Golden Boy revolves around 25-year-old Kintaro Oe. Kintaro is a freeter. In case you're like me and have no idea what that means, he basically travels all over Japan on his trusty bike and takes various odd jobs to survive.
Kintaro is one of the smartest, most resourceful guys you'll ever meet, but you'd never realize it by looking at him. He has a dopey voice, an over-eager attitude, and a perverted streak a mile long. All that belies his true self, however. He dropped out of Tokyo University before obtaining his law degree, even though he had already passed all the necessary classes. His desire to learn more about the world around him prompts his current free-roaming lifestyle. He constantly writes what he learns in his notebook. This could be useful information for the episode's relevant skill, perverted sketches of the women around him, or odd bits of information (ex. "The human head cannot turn 360 degrees."). Also, he has a fetish for toilets.


Yeah.

The series is broken up into six OVA episodes. A typical episode revolves around Kintaro working a new job in a new environment, be it as a janitor for a software design company, a campaign worker for a mayoral candidate, or delivery guy for an animation studio. He will soon meet his love interest for the episode and inevitably alienate himself from them somehow. Often, his uncontrollable lust leads to some awkward circumstance resulting in his getting fired. However, by episode's end he will have proven his worth to the girl and win her heart. Oddly enough, he never takes advantage of any of these women, despite the fact that sex is sometimes the driving force of the episode (episode 6). The narrator claims that Kintaro may one day save the world. Don't expect anything like that. This is a slice-of-life anime at best.


I have dreams like this.

The animation is good. Very 90s, but good. I prefer that style, really. The animation is pretty fluid, especially in the opening sequence. The opening sequence is Akira-level, easy. The girls are invariably pretty hot, which is good considering the series heavily sex-based humor. Also, the EXTREMELY over-the-top facial expressions are a selling point for the series. Kintaro's face can range from simple pretty-boy anime fare to an over-detailed, imposing style, to stuff you honestly have to see to understand.


From the manga. This shot was faithfully reproduced in the anime.

The humor is great. Base? Yes. Sexual? Very. Stupid? No. The writing never failed to entertain. Whether having Kintaro's boss discover him fantasizing over a toilet, him having the shit kicked out of him by Yakuza flunkies, seeing him be borderline molested, or watching him nearly drown ("So! How do you like my swimmin'?"), the laughs keep coming. Kintaro's voice actor adds to the fun. He gives Kintaro an almost dopey voice that makes his excited, and often head-scratchingly odd, thoughts all the more hysterical. The voice acting (dub) is actually pretty exceptional. Don't let the horrible female VAs in the opening scene of Episode 1 fool you. The voices are natural, which is getting increasingly rare, and none of the acting seems forced.


SPOILER: This doesn't really happen.

Some miscellaneous thoughts: The end theme, sung by what I can only guess are the Japanese VAs for the series' girls, is one of those that I disliked at first, but eventually came to love. It grows on you. The girls sings well, and the song is fun and happy. I haven't heard a J-theme as bouncy since Excel Saga's op. Also, since the series offers six different pairings and none of them are established as canon, I want you to know I ship Kintaro and Chie from Episode 6. Although my favorite girl is Naoko from Episode 2, Chie seems more suited to Kintaro.


Naoko (read: Sex Panther)

Finally, my scores.
Animation: 8/10
Plot......There's no plot. So, Writing: 7/10
Music: 8/10
Voice Acting: 8/10

FINAL SCORE: 8/10