Golden Time - Episode 22

Given how quickly it has come, surely Banri's life - or at least his relationship with Koko - isn't going to fall apart so quickly just like that, even in light of Banri running away from his meat party turned heart-to-heart with his friends?

Banri himself is certainly convinced that despite having irrefutably just dumped him, Koko will be back soon enough.  However, his long wait shows no signs of Kaga's return, and when someone does appear it's her father to give him a lift home and suggest that perhaps her discovery of his anti-anxiety drugs is behind her decision.  After a long chat with neighbour Nana things at least seem a little better for Banri, and by the next day Koko is running up to him to apologise for her over-the-top behaviour.  Thus, all is well in the world of Tada.

At least, that's what Banri assumes, but no, Koko gathers all of his friends to confirm that she has in fact dumped him but decided to apologise just so that they could remain friends.  This is all news to Banri, and in the aftermath of all this it becomes clear that Koko is nowhere near as calm about this whole affair as she seems, while the duo's friends are simply at a loss for what to do.  If Chinami takes the news of this break-up badly (as it seems that the Okamera is at least partially responsible for the whole thing), then Linda's reaction is on another level entirely, and before we know it Tada's good-natured request to ensure that Koko doesn't leave the festival club leads to a full-on slanging match complete with physical violence as both Banri and Linda pour out their frank feelings in an encounter that is simply baffling to those looking on.  With Mitsuo amongst those witnessing this, it seems as if Banri might just have lost himself another friend - not that he seems to care, resigned as he is to losing his current self.

Although some of its twists and turns seem jarring at first glance, the scary part about this week's Golden Time is that it still all feels entirely believable (Banri's amnesia aside, perhaps) - Koko's shifting language from all but spitting on Banri to acting as though nothing happened to revealing her true feelings beneath it all feels like some unwanted recollections of my own, and Banri's argument with Linda also matched some of the other organic-feeling arguments that this series has delivered.  It could maybe have done with being spread out over a longer period of time to allow the impact of events to sink in, but this was nonetheless kitchen sink drama at its, well, most dramatic, and it feels like another episode that delivers on what Golden Time has always promised as a result.