Recap

Tada Banri and Koko try to move forward as the Festival Club participates in their big uhhh… festival. They try to enjoy spending time together over Summer break, but they find themselves encountering one new obstacle after another.

Jel’s Thoughts

After a two week break and sifting through tons of new shows, Golden Time has returned to remind us it is still the best thing going. While the show has had plenty of conflict and uncomfortable situations, there hasn’t been any antagonism, no villain to root against. Both Koko and Linda are really likable, sympathetic characters that just happen to be stuck in a bad situation. In fact, it’s because you like them so much that every little argument or misunderstanding hurts that much more. You want to see all three of them be happy but in their present circumstances that’s not always possible.

Really the closest thing we’ve had to an antagonist has been Amnesia Ghost, but even then you still felt a little bad about his bad luck. NOT ANYMORE! This episode he embraces his role as the I-want-to-punch-you-through-my-screen bad guy we’ve been missing until now, and as a result my stomach was in knots for most of the episode. As he wreaked havoc on Tada Banri and Koko’s fun summertime antics I was nervously waiting on the edge of my seat for someone to get hit by a truck or some other horrible tragedy to occur. While nothing of that magnitude happened (yet), it was one of the most deliciously uncomfortable feelings I’ve had watching anime in a long time, especially as you saw the tension start to get to the Real Tada Banri over time.

Needless to say, I’m delighted that Golden Time is back and I can’t wait to see how this new direction affects the story from here. For this week’s THIS CANNOT END WELL prediction, assuming Koko does go away for an extended period of time I’m also assuming Amnesia Ghost will have some plan for hooking up Real Tada Banri with Linda. I’m feeling nervous and uncomfortable even thinking about the possibilities and I absolutely love it.

Random observations

• Some real QUALITY animation during the dance scenes. Come on J.C. Staff, you had an extra two weeks to work on this and I know you definitely didn’t blow your budget on Witch Craft Works.
• New season means new OP and ED! The opening song is really bizarre with its super intense percussion and, but I have to say I like it. The ending shot where it gets all film grainy along with a spot of piano gave me a bit of a chill. The ending is a bit more like what you would expect, but both are nice change of pace from the Most Yui Horie Songs to ever Yui Horie that we had previously.

Marlin’s Thoughts

Good to get back to some quality entertainment. It’s too bad QUALITY also had to be part of the proceedings. Still, I’m not watching Golden Time for its visual excellence, so I’ll forgive the team for now. I’m not as huge a fan of this new Amnesia Ghost development as everyone else seems to be. I was willing to accept his existence initially, something most people seemed to have trouble with, but that was under the assumption that he was something that could only affect Tada Banri. Giving him magic plan ruining powers at this stage in the game when he hasn’t even managed to do Natsuyuki Rendezvous-levels of poltergeisting prior to it is a big stretch. The fake cooking bit was absolute gold though, it’s the kind of crazy that I could totally see a girl like Koko going through to try and gain some endearment from Tada Banri. I am missing my weekly dose of 2d-kun though, where is that dude? Have him tag along and ruin the mood at the beach Golden Time, trust me it’d be hilarious.

Random observations

• I always find these old culture things to be kinda funny, it’s like those German pride parades you see where people dress like Bohemians and dance the polka.
• I, as opposed to Jel, found the opening to be a cacophonous mess. Please someone tell me I’m not alone on that one.