Thursday, March 31, 2016

Golden Boy (Anime Corner 2nd Anniversary Review)


Kintaro Oae, Age 25.  After studying law at Tokyo University, he mysteriously dropped out but only after he completed all of his required coursework for graduation.  He now travels as a “student of life”, taking on odd jobs across the country side.  Riding his trusty mountain bike, the Mikazuki 5, he’s always on the look out for new knowledge and adventure.  And who knows, just one day, maybe, he just might save the world.

Wow, has it really been 2 years since I started writing these reviews?

You remember those days when you were a young Anime fan?  When all you could watch was what was on TV and it was edited big time for a younger audience: no blood, no swearing, no nudity?  Remember when there were those titles out there that weren’t Sailor Moon, Dragon Ball Z or Pokemon that you just wanted to watch?  You know, the adult titles you’d grown up hearing were awesome like Akira, Ninja Scroll and Vampire Hunter D…but you were young so your parents wouldn’t let you watch em.  Well one Anime on that list of “for mature audiences only” was Golden Boy.  To me, it was only a name.  I had heard a joke or two but nothing with exact context.  And id heard it was the funniest thing many had ever seen.  WELL…it only took a couple of decades.  But I finally managed to catch this one at Katsucon 2016…and I was then enlightened.

There is no deeper way to talk about it.  Golden Boy is the funniest Anime I have ever seen.  It seems so simple in it’s story but so much more in execution: a wandering man travels from place to place and gets into adventures with the locals and he also happens to be a huge pervert.  And while this set up does repeat itself every single episode, what keeps it from getting stale is Kintaro himself.  He’s a carefree spirit who longs to learn as much as he can from life.  This stems from the littlest of factoids to the most depraved manners of how to please a woman.  The episodes vary in their setting and cast.  Kintaro is never on the same job twice.  Much of what he does during his short time in these particular spots is very much the same.  He always feels up a toilet (yeah that’s a thing), he always causes some form of trouble and works like crazy to fix it, resulting in a, more or less, happy ending for all.  There’s no end to Kintaro’s likeability.  He’s the horniest human being on the planet, but he has a heart of gold.  He comes off as a total wanna be submissive love slave, but he is one of the smartest people in existence.  It’s impossible to hate him. 

I LOVE the English Dub of this Anime.  The cast (from ADV, I think this was one of their big titles) is having an absolute blast translating this and giving it their own spin.  While it does kind of date itself, “I opened up a can of WHOOP ASS,” it’s still entertaining as hell.  Of course, this also leads to one of my absolute favorite moments of the whole series, maybe even of Anime of all time.  When Kintaro’s well endowed Computer Tech boss tears his prized notebook to pieces, Kintaro’s loveable good side drops and he gets darkly serious.  He proclaims that his notes are more important than his life.  He then proceeds to raise his torn notebook to her and shout proudly, “Money can’t replace that kind of knowledge.  THOSE NOTES WERE PRICELESS!!!” Unaware that the tearing has revealed to his boss the sketches of the sexy staff he drew while trapped in the womens locker room…an awkward pause and growl sets in.  And then Kintaro realizes in his head, “OHHHH S***”.  I die…everytime…turn that moment on for me and I am on the floor laughing like a madman.  Other moments are equally as good but hardly ever as legendary as this bar setter.

Stepping into that viewing room at Katsucon to catch Episode 3 of the series, I didn’t know what I was getting into with Golden Boy.  And I left knowing that I had made such a mistake never getting to it until now.  It’s not as good as FLCL (no Anime will ever touch that one) but Golden Boy does in six episodes the same amount of goodness FLCL did.  It left you wanting more at the end.  At the same time though, the shortness adds to the lasting legacy and the need to appretiate what’s happening on screen while you can.  Kintaro may be a pervert with the dirtiest of desires.  But he’s also the student of life we all want to be: traveling the country side, getting into life changing adventures and making the world a better place, one town or beautiful woman, at a time.

(I HEAR THE SOUND OF A WOMAN SCREAM!!! TO ACTION!!!)

So yeah, I had to pick this title to be my big 2nd Anniversary review for the Anime Corner.  And to everyone and anyone who is reading…thanks.  I’m not sure how many are actually stopping by on a regular basis.  But even a short visit and peek at my long selection of titles makes me happy.  Even if this blog was being read by no one, I’d still keep it going.  Talking about Anime and reviewing it is my lifes goal.  Will it go beyond this blog, maybe.  But until then, I’m gonna keep watching, I’m gonna keep reviewing…and just keep doing what I love most.

Thanks for 2 years and hopefully more to come.

Golden Boy gets a well deserved

10/10

No comments:

Post a Comment