I feel ya Mitsuo; I feel ya.
The thing about Golden Time is that knowing that the source material came from the same person who did Toradora!, a series near and dear to my heart, I was pretty pumped for this. Alsas, having now watched the episode twice in the hopes of having it grow on me, I’m not nearly as smitten.
The episode’s story is relatively simple and goes through the motions of introducing the people we will presumably be seeing on a regular basis, as well as setting up the bare bones for the romance. Banri Tada, a first year law student, has a spot of luck when he makes quick friends with fellow student Mitsuo Yanagisawa following a bad start in which he is late to his university’s opening ceremony. Through him, Banri meets the eccentric Koko Kaga who followed Mitsuo to the college in the pursuit of love. Shenanigans ensue where Mitsu talks about what a lunatic Koko is, and Banri experiences the energetic club day. Here Banri has a ~moment~ with another girl named Linda before giving a sentimental speech about his optimistic outlook regarding his college career and his desire to find love (in case you forgot that this is a romance centering around him). The episode ends with a neat hook involving a somewhat exciting flashback.
Truth be told, the episode could have been worse. Admittedly, I was a bit bored with the episode’s storyline, especially when watching it a second time, but it did do an okay job with setting up the romance. Though all you have to do is watch the OP and ED to have any hopes of Mitsuo and Koko actually getting together immediately crushed, I think that the set-up for Koko and Banri’s romance is interesting because they aren’t immediately interested in each other. I’d be willing to stick around just to see how Koko eventually comes around to liking Banri when her world seems to revolve around the idea of one day hooking up with Mitsuo.
What really killed the episode for me is the brand of comedy which came off as a bit too energetic in places or simply fell a bit flat. Mitsuo’s yelling started grating on my nerves pretty quickly, and the club scene wasn’t spectacularly funny either. I think the most fun I had with the humor was when Mitsuo got whacked in the face with the bouquet of roses. Admittedly, this aspect of the show might improve if when we see more of the other main girls like Linda and the pink-haired girl, but I’m not overly confident in that respect.
In terms of characters, they’re alright, with the girls, at least initially, perking my interest more than the guys. Banri seems like a sweet guy with his big eyes and optimistic outlook, and I’m sure that will be a large part of his character in the future. I’m interested to see what that ominous look look meant at the end of the episode and think that he might have something interesting in his past that will push him past just a nice guy. Mitsuo I liked initially but he started being annoying with when it became apparent that all he was going to do the rest of the episode was loudly bemoan his situation. Koko was neat in how obsessed she is with Mitsuo, but also really logical and almost calculating in how she shows her “love.” As I said before, I’m really interested in seeing what exactly makes her mind towards Mitsuo because I’d like to think that it would have to be something somewhat major and maybe exciting. The only other standout character, aside from the pink haired girl who likes beautiful people, is Linda who had a weird moment with Banri near the end, leading me to belief she will be Koko’s rival in love. She is probably the one character who didn’t get a ton of screen time that I actually want to learn more about and see more of.
Looks-wise, the show looked pretty nice. There was some stiffness and a few iffy distance shots, but everything was vibrant and the character designs were relatively appealing. My favorite part in terms of animation is probably the OP which is really cute and probably my favorite few minutes in the episode, right next to the optimism speech. Aside from a few slightly lame sound effects, the episode sounded pretty okay with the background music standing out a bit more for me than it tends to; I especially liked the background music during Banri and Linda’s scene.
In the end, I certainly wasn’t filled with any great sense of excitement or satisfaction when it came to this premiere episode, but I wasn’t left with any great feelings of frustration or disappointment either. I suspect that the show will probably be more likable once it settles down a little. The hook and potential for a somewhat developed romance are good enough that I’m willing to check out more, although I doubt I’ll be able to keep up with this week to week.
