Final thoughts: 2D-kun MVP, and Golden Time is.... hard to say for certain, but with all their different strengths and weaknesses, comes out to be about on par with Toradora.
First off let's get the ending out of the way. I did say I was hoping for a bittersweet ending where Banri remains as his old self, forgetting Kouko and all the others, but this more generic predictable ending wasn't so bad. I was genuinely happy seeing Banri running after Kouko. How did his post-amnesia self return? Idfk, the power of love I guess. I still think it's weird how it either has to be his past self or his present self, and he can't simply recover his past memories and have both. Maybe I don't understand how the brain works, or maybe this show doesn't either. Maybe it would just be too convenient of an ending. Well however it was done, Linda shows up inside Banri's mind somehow and responds to old Banri with a "yes" after so long, which seems like was all that was needed for past Banri to finally shut up and go away. Banri now remains as his post-amnesia self and embraces Kouko and gives her the ring which he recovered.... somehow. And yeah we get a happy ending. Too fast though if you ask me. He loses his present memories, goes back home, then regains his memories after Kouko visits him, and he returns back to Tokyo as the Banri we knew all season- all in one episode. It didn't NEED more time, but I think it needed like another episode for things to play out just a little more smoothly, you know?
Anyway, on to the show itself and how I compare it to Toradora, which is the title far more people are familiar with from this same writer at being like well over twice as popular than Golden Time here on MAL. Not to say that Golden Time isn't popular, it's just about to break 1m users here at this time, it's like 200 members away I think right now. But Toradora is clearly the more known title of Takemiya's works, and for good reason I believe. If you watch and know a lot of anime rom-coms and compare this to those, Golden Time is a breath of fresh air. Simply put, we actually get to see the actual relationships between characters rather than waiting for the very end for their feelings to be known to each other. Before we go on, I'm saying this only because most anime rom-coms are just there for fun or to drag things out to the end where MAYBE something will happen. Maybe I'm wrong in comparing it to those, because Golden Time, while having its rom-com aspect, is also very much a drama. But then again, it's arguable to say that so is Toradora, so let's get to that.
Won't spoil Toradora here, even though if you're watching Golden Time you most likely have watched it already, but I'll still refrain from spoilers. If I do need to mention something, spoiler tag I guess. But I won't be too too long, just some quick thoughts on the comparison between the two. Mild spoiler, but the majority of Toradora is just spent with characters hanging out with each other, but not being clear or genuine with their feelings of others. Sometimes things are known, but it is rare, as far as I can remember. I'll admit it has been awhile, I watched Toradora at like the start of covid in early 2020, and I'm sure was among my first 20 if not 10 anime. Anyway, I can't blame characters for acting that way, because, that's how people are, and that can especially be the case for highschoolers, which, Toradora is of course one of your typical highschool rom-com. Although maybe not so typical despite its popularity, because it does have a rather strong drama aspect to it, it's not just all fun and games, rainbows and flowers and fun goofy times. But when you take the drama aspect of both these shows and compare them, Golden Time is far, far stronger. Why? Because well, they start dating close to the start of the show. We get to see how their relationship develops and progresses from AFTER they let their feelings made known to each other. Maybe it's not the deepest thing in the world, but Banri and Kouko's relationship is fleshed out to a considerable degree, as is his and Linda's, clearly seen in the number of outbursts that occur throughout the show. And that's where the difference lies: while in Toradora we're waiting for people to confess and just say the obvious already, Golden Time is like "been there done that", and is quickly moving on to more pressing matters, and that is Banri's condition and how it is testing his relationship with not just Kouko but with everyone else. There's not a lot of down time here. Sure there are some parts that do not necessarily progress the plot, but there are there still to flesh out characters and are by no means completely unnecessary. Things happen in every episode. The same can be said for Toradora (I think? Again, been a long time), but since relationships have NOT started and are all just pre-confession relationships, the running time has to be padded with other stuff, and I think when comparing the two, Toradora has more than you can easily and safely cut out as compared to Golden Time (have to reiterate again, been a while, maybe I'm wrong and my memory fails me. Maybe a re-watch is due). It's by no means as bad as other rom-coms where NOTHING happens and the only thing that matters is in the first and last episodes. But if Toradora has a beach episode, it's probably just going to be, well, a beach episode, whereas Golden Time's 'beach" episode (the one where it starts raining, and everything goes wrong), is used to expand and deepen the writing of our characters. In that specific case, it was adding character to that of Kouko and revealing the troubles she has in her own mind after she falls asleep and crashes the car, and feels guilty for it all. Don't really want to ramble on longer, but basically, Golden Time's biggest strength is getting sh*t done in terms of fleshing out characters and their relationships with others- something that can't be said for most other in this genre, probably.
Does it all come together nicely? Idk, have to think about that one some more, maybe a good analysis video or two if there are some would help. It's really about the two Banri's fighting for dominance, Past Banri of course wanting to revert to his life that he knew with Linda, and present wanting to keep all that he had made in the past year and half and to remain happy with Kouko, and then with all that entails, relationships with friends and all. What should he do in such a situation? It was actually scary when you think about it, how he could lose himself no matter what happens, one side of him will die and with it a whole life. But ultimately it all comes down to him being able to cut off his past and be with Kouko now and forever. Was the journey to this point hard-fought and well-earned, or did none of that matter and it was just from random chance that present Banri came out on top? Could you have deleted the whole show, simply flipped a coin to see which Banri would win, and call it a day? Maybe, but actually no. THE REAL BANRIS AND KOUKOS AND LINDAS WERE THE GOLDEN TIMES WE MADE ALONG THE WAY. I'm just saying while it's not an entirely well-planned and cohesive narrative, it doesn't really matter, it's more about the journey in this case, and these 24 episodes felt shorter than 24 episodes, so it was a good journey. Things happen that don't go as planned, but in the end, love prevails. For Kouko and Banri. For Linda, she lost the side of Banri that she loved. Or did she actually love him? I still don't fking know. That "yes" could've mean anything. I'm inclined to believe that Linda had always seen him as just a good friend and nothing more. So in a way, it's a good thing that past Banri died, because that ship with Linda would've gone nowhere. Yeah idk if this is as deep as I'm thinking it to be, but it's still good. I am satisfied, I think, but am left wanting just a little bit more of a punch to the gut than what we got. On that note I gotta say that Toradora does hit harder overall somehow. Maybe it's because of the build up to the final episode, us just waiting in anticipation. It has fewer outburst scenes, but when they happen, the hit hard- and I do remember that I was impacted more by those than by those here in Golden Time. Which, do occur more, but that's not what is not makes them at a lower level. They seem to be written well, like they aren't just spewing out nonsense, but things that actually matter to the show. That said... they kind of just happen, and then the next moment everyone's just chilling and laughing it off even. In Toradora, someone has a breakdown, and you feel it for the next few minutes. And yeah, now that I think about it, despite Golden Time's characters being more mature, in relationships, in college, and just older..... they kind of seem more like comic book characters compared to Toradora, where, they feel more real. Maybe I'm just tripping but Toradora's characters felt more like real characters, even when you have a tsundere loli as your main lead. Fk I'm going on for too long again.... I'll just say that:
I appreciated that Golden Time took time to focus on the relationships between characters when most other rom-coms pad that time with nonsense. But while appearing more mature, comparing it to Toradora, I connected with Toradora's characters more, which felt more real to me. Again, maybe a re-watch is due. I think Toradora's ending was more rewarding, just a little bit more. Ending the comparison though, they have different strengths and weaknesses, and like I said before, come out to being just about on par with each other. I'll give Golden Time either a high-6 or a low-7. I did enjoy it, episodes did not drag at all, and there was never a time where I downright disliked it, which is something I can't say for Toradora. I liked Golden Time from start to finish, I was hoping for a more bittersweet ending or just one with more impact overall, maybe an additional episode to smooth things out, but this was still good. I am satisfied for the most part, so maybe I'll give it that 7.
7.3/10
edit: also to the odd soul that stumbles across this, I do not mean for anyone to read such walls of text. They're just here because I wanna put my thoughts down somewhere, that's all. Anyway, cya 'round. |