Ah, Golden Days. When I first finished this series, I thought of it as quite good, but I simply could not get it out of my head. I continued to ponder over the questions about life and death that this manga brought up, until I eventually raised my score to a 10. I don't give 10's lightly.

The plot of Golden Days seems, on its surface, a bit silly. There are plenty of ludicrous media out there that use time travel as a gag device, to pull a character into amusing or exciting circumstances without dealing with the implications of such a plot device. Golden Days doesn't do that. When Souma Mitsuya, a Japanese teenager from the mid 1990s is sent back in time to the year his great-grandfather was also sixteen—1921—he reacts realistically. Mitsuya happens to look exactly like his grandfather, Yoshimitsu, and Mitsuya is mistaken for the missing Yoshimitsu and taken to live in his place. Yoshimitsu is actually a nobleman in Japan's now-abolished aristocracy, and he and his sister Yuriko have been taken care of by the aristocratic Kasuga family since the death of their parents. The Kasuga family also has two children, who have been raised alongside the Soumas—Jin, also sixteen, and Aiko, twelve.

Mitsuya doesn't know why he is in the past, but has a final message from his grandfather: “If I could turn back time, I would certainly run to save him... Jin!” But save him from what?

Mitsuya falls into Yoshimitsu's place uncomfortably at first. He goes through withdrawals for modern food and technology, and doesn't understand many archaic Japanese cultural practices. But Jin, who was very close to Yoshimitsu (and had unrequited feelings for him), guides Mitsuya through some of his troubles adjusting. Jin begins to wonder how he can have feelings for both Yoshimitsu and Mitsuya...

There are innumerable wonderful subplots going on simultaneously. Kei, Mitsuya's older cousin and Yoshimitsu's other grandson, has also been sent back in time. He finds work at a coffeehouse and begins to fall in love with a waitress there, all while wondering if it is okay for him to seize happiness in this time period, or if he will change history. Yuriko, Yoshimitsu's sister, tries to avoid an arranged marriage so she can reconnect with her childhood sweetheart, Kunimi Hayato. Aiko encounters discrimination because she is half-Japanese (she and Jin have an Italian mother) and tries to befriend the son of her governess.

Ultimately, the slice-of-life tone escalates to a mystery, as Jin and Mitsuya learn about the reasons Yoshimitsu ran away from home, and reaches a tightly plotted climax that changes everything.

Golden Days defies being neatly labeled. Please don't be scared off by the Shounen Ai tag—this manga is more like a shoujo with a boy's love subplot than a true shounen ai. You will really miss out of you pass by it just for that reason, and you might even like it. It is quite different from most other shounen ai/boy's love stories, and not at all steamy or sexy. Just cute and sweet, but never "fluff".

The characters are wonderful, they all felt so real and in their world. Mitsuya looks pretty, but he's also kind of scrappy and doesn't hesitate to throw a punch if it's needed. Jin hides his troubles with his charming behavior. Not only that, but for a series that starts out feeling like a slice-of-life, it is actually tightly packed with very little that might be called “filler.” It's full of symbolism and foreshadowing, which won't all be apparent until you read it a second time. The first volume mirrors the last so well, it's clear that the mangaka planned the entire story from the start. And the ending doesn't hold back either. The characters face realistic and inevitable fates.

Yes, as a love story, Golden Days is quite sad, but it is also a beautiful coming-of-age story about understanding life and coming to terms with death. I hope you'll enjoy it too.