Golden Time
My Ranking: 6
Aired: Oct 4, 2013 to Mar 28, 2014
Adapted From: Golden Time Light Novel
Author: Takemiya, Yuyuko
Genre Tags: Comedy, Romance, Slice of Life, Supernatural
Seasons/Episodes: 24
Synopsis: Tada Banri, a newly admitted student at a private law school in Tokyo, found himself completely lost after the opening ceremony, trying to find his way to the freshman orientation. At that moment, he ran into another lost freshman from the same school, Yanagisawa Mitsuo, and they hit it off at once. Somehow arriving at their intended goal just on time, there appeared in front of the two a beautiful girl holding a bouquet of roses. The girl then whacked Mitsuo across the face with the bouquet and handed the flowers over to him. “Freshman, congratulations,” was all she said, and then left. The stylish, well dressed, perfect woman that had swung at Mitsuo was his childhood friend, Kaga Kouko. As children they had promised to marry each other one day, fulfilling their dreams. In order to escape from her, Mitsuo had gone out secretly and taken the examination for this well known private college, but now she showed up in the freshman orientation hall. She too had taken the law school entrance examination, catching up with him there.
Plot Rating: 9/10
Character Development Rating: 9/10
Progression Rating: 9/10
Animation Rating: 9/10
Conclusion Rating: 9/10
Overall Rating: 9.0/10
Should You Watch: Yes, especially if you want a mature, college set anime for a change.
General Comments: I really loved this anime! To start, I loved the fact that the plot revolved around a college setting as opposed to the overdone high school setting. It may be because it’s set in a stage that I can relate to so well, being I am 22 and am experiencing higher education student life, but the maturity of the plot as well as the characters resonated quite well with me. The conflicts and events that played out were masterfully portrayed in mature and realistic ways, so much so that I could feel the emotions like I was experiencing them myself. The slight supernatural element also gave the story a unique element, that sets it apart from other current anime of similar genre, however, the end is slightly predictable and a bit confusing, which is the only reason why plot didn’t get a 10. The characters were developed quite well, particularly the main protagonist, but the supporting characters were slightly lacking, hence the 9. I really loved how realistic they were with the difficulties of being in a relationship when one or both of the pair have a complicated past, but the characters had enough maturity to deal with those conflicts in a more adult manner. The animation was very crisp, clean and enjoyable, but nothing super groundbreaking, so 9 is sufficient. The progression of the story flowed quite well and the relationships progressed and hit road blocks at a natural pace. The conclusion as I said was a bit predictable, however what made it better is the way it got to the end was not quite what you expected to happen. However, there was a brief scene in the final episode that generally had everyone scratching their heads, but it wasn’t enough to detract from the final conclusion, which ended satisfactorily. Overall, this is an anime that mustn’t be missed, especially if your a fan of Toradora, who is by the same author. It’s a breath of fresh air in the genre and will make you laugh, cry and smile all the way through.
Favorite Opening:
Demonstration Scene: