Life moves on but Banri is finding that things are becoming more difficult due to an unseen aggressor.
What They Say:
Banri Tada is a newly admitted student at a private law school in Tokyo. However, due to an accident, he lost all of his memories. During his freshman orientation, he encounters another freshman from the same school, Mitsuo Yanagisawa, and they hit it off at once. Without any memory of each other, their lives become more and more intertwined as if set by the hands of fate. But what is their fate, and will it lead to happiness or another memory to forget…
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
As we go into the second half of the series, Golden time has done a lot of things that I’ve really appreciated. Though there’s some of the potential for trouble there that we saw with Linda, the past and what it means, we’ve also had a lot of great positives in seeing how Banri and Koko have come together. The biggest part of it all that has truly worked and been wonderful to see is the way that they actually take time to talk with each other when there are problems and figure out what it really means. It’s not all don easily or without hardship, but by simply talking we get a lot of great insights into the characters and it’s very easy to connect with them. This is very important when it comes to Koko since she started off in a rough way, but more important with Banri as we get deep into the fears he has about losing who he is now to who he was before.
With this episode, things start off in the first half by giving us the festival event itself with everyone there and all done up in their costumes for it. It’s pretty fun in general with how they’re all done and the kinds of interactions that they hvae with each other that shows the club has come together well. There are a few problems along the way though s Koko is dealing with not feeling quite so well, which makes it a situation that Linda makes clear that Banri has to help with since it’s a boyfriend moment. The small reminders are cute to watch play out since Banri doesn’t always thinks of what he needs to do and there’s definitely some fun in how they all come together in order to get on the same page, fully motivated and raring to go as they get to do the parade itself. And it’s fun to see everything come together well for it and the simple joy and fun that both Banri and Koko seem to be having with it, along with everyone else.
Interestingly, we’re seeing again the small nods that the old Banri, always watching what’s going on, is finding that the new Banri is becoming easier with letting go of his feelings for Linda. And that’s starting to hurt, especially as he sees Banri and Koko together more and more. Which is fun for the viewer as the two spend some time together in a domestic way, complete with apron as she cooks for him, and he gets all excited with how great she looks and how much she’s enjoying playing this part. It’s utterly adorable watching these two together in this way. The ease with which they spend time together, even when it gets comical and amusing because of how she tries to do things for him, is just very pleasing to watch. They don’t get deep into things here in terms of dialogue and feelings, but we do get more and more of their relationship moving forward. Not without a few unfortunate bumps along the way, such as at the end. But seeing Koko intending to deal with it and work through it rather than lashing out like most might do, even in a comical way, helps to cement her as really good to watch.
In Summary:
Golden Time has spent much of the first season working through what Banri was going through when it comes to both Linda and Koko while delving into his own internal struggle. One that he was truly facing all on his own for obvious reasons. But now it looks like the man that he was isn’t going to let him just do away with him and intends to put him through some real problems. That’s starting to play out in Banri’s head more, mentally and physically, which could lead to some really interesting scenes in the future as he copes with what his old self is trying to do. There’s a good struggle to be had here and it’s hard to really pick sides in a way but in the end, it’s going to give us an intriguing character study to watch, both with Banri and with how Koko deals with it too.
Grade: B+
Streamed By: Crunchyroll
Review Equipment:
Sony KDL70R550A 70″ LED 1080P HDTV, Apple TV via HDMI set to 1080p, Onkyo TX-SR605 Receiver and Panasonic SB-TP20S Multi-Channel Speaker System With 100-Watt Subwoofer.
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