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)
With Banri and Koko having managed to get a bit closer in a friendly way since things have settled down a bit with the ongoing drama regarding Mitsuo, it’s been fun to watch the change in just a couple of episodes as everyone attempts to at least act a little older. The shift to college and more independence can have a very liberating effect to be sure, but it can also allow people to take a bit more responsibility as well depending on who they are. So while Mitsuo is a bit more out of the picture at the moment, we get to see how Koko and Banri are getting along, which includes them going on a club trip at a university seminar location off campus. Unfortunately, it doesn’t quite go like that as they end up getting quietly taken to a religious style cult location to be introduced to the world proper for a few days.
While this can turn into a pretty bad thing, it actually turns into a pretty weird thing as it goes along as the group pretty much manages to escape and get out of it, but Banri offers to stay since it’ll get him away from everyone for awhile and it’ll let the others escape as well. Having a willing person join the group works better for them and they can make their “quota”, as they say. While Banri is ready to be the sacrifice for awhile, it gets a bit messed up with Koko ends up staying as well so it requires him trying to get her out of there as well before things get bad. Banri’s way of dealing with it all initially is amusing since plays the part of a very interested participant only to switch to an escapee status a few minutes later.
The two of them get to spend some good time together in the woods, which sounds worse than it is, because they actually talk about their issues and problems and some of their feelings. Koko in particular is humanized a bit more here as she talks about how lonely she feels at college since so many people ignore her, but she also talks about how she feels utterly complete with Mitsuo, hence her need to really be with him even if he’s rejected her. Banri gets a bit of material as well, but as Koko goes on, he gets drawn more into her story, which she’s all too happy to share even with the pain involved. Banri does talk a bit about his problem, which is certainly different, with the memory loss he has but the way there’s a sense that some of it is trying to surface but is still out of reach. The honest way he talks about it is something that reaches to her and you can see the further softening of the relationship between them, something that can come easily when you simply talk and reveal things about yourself.
In Summary:
Golden Time has a bit of an awkward episode here, at least in the first half, as the gang of kids thinks they’re going to a seminar but actually get caught up in a bit of a cult. Banri does figure it out fairly quickly – most of them do but are unsure of what to do for politeness’ sake – and orchestrates a way to get everyone out of the situation. Koko’s meddling makes it a bit more difficult overall, but it also leads to a situation where the two of them get to do some really extensive bit of talking about themselves and that helps to really allow both of them to be understood more and a lot more interesting, especially when it comes to Koko. The first blush interpretation of her has certainly changed since the first episode and each new piece brings in more pieces to her particular puzzle.
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.
