Background

Golden Kamuy takes place in the aftermath of the Russo-Japanese War, primarily in Hokkaido and the surrounding regions. Detailing the many real-life political, technological and cultural developments of Japan at the time, several key parts of the series are fictionalized versions of real-life people and events. Specific focus is given to the indigenous Ainu people and their culture, such as exploring their language, and the way they respectfully use natural resources to thank the Kamuy they believe provide them. Later parts of the story also explore the different subcultures within the Ainu, and the hardships they suffered by being caught in Japanese-Russian territorial conflicts. The plot also explores the severe struggles of soldiers and war veterans, with moral ambiguity, survivor's guilt, honour, penance and virtue ethics being common themes.

The central MacGuffin comes from an in-universe tall tale of an Ainu mining group, said to have unearthed 20 kan^{[lower-alpha 3]} of gold.^{[lower-alpha 4]} One miner murdered the others and hid the gold, only to be captured by Japanese authorities before he could share the location. Disappeared by the government and hidden in Abashiri Prison, the Ainu miner was isolated, hobbled and tortured for the location. To relay the location outside, the Ainu miner tattooed many parts of a ciphered map onto his fellow prisoners, offering them a cut of the gold for sharing it with his comrades outside. The prison eventually recognized the code but was unable to read it, and attempted to transport the tattooed men elsewhere; the tattoed convicts overpowered and killed their captors, scattering into the night.

Premise

Saichi Sugimoto, a veteran of the battle of Hill 203, works as a panner in Hokkaido to provide for the widow of his dead comrade. Sugimoto is approached by a drunk old man, who tells him a dubious legend of a huge gold cache; it can only be found by connecting a cyphered map, split into strange tattoos on Abashiri Prison escapees. Sugimoto laughs off the tall tale, only to wakes the next day to find the old man pointing his gun at him, apologizing for saying too much. Overpowering the old man, Sugimoto pursues him into the woods, finding him killed by a bear and with a large, geometric tattoo across his chest, back and shoulders. Saved from the bear by a young Ainu girl named Asirpa, Sugimoto realizes the story is true and suggests they recover the Ainu gold together. Asirpa is uninterested in the gold but wants vengeance for her father, one of the Ainu miners who was killed in the betrayal.

Examining the body, they realize the tattoos have seams, meaning that the prisoners were always intended to be murdered and skinned. Due to her opposition to needless killing, Asirpa suggests they try to co-operate with prisoners they find by simply tracing their tattoos. Soon recruiting Shiraishi, an escape artist and tattooed convict, Sugimoto's group finds themselves clashing and co-operating with other parties collecting the tattoos: First Lieutenant Tsurumi, the insane leader of the 7th Division, and Hijikata Toshizō, who is touted as the last living samurai.

Manga

Written and illustrated by Satoru Noda, Golden Kamuy was serialized in Shueisha's seinen manga magazine Weekly Young Jump from August 21, 2014,^[6] to April 28, 2022.^[7][8] Its 314 individual chapters were collected into thirty-one tankōbon volumes, released between January 19, 2015 and July 19, 2022.^[7]

Viz Media announced that they licensed the manga at New York Comic Con 2016,^[9] and they released the series in North America from June 20, 2017, to January 16, 2024.^[10][11]

Anime

The anime television series adaptation is produced by Geno Studio. It is directed by Hitoshi Nanba and written by Noboru Takagi,^[12] with music by Kenichiro Suehiro, art direction by Atsushi Morikawa, and CG direction by Yuuko Okumura and Yasutaka Hamada.^[13] Kenichi Ohnuki is adapting the character designs for animation,^[12] while Koji Watanabe designs firearms, Shinya Anasuma designs the props, and Ryō Sumiyoshi designs the animals.^[13] The series' opening theme, "Winding Road", is performed by Man with a Mission, and the ending theme, "Hibana", is performed by The Sixth Lie.^[14] Like with the manga, Hiroshi Nakagawa, an Ainu language linguist from Chiba University, works on the anime as an Ainu language supervisor.^[13]

The anime was announced in July 2017 in Weekly Young Jump,^[15] and aired for twelve episodes starting from April 9 to June 25, 2018, on Tokyo MX, ytv, STV, and BS11.^[14][16] Golden Dōga Gekijō, a series of 25-second animated shorts based on extras included in the Golden Kamuy manga volumes and Weekly Young Jump, is directed by Kenshirō Morii and produced at DMM.futureworks and W-Toon Studio. It premiered online on April 16, 2018.^[17]

At the conclusion of the first season broadcast, a second season was announced and aired from October 8 to December 24, 2018, for twelve episodes.^[18][19] The second season's opening theme, "Reimei", is performed by Sayuri and My First Story, and the ending theme, "Tokeidai no Kane", is performed by Eastern Youth.^[20][21]

On July 7, 2019, it was announced that the series will receive a third season.^[22] On March 13, 2020, it was announced that the third season would premiere in October 2020.^[23] The season aired from October 5 to December 21, 2020, for twelve episodes.^[24] The third season's opening theme, "Grey," is performed by Fomare, and the ending theme "Yūsetsu", is performed by The Sixth Lie.^[25]

On December 5, 2021, it was announced that the series will receive a fourth season. Brain's Base is producing the season, replacing Geno Studio. Shizutaka Sugahara is serving as the chief director, and Takumi Yamakawa is designing the characters. Noboru Takagi is returning to write the scripts.^[26] The season premiered on October 3, 2022.^[27] The opening theme, "Never Say Goodbye," is performed by ALI featuring Mummy-D, while the ending theme, "Subete ga Soko ni Arimasu You Ni," is performed by The Spellbound.^[28] On November 8, 2022, it was announced that the seventh episode of the season and beyond would be postponed due to the passing of a main staff member.^[29] The season restarted broadcasting from the first episode on April 3, 2023, and concluded on June 26, running for thirteen episodes.^[30][31]

On June 26, 2023, after the conclusion of the fourth season, a final season adapting the manga's final arc was announced to be in production.^[31]

The first season of the series was released across three DVD and Blu-ray volumes in Japan, starting in July 2018; they had originally been planned to release starting in June, but were delayed one month to allow for improvements to the footage compared to the TV broadcast version. The Japanese home video volumes include the Golden Dōga Gekijō YouTube shorts, including episodes that are exclusive to the video release.^[32] An original video animation (OVA) based on the manga's "Barato" arc was released on DVD in a bundle with the manga's 15th Japanese volume on September 19, 2018.^[33] A second OVA was released with the manga's 17th Japanese volume on March 19, 2019.^[34] A third OVA based on the manga's "Monster" arc was released with the manga's 19th Japanese volume on September 19, 2019.^[35] A fourth OVA based on the manga's "Shiton Animal Record" arc was bundled with the 23rd manga volume on September 18, 2020.^[36]

The TV series is simulcast on Crunchyroll, and an English dub started streaming on Funimation starting on April 30, 2018.^[37][38] Crunchyroll streamed the third season in North America, Central America, South America, Europe, Africa, Oceania, the Middle East, and the Commonwealth of Independent States.^[39] Funimation streamed the third season with an English dub later.^[40]

Live-action film

On April 19, 2022, it was announced that a live-action film adaptation has been greenlit.^[41] The film is produced by Credeus and directed by Shigeaki Kubo, with Tsutomu Kuroiwa writing the screenplay, Yutaka Yamada composing the music, and Hiroshi Nakagawa and Deko Akibe credited for Ainu supervision. The film stars Kento Yamazaki and Anna Yamada as Saichi Sugimoto and Asirpa respectively. It premiered in Japanese theaters on January 19, 2024.^[42]

Manga

Golden Kamuy won the 9th Manga Taishō award in 2016.^[43] It was nominated for the 20th and 21st annual Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize in 2016 and 2017;^[44][45] and won the 22nd in 2018 in the Grand Prize category.^[46] It was also nominated for the 40th Kodansha Manga Award in the general category;^[47] and for an Eisner Award for Best U.S. Edition of International Material—Asia.^[48] It was ranked second in the 2016 edition of the Kono Manga ga Sugoi! list for male readers.^[49] The series won the Social Impact Award at the 24th Japan Media Arts Festival in 2021.^[50] The series also won the Grand Prize of the 51st Japan Cartoonists Association Awards in 2022.^[51] The manga was nominated for the 54th Seiun Award in the Best Comic category in 2023.^[52]

The British Museum in London used an image of the character Asirpa to promote The Citi Exhibition: Manga, which ran from May 23 to August 26, 2019.^[53]

Live-action film

The live-action film debuted at first at the Japanese box office, earning over ¥534 million on its opening weekend.^[62]