Golden Time
Episode 19 – Night in Paris
Paris may be thousands of miles from Japan, but you wouldn’t know it from this episode. Tokyo has become the city of love – The long summer transformed the streets and made them blossom with the flowers of romance and not just the typical garish variety we get from Banri and Kouko either. It seems like everybody has been bitten by the love bug, for better or for worse and that is brilliant news for us because we get to watch the aftermath! For you see, the flowers of romance may be beautiful, but pick the wrong one and the thorns pierce deep. Who picked the tulip, and who picked the rose?
A couple of weeks ago, much to their shock, Banri and his friends caught Mitsuo and Linda out on a date together and since then things have been tense between the new ‘couple’. It looks like Linda wants to cut him loose as if she is embarrassed by the whole affair, but clearly, having Kouko stalk him for most of his life has taught Mitsuo a thing or two about persistence. He is trying harder than ever to make Linda forgive him and grant him another chance, but at this point, the love is very one sided. Maybe Linda will have a change of heart, but for now she needs a while to clear her thoughts. Whether Mitsuo will give her that chance though is a different matter altogether. Tactful isn’t exactly a word that I would use to describe him. Lest we forget him getting shot down by Chinami in episode 6 after his less-than-subtle outcry of a confession.
By far, the best thing to come out of Mitsuo pursuing Linda is that for the first time in the series she is getting some real screen time with actual dialogue. For all of its strengths, one thing that Golden Time has not done well is present Banri with a love rival that ever felt genuinely threatening. Linda was only ever going to be a threat for Kouko if Banri from the past took him over completely and thus far that has only been a mild worry at best. Kouko and Banri have been fleshed out to the point where, in their current cosy situation, they are becoming uninteresting, but a lot of the side characters have been left bare of any real personality to make time for the main attraction which has undoubtedly been Kouko and Banri’s love story. 2D-kun is just an otaku, Mitsuo is a normal guy who is terrible with girls, and Linda is… Well… A lot of things. Much like Banri has his other life before any of this started, Linda is in a similar situation. She moved to Tokyo, cut her hair, joined a club, and started a new life as most people do when they start college. Linda from the past was Banri’s best friend, his unrequited love, and a girl who was devastated by his loss, but what do we know about Linda now? She is his caring sempai and she apparently has issues with people valuing her… Not hugely interesting.
Something that did catch my attention though was Kouko suddenly pouncing on Banri and telling him that she was ready for their first time! That short trip he took must have been way too much for her! And just as it looked like it might happen, a huge, spiked “club” fell off of the table and crashed into the middle of Kouko’s forehead. Ah, Banri and Kouko, will anything ever go smoothly for you? What made it even funnier was the fact that this “club” was Kouko’s attempt at making an Eiffel Tower with her own two hands as a present for Banri! I cracked up when he picked it up by the spike and swung it around, trying to guess what it was. Then the hilarity was brought to a sweet conclusion when Banri let her know that they can take it at their own pace, drawing a beaming smile from his now wounded girlfriend. So very cosy, but how long can this last. With 5 episodes left there is no way that these two lovers can avoid the drama vultures, circling their happiness with vicious eyes. Banri visiting the doctor and being prescribed pills feels like an ominous sign. We’ll just have to wait and see for now.
Right now, the priority for Banri needs to be to tell his friends about his past and the accident. First Mitsuo confronted him about it and he froze, then Chinami got the wrong idea about him and Linda because she has no context surrounding why they are so close. If he doesn’t get it out of the way soon it could spell trouble for everyone and as he said, Linda and his family accept him for who he is now so what does he have to hide anymore? On a side note, why was Chinami so riled up about Banri being friendly with Linda? Was it out of fondness for Kouko, or is this a sign that she is, in fact, still holding onto feelings for Mitsuo? So many questions! What happened to my cute, cushioned love story? It had just settled down, dammit! Well, I guess there’s no rest for the wicked. Until next time.
Golden Time is currently simulcasting on Crunchyroll where new episodes can be found each week and watched on mobile devices, consoles, smart TVs and of course on PC.
For more impressions of winter’s best and worst, head over to our Anime Impressions page.
Check out more Golden Time impressions HERE.
