Golden Kamuy

Plot

Saichi Sugimoto, a survivor of the battle of 203 Hill in the Russo-Japanese War has become a miner in Hokkaido in order to provide for the widow of his dead comrade, Toraji. He hears a dubious story of hidden Ainu gold (worth about 800,000,000 JPY / 6,636,000 USD) stashed by a criminal group, and accidentally finds clues to its location. After being attacked by the 7th Division of the Imperial Japanese Army and other mysterious groups, he decides to search for the gold along with an Ainu girl, Asirpa, who rescues him from Hokkaido's harsh northern wilderness.

Characters

Saichi Sugimoto (杉元 佐一, Sugimoto Saichi)

A demobilized soldier who survived the Russo-Japanese War in 1904. He served in the 1st Division of the Imperial Japanese Army and fought in the battle of 203 Hill. He was feared for his savage fighting style and amazing toughness on the battle field, and was known as "Immortal Sugimoto" (Fujimi no Sugimoto). He decides to make money to save his dead comrade Toraji's wife.

Asirpa (Ainu:アシㇼパ, Asirpa)

An Ainu girl who is searching for the murderer of her father. She saved Sugimoto from a wild bear accidentally and she decides to cooperate with him because his father was a victim of hunters for Ainu gold.

Nopperabou (No Face) (のっぺら坊, Nopperabou)

A prisoner known only as "No Face", he murdered Ainu people who knew the location of the gold, and then hid it. No Face painted a partial map on 24 prisoners' backs in the form of a tattoo.

Lieutenant Tsurumi (鶴見中尉, Tsurumi Chūi)

A career officer in the 7th Division of the Imperial Japanese Army who searches for the Ainu hidden gold in order be able to separate Hokkaido from Japan as an independent country. His upper face is covered with a metal plate because of a head injury he suffered from an artillery bombardment during the Russo-Japanese War. He has a strong hatred against the Japanese government because it did not extract any remuneration from Russia after the war and abandoned its soldiers.

Toshizō Hijikata (土方 歳三, Hijikata Toshizō)

A former samurai who fought against the overthrow of the Tokugawa Shogunate. He escaped from prison alongside 24 prisoners with tattoos on their backs and formed a group to search for the hidden Ainu gold. Hijikata was an actual Historical figure.

Reception

Golden Kamuy won the 9th Manga Taishō award. It was also nominated for the 20th Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize and the 40th Kodansha Manga Award in the general category. The manga was ranked second in the 2016 edition of the Kono Manga ga Sugoi! list for male readers. Golden Kamuy charted on the Oricon Japanese Comics Rankings for the week of April 18–24, 2016, with volume seven placing eighth place.