Mar 28, 2014
Golden Time is yet another highschool romcom, except this time the setting is a university in Tokyo.
I'll compare it to Toradora! and Henneko especially, since they're from the same studio - J.C. Staff.
Art: 8/10
While it's decent enough, you notice that they didn't have the largest budget for the animation. The drawings look clean and sharp, but faces often lack detail, backgrounds are uninspired and animation is choppy sometimes. While it's not as bad as Bakuman, it's also definitely not on a par with Toradora!, even Henneko had more "soul".
That said these are only minor issues, overall the graphics are the series' strong point.
Sound: 6/10
I was
...
rather disappointed by the series' sound overall. The voices and background music are recorded and mixed properly, but considering that we've got 2014 and good recordings are cheap that's a given.
What's still a challenge even today is actually writing a good song, an area where Golden Time failed utterly. In Toradora I remembered many great pieces, melodies that amplified the mood and drew you in. Henneko, while being less remarkable, still had one or two good tunes. But in Golden Time all I ever heard was boring elevator music; the OP and ED theme lack any hook (like Toradora's "pre parade" or Henneko's "berry love" song).
Character: 5/10
Tada Banri, the main character, is a short, dark haired guy with PTSD. You can see this in his frequent mental breakdowns. He's weak-willed, but instead of being an endearing feature like in other series, it gets old really quick here.
Yanagisawa Mitsuo, short "Yana", is his sidekick and best friend. He is tall, calm and blond-haired.
Nana "Linda" Hayashida is Banri's romantic interest and highschool friend. She is cheerful but somewhat reserved around Banri because of their past, which she won't tell Banri.
Kaga Kouko(/Koko) is a tall, rich yandere and my pet peeve among the cast - she's just annoying, there's little to like about her demeanor and character.
Oka Chinami is your typical short, introverted loli with gloomy eyes (like Yuki Nagato).
All in all the characters don't make you emphathize with them.
Story: 6/10
Golden Time starts off good with a bunch of people finding themselves in a new city at the start of the semester, but takes a nosedive afterwards. There is little romantic tension and struggle. For a romantic comedy, there is way too much "drama", and I put this in quotes because most of the time it seems forced and inauthentic. After many episodes I felt like saying "did anything really happen in this episode except for Banri having yet another meltdown?".
Of course there's the obligatory swimsuit and cultural festival episodes, but they lack any depth like the rest of the story.
The story also doesn't end how you would expect and want it to end (not gonna spoil it).
Enjoyment/Overall: 6/10
I put these categories together since enjoyment is the main reason to watch.
As written above, Golden time lacks spice and could have been so much more if the creators had made Tada Banri less neurotic and replaced his crying with more comedy.
If you're a fan of romcoms or J.C. Staff in general, you can watch it but you won't miss much if you don't.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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