Golden Time (TV)

[Kraco]

Must be their general lack of religion as a nation. Shinto is more of a tradition than a belief.

Some of them really must be sponsored by yakuza as well. Surely that's not all fiction, considering how they are more often than not all about money.

Okay, now I am convinced that Linda is Banri's old girlfriend or whatever. Banri lost his memories, refused to see anyone "Old Banri" once spent with, and he spent a year recovering in the hospital (and they are a year apart in college).

That would perfectly explain all the weirdness around the way that she acts. That kind of familiarity, but sort of a hesitant reserved distance. It's like she starts to get close to him, only to realize that she shouldn't be acting this way with a stranger wearing the face of someone she was close too, or something is different from the Banri she remembered.

If she was also the one who drove over him (by accident, I'd reckon), it would explain her behavior all the more, and why she didn't insist on seeing him and why she hesitates now.

I guess the Festival club was using the real seminar building they passed on their way to the cult temple. That would explain Barbara Linda's presence there.

I have to forgive some of Banri's behavior now in retrospect, seeing as how his circumstances are quite harsh.

[shinta|hikari]

I felt really sorry for Banri. His explanation of amnesia really made me see it in a different light. He was afraid he would disappoint everyone because he was no longer the same person. That is indeed extremely lonely and scary. Even people trying to be mindful of his condition will trigger such a reaction from him.

Kouko (not Koko) really needs to forget Mitsuo. Banri and her have a much better combination going. I would have rooted for the pairing had it not been blatantly declared by the OP.

I think that other girl with the strange hair colour is deplorable. I dunno, but I think she is the pretend to be cute but is actually an ass type of person.

[Kraco]

Episode 4 - HS





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A jolly good episode. You can also see this show is the real deal with Banri confessing this early. He thought the timing was unfair, but I think it was quite a cool timing: Kouko got her feelings rejected earlier, but now she definitely knows someone loves her, and not just any nanpa dude but somebody who has seen her at her worst and best. At least she shouldn't feel all alone and worthless knowing someone is admiring and thinking of her.

I have to say the scene where Kouko stormed the stage was pretty funny. I guess she genuinely is a bit of an idiot.

Nobody was surprised by the photos Banri found back home, though, since we all had already guessed pretty much that much.

[shinta|hikari]

Just to add to the believability of Kouko's rampage and the sudden confession, in the LN, they were both pretty drunk.

It seems the anime version will cut out all the alcohol, so I suggest that if you see something hard to believe, it is probably because they were drunk in the original text.

The anime pace is amazingly fast. It'll probably catch up to the translated novels in the next episode or two. That is great, because the translated text is harder to understand than moonspeak.

[Buffalobiian]

Nobody was surprised by the photos Banri found back home, though, since we all had already guessed pretty much that much.

No surprises there besides the fact that Banri went back on his own accord to early on. I don't really understand his motives for doing so, since he was saying that accepting his old self would destroy his current self. Linda's haircut was a surprise I suppose. It could have just been a growing up thing, or it could have been symbolic for her trying to cut her ties with her old self to move on.

Kouko was a total bitch here, more so than any previous episode. Had Chinami been more noticeably hurt I would have thought it was completely unforgivable.

[Ryllharu]

Buff, you forget that Kouko is a complete idiot. She's spent years making sure that Mistuo believes she is this perfect woman, a perfect match for him. She hides all of her flaws with a psychotic diligence. Her week-long preparation and retrieval of her scrap books (6 volumes of only her an Mitsuo!!?!) shows how delusional she is. She took a single phrase that Mitsuo never took seriously even though he remembers it too (how could he not with her around), and turned it into her life's goal from kindergarten until now.

Banri is the only person who has seen the real Kouko in probably a decade, other than maybe her immediate family (but we have no idea what they're like). He likes the real Kouko, not this illusion she's created. That's why his confession wasn't just thrown aside as pity. The two of them understand each other on a level few others can. Banri is an illusion to his family and former friends. But the reason he distanced himself from them is because if he pretended, he would be a fraud to himself. Kouko's persona is a complete fabrication. Her confidence, assertiveness, bitchiness...all fake. What she is is an idiot, desperately and hopelessly in love, and an extremely diligent worker.

I'm also really glad that they cast Horie Yui. I can't imagine anyone else playing her. Kouko has so many similarities in personality to late-volumes Naru it is uncanny, though in personality she's more like one of the two female leads in Haganai.

Regarding Chinami, I agree with one of shinta's earlier posts. If she had outright cried, I would have been convinced she was faking it. There is something...off about the way she reacted to Kouko's panic-induced bitchiness. She takes it quite casually until Kouko steps on her foot. She's a year older than the other three, and in the film club, so being good at acting just like fake-Kouko isn't beyond her reach. I think she was just taken aback by the extreme level of assertiveness that Kouko went to. Something like the intensity of Kouko's attack broke the perky mask she likes to wear. The same way that Mitsuo's sudden anger broke Kouko's in front of Banri.

[Buffalobiian]

Just as a matter of definition, I only call someone as wearing a "mask" if they do it deliberately to deceive. Kouko's sounds more like a knee-jerk reaction contrary to her own desires. I also have some trouble writing off Kouko as just an "idiot". She's delusional and in love (perhaps delusional because she's in love), but I don't think she's mentally inept. On second thoughts, perhaps she is an idiot.. but I just don't like how they write her off like that. It seems irresponsible when they do.

As for Chinami, I can't remember the last time someone with shoes stood on my exposed toes.. but I think I would be in quite a bit of pain and annoyance. I certainly would not be standing around going "umm... my toes are...".

[Ryllharu]

She's not a brain-addled idiot, like the friend in Kill la Kill or Astraea. She's an anime-idiot. More like "manifestation of our idiot blood" from the best show last season that no one watched or magical girl Ilya. The kind where you use "ahou" instead.

[Ryllharu]

Golden Time - 05 [HorribleSubs]



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Well...the whole "spirit of Tada Banri" is lame, but necessary so we can understand his missing past. I still think it is stupid, but without a Regaining All His Memories at Once "I remember everything!"-type cliché, there's not really a good way to do flashbacks, considering this series is only from his viewpoint, with occasional cuts to Kouko being lonely.

I wonder if anyone else in the series thinks that its weird how Linda only refers to Banri by full name, and everyone else is addressed normally. Considering she was probably his girlfriend, she's a good actress. She either convinced him in his addled state to follow her to Tokyo, or she got caught in her own lie and had to attend school in Tokyo herself if she was going elsewhere.

As for Kouko, now that she can finally be herself, she's a little crazy. Her angry wrath toward Yana after being rejected is funny, but her clingy, neediness toward Banri is a little creepy. She's doing girlfriend-like things with the matching mirrors, but adamantly stating that they are friends after he confessed to her. I think it is largely because she doesn't know how else to act. She's been stalker-girlfriend to Yana for so long, and I doubt she had any real friends in the meantime. She's just been focused solely on him, and doesn't know how friends act with each other, so she's forced to fall back on girlfriend-tactics. It's funny and pathetic at the same time.

[Kraco]

Kouko is certainly strange, but it all makes sense based on the earlier eps. She was strange before the rejection in the extreme stalker way, now she's without a husband target, so the craziness is bursting out in different ways. I found it quite cute, like you said, that while she's emphasizing "friends" all the time, in many ways she's still acting like the girlfriend she has never been outside of her delusions. I'm somewhat happy she didn't simply switch from Mitsuo to Banri. It would have felt a bit hollow and this way she's actually showing character growth. On the other hand it's a bit cruel toward Banri, but I wonder if she's got a clue at all about that detail. Surely she does realised, at the very least, that she hasn't given him any sort of answer, but the longer she keeps repeating "friends", the more that will become the final answer, no matter how understanding Banri might be.

Still, Banri has other things to ponder about right now, so that will buy Kouko time. I just hope there won't ever appear too heavy a triangle. Perhaps the OP indeed told without doubt how this will end making it a useless worry, but I would really feel sorry for Kouko if Banri now switched to Linda for the sake of his lost memories and the ghost hanging behind his shoulder.

[Buffalobiian]

at the very least, that she hasn't given him any sort of answer

To all intents and purposes, they both know that he's rejected for not (wee 10:22). The only difference is that she'll be implying him to stop advancing on her if she said it out loud properly.

wonder if anyone else in the series thinks that its weird how Linda only refers to Banri by full name, and everyone else is addressed normally.

I think someone, sometime would pick up on it down the track. It seems like a way for Linda to "stranger-zone" Banri for now. If she refers to him by something more friendly she won't be able to keep up the act. I find the current Linda to look not only older, but tired. Maybe she's just not cheery, or it comes with her act. She's definitely not cute.

Did anyone else laugh at the idea that Banri the shepherd goes to Kouko every morning to deliver his "cheese"? I did.

[Kraco]

To all intents and purposes, they both know that he's rejected for not (wee 10:22). The only difference is that she'll be implying him to stop advancing on her if she said it out loud properly.

Oh, right. For some reason I misread that as something like because I was rejected...

So, she's so desperate to have even a single friend around (now, before she can make more the normal way and tell Banri to let go and forget her) that she doesn't care how cruel this is to Banri?

Man, a part of me is already starting to hope Banri will drop her promptly and go for Linda... I'll have to take back everything I said in my previous post.

[Buffalobiian]

Horrible typo on my part.. but you made enough sense of it anyway. I think they're doing alright at the moment anyway, considering Banri and Kouko's relationship. Kouko's not ready to really consider Banri as a proper candidate yet. Banri got the confession off his chest, but I don't think he's after a solid answer at the moment either. Both would rather continue their friends-yet-secretly-admiring relationship, so I don't consider it particularly cruel. If it went on for many more months without Yana-san in the loop then I'd have agreed.

[Kraco]

Both would rather continue their friends-yet-secretly-admiring relationship, so I don't consider it particularly cruel.

I guess it's up to Banri to decide what to make out of it and in what light to consider it. Since he likes her, I guess just being able to be near him is enough for him, for a while, especially since he's sensitive enough to realise things aren't easy for Kouko either, after her make-believe lifelong affair with Mitsuo ended. However, since Kouko had dedicated her life to a one-sided love, you'd think she realised Banri's position and that it can't continue forever. It has to end one way or another and in the meantime the more friendly she is toward him, the more he will suffer.

[shinta|hikari]

Did anyone else laugh at the idea that Banri the shepherd goes to Kouko every morning to deliver his "cheese"? I did.

You are not alone.

[Ryllharu]

Golden Time - 06 [HorribleSubs]



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I guess it is a good thing that Spirit Tada Banri no longer inhabits the body, because...what a fucking loser. Current Banri is a better person in pretty much every way. He has confidence, determination, and while he certainly has his fair share of troubles, given what we saw with Drunkoko, he's not overwhelmed by them. He's not the type to whine about wanting an answer. He either gets one, or is content to move on.

Sure, I feel a little bad for Linda, because due to her reaction the answer was probably (but not guaranteed) a yes. She might just be overwhelmed with guilt, so I'll leave the interpretation of her answer open. She'd be better off forgetting about old Banri (a tall order no doubt) and realizing that current Banri is superior in every conceivable way.

Too bad she missed her chance twice. Kouko decided she can't live without him. I'm sure that there's a lot more to go through, maybe even a breakup-separation-reconciliation phase cliché, but Kouko finally gets to be herself with someone, and Banri gets to become his own person.

I did like Banri's line about him being just as guilty as trying to erase everyone from his past. Further proof that current Banri is a man while Spirit Banri was, and still is a little boy.

[Buffalobiian]

I don't get why Banri is suddenly so conscious about his old self. He's constantly said he's a new person who doesn't remember anything about the old one. He sure doesn't remember anything to do with Linda, so what's so wrong about Linda treating him as Tada Banri and not the old Banri?

He pretty much left home because he didn't want the expectations, but now he's being having a fallout when someone does exactly as he had wanted? That sounds like a whiny bitch to me still. He's gotten better, but it's still here. He's a kid who tells people not to be so overbearing to him, then gets upset when they actually stop.

He's not the type to whine about wanting an answer. He either gets one, or is content to move on.

The "repeat falling" act sounds more like he wants to move backwards.

As for Oka-chan... I agree with your previous comment. She's not as "cute" as she looks/acts.

[shinta|hikari]

Oka is fucking evil.

Banri treating Linda differently is eons away from Linda treating Banri differently. Banri did not even know they were acquainted, and he had no choice in ANY of his interactions. I think he was being way too strict when he judged himself negatively for his actions.

Linda on the other hand, knows everything. She clearly had a choice to reveal herself or not, but chose the latter because of her guilt. Imagine knowing someone is acting in front of you intentionally for an unknown reason. That is how Banri feels right now, at least before Linda confessed her feelings.

[Buffalobiian]

Linda on the other hand, knows everything. She clearly had a choice to reveal herself or not, but chose the latter because of her guilt. Imagine knowing someone is acting in front of you intentionally for an unknown reason. That is how Banri feels right now, at least before Linda confessed her feelings.

But doesn't he want that? He wanted people to treat him as the current Tada Banri, not a shell of the former Banri. Linda tried to do just that. He just suddenly decided that it's not a great idea after all and wants to to retrace his past? Seems... a little forced.

[shinta|hikari]

He does not want to be treated as a new Banri. He does not know which Banri is real. He doesn't even know who the old Banri was. He is confused, and rightfully so. Treating him without prejudice relating to his loss self is different from pretending that valuable memories did not even exist, or blatantly pretending to be a different person who is unacquainted with his old self.

Linda did not even consider Banri's feelings. She clearly said so herself. She felt that Banri was a bomb that would explode if she touched him. It was not about Banri, but Linda's feelings.

Imagine knowing someone is faking every single action related to you. How would you feel about that person?