Golden Boy is an episodic show with only one constant and that is our main man Kintaro Oe. Apart from the last episode, you’ll never see any other character twice in the show. The show follows a simple formula. Kintaro finds a job at a new place. He tries his best to learn the ins and outs of the work. He gets into a bit of trouble. He ends up doing something that impresses the woman who had resented him for whatever he had done previously. Said woman falls in love with him, but by that time, it’s too late. He’s usually off to find his next job.
I suppose the main draw of this show is the rather perverted sense of humour. There is a bit of nudity and sexual things happening in the show. How Golden Boy distinguishes itself from others of its ilk is that Kintaro is generally quite innocent. Yes, he’s perverted, but he never does anything to harm any of the women he’s attracted to and he genuinely wants to help them. This gets him into all sorts of trouble and I have to bring up Doug Smith again for providing a hilarious dub. The stuff he says is all sorts of ridiculous, but it’s the exaggerated delivery which brings the hilarity to a whole new level.
The animation in Golden Boy is really damn good to be perfectly frank. There is a lot of fluid movement that looks pretty natural. It also has that charming 90s look with some of the character’s faces. Though speaking of faces, the women in this show are actually really attractive. A lot of the time in other shows, to know if a particular female is attractive or not, we’re told by other characters. I guess the same happens here, but you can tell off the bat because they really are. Generally speaking, the art is just solid all around. Environments and all aren't too important in this show, but they're certainly competent. In terms of soundtrack, I don’t think anything in particular stands out, but it’s not like we really need anything to in a comedy series.
What really works in Golden Boy’s favour is that it is relatable, at least as a guy. Of course we’re not all going to sniff toilets that a hot girl has sat on, but as guys, it’s not always easy dealing with attractive girls. It’s not only that, but sometimes, the best of intentions might get you into some real trouble. Unfortunately, we’re not going to be able to attract girls in the way that Kintaro does, but I suppose Kintaro is kinda meant to be one of those characters that we aspire to be. He’s realistic enough, but he has just that little bit more oomph that makes his abilities just out of our reach. In this sense, he’s kinda like GTO’s Onizuka. His solutions aren’t always things we can do in real life, but damn is it entertaining to see ridiculous solutions put into practice in a realistic world.
As a whole, Golden Boy is a solid product. At only 6 episodes, it’s not even going to waste much of your time even if you don’t like it. But for everyone else, especially guys out there, it’s a good way to spend an afternoon. Just make sure your parents aren’t watching your computer screen or can hear your speakers while you’re watching this show and you’ll be good!
