Golden Time is a Japanese light novel series written by Yuyuko Takemiya, with illustrations by Ēji Komatsu. The series includes 11 novels published by ASCII Media Works between September 2010 and March 2014, and incorporates romantic comedy and supernatural themes. A manga adaptation by Umechazuke began serialization in the October 2011 issue of Dengeki Daioh. A 24-episode anime adaptation by J.C.Staff aired on MBS between October 2013 and March 2014.
Plot
Banri Tada is a newly admitted male student at a private law school in Tokyo. Due to the after-effects of a fall from a bridge shortly after his high school graduation, he has lost all of his memories prior to the accident. Banri finds himself completely and utterly lost after the big opening ceremonial event and tries to find his way to the freshman orientation. Along the way, he runs straight into another lost and confused freshman from the same school, Mitsuo Yanagisawa, and they immediately hit it off. Somehow arriving at their intended goal just in time, there appears in front of them a beautiful girl holding a bouquet of roses, who congratulates Mitsuo on getting into the school then hits him across the face with them before tossing the bouquet into his lap and leaving. This stylish, well dressed, and obsessive woman is revealed to be Mitsuo's childhood friend, Koko Kaga. As children, they had promised to marry each other one day, something she has taken to heart this entire time. Mitsuo had gone out secretly and taken the examination for this private college in order to escape from her, but she used her connections to find out about it and enrolled in the college herself. Banri meets a second-year student named Linda; unbeknownst to him, she was his best friend in high school, and holds herself responsible for his memory loss. As the series progresses, Banri deals with his slowly re-emerging memories, which often come into conflict with a relationship that blooms between him and Kaga.
Characters
;Banri Tada ;Banri's Spirit ;Koko Kaga ;Mitsuo Yanagisawa ;Linda Nana Hayashida ;Nijigen Takaya Satō ;Chinami Oka ;Kosshii ;Nana
Media
Light novels
Golden Time began as a light novel series written by Yuyuko Takemiya, with illustrations by Ēji Komatsu. ASCII Media Works published 11 novels between September 10, 2010 and March 8, 2014 under their Dengeki Bunkoimprint; eight comprise the main story, while the other three are side story collections. Portions of the series have also been serialized in Dengeki Bunko Magazine.
Manga
A manga adaptation illustrated by Umechazuke was serialized in ASCII Media Works' Dengeki Daioh magazine from the October 2011 to the July 2016 issues. ASCII Media Works published nine tankōbon volumes from March 27, 2012 to September 27, 2016. Seven Seas Entertainment published the series in North America from October 2015 to January 2018.
Anime
A 24-episode anime television series adaptation, produced by Genco and J.C.Staff, aired between October 3, 2013 and March 27, 2014 on MBS. The series is directed by Chiaki Kon with scripts by Fumihiko Shimo and character design by Shinya Hasegawa. The series' music is composed by Yukari Hashimoto. For the first 12 episodes, the opening theme is "Golden Time" and the ending theme is "Sweet & Sweet Cherry". From episode 13 onwards, the opening theme is "The♡World's♡End" and the ending theme is "Han'eikyūteki ni Aishite yo♡"; all four songs are sung by Yui Horie. The series is being released on eight BD/DVD compilation volumes between December 25, 2013 and July 23, 2014. The anime has been licensed by Sentai Filmworks for streaming and home video release in 2014. Sentai re-released the series with an English dub on December 17, 2019.
Visual novel
A visual novel developed by Kadokawa Games, titled Golden Time: Vivid Memories, was released for the PlayStation Vita on March 27, 2014. The game received a Famitsu review score of 32/40.
Reception
The Mainichi Shimbun reported in March 2013 that over 710,000 copies of the light novel series have been sold in Japan.
