I'm torn on this series. On one hand, it depicts very potent emotional themes and shows the messiness of navigating relationships. However, on the other hand, it suffers from such awful writing and most of the cast is bland and uninteresting.
I went into Golden Time blind, and when they revealed the MC has amnesia, I actually thought the show was joking, unfortunately, it wasn't a joke. The entire amnesia part of the show just felt like the writer threw it in to add a convenient means as to why the MC is emotionally torn between who he likes, and even though the premise of the entire show leans on the MC having amnesia, I feel as though the series would've been much better without it. There wasn't a single time where it didn't feel like a cop-out.
Even without the amnesia, the MC is about as smart as a pile of bricks and is void of any personality besides the generic anime MC troupes. There's a point where he feels his family and friends back home look at him differently because he isn't the same as he used to be before the amnesia... except he literally just is. When they show flashbacks, it's pretty easy to see that even pre-amnesia the MC was the same bland protagonist he was from the start of the show. There was also some business about the pre-amnesia MC's consciousness trying to regain and take control again until everyone gets into a car accident and then the pre-amnesia MC's consciousness somehow blames himself and chills out after...? ok then.
However, this show's strength definitely relies on the audience having experienced a lot of what the MC does. Things like trying to move on from your ex, rejection, heartbreak, and so on. This show dug up a lot of old emotions and made me re-experience them through the actions of the MC and other cast members. Golden Time made me feel a lot more than most other anime I've seen and perhaps might be worth the watch if you've had similar experiences, despite its many, MANY troupey flaws.
