I suppose, but think of this — mum only starts speaking English again when Alice's dad is with them, and only then.

Also, this is one of those cases where there's simply no more material — I think the show finished off everything until volume 5, and volume 6's cover was barely revealed a week or so back. Heck, they even got the botched high-five between Kusshi and Karasuma.

edited 21st Jun '15 8:23:32 PM by MyssaRei

Well then the mangaka needs to write all 5 girls going to the UK together!

Alice's mom is pretending to be unable to speak Japanese so her husband wouldn't feel inferior to her, perhaps because she's actually better than him.

The Final Hello:

• All that Shinobuim Alice stocked just wasn't enough to keep her from missing Shino, I see.
• Mother clearly likes what she's seeing.
• So nervous, she spoke in English.
• Hello!
• No, Karen, don't hang up— and Alice is in a rage.
• Hehe, you can visit come home anytime, Alice. Mother will always be waiting.
• For Alice and Karen's return, Shino had to look her bestest.
• How casual of Isami to reveal Alice's embarrassment.
• You didn't cry a little, Shino. Otherwise, you could've been done with your homework.
• Shino has a skill. Swell sewing. Still wants to interpret. It's what she loves. Time for some intense studying. With some golden motivation.
• Aya's a good ventriloquist.
• Sewing saved Kumano. Now if only there was a way to sew Mitsuki's heart to the point where she likes Yoko again...

High-five! This season was more golden than the last! Ah, what a blessing it was...

I liked The Cast Show Off ending of Season 1 better, but at least we get a Magical Girl snippet at the end of ep 11.

Well, next season we have Wakaba Girl, a series of shorts that comes from the Yui Hara as well.

Episode 12. In which there's blonde.

Curry is awesome.

I think Curry is trolling, but I can't be sure. She's also an idiot. By the way, Denmark.

There's one colour that overwhelms that kitchen.

Yeah, I did notice how they switched languages. Usually it's just a for-the-audience thing, but here there's a point in it.

She doesn't like natto.

I think they're pretty spot on on Ayaya.

Ayaya + loose hair = win.

I'm not sure why, but I like the look on Ayaya's face when she thinks they're having an actual conversation.

Her English is better at rapid fire.

Title Drop.

Muscle memory. The enemy of all girls who want to talk with each other.

Doesn't matter how old you are, you'll always be a child to your parents.

"Only as weird as you always look." Yeah, she looks normal.

Isa sure homed in on that one. She's awesome like that.

She likes her plates.

Ayaya and handpuppet win.

Be strong...

Heck with being strong! Buy 3!

Started watching this.

The introductory sequence in the United Kingdom is just amazing... London and the countryside scenic visuals are beautifully done, and the English from Alice's family is surprisingly good for a nondub anime. But there's one thing that ruins this segment.

Shinobu. Her English is so lacking, and in fact it feels like she's not even trying. (By extension, it's the anime producers' fault for portraying her like this.) You would think that if you're visiting the homeland of the English language, you would put some minimal effort to get acquainted with the language. Shinobu should realize how fortunate she is to have an opportunity to visit a place like the UK.

Really enjoying the show from here on out, though.

edited 17th Jan '16 11:01:34 PM by Trivialis

No, that is Shinobu to a T. It's the butt of many jokes how bad she is at it when she wants to be a translator.

Alice and Karen's V As really try but they are not good at it at all and HEAVILY accented. That really breaks things, especially since IIRC the manga was pretty good at it.

I think "heavily" is exaggerating a bit. A bit.

I think the main problem is that they're supposed to be native English speakers, so we naturally expect something better than what we got. If they were Japanese characters who learned English, their attempts would be pretty passable.

Also I don't think comparing it to the manga is very fair, since it has the benefit of, well, not being spoken. Therefore, what it has to achieve to be considered an example of Surprisingly Good English isn't a lot compared to anime, which requires good pronunciation and natural-sounding inflection as well as good grammar and non-stilted dialogue.

edited 18th Jan '16 8:51:54 AM by PhysicalStamina

Speaking of which, how is the manga? I've only seen the anime so I don't have anything to compare it to.

It's a Yonkoma so it's pretty different. Far more condensed and rapidfire.

The art though is a lot softer than the anime. The colored pages are far more pastel, Alice and Yuko's hair are must lighter shades of blonde and brown respectively.

edited 18th Jan '16 9:40:04 AM by Memers

x4

There's a difference between being bad at English and being basically oblivious to it. Being bad at English is having poor grammar and choppy, inaccurate pronouciation but being able to string together a few words to sort of express what you want to say. I've seen this quite a bit in non-English TV shows.

Shinobu made almost no effort in communicating with a British family in its native language during her homestay. Contrast that to how much preparation Alice and Karen had before coming to Japan.

As for Alice and Karen's English, by anime standards I consider it above average. I was impressed because it's the best I've heard in a Japanese anime that didn't borrow a different fluent VA just for English lines. It helps that Alice's VA apparently lived in the UK for a while. Sometimes there is noticeable accent in Alice's lines, but IMO those moments actually make her sound more British (otherwise her and her family's English sounds more American but still relatively good).

edited 18th Jan '16 12:47:49 PM by Trivialis

Licensed by Yen Press.

At least they are actually keeping the damn name for once.