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When I read the description for this anime, I made the mistake of getting excited. Well, maybe that's a bit harsh. But the idea of a romantic tragedy (it didn't say tragedy but you can understand where this was going with a quick read of the description) with sci-fi themes? Awesome!
But unfortunately, as other reviewers have said, those sci-fi themes never really delivered. The entire premise is, from a computer science point of view, ridiculous (you can build machines that perfectly replicate human life but you can't back up their data?????) but i might have excused that if they'd ever done anything with the sci-fi ... themes themselves. The science fiction side of this story is only there so that the main female character will die. That's it. The science behind it is never explored beyond that. EXCEPT when they use the even more ridiculous "after they expire they get robot rabies" plot line which itself is only used in one episode (and that episode itself was easily the most interesting one of the whole show, which really makes me wish they'd explored the expiration thing more...) and then to give one character a sad backstory. But like I said, as ridiculous as the lack of data back-ups is, the idea that roboticists built these machines to have extra, unnecessary power that they can lose control of is completely unbelievable. But again, this idea of expiration is dropped, except to be the reason why the main female character needs to die.
After the first three episodes, the sci-fi-ness disappears, and this turns into a basic romcom. You could replace the "she's a robot who's going to break down soon and she collects other dying robots" premise with "she's an oncologist who has cancer herself" and it'd be exactly the same. Unfortunately for the show, once it's a romcom, it focuses on the characters, and the characters are flimsy at best. None of them ever evolves beyond the stereotype they were originally written as. There are certainly some cute scenes as the relationship between the two "develops" (in quotes because their relationship is so predictable it's lying to say it grows dynamically), but by the end, when the inevitable happens, I didn't feel sad at all, because the show had done so little to develop the characters that I couldn't sympathize for them at all.
Also, while I'm talking about the characters, let me just raise my issue with the character of Michiru, who is introduced as a rival of sorts and then... forgotten about? Apparently she gets over her feelings for Tsukasa, or maybe she doesn't? The show stops caring about her as Tsukasa and Isla's relationship develops and the entire subplot of Michiru's feelings for Tsukasa never gets any resolution. That really bugged me.
The art was... fine. There were a few pretty scenes, but nothing out of the ordinary. The animation was pretty good. I didn't spot any obvious flaws. The music was forgettable. I will say that the voice acting was beyond what I expected. Tsukasa's VA in particular did really well with his generic anime boy character's script.
My review here is obviously harsher than my score is. That's because, while I was watching it, and while there was still hope the story could resolve itself, I really did enjoy it. If you accept that this is a romcom, not a sci-fi, and if you pretend that Tsukasa and Isla are characters worth caring about, there are a lot of cute scenes between the two. I could tell that these two really loved each other (although that's just because they said it so often, and it's a sign of bad character writing if the only reason you know the character feels something is because they tell you they feel it, and not because the story itself shows you how they feel) so I was preparing myself for the heartbreak when the final scene came around, but it didn't hurt me, because even though the show had told me that this was a heartbreaking scene, I didn't feel that it was.
tl;dr Takes a good sci-fi idea, makes it ridiculous to fit the plot, then throws out the sci-fi altogether to make this wholly into a cute but forgettable romcom with an ending that thinks it's a lot more tragic than it actually is.

So I just finished this anime a few hours ago, and I have to say it was a lot of fun. But in terms of actual substance, it had many weak points.
Before I get into that, though, I just want to comment that, for a show in the yuri genre, there really wasn't a lot of yuri. Plenty of female characters, sure, but not a ton of romance. And that's not necessarily a bad thing, but it might be something you want to consider, if you're looking for yuri.
The story was very basic. For the majority of the episodes, you know exactly what's going to ... happen, because they all follow the same set-up. No real plot development happens from the first two episodes till the last two. The ending almost surprised me, but then it concluded in a very trope-ish way, unfortunately. But the story creates a great premise to showcase the characters, which are the real highlight of this show.
There are so many characters in this show that I can guarantee you that you'll find one you love. Part of the issue, though, is that each character gets pretty much just one episode, so you don't get a lot of time with them. But each episode focuses so much on each character that it feels like enough. The EDs are a testament to how much thought is put into each character's personality and story, and they provide for a lot of great music. And they fact that they chose to produce new, fantastic art for each ED is also really impressive.
Overall, I'm pretty confident in the 7 I gave this show. The plot is repetitive, the romance is barely there, and each character besides the main two is only given around twenty minutes of screentime (one gets none at all). But there's always great action and fight scenes, a new character to get to know, and a devil's riddle to keep you wondering well after the episode is over.

DRRR was my friend's favorite anime, so of course I had to give it a shot. And it did not disappoint! By the second episode I knew I would enjoy it. And, really, one of the great things about it is that each episode improves upon the last. That in particular is really hard to come by.
Before I talk about the plot, let me just say that, despite these flaws (which aren't so minor as to say "but these are just little issues I had with it!), the plotlines in this show are really, really enjoyable, and definitely give you deep questions to ponder after ... watching.
The story was craaazy interesting, mostly because there are so many parts to it. Don't like one character's plotline? Wait two minutes and you'll be on to the next one. But at the same time, the mish-mash of so many plots kind of made it lose its coherency. If you asked me what the plot was, I couldn't tell you, because it can't be put into words. And while that's not necessarily a negative, for me it was a bit, just because it made the show seem a bit messy at times. And while that messiness can keep it interesting, it can also make it hard to get invested in sometimes. I know several people who dropped it because of that. But at least each of the storylines had its own interesting resolution.
But at the same time, there was a lot that was left unexplained. There's a random magical sword thrown in with no explanation, there's IM conversations that you aren't meant to understand until the n-teenth episode, and don't forget the arbitrary, random piece of Celtic mythology thrown in with ZERO explanation (or much resolution, but I guess/hope that's what the second season is for). These things are put in to give the story substance, but their lack of explanation makes it that much harder to believe.
The characters are all interesting in their own way, but it's evident that when it came to character writing, the writers went for breadth, not depth. (As is evident by the sheer number of characters.) But that's okay, because it's the character interactions that truly make the character aspect of this show so great.
Also, let me just say how much I loved the ED/ODs. The first OD in particular is just a truly awesome song, one that transcends anime music stereotypes, and the rest of the songs sound strikingly similar to West Coast music. The art in each of these is also really cool (more props to the first OD), and the art throughout the whole show is also great, particularly with regard to Celty.
Overall, I'd say that it takes a while of watching this show to understand why everyone says it's so genius. And if you ever feel like dropping it, please please please pull through!

It makes me sad to see such negative reviews in the two review spots. This is definitely one of my favorite romantic anime out there. Yes, the whole amnesia plotline is rather wonky. Yes, the characters can be a bit overdramatic (although honestly, it's nothing I haven't seen in real life). But what really gets me is people claiming this show lacks depth. I firmly believe that this show has some of the most well-written characters I've ever seen. In fact, I think the people saying this show lacked depth just missed all the nuances (which, granted, were at times hard to see. But once ... you saw them you were blown-away.) Unlike most romance stories, where the plot is "will the characters end up together?", and then ends with a "yes!" and a happily ever after, Golden Time's plot is two people working through the relationship, and realizing that there isn't a happily ever after. I found that really refreshing. I'll admit, at times the plot is so character-driven and lacking of actual motion that it feels like nothing's happening. And when it comes to the actual plot with Banri, there are many episodes where the problem could easily be solved by Banri just talking to his friends. But on the other hand, when it comes to his relationship with Koko, when there's a communication issue, the two will usually have the conversation you wish they'd have. And as someone who focuses mainly on character writing when watching/reading something, the way the two of them were handled was really all I needed in this show.
The ending, I admit, was fairly disappointing. They crammed into one episode what they should have put into at least two. And when I first finished watching it, I felt like they hadn't answered the main questions at all. Particularly with Linda - but it was only after I'd sat and thought about it for a while (particularly with some symbolism through tennis shoes) that I understood their answer. Yet there were many other characters whose plotlines got vague symbolistic answers, and you just sort of had to accept that. And with Banri's whole amnesia thing... I found it a bit ridiculous, so I decided to interpret it as past self v present self, with the amnesia creating a more defined divide between the two. And then it made a bit more sense for me, as well as was more tolerable.
Oh, and a quick other note - the voice acting, especially on Horie Yui's part, was amazing. There were literally some scenes where I just thought "DANG that's good acting", as dumb as that sounds. The OD/ED were both forgettable, unfortunately. I actually skipped the 2nd OD most of the time because I couldn't stand it. And while the music isn't a big problem, having songs I can add to my anime playlist is always a big bonus. Also, the art, for an anime, is perfectly fine. The OD/ED both have some great scenes, but I always skipped them, so... From what I've seen of the manga, that has truly great art.
Overall, I'd say, if you're not willing to put in the mental work to really understand this show, don't bother. Not that it's a ton, but... basically, if you're looking for a light, fun show that you can watch while doing other stuff, Golden Time is not that show. But a lot of the answers you need to be satisfied, you have to come up with yourself. The hints and tools you need to get there are all provided for you in the show, but you have to keep an eye out for them. Otherwise this show can easily come off as two whiny, overdramatic college kids who cause their own problems.