1887: Fading Gold

Finished watching the romance anime Golden Time today. It was a quiet day, so I marathoned the last few episodes — though at a little over 20 minutes apiece, it wasn’t really much of a “marathon”, I guess. Still, I have now watched the entire series and feel a little more qualified to comment on the whole thing.

I enjoyed it a lot overall. Its biggest strengths come from its more unconventional characteristics: a protagonist (Banri) that’s a little more fleshed out than your average self-insert leading man found in a lot of other romantic anime and visual novels; a heroine (Koko) who, although certainly physically attractive, is presented from the outset to be a little, to put it politely, “difficult” (and consequently, perhaps, to some, a little less desirable than she perhaps might have otherwise been); an amnesia backstory that isn’t used as a crutch for the whole show, but instead as an interesting source of conflict; and a fast-moving, pacy plot in which something of significance happens in every episode.

The last few episodes do meander a bit more than those that had come previously, as it becomes time to finally resolve the amnesia plot. The meandering comes from said plot being wrapped up fairly comprehensively, however; the payoff is very much worth it, with some emotional final scenes and a satisfying conclusion to the whole run that gives everything a pleasing sense of closure.

I wasn’t quite sure what to expect from the end, as it happened. The tone of the show is interesting; comedic one minute, very serious the next. It’s effective in making the situations depicted feel fairly down to earth and realistic, and a probably intentional side effect was that I spent the entire run wondering if things would end neatly or very, very badly, because there was the potential for it to go either way right up until the last moments. You’ve probably already inferred which way it went from my comments above, but just in case you haven’t, I’ll refrain from spoiling how it all ends for now.

There are some great side characters supporting the main cast. Protagonist Banri’s childhood friend Linda is a very likeable “other woman” throughout, for example, but the potential angst she could have generated is kept on a tight leash: it’s explored, and features a number of touching scenes (and one surprisingly sexy one), but it doesn’t force the show into a cliched love triangle situation. Instead, Linda is depicted as an interesting, sympathetic character in her own right who plays her role in the story of Banri and Koko’s love without derailing it.

Probably the highlight of the supporting cast is “2D-kun”, though. Initially introduced as the stereotypical glasses-wearing otaku character, 2D-kun repeatedly proves himself throughout the series to be a true friend for Banri, as well as exhibiting considerably more character depth than the usual “hurr, hurr, I like 2D girls” this type of character is often limited to. Indeed, he plays an absolutely crucial role in the final moments of the series, and his contribution here makes him a worthwhile — and, judging by comments on Crunchyroll, beloved — addition to the cast.

Overall, I enjoyed it a great deal, then, and thoroughly recommend it to anyone looking for an enjoyable anime series with interesting, realistically flawed characters and a somewhat unconventional take on the usual romance formula. Well worth your time.