When I first heard about Golden Time, I was really excited. Being a huge fan of Romance, I had high expectations. I thought I finally found a great Romance Anime in a long time. But unfortunately, that didn't happen. What I got was totally different.
Story(1/10): Story starts with our male protagonist Tada Banri entering a law school and having a chance meeting with the female lead, Kaga Koko. It's not a love at first sight sorta thing, since Kaga's in love with Mitsuo, her childhood friend. But one thing leads to another and he doesn't accept her feelings and in turn, Banri has feelings for Koko. The story's main plot device is Banri's amnesia, which makes for horrible horrible time for viewers. There's also a love triangle which left a bad taste in my mouth. The other love interest is Linda, the girl Banri loved before he had amnesia. The Anime has every single Romance cliche in the book and abuses them till it feels like you're probably gonna pass out from the stupidity of it all.It has random moments of melodrama that are there just for the sake of being there. They make no sense whatsoever and just move the already wafer-thin plot along. It's sad, since the starting few episodes were actually good. But then the story pretty much went to hell along with my enjoyment. I was seriously half asleep for most of the Anime since I really didn't find anything enjoyable in it.The story had infinite cringe worthy moments that I really didn't know what to make of. But honestly, the worst part was definitely the romance. In a ROMANCE Anime, having ruined the main element, it's obvious that it's gonna be a huge pile of garbage. Finally, the ending. Oh god, the ending. I would've forgiven the Anime if it had atleast ended in a logical way. But NO! The Anime pretty much says ''Screw you!'' and gives one of the worst endings I've ever seen in an Anime. It's stupid, it makes no sense, it pissed me off so much. The story made me facepalm so many times, that I lost count.
Art(4/10): The animation's the only place where I can atleast say something positive about this Anime. The characters look good. The surroundings are coloured with a varied palette and look nice. Still, the animation isn't something to write home about.
Sound(3/10): Nothing much to say. Generic romance soundtracks from start to finish. Voice acting was decent, they felt believable. Opening and Endings are what you expect, and I got tired of them very soon. Overall, pretty bland and tasteless.
Characters(1/10): Now, this is the part of the Anime which I hated the most. I'll start off with Banri. He has two personalities. One before he had Amnesia and one after. Both of them are boring as hell and felt lifeless, especially his past self. The fact that his past self was a ghost(yes, I know, it's ridiculous) that even said he'd ''take over'' the current Banri was SO bad, I couldn't help but laugh and feel sad at the same time. Now we get on to Kaga Koko. In my honest opinion, she is the worst female character I've seen in an Anime by a long shot. In the first few episodes, they seemed nice and I thought I'd like her. But oh boy, I was so wrong. I honestly don't have anything positive to say about her. Everything from her absolutely horrible personality to her quick jump to conclusions without even using her brain, they all pissed me off so much. Her meaningless relationship with Banri infuriated me to no end. I mean, seriously, how can someone be SUCH a huge piece of shit? She's a stalker, she's repulsive, she never listens to anyone and has frequent mood swings, much to the dismay of people around her. She doesn't really even care what happens to people other than herself. The couple of Tada and Koko is there just for show. Their interactions are mundane and feel plastic. There isn't any hint of a real relationship between two adults.
Now, to the ''supporting'' cast. They get hardly any back story, nor character development.
Hardly any of them has any memorable scenes, especially Mitsuo who I thought would play a big role in the Anime. Then there's the girl who Mitsuo liked but she barely had any development so I don't really have much to say. And then there's the guy who's eternally called 2D-kun and stays out for most of the duration of the Anime, except in the last episode or two. The ONLY reason I'm giving a single score to character is all cause of Linda. She's the diamond among the pile of coal, so to say. She's actually likable! And she has a real personality too! I really wanted her and Banri to end up together, but yeah, that didn't happen. Also, the relationship between her and Banri was hollow. On multiple occasions, it was to be assumed that she had feelings for Banri. When he asked her if she did like him or not(before he had amnesia), she took way to long to give a reply. And even in the end, I wasn't really sure if she actually confessed her feelings to him or not, which really annoyed me. Overall, the characters are horrible and not memorable one bit. They're probably the worst cast of characters I've seen.
Overall(3/10): This Anime is an insult to Romance fans everywhere. Watching it took all I had and it tested my patience to the limit. I still can't believe the story's by the same person who wrote Toradora. This Anime is an example of a Romance Anime done entirely wrong. I've never been this disappointed in an Anime before. It really fails everywhere. I really wish I could get the time which I wasted on Golden Time back. So, I recommend that people stay far away from this monstrosity.
