Wow
someone posted a dark theory for this on reddit
"So after watching the latest episode of Golden Time and seeing its super ominous haunting OP, complete with creepy music box and super depressed gray filter Kaga Koko, a disturbing idea about what might happen in the plot occurred to me and when I decided to look more into stuff it seemed like it might actually be scarily possible, so I had to get this theory/prediction out here asap just in the unfortunate case I turnout to be right!
So here's the prediction: Tada Banri didn't properly recover from his injury in the motorbike accident and he's actually dying; hence the ghost Banri showing up, and somehow Kaga Koko knows this (like it turns out she's actually the one who accidently ran into him on a bike and she feels guilty and so that's why she's really clingy, obsessive and nervous around Banri) and then Banri really does die, Kaga Koko is actually the main character - hence why she's showcased in the Ops and EDs so much - and the series ends up being her in denial and grief stuck still chasing her dream of being with Banri, like how she's desperately running in the OP and when she's sat on the bench (which looks like it could be in some funeral area) she's actually remebering/imagining Banri hence the grey filter and Banri's hidden face. Also in the OP there's the clock theme - Banri's time running out. And also notice how in every single OP and ED the love hearts seen always pop, break or disappear.
What made me think this was when I looked into what 'Golden Time' actually means: according to the wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_hour_(medicine) Golden Time is actually "In emergency medicine, the golden hour (also known as golden time) refers to a time period lasting for one hour following traumatic injury being sustained by a casualty or medical emergency, during which there is the highest likelihood that prompt medical treatment will prevent death." AND "There is a golden hour between life and death. If you are critically injured you have less than 60 minutes to survive. You might not die right then; it may be three days or two weeks later — but something has happened in your body that is irreparable" If Banri wasn't treated properly in the 'golden time' and is still actually left severely injured over a long period of time - like serious injury to the brain, hence memory loss - then it could be that he's actually going to die from his injury and the name 'golden time' takes on another meaning: the time he has left with his friends and loved ones to have fun in college until his inevitable death.
Think about that, then think about how rose petal theme in the OPs/EDs throughout, and then think about this, an old Roman celebration where rose petals were scattered:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosalia_(festival) According to the wikipedia: "In the Roman Empire, Rosalia or Rosaria was a festival of roses celebrated on various dates, primarily in May, but scattered through mid-July." - in the summer time, when the show is set - "As a commemoration of the dead, the rosatio developed from the custom of placing flowers at burial sites" "Flowers were traditional symbols of rejuvenation, rebirth, and MEMORY...Their blooming period framed the season of spring, with roses the last of the flowers to bloom and violets the earliest.[5] As part of both festive and funerary banquets, roses adorned "a strange repast ... of life and death together, considered as two aspects of the same endless, unknown process." "In Greece and Rome, wreaths and garlands of flowers and greenery were worn by both men and women for festive occasions.[9] Garlands of roses and violets, combined or singly, adorn erotic scenes, bridal processions, and drinking parties in Greek lyric poetry from the Archaic period onward." - keep in mind the festival theme in the show, like the club Banri and Koko are in - "As a symbol of both blooming youth and mourning, the rose often marks a death experienced as untimely or premature." " Roses and the ominous presence of thorns may intimate bloodshed and mortality even in the discourse of love." - thorns are clearly visible in the first OP around the frames of the gothic looking paris/fairground where Koko is - "Conversely, roses in a funerary context can allude to festive banqueting, since Roman families met at burial sites on several occasions throughout the year for libations and a shared meal that celebrated both the cherished memory of the beloved dead" - again the theme of death being connected to the festival theme.
The more I think about and rewatch the new OP (which is ominously called 'The World's End') and think about the title 'Golden Time' the more it seems to me like that's how the plot might actually go, but I really really hope I'm wrong. What do you guys think, am I just over-thinking this or is it plausible?
EDIT: Sorry for the wall of text, the short version is; Tada Banri is going to die and Kaga Koko left alone and depressed imagining she was still with Banri etc."
but the episode was a great start up again
the new op and ed are great also
my interest for the anime has been revived!
This post was edited by iCK on Jan 11 2014 02:40pm