Not long ago, Oomiya Shinobu was waiting for her friend Alice Cartelet to arrive from England to start high school with her in Japan. Now they are already in the last third grade. During this time, Alice, Shinobu, Karen, Aya and Youko have become best friends. Since this is their final year, it means they will spend their last moments with each other on a school trip to Nara and Kyoto for students in their graduating class, after which it will be time to prepare for college exams.

Kiniro Mosaic: Thank You (2021) – Audiovisual design

Visuals

Studio Gokumi, in collaboration with AXsiZ, is again responsible for the animation. However, the director has changed instead. Previously it was Tanaka Motoki, here it is Nawa Munenori. The style, animation type and backgrounds are also unchanged. Kiniro Mosaic: Thank You looks almost identical to previous installments. Nice pastel colors, pleasant character design and quite dynamic animation of emotions.

Audio

It’s not hard to guess that the entire legendary cast of voice actresses from previous seasons who make up the Rhodanthe＊ unit are returning. Thank You for Your Smile, the song from the closing credits as performed by them, is simply a masterpiece. Once again, I can’t get out of my awe at how perfectly Touyama Nao played the role of Kujou Karen. She’s my favorite Kiniro Mosaic character. Besides, she wasn’t the only one. It was really nice to hear the whole cast again.

Kiniro Mosaic: Thank You (2021) – Plot and Characters

Introduction

Not counting the special episode released in 2016, it’s been seven years since the second season premiered. That’s a really big chunk of time. Therefore, I was looking forward to the continuation of one of my favorite slice-of-life titles. Especially since this is the closure of the story.

A quick look at the plot and characters

The movie depicts the final year in high school of Shinobu, Alice, Karen, Youko and Yui. It covers, among other things, a school trip to Kyoto and Nara, and the girls’ preparations for college exams. You can see some changes in the personalities of the characters. But it’s still the same good old pack of friends. In fact, throughout the entire film, the smile never left my face. Many of the presented situations made me laugh to tears.

However, I have the impression that the events shown in the film would have worked out much better as a third season. Throughout the screening, I had a feeling that the series, which I remember from the slow pace, allowing me to relax as much as possible, was now rushing at the speed of a shinkansen. Many scenes had fairly quick cuts. Such cuts, of course, occurred in the two seasons. But they were usually implemented within the events following immediately after each other. The time gaps sometimes blurred quite a bit, as did the location of the action of the events in question. I understand that a lot of material had to be packed into a little over an hour’s worth of material. Unfortunately, this made the dynamics and overall atmosphere of the series suffer a bit.

Other remarks

The film covers the entire story presented in the source material (manga). I would love to see a sequel, where it would depict how the characters are doing in college. I don’t think there’s much hope for that. This does not change the fact that I am extremely pleased that this manga got a full adaptation. Such a good adaptation.

Evaluation and summary

Fans of Kiniro Mosaic probably don’t need convincing to watch. They, like me, probably waited impatiently for the opportunity to watch it. To everyone else, I recommend getting acquainted with the first season. I believe that it is one of the best titles to start the adventure with CGDCT themed series. It would certainly be higher if it weren’t for the fact that the creators rushed the storyline so much.

Finalny werdykt

Final evaluation

Which translation do I recommend to watch Kiniro Mosaic: Thank You (2021)

• Pasokon – simply a very good translation. Some interesting notes (useful for newcomers). Preserved a lot of cultural elements (after all, Kiniro Mosaic uses them as a main theme from the very beginning). I can’t complain about basically anything.

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