Golden Time had taken me by the heartstrings before the first episode even aired. As an unabashed Toradora fanatic, I couldn’t wait for the new series from the writer of the light novels upon which that anime was based. And thankfully, unlike the norm, I haven’t found myself disappointed with this show I was so heavily anticipating.
One thing that’s drawn me in, and which parallels Toradora, is the unexpected actions that are done by the main characters, and those that have happened to them.
In episode six, there are a number of such examples. The episode moves by fairly quickly. If I was to take a guess before I watched it, I would never have thought that twenty-two minutes later, Banri would have revealed to Linda that he knows that she knows and told Kaga that he doesn’t want to associate with her anymore, and that Kaga in turn would bike Banri down and confess to him. All these events are unexpected, at least for the course of one episode.
Despite the quickness of these happenings, it’s easy for me to accept that they’re all occurring. Perhaps it’s that sense of realism I feel about the characters in this show, as I did with Toradora. No matter how outlandish or incredible they and their circumstances are, I feel their reactions are complex, offering a sense of realism.
Take Banri, for instance. We know that even though he’s a solid, nice guy, he’s a bit unstable – and from the beginning of episode six, we find that it’s not just because of his memory loss. He was emotional even before that. So it’s not surprising that he thinks of doing something as silly as jumping off a bridge to try to, I guess, somehow jump back into his old self. The twist occurs,when Kaga comes racing in, grabbing desperately at Banri and confessing her love.
Isn’t it just like that for some wrench to be suddenly thrown into your plans?
I find that much to be true in my life. In a number of moments which I now reflect upon as major turning points in my life, I see certain happenings and circumstances that veered me into directions I never planned to take. While many might describe these turning points as coincidence or just the work of life, I see God’s fingerprints all over them.
And I see that, as with Tanda Banri, my best laid plans needed to be changed. Like jumping off a bridge, my ideas were going to lead me somewhere I ultimately did not want to go, with consequences perhaps just as dire as Banri’s would have been.
Thankfully, both Banri and us have defenders on our side – if we’re willing to listen.
