Golden Kamuy
Manga by: Satoru Noda


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I thought I post about one of the many anime that doesn't seem to popular yet, but it worth a watch. If this anime sounds like something you may be interested in please watch it and tell me. I'd love to get some discussion on it.

Plot Summary


Saichi Sugimoto, known as Immortal Sugimoto from his time in the Russo-Japaness War, is in Hokkaido in order to pan for gold to help his friends widow. He happens to hear a story about a legendary treasure and its treasure map. The map is tattooed onto the skin of a group of escaped convicts. Along his way back Sugimoto encounters a bear, but is saved by a young Ainu girl named Asirpa. Asirpa then reveals more truth to the legendary gold and the two team up to find the lost treasure.

Genre
Action, Adventure, Historical, Japanese-Style Western

The show has mature content and I probably would allow any of my possible future children to watch it till they are at least 16 and now without talking to them about the content. I will admit that I'm a little more open-minded in mature content then say my husband is. That being said the blood and fore isn't there just to be there most of the time. It's really there as part of the story.


My Review of the Anime
gaia_star gaia_star gaia_star gaia_star /5


I just want to start how much it's nice to see an anime that has some representation for the Ainu community. Many people in Japan don't think the Ainu exist as an ethnic group anymore which is sad and a whole other topic. So seeing someone team up with a University Professor to show the general population more about Ainu culture is really cool and makes the manga and anime of Golden Kamuy a cultural treasure alone.

The story not only brings a rarely studied culture to life, but also doesn't sugar coat history as well. Many forms of historical based shows and literature often sugarcoat what really happened in terms of how people reacted to it. This doesn't do that, while it's mature content, it still speaks volumes to the historical part of this historical fiction.

When it comes to the characterization. It's fun watching characters react to different things while being true to the time period. The main character Sugimoto is learning to speak Ainu and about the culture and sometimes he's pushing back because something that an Ainu would do is gross to what a Japanese person may do and there are moments were Asirpa thinks something gross of Sugimoto.

While there are many serious moments in the story, the writer knows it. This isn't one of those animes that you watch heavy depressing stuff the whole time. He puts some humor in it both of talking about contrasting Ainu/Japanese cultures, historical situations, or through more common means. You can tell the moments his information source told him something he thought was funny and took off with it in his writing.

The Manga form has won plenty of awards and nominations:
Taisho Award in 2016
Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize in both 2016 and 2017, but won the grand prize category in 2018.
Kodansha Manga Award: General Category (2017)
Eisner Award Nominated

No the drawbacks to the story. While I mention the mangaka tried to balance the dark with the light in terms of humor. He doesn't always hit the mark and some episodes leave you feeling a little depressed. Or on the other side he also can make it feel too much of the funny and not enough of the heavy. In facts he has made whole chapters where it's all about the comedy, but not related to the main plot (Not that I hated it). Which then can also make the episode feel like a filler.

While this isn't the best anime I've seen I think it's a really good anime and worth a watch. The third season is premiering Fall 2020 and some believe it will be the last season. I'd love to hear what other people think of it.