Kinmoza Complete Season 1 Blu-ray/DVD Combo
Released By: Animatsu
Rating: 12
Running Time: 300 Mins
Audio: Japanese with English subs
Due Out: 9/10/2017
Reviewed By: Sandra Scholes
Shinobu Omiya is a normal high school girl who has friends and enjoys her life at school until one day she goes to London, England to live with a host family who shows her what English life is all about - there she meets Alice Cartelet and gets a friend for life.
While living in London, Shinobu enjoys her stay, but finds how different Japanese life is from English, the customs being so different, yet to her so foreign. Alice's family allow her to wander the house in shoes, whereas in Japan outdoor shoes are left outside; the living room is different, the bath is too and even the food, though Shinobu won't have it any other way, she likes having her new foreign friend and misses the time when she will have to return home.
The customs she has grown up with are not the same as in England. For instance Shinobu has the urge to take off her shoes at the door, and the mother encourages her to keep them on when she enters the house. Everything feels so new to her but she fits right in and makes friends with Alice after some initial shyness.
There is always the letters they will send each other, but what Shinobu doesn't realise until she is at school is Alice has already arrived at her school and is interacting with her friends. As Shinobu wanted to learn English, Alice has already been picking up bits of Japanese and amazes her friends with how quick she has learned the phrases. Shinobu is amazed at seeing her, and feels separated from her friend no more - encouraging her friends to talk to her and engage with her as she is also in her class. There Alice finds that having blonde hair can cause a stir as most Japanese girls are dark-haired, and for a girl to want coloured hair can cause problems with the sort of conformity Japanese school girls have to adhere to. It isn't long before Shinobu's friends Aya and Yoko notice that Alice has become a part of her life they become quite jealous that she spends so much time with her.
For those who have only just started to get into anime and all things Japanese at a young age, this is designed with you in mind as it explores the cultural differences between the two. Kinmoza is a slice of life school drama where an English girl gets to see what it is like to live in Japan. Alice, they find has learned Japanese, but English has been hard for Shinobu to learn. Kinmoza was based on the manga Kin-iro Mosaic by Yui Hara and has become a 12 episode anime series. Some of the well known characters have also been used in a game called Miracle Girls Festival for the PlayStation Vita. As a seinen anime, it is for girls who are interested in school life and what it represents.
Bonus Material: Also Available from Sentai Filmworks; From the New World, Yuyushiki, Uta no Prince Sama 1000%, Mayo Chiki, Fate/Kaleid Liner Prisma Illya & Fantastic Doll and Disc Credits.
Summary: The story is fresh, cuter than I could have imagined without it being overdone. There is much sincerity about the story and its characters and even when things go wrong for Shinobu, she still keeps her happy outlook.
