The original overview can be found here, I wanted to return to the series on the eve of its ten year anniversary to do a deeper dive into the story and reflect on it after all this time.
Tada Banri has amnesia caused by an accident the day after high school graduation. The stress of being in an environment that he has no attachment to, in which everyone knows a him that no longer exists, causes more pain than he wants to deal with. After taking a year off for recovery he decides to attend college in Tokyo, wanting to start over with his new memories and personality. He gets lost after orientation and runs into another lost student, Yanagisawa Mitsuo. Yana is attending this college as a way to escape a girl he grew up with. The girl named Kaga Koko comes from a wealthy family and has seen Yana as her destined life partner since elementary school. Yana thought switching college without her knowing would save him from her one-sided affection. Unfortunately, her resources and familial connections allow her to learn his plans. Koko follows him, enrolled in same major, crushing his efforts to keep her at a distance. Banri is introduced to the aggressive woman when she arrives by taxi so slap Yana with a bouquet of roses. She is also in their first lecture along with a strange girl named Oka Chinami. As his first day comes to an end he becomes surrounded by aggressive school club recruiters only to be saved by a member of the Japanese Festival Culture Research Society club, calling herself Linda.
Because of his friendship with Yana, Koko continues to inject herself into Banri's space. She is desperate to spend her life with Yana, who avoids her as much as he can. Banri notices that Koko is an empty shell outside of her feelings for Yana, with no friends and no real direction in life. He tries to help her adjust to life as a college student, top grow beyond her feelings for Yona, encouraging her to try out for a club and meet new people. They get tricked into attending a seminar for a religious cult, under the guise of it being a school club. Once the truth of the seminar is exposed Banri sacrifices himself to let everyone else leave. He talks about his attraction to their message due to his current issues with insomnia. It works and the others are allowed to leave, except Koko decides to stay with him. Afraid of what might happen if both of them stay any longer they make a daring escape in the middle of the night, fleeing into the surrounding woods. After some time of stumbling through the secluded area, hoping to come across their colleges nearby seminar house, they stumble into Linda and the rest of her club, making it to safety. Yana finds his resolve and decides to reject Koko once and for all, to help rid himself of her overbearing presence and because he is developing feelings for Oka. Koko finally understands that her affection is unwanted and clings to Banri in her depression. Their time together leads to her shifting her neediness to him, in lieu of Yana, forcing him to be her friend.
Koko and Banri decide to join Linda's club, in part due to their dramatic rescue from the cult. Koko urges Banri to not reject the part of him that is lost due his amnesia, to stop trying to run away from things. He thinks she may be right and returns home, finding a scrapbook with a picture of him from high school...with Linda. Banri confronts Linda about their past together, she admits that they were best friends in school and kept it hidden from him in fear of causing undo strain. He is confused by what their relationship really was and chooses to hide this from Koko, who he is growing more attached to. Unfortunately Koko is not able to let go of her feelings for Yana. This causes stress on Banri, who wants more than just friendship from her. He confronts her about both of their feelings and they decide to begin dating instead of staying away from each other. Banri learns that he was in the accident due to waiting on a desolate bridge for Linda to answer him when he confessed his love for her. Linda has been struggling with guilt about being late to meet with him and hiding her true feelings in the present. Banri doesn't want to cause unwanted strain on his relationship with Koko, so chooses to continue to hide his past selves feelings for Linda from her, feelings that are beginning to invade his new life.
It doesn't take long for Koko to suspect there is more between Banri and Linda than either admit and confronts him about it. His internal struggle has grown to the point where he's actively avoiding Linda, fearing for a return to his older self. He fears that if his lost memories and emotions return he will leave Koko for Linda, his old memories replacing his new memories. He doesn't want to return to the life he doesn't remember, fearing the pain it would cause the woman the current version of himself loves. At the same time Koko is concerned with her own worth and if she is really good enough for Banri, while also struggling with the idea of him leaving her when his memories return. Linda struggles with her feelings for the past and present versions of Banri but tries to stay out of his way, wanting to move forward after loosing her best friend once. Two Banri's exist, Linda is attached to the old version and Koko to the new. If one of them disappears completely will either woman be able to continue as they currently do?
I watched this series as it aired back in 2013-2014 and greatly enjoyed it at the time. Unfortunately Golden Time suffers under the shadow of the much loved predecessor, Toradora. Toradora is a great series and it's fantastic its had such a lasting legacy of affection from Western anime fans. Golden Time in the end is a better story and deserves more attention. Both stories are similar in nature, slice of life romances with some comedic elements and some complex characters that travel the range of emotions through out their stories. Some characters in both stories share similar traits and motivations. Koko shares quite a few character traits with Taiga. Linda and Oka are similar in many ways with Minori. Nijigen is similar to Kitamura. Banri and Ryuji are both possessed with an overwhelming sense of compassion for those around them, selfless and sincere. The two things that set Golden Time apart from Toradora is the characters struggles with adulthood and Banri's struggle with his health. The characters in Golden Time are more willing to communicate with each other, even though they choose to keep some of their thoughts hidden. Different from many romance stories, where the entire goal is to have the main couple finally get together, Koko and Banri become a couple early on in the story. The 'will they won't they' plot line is largely replaced with the tension of Banri's old memories and current memories colliding, threatening to put everything into question.
In the end this is a really good romance series with multi dimensional characters, each flawed in their own way. It breaks free of many of the tropes found in high school romances, focusing on emotional dynamics, ushered largely by the semi-super natural aspects of Banri's amnesia. Banri hides his past from many of the people around him and buries his deeper fears from everyone, suffering alone. Koko struggles with her own lack of self worth. Linda struggles with the regrets of her past with Banri and tries to force herself to move on, while still trying to be a reliable friend. Their interwoven story rises and falls as Banri and Koko grow closer, resolved to forge a new destiny between themselves, leaving their past behind...or more running away from their past, not wanting to dwell upon the pain.
Golden Time has been available since it first aired in North America, it is currently streaming in sub and dub on HIDIVE.
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