Golden Time (Collector’s Edition Blu-ray) Unboxing

Golden Time (ゴールデンタイム) is a 2013 television anime series based on Yuyuko Takemiya’s light novel series of the same name with illustrator Eeji Komatsu. The series was adapted by studio J.C.Staff, and the staff credits include director Chiaki Kon, screenplay writer Fumihiko Shimo, character designer Shinya Hasegawa and music composer Yukari Hashimoto. The series first aired in Japan on October 2013.

Background:

“Getting lost wasn’t how Tada Banri wanted to start his first day of law school, but making a friend of fellow student Mitsuo along the way sort of made up for it until Mitsuo’s childhood friend and arranged future bride Kaga Koko appears and slaps Mitsuo with a bouquet of roses! Awkward. It’s even more awkward to learn that Koko’s now a fellow law student as well. However, “Awkward” is practically Banri’s middle name, as he’s suffering from a form of amnesia that’s erased most of his memory since high school and he’s becoming used to running into uncomfortable situations caused by actions he doesn’t remember. Join one of the most star-crossed group of friends ever as they attempt to make sense of life, love and the legal system in GOLDEN TIME!”

Plot Synopsis via Anime Limited, March 2024.

Golden Time has been one of those romance anime shows that I’ve been aware of over the years. One of the reasons was because the voice actress for the main lead was Yui Horie who is more known for her role in the Monogatari franchise. She was one of the most popular VAs back in the day and she’s still beloved by a lot of anime fans, and when you have a popular VA taking part in a light novel adaptation that’s also liked then it makes the anime more memorable in my opinion.

But the series is also one that I never managed to take the opportunity to check out especially considering it was available in the UK during simulcast, though it aired as soon as I just started getting into University so I just never had the time to consider it, but throughout the years it’s had a few home video releases.

Sentai Filmworks picked up the streaming and home video rights for United States & Canada when Golden Time first aired and was also one of the first to be released on Blu-ray as a subtitled only release, since Sentai wanted to bring more shows onto the HD format but without having to spend tons on dubs to make that happen. Of course this resulted in a lot of disappointed fans for not being able to watch it in English. UK distributor Animatsu picked up the UK rights from Sentai Filmworks and released it on Blu-ray over here but sold very poorly from what I heard.

Eventually Sentai Filmworks gave a few specific titles new releases with an English dub and Golden Time was among them in 2019, but the UK never saw any re-releases since Animatsu eventually merged back with Manga Entertainment after the latter managed to become independent from Starz, and the license itself eventually expired. Anime Limited out of nowhere announced a whole batch of Sentai Filmworks titles with collector’s edition treatment in late 2023 onwards, which included Golden Time so this will be the UK debut for the English dub on home video.

Collector’s Edition Contents:

Anime Limited have been giving a lot of Sentai Filmworks titles that previously released in the UK another chance through their collector’s edition treatment which is good for a lot of fans like Golden Time.

This release is presented with a rigid box containing an Amaray case to house the Blu-ray discs and also a 36-page booklet. The book features character designs and artwork from the anime series.

The artwork is free of any information or BBFC content and the info sheet covers the information and specification like previous Anime Limited releases. The collector’s edition Blu-ray has 1000 units printed for an SRP of £69.99, and will be available in a standard edition Blu-ray on the same release date as this edition.

The series was made available as an early bird during the month of March, and was on offer for £39.99 with the Anime Unlimited membership lowering the cost down to £35.99.

Physical Contents:

• Rigid Box with Amaray packaging and clean artwork
• Info sheet for specification and BBFC description
• 36-page Booklet

On-Disc Contents:

Distributor: Anime Limited
Released: 25th March 2024

The collector’s edition release for Golden Time contains all 24 episodes across three Blu-ray discs, with the encode & authoring done by Sentai Filmworks via their complete series collection version from 2019. The audio options include Japanese with English subtitles and the Sentai Studios English dub.

The yellow subtitles are locked during playback, and the regions are accessible to Blu-ray players set to A & B.

Blu-ray Specs:

Languages	English, Japanese
Audio	English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Japanese DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0
Video	1080p High Definition Native format 16:9 aspect ratio
Region	A B
Subtitles	English
Locked Subtitles	Yes
Discs	3 BD-50s

Blu-ray On-Disc Extra Features:

Disc 3:

• Clean Openings “Golden Time” & “The♡World’s♡End”
• Clean Ending “Sweet ＆ Sweet CHERRY” & “Love Me Almost For Eternity♡ (Haneikyuu-teki ni Aishite yo♡)”

Unboxing Photos:

Final Notes:

Golden Time is available to purchase on Blu-ray by Anime Limited in the UK & Ireland. The collector’s edition Blu-ray release can be bought through the AllTheAnime Store.

For the standard edition, it will be available through different retailers including Amazon UK, AllTheAnime Store, and Anime-on-Line.

(Disclaimer: Amazon links are also included when available. They are affiliated so if you decide to order them, I’ll earn a small percentage if they ship which will help me with any hauls or small bills.)