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| Overall | Art | Animation | Character Design | Music | Series Story | Episode Story | Reviewer | |
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| Rent | 7 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 7 |
 Ggultra2764
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[series:2786#1552] |
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(Rent-/ Watch+) Have some rather mixed thoughts on this one. Golden Time is a romantic dramedy focused around our male lead Banri entering a law school to get caught up in some antics involving another student named Mitsuo and his rather aggressive childhood friend Kouko, who has an requited love interest in him. Banri winds up becoming acquainted with Kouko throughout the series and their relationship gradually develops into a romantic one. I guess I'll get into what I liked about this baby first. Kouko made for a rather fun character to see thanks to her varying moods throughout the series and was shown to undergo a gradual amount of development with her character as she came to realize the challenges she faced in the relationships she developed with other characters. The series rather believably explores the development of Banri and Kouko's gradual relationship as they start dating and both come to learn the ins and outs of being a couple such as developing trust and commitment toward one another. I was actually enjoying this aspect to the series rather well up to its second half and many of the show's comedy scenes delivered well for the most part, particularly those with "Nana-sempai" who is an obvious expy of the punk rocker character from josei series Nana. Unfortunately, there is one major aspect of the show's plot that deters its quality to a good extent and this comes from an aspect of Banri's character in that he has amnesia. Amnesia has been a rather convenient plot device milked in live-action and animated dramas with varying levels of quality and emotional connection since aspects of the medical condition are often not portrayed believably. This story element does have its potential at first as Banri struggles with old feelings he has for Karen, a classmate he knew from high school and attending the same law school as him and who occasionally has him experience relapses of recalling times with her before his accident. However, the way that amnesia works in Golden Time is a bit on the absurd side with a ghost-like manifestation of Banri seen throughout the series representing the memories he lost in his accident whom tries sabotaging the life of his current persona in a way similar to the ghostly old flame from Natsuyuki Rendezvous, only way more angsty compared to the present persona portrayed by Banri. This has the unfortunate side effect of causing the quality of Golden Time's second half to tank quite a bit as the plot becomes more fixated on the absurd direction that Banri's amnesia is taking him and putting strains in the relationships he establishes with Kouko and his law school friends throughout the course of the series, becoming a rather intrusive and unnecessary form of drama due to how poorly believable it is. The way things get wrapped up at the end of the series with the amnesia storyline is lazy and way too convenient with how things get resolved. So pretty much, I'm kind of mixed in my reception toward Golden Time. The romance and comedy deliver well for the most part as I enjoyed the believable development of Banri and Kouko's relationship. Unfortunately, the drama delivered through Banri's amnesia borders on absurd and I was dumbfounded that the creators of the series incorporated the story element in the way they did. I'm rather disappointed in that element of the series as it otherwise was a good rom-com with what it offered up beyond the amnesia gimmick. Last updated Sunday, February 22 2015. Created Sunday, February 22 2015. | ||||||||
| Unevaluated |
 Devil Doll
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[series:2786#752] | ||||||
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The key to success for this series will be whether it remains a romantic comedy or develops true romance. I am willing to try watching this show for that chance alone, given it has none of the usual dead weight from the fantasy or supernatural department.
Last updated Sunday, October 13 2013. Created Sunday, October 13 2013. | ||||||||
| Unevaluated |
 Stretch
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[series:2786#628] | ||||||
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(Four episodes watched): After watching episode one I thought to myself, well, this could have been much worse. A batty, domineering girl who hounds a guy is a little unusual; it's too soon to say how far this show will take the concept, and whether there will be wit and quality or it will take on a fingernails-on-chalkboard tone. I was sure that Kouko would shift her attention to Tada, since he's the main character after all, but there was no sign of it yet. that seemed like a good sign, since her casting off what has been portrayed as an unhealthy obsession at the drop of a hat would be unrealistic and hard to take seriously. Tada meets a couple of girls and while the show wasn't terribly funny I'm curious about how his college life will go. Something about the wackiness of the club recruitment scene seemed out of step with the believable tone of the remainder of the series. But I was under the impression that this show had already gotten very poor reviews, so I was pleasantly surprised to find that so far it seemed to hold my interest fairly well. I had little idea where it would go from here, but for the time being I'd watch. Episode two sent about the same signal as number one, but episode three was confusing and disappointing. The strange predicament that Tada and Kaga find themselves in didn't make much sense; is this an attempt to jumpstart a romance between these two via a 'traumatic' experience? The OP sequence makes it clear that that will happen before too long. Tada's amnesia seems like a thoroughly lame attempt to avoid having to give him much of a personality. The episode left me feeling that perhaps this show isn't going to be all that clever after all, and maybe I should drop it. During episode four I realized what had happened and why it bugged me: this was no longer a comedy about a wacky girl who is obsessed with a certain guy, no, it has become a serious romantic drama. But a comedy is the only way that such a messed-up person could be handled in a way that I might find entertaining. Was a single joke told during the entire episode? If so, I didn't remember it at the end. I don't want to watch a serious romantic drama in which the protagonists are a bitch and a memory-less guy, since I'm not seeing much sign of those characteristics being handled in an interesting manner. The realization of what had happened gave me a definitive answer to the question of whether I should continue watching Golden Time; and the answer was no. Last updated Thursday, November 14 2013. Created Monday, October 07 2013. | ||||||||
Other Sites
| Name | URL |
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| Official Japanese Series Web Site | http://golden-time.jp/ |
