Golden Time is an anime adaptation of the light novel series of the same name. J.C.Staff, who have animated brilliant shows such as Food Wars, The Pet Girl of Sakurasou, and Selector Infected WIXOSS, were responsible for this adaptation. The light novel series was written by Yuyuko Takemiya, who is best known for writing the Toradora! light novel series, which also received an anime adaptation by J.C.Staff. Just shy of two months after the release of Collection One, Animatsu have released Golden Time Collection Two. The wait for this was still painful, but I knew Crunchyroll’s streams could not do justice to the elegance of this anime. and held off until the blu-ray version was in my hands. While I was able to watch Collection One spread out over a few days, Collection Two had me completely at its mercy; I watched through all 12 episodes in one sitting.
It would be a disservice to potential viewers to outline the plot of this release in any real detail, so I’ll just leave it at saying it follows on from Collection One, further dealing with the development of the turbulent relationship between young lovers Banri Tada and Kouko Kaga. If you’ve yet to experience Golden Time at all, you’d probably be better off checking out our Collection One review.
This second half of Golden Time was executed in an excellent manner and the lead-up to the final episode felt natural while still making me experience an almost dizzying range of emotions without ever seeming too forced. Despite this, Golden Time does seem to suffer from an issue that also affected Toradora; there were a few episodes that felt like “final episodes” in their own way The actual final episode, though, can only be described as simply perfect; Golden Time leads you to be able to predict what is to happen while still having you an emotional fountain as the characters’ journey unfolds in front of your eyes. Golden Time is a title that needs to be experienced through watching it rather than reading a review; if you don’t pick up this anime, you’re missing out on an exemplary romantic comedy.
It remains true that J.C.Staff have created a beautiful show that looks stunning on blu-ray, with fluid animation and down-to-earth character designs. The characters in Golden Time are perfectly cast, especially Yui Horie as Kouko Kaga, and Ai Kayano as Linda. Golden Time still manages to strike a great balance between the drama and comedy, but the episodes in this half do seem to lean more towards focusing on the drama; this is to the show’s benefit.
For this half of Golden Time, the opening theme is “The♡World’s♡End”, sung by Yui Horie, and the ending theme is “Han’eikyūteki ni Aishite yo♡”, again sung by Yui Horie. These songs are much better than those used for the first half, but I found myself skipping them to get to the next episode with haste after a few episodes; I had no time for musical interludes whilst ongoing developments in Banri’s relationships kept me needing to know what happened next. Once again, the only option for language is Japanese with English subtitles; I’m still doubtful an English dub would be able to ensure that everyone gets to experience the characters as originally intended.
In terms of extras, all this release includes is the standard textless opening and ending, alongside some Sentai trailers. This time around, trailers are for Engaged to the Unidentified, Maid Sama!, The World God Only Knows: Goddesses, and Beyond the Boundary. Of these titles, Beyond the Boundary was released earlier this year on both Blu-ray and DVD by Animatsu Entertainment, and Maid Sama! saw a release on DVD last year, and blu-ray this year, by MVM Entertainment. The extras are of little importance when it comes to Golden Time though, you’ll be emotionally exhausted after watching the series and will have no energy for watching extras.