Golden Time

Banri Tada hopes to start fresh, succeeding in joining a private law school in Tokyo. On the opening ceremony day, he befriends the handsome Mitsuo, also starting his first at the same school. When Banri asks if he has a girlfriend, Mitsuo has a confused expression of anger and fear on his face. As they approach the school on the street, a young beautiful woman approaches Mitsuo, congratulates him and hits him in the face with a bouquet of roses. This turns out to be the girl in question, named Koko Kaga, a girl he has known since they were kids. Koko believes since they were kids, they were destined to be together and married, and so she has dedicated her life to go in the direction with him, no matter what she has to do to make it happen. Mitsuo thought he escaped her when he applied for the law school, but Koko tracked him down with her connections. Mitsuo desperately ignores her, doesn't answere his phone and runs when she sees her. Caught up in the fracas is Banri, who gets to know her a little and sees she's a lonely person since people don't want to befriend such an intimidatingly beautiful girl. Banri tries to get her to like to take down her devotion a few notches, but when she tries, she doesn't do it until after she's made a scene with him in public. Koko tries to explain to him all her plans and devotion to him throughout the years and that she truly loves him. The problem is, he doesn't love her and the the promise he made when he was kid, was..well.. a kid thing and not to be taken seriously. Mitsuo is rather harsh saying all this devotion means nothing to him, and so she finally understands painfully. Banri sees all this and tries to comfort her because he has an idea of her true self. In the aftermath while looking for a school club to join, Banri starts to fall for her and expresses it so, opening up to Koko about his past...that he can't remember...

I loved this anime! I had flashbacks from other 2 romantic comedy anime that I also thought were top notched: Kare Kano, and Marmalade Boy. I know an anime of this genre is very good when I get drawn into it emotionally. It also delivers laughs and adventure as well, such as when an aggressive club gets Koko and Banri to join only to reveal themselves as a religious cult that chase after them when they escape. I admit that I did NOT like Koko in the first few episodes, but when her bubble is burst by Mitsuo and she has to face reality, is the moment I felt for her. And we already had a hint of her real side, alone with no friends, and so the sensitive Banri steps in to get her past the breakup and look forward to good things. One of the funnier moments is when she realizes she cannot dance, and everyone knows it! As I said there is some great humorous moments, but there is a lot of drama with Koko coming to grips that her fairy tale is not going to come true, and her battle with lonelinesss. More drama unfolds with Banri falling for Koko, but also the mystery of his loss of memory from a previous accident, trying to piece together what he can remember or rather trying to connect the original Banri with the current Banri--which is rather touching. The animation is great quality, and Koko is absolutely stunning in her anime form. The theme songs are very catchy, particularly the ending song in my book "Sweet and Sweet Cherry." There is definitely going to be lots of ups and downs with the characters, and it's something to look forward to. If you like this genre as much as I do, you should check out. Enthusiastic thumbs up.

Dusk Maiden of Amnesia

At the Paranormal Investigations Club at school, member Momoe excitingly does her work, and thinks she sees objects floating around and starts to get nervous. Teiichi Niiya comes in to join her and the way he talks it seems he can read Momoe's mind. A 3rd member comes in, Kirie, acting strangely annoyed by something. Leaving the club room into the school hallway, and suddenly Teiichi is flung head first into a dumb waiter type shaft. We see the same scenes again, but this time we see the truth: there is a ghost of a beautiful schoolgirl teasing Momoe, then talking with Teiichi who can see her and then annoying Kirie who can also see her. the ghost named Yuuko, kicked Teiichi into the shaft. She is the lonely and friendly spirit who hangs around the school, and also one of the old school buildings. Teiichi started the club to investigate why she is hanging the school and figure out her plight. Yuuko becomes comfortable with Teiichi, even so much becoming jealous of the other girls, but she sort of becomes the "Ghost" president of the club. Kirie is cautious of her, as her grandma is Yuuko's sister, and warns Teiichi to stay away, as her true form is not being revealed. However Teiichi is trustworthy of Yuuko, and vice versa. Actually what Kirie has sensed about her, there may be much more to it than meets the eye...

I was impressed with the first episode, which show the first scene without Yuuko being seen, and then the same scene with her, to explain everything. That was a nice artistic presentation, and in fact I was pleased with the other episodes as well. There's a good combination of humor, drama and suspense from this anime and like that they focus on just a small group of characters so we can learn more about them as the series continues. The most interesting is of course Yuuko herself. She seems really nice, but is it a facade or charade? Or is there something even more mysterious lurking? That's what I get from watching, and I expect there to be more spooky elements to appear and evolve as the series goes on. I like the relationship with Yuuko and Teiichi, as Yuuko tends to want to take a step further as perhaps boyfriend and girlfriend, or even lovers. It's funny because she's not embarrassed or shy to undress in front of Teiichi, but when he finds her "exposed" skeletion bones, she is incredibly embarrassed and even calls him a pervert for looking at her "naked bones!" It's a nice balance with these two and the energetic fraidy cat Momoe and the more serious Kirie who has a connection with Yuuko. I look forward to seeing where the series goes, and I recommend it to fans of the genre, which is actually a mix of genres--so that's a plus. Thumbs up.