Golden Time - Episode 8

This week's episode of Golden Time begins with some further dipping into Banri and Linda's past to fill in more of the blanks in their prior relationship (if there were any such blanks still to be filled in).

Any such musings are interrupted by Koko's report that Mitsuo is in trouble, sending Banri to his rescue in her stead - a smart move perhaps, as his ability to improvise and overact on the spot saves his friend from a particularly busty problem.  With that dilemma out of the way, it's clear that Mitsuo is still in rather a mess - a mental state reflected by his apartment as he continues to beat himself up about how things have gone with Chinami; a situation he's managed to make worse by telling her never to speak to him again.

Of course, times like this are exactly what friends are for, and thus Banri instigates a plan to cheer Mitsuo up by inviting him out to have some fun with Satou... a plan which seems to be going more and more awry as first Koko invites herself along, and then she in turn invites Chinami to join them, which leaves Mitsuo mortified.  When push comes to shove however this proves to be a stroke of genius, and a day at an amusement park followed by a night of drink eases any tensions within the group, restoring their friendships as if by magic.  While everyone sleeps off the day's exertions, Banri and Linda find some time to catch up, and it becomes clear that Tada's feelings aren't entirely devoted to Koko, if only when it comes to the "ghost" of his past self at this point.

As we move towards the half-way point of this series, I'm becoming increasingly torn in my feelings for Golden Time - it manages to amuse me from time to time, and I'm really intriguing to see how some of its relationships develop and shift moving forward, but on the other hand Koko's over-bearing character has a tendency to scrawl over a lot of the more subtle moments of the series with a permanent marker, and the use of Tada's amnesia still feels lazy even when it's been used in some quite interesting ways.  At this juncture I'd probably tend towards the position in terms of my feelings towards the show, but it's a close-run thing, and probably a tougher call to make than it really should be.