GOLDEN BOY VOLUME 6

Vol. 6
— by Charles McCarter

This is the last in the chronicles of Oe Kintaro, who dropped out of law school to "study" in the real world, mostly by taking odd jobs here and there as he biked around Japan. Those who follow the series know that his studying also tends to involve cute girls in some fashion or other, and more than a little off-color humor.
Episode 6 begins with Kintaro begging for a job at a local animation studio. The boss doesn't want to hire him, as he has no car and the position he's applying for—Animation Production Assistant Trainee—is basically that of a runner. But, with the help of the kind and cute cel painter named Chie, Kintaro is welcomed aboard. And subsequently worked to death.
Kintaro becomes interested in all aspects of animation, from character designs to animation to cel painting to filming and voice acting. His enthusiasm for the job starts to slowly rub off on his co-workers, but can even Kintaro's enthusiasm hold the studio together when they face a deadline crisis?

Two things make this episode stand out from the others. First, a large amount of in-jokes directed at the anime industry are present. For example, the studio is working on the production of GOLDEN GIRL and yep, you guessed it, it has the same logo as GOLDEN BOY. And the creator of GOLDEN GIRL is the same as the real-life creator of GOLDEN BOY, and he even does his own voice acting. Also, the studio conditions—messy desks, sleeping in the studio, starting work very late in the day—these are all things that happen at animation studios. The attention to these details, and their ability to poke fun at them, adds to the humor.
The second stand-out feature of this episode occurs when the studio faces its toughest predicament. Kintaro calls some friends he's met on his previous adventures to ask for their aid. The first call, of course, is to TN Soft (where he worked briefly in episode 1). The women there are all thrilled to hear from him, and eagerly offer whatever assistance they can. This continues until the episode is peopled with all of the girls from the previous episodes as they all do whatever they can to help out.
This episode ties up the end of the series, giving just enough resolution for fans of the show but obviously leaving the ending open. The story for this episode seems to be better than some of the others, such as the previous episode, where Kintaro chases the girl on the motorbike around. And it also manages to pack in more humor than in the several previous episodes combined.
The animation quality and voice acting are consistent with the rest of the series, so not much more remains to be said. Fans and followers of Oe Kintaro will not be disappointed by the end of GOLDEN BOY, and this episode is not to be missed.