In the early twentieth century, Russo-Japanese War veteran Saichi “Immortal” Sugimoto scratches out a
meager existence during the postwar gold rush in the wilderness of Hokkaido. When he stumbles across a
map to a fortune in hidden Ainu gold, he sets off on a treacherous quest to find it. But Sugimoto is
not the only interested party, and everyone who knows about the gold will kill to possess it! Faced
with the harsh conditions of the northern wilderness, ruthless criminals and rogue Japanese soldiers,
Sugimoto will need all his skills and luck—and the help of an Ainu girl named Asirpa—to
survive.
(Source: Viz Media)
It has been a long time since we have simple plot concept but decent execution with action, comedy and adventure. And this party is not your usual kind hearted boy and lovey cute girl with a pet. This party starts from a young retired soldier, an Ainu girl about 10 years old. I do not have problems watching this anime as what people have been mentioning on the cgi bears. Golden Kamuy is definitely not your most amazing anime but it is probably one of the most worth watching new anime in this season. __Action__ Sugimoto is on the search of the Gold Treasure while Asirpa wants to find out the truth behind her father's death. As such, many people with different ideals (or maybe none) end up being their enemy. While surviving in the wild, hunting food food is essential. Thus both humans and animals are Sugimoto and Asirpa's enemies. Every day is a new battle so about every moment is an action scene. Especially for Immortal Sugimoto, he prefer to kill than be killed. __Adventure__ There is very minimal adventure in Golden Kamuy because the plot focus on finding the prisoners who has the map tatoo on their body and they are spread over everywhere in Hokkaido or maybe further. Sometimes they stay low in the mountains, visits different villages and hunts different animals for food, and for that, it is also interesting to watch because when it's when more Ainu culture is presented to us. __Comedy__ The cultural differences between Sugimoto, a Japanese and Asirpa, an Ainu makes up half of the comedy scenes. They have lots of expression which is quite funny to watch, and they are not the ones in slice of life comedy show. With the addition of Shiraishi, the funny moments makes into the next level. I didn't use the usual guideline to make this review because I don't think I can describe the execution of the plot, the chemistry among characters and the enjoyment correctly. But I still really appreciate the relationship between Sugimoto and Asirpa and so, here's my little opinions. __Young Retired Soldier Immortal Sugimoto__ ~!If you know Sakata Gintoki or any mature characters then you can imagine what kind of person is Sugimoto. He is a firm guy about surviving and will not hesitate to kill for survival. Even eating exotic food in order to fill his hunger and body needs. But as a person himself, Sugimoto is actually a caring person. He promise his war mate to take care of his wife and that's the sole reason for Sugimoto to embark on this dangerous gold hunt. After Asirpa joins in the party, he have done and learn a lot of things about Ainu culture and protects Asirpa from all kinds of danger. I can say that he definitely bonded with Asirpa thus even if there is a chance to be rich, he doesn't stop and continue the journey because he is a responsible person. I know its weird to ship them but I hope even when they reach their goals, I hope they can continue their endless journey.!~ __New Generation Ainu Shoujo Asirpa__ ~!Asirpa is my most favourite female protagonist in the entire Spring Season because of her great personality. During her first appearance, she saves Sugimoto from dying in the claws of a bear and also not hesitate to introduce herself in front of an unknown stranger. She also joins Sugimoto in the search without thinking too much. Asirpa has a will of her own and acts with responsibility, she is knowledgeable in food hunt and understand her culture well despite in a young age. However, Asirpa does not follows exactly what an Ainu girl supposed to do and claims to be a new generation of an Ainu. With her somewhat bubbly character, Asirpa reduce some intensity and become a trustable companion for Sugimoto. However, Asirpa is still young to understand the complexity behind human greed so Sugimoto has to take care of her somehow but the guy doesn't complain and so do us. !~ Lastly, I hope Golden Kamuy can be next legend.
# [~~~**This review will contain Spoilers for the show!**~~~]()
Golden Kamuy is serious but can have many scenes with absurd humour and characters, the main reason
why I love this series.
[**_(SPOILER AHEAD)_ STORY:**]()
The story focuses on Sugimoto who, after the war, tries to find some gold as to save his comrade's
wife. Soon enough he hears about the Hidden Ainu gold and the tattoos. To be honest, I completly
forgot that the main focus was to save his friend's wife.
Sugimoto meets many faces along his journey, Asirpa and Shiraishi being the first few to join his
squad.
Their goal is to collect all of the tattoos which apparently make a map to where the gold is. This
means that they have to make their way round nearly whole of Japan to find the tattooed convicts,
which is rather interesting, there is always something going on in the show.
I nearly missed it but there are many vital points of their trip, cooking.
Asirpa teaches the squad how to use the wildlife to their advantage and how to make the best dishes
out there, these scenes are honestly amazing.
~~~img420(https://thumbs.gfycat.com/AnimatedSizzlingHornshark-size_restricted.gif)~~~
[**CHARACTERS:**]()
**Saichi Sugimoto** - A war veteran who is set on finding the hidden Ainu treasure. During the war
he's earned the nickname "Immortal Sugimoto" due to the reason that...well he wouldn't die no matter
what challenge was thrown at him, he is quite the tough guy. Despite all that though he does have a
soft side, he wants to save his friend's wife and also wants to protect Asirpa.
**Asirpa** - A young Ainu girl who meets Sugimoto when he is attacked by a bear, she is the first one
to join his squad. She is very skilled at hunting and tracking. She often teaches Sugimoto how to find
prey easier and how to cook proper food in the wild.
**Yoshitake Shiraishi** - The escape king, he's been to so many prisons and he managed to escape all
of them. He is more of the comic relief for the show due to his immature nature and personality. Did
you know that his character is based on "Yoshie Shiratori" a real Japanese prisoner who also managed
to escape all of his prisons?
**Kiroranke** - He is the last one to join Sugimoto's squad in this season. He, too, is an Ainu. He is
a friend of Asirpa's dad and thus thats his reason for joining the group. He is calm and serious, just
like Sugimoto but a bit more.
There are many other characters in the show such as:
**Tokushirou Tsurumi** - The antagonist of the series, he is much less stable than most of the
characters in the show, a part of that can be attributed to frontal lobe injury, he is plotting
things, he wants the 7th division to take over Hokkaido. A really good bad guy imo.
**Tetsuzou Nihei** - A skilled hunter who owns a dog name Ryu. He just wanted to hunt down Retar. He
was a weird character, often making boner and dick jokes.
**Toshizou Hijikata** - An old man who is still **very** energetic. He is also plotting many things
such as well you know...taking over Hokkaido, yep two factions opposing each other, nice. Honestly
this lad is quite the badass, just like Sugimoto.
There are more characters in the show that are important but I don't want to make this section too
long, yep.
~~~img420(https://pa1.narvii.com/6794/9a540942783689f61f7dad5ddfe5f18b082a1fea_hq.gif)~~~
[**ART/ANIMATION:**]()
Golden Kamuy has a good art style, it feels unique and fresh. It has a nice combo of weird surreal
look during the comedic scenes and dead serious during the...well the serious scenes.
The animation is nice, smooth fluid. Really makes the combat and gore stand out. The only issue I
found with the animation is the use of CGI bears. I, personally don't really like making the main
points of the scene in CGI (unless the CGI is really good like, for example, in Violet Evergarden), if
its in the background sure thats fine but hey.
~~~img420(https://66.media.tumblr.com/bddf22ceda447646d39052894972abc9/tumblr_p6xo9dbBnN1v1hotuo1_540.gif)~~~
[**MUSIC:**]()
This show has an amazing OP, "Winding Road" by Man With a Mission. Such a bop, I love MWAM but this
song honestly is one of their best.
The ED is also really catchy, just like the OP. "Hibana" by The Sixth Lie.
~~~img420(https://thumbs.gfycat.com/DrearyBareAfricanaugurbuzzard-size_restricted.gif)~~~
[**OVERALL OPINION:**]()
Golden Kamuy is a great show with many great characters, the mix of humour and seriousness is great
and felt unique to this show.
The plot is also very interesting, there is always something happening, either bad or good.
So let me preface this review by saying this is my first time ever writing a review. Along with this, this is not a "critical" review because I rate series based on enjoyment rather than on a critical scale. (What is the point of watching if you can't enjoy the series?) I should also mention that I will have absolutely zero spoilers in this review out of respect to the readers of this review. My hope in creating this review is to encourage people to check out an anime which I consider to be extremely underrated. ____ To begin I'm going to address the elephant, or rather bear, in the room when it comes to this anime. Yes this series does have some CGI sprinkled throughout the season. [ (Video of CGI bear and wolf) ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQCl03E-AEY) If you are someone who is easily turned off by CGI in anime then this series may not be for you. I would encourage you to watch it nonetheless because the CGI is infrequent throughout the series. I'm uncertain whether the decision to utilize CGI the way it was used in this series was a budget decision or a creative decision but it does not gel as intended. The CGI clashes against the animation of the characters and sticks out quite a bit. That being said, CGI is used only occasionally throughout this series and it in no way took away from my enjoyment of watching this anime. ____ With that out of the way, allow me to talk about what makes this series so great to me. To begin, the plot of this series is incredibly interesting. The story takes place shortly after the Russo-Japanese War in Japan. It follows many different groups of people all fighting to obtain a map to hidden gold stolen from the Ainu people of Japan. The issue with obtaining the map to the gold is that unique portions of the map have been tattooed on the body of 24 different death row inmates by the man who originally stole the fortune of gold from the Ainu people. This means that the only way for anyone to find the gold is to either skin the bodies of these inmates or sketch out the unique designs of their tattoos. Without obtaining the unique designs of all 24 tattooed bodies and piecing them together it is impossible to complete the map and find the gold. All groups hunting the fortune of the Ainu people share a common goal but they all come from different backgrounds and all have their own reasons for wanting to obtain the goal. What this overarching plot does is link all of these groups in a crucial hunt or be hunted adventure. Groups are willing to kill one another in order to obtain just one section of the map. What you see throughout this anime is that the decisions characters make effects their chances of survival. Due to the plot being what it is, combined with the characters having to survive in the wilderness, the death of any main character is a realistic possibility. For me personally this is a welcome change from most anime and it kept me hooked on this anime. Without going into spoilers, the overall plot grabs your attention and keeps you hooked episode to episode. ____ With the intrigue of the main plot out of the way I will briefly address the other three elements of this anime that makes it so great to me. These three elements are the characters, the comedy, and the food. Now I know what you're thinking, "FOOD?! How does that have anything to do with a survival of the fittest, adventure style anime?" What this anime does so well is break up the intense scenes related to the overarching plot of this series with meal breaks. [ (Video of food in Golden Kamuy) ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jpAszCSoO1s) What these meal breaks allow is for the viewer to learn about the meals being prepared, their origins, how important hunting is, and also just fun banter between characters. Along with that, the food animated in Golden Kamuy rivals what I have seen from Food Wars (though I have yet to watch it yet). Segueing from food into the comedy aspect of Golden Kamuy as it fills a fairly similar role to the food. The comedy of Golden Kamuy is sprinkled throughout episodes and it is also used to split up the intensity of the plot. From the animation of characters changing to express comedy to the hilarious one liners given in conversations there are very few instances where the comedy in Golden Kamuy did not hit. I also want to mention that these two aspects of Golden Kamuy are never mistimed. When a scene is intense and a critical plot point then the comedy and food does not interrupt the scene. These two aspects are utilized only in a positive fashion and never take away from the overall plot. Finally, I want to address the characters. Golden Kamuy has without a doubt one of the best cast of characters I have seen in an anime/manga in my time in these mediums of entertainment. Sugimoto, Asirpa, and Shiraishi are an incredible main cast. They all have their own distinct personality and quirks that make them all loveable. What makes the characters in this anime so great to me is that the creators take the time to establish the supporting cast as well. The plot following different groups and the way in which the episodes are structured allows for all of the characters in each group a chance to shine. Every character who gets significant screen time feels well thought out and important to the overall story. Once again, without going into any spoilers, every character feels they could realistically die and it causes you to appreciate the time they have on screen. ____ Overall, Golden Kamuy is so much more than the CGI bear that so many people know this anime for. While I have yet to read the manga (which I certainly plan to do), I have heard nothing but great things about this series going forward. If you are unwilling to watch this anime due to a CGI bear in the first episode then you are missing out on an incredible story, a great cast of character, and a lot of great laughs. Golden Kamuy should be on the plan to watch list of anyone who loves adventure anime and it is a hidden gem worth exploring!
Lets talk about what this show is and what it is not. This show is not about a CGI bear. It is not about hunting trips. It is not about Russo-Japanese politics from a century ago. Those things are in the show, but they are not what the show is. What half of the show is, is action and characters moving plot. And that is exactly what I enjoy most when starting a new anime; that hooks me instantly and keeps me coming back for more. The other half of the show is comedy that is actually funny to me, I laughed out loud so many times during season1 (tho I could maybe see like a female not vibing with it, a lot of dick jokes and bathroom humor). The way the storyteller go back and forth between life or death seriousness into a funny moment is really well done and almost always worked on me. Just when things get super intense, the author surprises you with a laugh. And as soon as you get comfortable laughing it up, the author throws you into the most serious of situations. There is actually another thing going on in this show when we are not doin those two things and its something you might not expect or think is gonna be cool, which is little lessons on hunting and cooking. Give it a chance, even if it is not for you, there is a lot of good entertaining information in these parts of the story. You might go into these parts uninterested, but if you have an open mind you also might come away from these parts really enjoying yourself and learning something (like I did). Personally, I just really fuck with all 3 of the things this show spends time doing; it's a perfect type of show for me. Now it took me a while to pick my fav character; I wanted it to be Sugimoto but he is too much like myself (except for the badass and immortal parts), and I hate myself sometimes so it can not be him. I'm goin with Asirpa all the way no regrets. Tanigaki was my biggest surprise turn around character that I did not expect to like but really did. Tsurumi is a scary and weird and unique villain and def my fav antag (I think about this guy the most after the show is over, w.e that means) with Hijikata right behind him just because I really like his motive. And I'm calling them villains but there is a lot of anti-hero feelings in this show. I think it is interesting how those two antag' dreams seem more grand and world changing and like they could help or hurt the people of japan a lot while our protag' dreams feels selfish yet benign. Finale left me wanting; for this type of show I expected something... idk bigger? more consequential? It kinda went like a gag route; told me this is gonna be a long story. Sometimes I felt like we were spending a lil too much time away from Sugimoto and Asirpa, but most of the time we did that the other characters were interesting enough to handle it. And I'm sure its in service of a larger story to come in s2 and 3. Couldnt skip either OP or ED on any epi, just too good.
Golden Kamuy tells an action-packed treasure hunting story, it deftly weaves in an unflinching portrayal of Ainu culture. The in-depth detail that the culture is shown in is likely thanks to the Ainu consultant on the production staff, ensuring the greatest accuracy possible. Moreover, this series never shies away from discussing the ugly way Japan treated the Ainu in the past either, in turn making the story more realistic and believable. The story follows Saichi “The Immortal” Sugimoto, a gruff survivor of the Russo-Japanese war. Famous for violently slaughtering his foes to escape from dozens of life-threatening combat situations; as we see in many thrilling action sequences he’ll never be content with death, motivated by his unfinished business. Panning for gold during winter in Hokkaido’s wilderness is how he spends his time nowadays, desperate for money to keep a promise he made to his friend who died during the war. Lucky for him, he hears of a wild tale about a man who murdered a group of Ainu men, stole hundreds of pounds of gold, hid it in Hokkaido before his arrest, then tattooed a treasure map onto the bodies of his fellow prisoners. In the opening episode, Sugimoto fights for a prisoner’s tattooed body with a bear who wants to make them both its next meal. Through a lucky encounter, he’s saved by a skilled Ainu hunter, a young girl named Asirpa. He confides the tale of hidden treasure in Asirpa, and together they begin their journey in search of it. As the story progresses it takes on a ‘prisoner of the week’ structure, but through constantly adding new characters the series avoids feeling formulaic. The prisoners have their own weird dispositions and stories of their own, gradually forming the greater narrative of what this treasure is all about. Despite its premise, Golden Kamuy’s plot structure flows in a surprisingly natural way. Sometimes an episode may revolve around the duo escaping authorities who are after the treasure as well. A handful of sadistic villains add a constant sense of danger even when they’re not locked in combat with a prisoner. Then there’s the prisoner Shiraishi, a foolhardy escape artist, who joins the lead duo on their journey. This liberated form of writing makes every episode feel like you're getting something new, despite it occasionally causing the pacing to meander on certain parts rather than consistently developing the story. At first, Sugimoto and Asirpa’s relationship is an uneasy alliance, he needs her help to find the gold and she needs his help to find the man who murdered her father. Despite this beginning, they become friends and genuinely care about one another. Sugimoto sees firsthand how awfully people treat Ainu people by being around Asirpa, and he stands up for when he can because she accepts it being used to the racism. Fantastic commentary and discussion on the Ainu culture are deftly woven into their satisfying character arcs, never sounding preachy and somehow always excitingly presenting historical facts. Seeing them hunt with one another using Asirpa’s Ainu techniques is awesome; she teaches Sugimoto them as well and it brings plenty of chemistry but also strengthens their bond. The hunting methods she uses are always quite clever and lend themselves excellently to action scenes. Like Asirpa may teach Sugimoto and the viewer how to make squirrel traps to foreshadow its use later during a higher stakes combat scene. This is how you write an action scene! We’re presented with clever ideas then they return later on to be used in creative ways, a satisfying outcome for any viewer keeping track of the Ainu lessons. Rewarding payoffs like this make Golden Kamuy such an enjoyable experience. The show well to avoid framing Sugimoto as better than Asirpa’s at the Ainu techniques that she taught him. Many stories land in this pitfall while trying to portray indigenous tribes, having the foreigner beat them at their own game not realizing how condescending that framing could be seen by the natives. Thankfully this does not happen in Golden Kamuy because it is intelligently and respectfully written. Weighing down Golden Kamuy's adaptation the most is the mediocre visuals that fail to elevate the strong writing beyond the manga. It's clear the newly opened Geno Studio tried their best, but picking an action series to work on may have been out of their full capabilities. Backgrounds are messy and flat, character animation is passable but oversimplifies the manga’s great designs, and that hideous CGI bear looks like something out of a PS1 game. However, the opening "Winding Road" by Man With a Mission is fantastic, well-edited, and intensely performed, it's well suited to a survival series like this one. The ending theme "Hibana" is also one of the best of the season, a great alternative rock that showcases detailed art from the manga. Even with all of the high points Golden Kamuy has, I would consider the pitch-perfect tone to be its biggest strength. The show blends comedy with the gritty premise, the tone is balanced amazingly. Noboru Takagi, the guy who adapted Baccano also adapted this series’ already great source material, which is likely why the dialogue is so snappy and never feels slow or lacking. And this writing is only elevated by the fantastic voice acting; Asirpa’s seriousness played to comedic effect, Shiraishi’s goofy disregard for danger, Sugimoto’s fierceness in action sequences, it’s all excellent. The banter between Asirpa and Sugimoto is wonderfully lighthearted too, some of their expressions are hilariously exaggerated too. The action scenes are typically over-the-top with gore because of the wild personalities of all the characters, there is a scene with Sugimoto punching a bear! None of the violence feels like it's there for shock value either; they are in a survival situation, after all. Their lives are constantly in danger from enemies and their hunting for food is shown in visceral but realistic detail. The tone is further balanced by the wonderful detail put into describing the food the group eats, using Ainu’s strangely delicious-looking recipes to showcase their culture. While there’s a fair share of dramatic scenes, the show always maintains its wry charm thanks to the characters. Regardless of how absurdly dangerous their survival situation might be. Regardless of Golden Kamuy’s production flaws, its writing is way too good to not recommend. I would also recommend seeking out the manga as well if you want to see the series art at a higher quality. With a second season coming in the Fall Season, we can only hope it is produced by someone other than Geno Studio. Nevertheless, Golden Kamuy is an insightful and worthwhile adventure that manages to thrill with compelling action and endear with its fantastic characters in equal parts.
#
__Spoiling without warning.__
« We'll roam the lands and find the ~~_One Piece_~~ treasure of the Ainu! » — Equipped with a basic plot looking like a replica of 『One Piece』, 『Golden Kamuy』 brings us back to the beginning of the 20th century while Japan was becoming an imperialist nation. That's in this historical setting that the Japanese soldier Sugimoto would meet the Ainu Asirpa and that they would together search out the biggest amount of gold you could imagine, embarking on an adventure through the Northern lands of Hokkaido!!
To begin this review, I'd like to talk a little bit about the way Japan handles its history. Historically, Japan has not made a lot of anime on its history (what a wordplay), especially on its history from the end of the _sakoku_ to the end of World War 2—that is, on its imperialist and colonialist era. As much as it is somewhat understandable (for it is not an era to be particularly proud of), it creates a strange "hole" in art, and by extension in minds—as much minds of their own people, as minds of strangers who look at Japan (which is convenient for it 🥸).
I guess that's because of that hole that 『Golden Kamuy』 looks first and foremost like a documentary, telling a piece of Japanese history that's VERY rarely mentioned. That being said, while it contains a handful of references to Japanese history, 『Golden Kamuy』 is not so much a piece of work on that aspect that it is one on the Ainus, with a lot of scenes dedicated to explaining their traditions and the like, even showing some Ainu language (a truly nice presence). As much as Japanese manga shows a teacher role commonly, it has a peculiar ethnic vibe here; and as much as it is interesting, it is somehow too blatant, especially in the way it is conveyed to the screen: calm explanations, focus of the camera on the element that is being explained, … which gets the viewer out of the anime.
Now about the anime in itself—that is, its animation: it is not great at all, very modest, kinda mediocre. I'm not watching so many animes these days, but still: 『Golden Kamuy』's animation got me surprised as to how second-rate it was. Let's not misunderstand ourselves: it's not SO bad that it is horrible to watch. It's just that you'll witness a lot of flaws here and there; not so much for the frames, rather consiering the handling of the drawings, that are in themselves often… weirdly handled. What I found the most poorly handled was how the anime tried to translate the comical expressions of the manga: a few times a success, a lot others a failure, as it is too smoothly pictured to convey the ridiculousness of them, lacking real consideration (for instance by adding shadows idk).
Considering the comical layer of the anime more precisely, it is not so great either. It's like, the anime tries to be funny, but it is kind of clumsy at it, so that it makes you smile and then you'd headpat it for having tried. In the same vein, I've found it quite clumsy to put so many comical facial expressions on Asirpa and not so much on the other characters, which would have probably distributed the comical effects more evenly and thus more neatly.
And this is the perfect transition for talking about the characters: you could say, the facial expressions work better with Asirpa because she's a child while Sugimoto has been a soldier, seen war and is more serious blahblah… However, these characteristics don't add up with what the anime shows. While being a child, Asirpa is already able to survive alone in the woods, kill animals, rip them to pieces with very little consideration; while Sugimoto is as much serious as he makes jokes very often and is very open to a lot of things, all the while he mentioned being traumatized by the war but it's shown like, not even 3 times? To be honest, all of this looks pretty unnatural, like the author wouldn't know what personality assign to his characters who end up being pawns for telling the "documentastory" more than true characters.
Now, in the end, I've appreciated 『Golden Kamuy』. I REALLY love the idea of Japanese anime speaking about its imperialist era or about its other ethnicities than the Japanese one. But that is looking at the anime through a documentary-lens, what it does itself; whereas looking at it through a pure anime-lens, piece of art-lens, 『Golden Kamuy』 is bothering, as it doesn't succeed much at it. I'll still watch the second season though 👀