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Golden Boy Anime Review

Golden Boy Box Art

Golden Boy

4.5 stars / OVA / Comedy / 17-up

Bottom Line

A hilarious, outrageous sex-comedy that's not hentai.

It’s Like...

...The Irresponsible Captain Tylor stars as a salaryman in a celibate hentai comedy.

Vital Stats

Original Title

GOLDEN BOY - さすらいのお勉強野郎

Romanized Title

Golden Boy - Sasurai no Obenkyou-yarou

Literal Translation

Wandering Study-punk

Animation Studio

KSS

US Release By

Eastern Star, ADV Films

Genre

Adult Comedy

Series Type

OVA

Length

6 30-minute episodes

Production Date

1995-10-27 - 1996-06-28

What's In It

Categories

Look For

  • Raunchy Comedy
  • SD Humor
  • HAPPY Toilet Hugging

Objectionable Content

  • Violence: 1 (mild)
  • Nudity: 4 (heavy)
  • Sex: 4 (heavy)
  • Language: 5 (extreme)

full details

See Also

Sequels/Spin-offs

  • None

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Plot Synopsis

Meet Kintaro Oe, age 25. Kintaro refers to himself as a freeter, a person who takes on various odd jobs. The strange thing about him is that after achieving all the credits required to graduate college, he quit. He now travels the world on his mountain bike in search of knowledge, because, after all, 'Study is life!'

Quick Review

Switch to Full Review

Golden Boy isn't for kids, but it's really no worse than an A (US R) rated movie--it's not hentai. The episodes follow a simple pattern, but the situations are well thought out and original, and above all, this series is bust-a-gut hilarious--I seriously had to pause the tape, catch my breath and wipe away tears before I dared continue watching. Sharp-looking designs and vibrant colors add to the whole viewing experience, and the dub is one of the best I've ever had the pleasure of listening to--generally considered better than even the original dialogue. The casting is perfect, and the acting incredible, with Doug Smith as a flawless Kintaro stealing the show.

Golden Boy is a hilarious, outrageous sex-comedy that shouldn't be dismissed as hentai. While it's not for everyone, fans on this type of humor will find very little wrong with the series.

Read the full-length review...

Related Recommendations

It's hard to recommend something related to Golden Boy that doesn't leap over the Hentai border. If you liked the aspect of not being able to find everything out about Kintaro Oe, you'd probably enjoy that aspect in Justy Ueki Tylor in The Irresponsible Captain Tylor.

Notes and Trivia

Based on a 1993 manga by Tatsuya Egawa, not available in English as of this writing.

US DVD Review

ADV's bilingual DVD includes the entire series on a single, budget priced disc. The English audio is also remastered in Dolby 5.1.

Eastern Star's much newer DVD lists bilingual audio and no special features.

Parental Guide

Appropriate for older teens only; rated 17-up by ADV.

Violence: 1 - Mostly comedic, but there were a few realistic fights.

Nudity: 4 - I think I've made it clear above about the nudity.

Sex/Mature Themes: 4 - Ditto.

Language: 5 - The actual swearing was low, but this was some of the raunchiest dialogue I've heard.

Staff & Cast

Original Japanese Cast

Kintaro Oe: Mitsuo Iwata
Madame President: Hiromi Tsuru
Naoko Katsuda: Yuuko Minaguchi
Noriko: Yuri Shiratori
Ayuko Hayamizu: Kikuko Inoue
Reiko Tarayama: Sakiko Tomagawa
Chie: Mika Kanai

Employee B: Junko Iwao
Employee D: Junko Shimakata
Hiroshi Kogure: Juurouta Kosugi
Employee A: Kikuko Inoue
Child: Megumi Tano
Instructor C: Michiko Neya
Employee E: Mika Kanai
Employee C: Miki Takahashi
Animator: Ryuuzou Ishino
Office worker: Wataru Takagi
Ayuko (Young): Yoko Asada
Kogure's girl: Yoshiko Sakakibara
Yuka Kanzaki: Yuka Koyama
Instructor A: Yuko Mizutani

English Dub Cast

Kintaro Oe: Doug Smith
Madame President: Tiffany Grant
Naoko Katsuda: Allison Keith
Noriko: Kim Sevier
Ayuko Hayamizu: Sue Ulu
Reiko Tarayama: Laura Chapman
Chie: Yvonne Aguirre

Crew

Director: Tatsuya Egawa
Storyboard: Hiroyuki Kitakubo
Original creator: Hiroyuki Kitakubo
Character Design: Toshihiro Kawamoto
Art director: Tatsuya Kushida
Director of Photography: Hideo Okazaki

Availability

Available in North America from Eastern Star on a single bilingual DVD. Was previously available from ADV as a bilingual "Essential Anime" DVD collection. Was originally available on six subtitled or dubbed VHS volumes or hybrid LaserDiscs, all out of print.

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