How Educational! Throwback Thursday: Golden Boy

SUPER NSFW Warning for the show and 1 bit towards the end.

So with that disclaimer out of the way on a random whim I opted to try watching this show from the early 90’s called Golden Boy at Blackatron’s recommendation. Made back in 92, it’s got that animation feel from the early 90’s like Yu Yu Hakusho and Dragonball but has an air to it that seems to resonate even now. The show follows Kintaro Oe and his adventures around Japan basically being a lecherous, goofball klutz who is far, far, far too into toilets for his own good. What is beautiful about the show is that while idiotic in terms of common sense, like where if figured he could learn to code by practicing overnight on a cardboard printout of a keyboard; he’s actually a genius. Not just any kind of genius, we’re talking makes Sherlock Holmes look like a brain-dead puppy kinda genius. Case in point, he learned to code in 4 weeks better than an entire team of professional programmers. But the dude always initially comes off as the cringiest and creepiest perv you’ll probably ever meet.

Now there’s a number of these scenes over the short span of the OVAs (only 6 episodes) and they’re all really quite entertaining, even when they slightly break the 4th wall by both including staff members of the animation team including the creator, but actually showing how god awful filthy their desks are. Animation aside, the voice work for both subbed and dubbed versions are rather on point. The jokes deliver with much of the same impact with exact translations, and you can’t top a character who’s getting a beating like this and ends it with the following:

BUTT, all this aside…I have to say hands down the selling point of this show is the Golden Boy himself. Kintaro is stylized as the Japanese (hell, the Asian) parent’s worst nightmare. Their kid drops out and roams around doing freelance work without a home, family or even a car. Even worse, Kintaro dropped out of the Tokyo University Law School, but not because of his issues or habits, but because he FINISHED IT ALL ALREADY. This guy is one of the most lovable character’s I’ve ever seen in a show. His ability to hold back with the utmost humility even when he’s being beaten senseless by CEOs, mobsters, scumbags, or anything he smiles, takes the most he can from the lesson (how educational is stuck in my head as a saying now) and you just can’t fault him. Best of all he’s motivational as all hell. I pride myself in that professionally, I’ve managed to obtain the ability to talk to someone long enough that I can them into just about anything. This man will listen to Yakuza shaking down an elderly man and quote them to convince a beautiful woman to give him a shot. His capacity to talk and talk until whatever he says is believable makes me wish I knew a guy like him just to learn from him.

 

Beyond Kintaro are the side cast of characters, especially the women he encounters. Ranging from an insanely manipulative politician’s daughter to a woman who literally has a thing for going fast, to the above shown Software Development President, to an Olympic Gold Medalist, all of these women typically start off hating and being disdainful towards Kintaro (or at the least thinking he’s a brother level character) but after he parts ways, they find irrefutable proof
of his dedication, skill, and most of all proof of his absolutely titanic balls. This man either out teaches, codes, manipulates (in a good way), or outperforms in the menial task he is given. And does he reap the benefits as he so seemingly is willing to do? Nope. He literally rides off into the sunset, because he constantly strives to both experience life and learns from it, sometimes with the beautiful women actually actively chasing him down and demanding they give it to them then and there. But damn if he doesn’t have a great stable of “educational experiences.”

And so we have touched upon the beautiful show of comedy that is Golden Boy. I normally don’t write articles on stuff this short but with the 6 episode OVA lifespan of the show, I cannot offer words that would deliver anything near an adequate amount of justice. So go off and watch it and let me know what you thought of the show. And if your parents have complaints I told you about this horribly NSFW show, they can send them to here but leave a like or comment if you enjoyed it and who knows, maybe you will be able to save Japan, or even the world!