As you might guess from the cover, this volume starts around the winter holidays. New Year’s, Valentine’s Day, you know the drill. But whether Shino and her friends are celebrating Christmas or are just hanging out at school and are concerned about Youko’s straight man comedy powers, author Yui Hara makes this the best volume of Kiniro Mosaic so far.
I didn’t think it would be this good in the beginning. The girls end up going to a bathhouse, a prime fanservice location ripe for the chest jokes. But my fears were laid to rest as everyone imagines Youko bathing like a junglewoman, and Aya becomes too embarrassed to get out. There’s even the first of a few fourth-wall jokes as she worries Youko is going to get out before the mosaics are up. (This is extra funny considering the title of the series.)
From then on, almost every character we’ve met in the manga gets a moment in the spotlight, and even a couple of new ones are introduced. (I won’t reveal who they are, as it’s a surprise for even the characters in the story.) I really like how Hara concentrates on the main four — five if you count Honoka now — but brings in the secondary characters just enough to get some different comedy dynamics.
Youko’s little siblings, for instance, have a habit of being pranksters or being blunt, but even they start feeling a little guilty after “convincing” Karen to buy their groceries. Shino’s clothes are getting tight, and it’s only the nonathletic Karasuma who is excited about exercising. I guess if you want to get technical, Aya probably got the least amount of screentime among the core characters, but it’s not like she was pushed aside. More comedy manga should find this balance between the primary and secondary cast.
But don’t worry if you’re a fan of all the crushes and doting; Shino and Alice continue their extreme behavior, and Aya still does a bad job of hiding her crush on Youko. However, the cultural jokes are mostly being replaced with the irony of foreigners knowing more about Japan than Shino. The Japanese-heavy flavor of the manga is still strong, but veteran anime and manga readers probably already know about manzai comedy, and if they don’t, there are plenty of translator’s notes available at the end of the volume.
Art fans aren’t left out of the fun either. Shino’s costume designs look great on her and Alice, and the yuri fans will love all the glomping. Again, because Kiniro Mosaic is starting to rely less on mistranslations and misunderstandings, the visuals become even more important for laughs. The 4-koma panels are still well-laid out, and the opening color pages still make other manga volumes jealous.
In short, you don’t need to have Karen’s level of hyperness to have a good time. Just grab Kiniro Mosaic Volume 6.