In early 1900s Hokkaido after the Russo-Japanese war, Saichi Sugimoto tirelessly pans for gold. Nicknamed "Sugimoto the Immortal" for his death-defying acts in battle, the ex-soldier seeks fortune in order to fulfill a promise made to his best friend before he was killed in action: to support his family, especially his widow who needs treatment overseas for her deteriorating eyesight. One day, a drunken companion tells Sugimoto the tale of a man who murdered a group of Ainu and stole a fortune in gold. Before his arrest by the police, he hid the gold somewhere in Hokkaido. The only clue to its location is the coded map he tattooed on the bodies of his cellmates in exchange for a share of the treasure, should they manage to escape and find it.
Sugimoto does not think much of the tale until he discovers the drunken man's corpse bearing the same tattoos described in the story. But before he can collect his thoughts, a grizzly bear—the cause of the man's demise—approaches Sugimoto, intent on finishing her meal. He is saved by a young Ainu girl named Asirpa, whose father happened to be one of the murdered Ainu. With Asirpa's hunting skills and Sugimoto's survival instincts, the pair agree to join forces and find the hidden treasure—one to get back what was rightfully her people's, and the other to fulfill his friend's dying wish.
[Written by MAL Rewrite]
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Comentários
Stark700
Watching Golden Kamuy made me realize how amazing a series is when it’s anchored so firmly to the concepts of war and survival. Even though it has an archaic feel, this anime convinced me that there’s hope for more great historical fiction tales. I say this honestly as someone who isn’t a big fan of historical fiction. On my first viewing, it was incredibly easily to dive into the show as we meet Sugimoto, a survivor of the Russo-Japanese war. It shouldn’t take long for fans to realize what they’re in stored for and I’m talking about a story that is much deeper than waror survival itself.
Based on the adaptation of the same name, Golden Kamuy takes on shape from the creator’s mind to bring a war survivor adventure into anime medium. While the show takes place in the aftermath of a war, there’s still clear conflicts that are unsolved in their present world. The first episode indulges on how Sugimoto earned his nickname, Sugimoto the Immortal. His encounter with Asirpa, an Ainu girl who saves his life almost seems like fate. Despite their differences, it really shouldn’t take long for viewers to realize their eyecatchy character chemistry. Our main protagonists are on this adventure and their skills supplements each other. Sugimoto’s military skills as an ex-soldier is invaluable for fighting the enemies that they encounter. Meanwhile, Ainu is a survivalist and possesses many important skills such as hunting, cooking, and taming animals. The two become partners in search for treasure but many obstacles stand in their way. A show like this doesn’t need a complicated storyteller because how straightforward it can be.
Now you’re probably wondering if the series will feel more like a cat and mouse game with such a premise. The idea of hunters being hunted is a classic concept that have been used over and over. What Golden Kamuy does different is able to take great care of its characters. I’m actually flabbergasted at how much the show made me invest into learning more about Sugimoto and Asirpa. From a cultural standpoint, the show explores the Ainu people as an indigenous ethnic group. We learn about their lifestyle, family ancestry, traditions, language, and behavior. This translates to how well Asirpa's character can be accepted as we learn more about her. She preaches the lifestyle of Ainu and has great respect for nature. Through her experience, Asirpa has learned how to tame certain animals, hunt, and cook for herself and family. On the other hand, Sugimoto makes an oddball impression to me at first because how violent he seems. While he’s not a bloodthirsty man, Sugimoto can be very ruthless when confronting his enemies. War has really affected him and he became the present man as we know now. The brief PTSD moments that we witness in the series shows how guilty he feels about losing important people in his life. Thus, Sugimoto is always determined to survive and protect those he cares of. Thanks to his military experience as an ex-soldier, he does a damn good at job at that.
Led by Lieutenant Tsurumi, the 7th Division of the Imperial Japanese Army stands as a main obstacle of Sugimoto and Asirpa in their quest to find treasure. While not everyone in the division shares the same goal, they do treat the duo as a threat. It becomes a suspenseful plot as viewers will likely wonder how far they these characters go to accomplish their goals. Make no mistake. This anime doesn’t tease death and often portrays it in a realistic manner. Beyond just the PTSD moments we see from Sugimoto’s point of view, there are also times when characters question about killing others. A prominent example is how Tanigaki deals with the people he’s killed. Similar to Sugimoto, it’s clear that he feels guilty and that his sins will live with him forever. Like most war stories, death is a reality and what’s dead stays dead. War has broken characters and it’s not uncommon to realize how much people can change from the past to their present selves.
Even though everything I mentioned so far in the review suggests a moody show to get tissues for, it really isn’t. The series offers creative comedy mostly thanks to the character cast. If I’ve said it once, I’ve say it a hundred times. Never look away from Sugimoto and Asirpa when they interact with each other. The two often trades in small talk that blends between their different cultural beliefs. The jokes they throw at each other are hilarious and sells its comedic factors perfectly. Refreshing comedy isn’t easy to create but Golden Kamuy hits the right mark especially with the character reactions. I lost count how many times this show made me laugh positively to the character interactions and humorous dialogues. Characters such as Yoshitake Shirashi adds in even more comedy gags such as being a magnet head for animal bites. That is to say, Golden Kamuy is a serious show that deals with sensitive themes but also finds its way to have fun. To me, that’s important and valuable to sell itself.
I’m pretty sure most people aren’t familiar with Gene Studio. That’s because it’s a new studio that only recently began to produce projects such as Kokkoku and Gyakusatus Kikan. Early impressions of the show may have people pointing fingers at the atrocious CGI usage such as the poorly animated bear. Luckily, the visual quality manages to redeem itself as each episode begins to improve itself through its natural elegance. The landscapes of show looks gorgeous and larger than life. From snowy mountains to dense forests, it’s how nature should look like with its lush backgrounds. Even the food looks real that’s crafted right from the wilderness with survivalist skills. Character designs also offer distinctive features such as the military uniforms of the 7th Division. Sugimoto is a man that’s hard to overlook with his soldier uniform and masculinity. Asirpa may have a petite look but she’s noticeable for her blue and greenish eyes. Some characters even addresses this like a gem that’s hard to ignore. The Ainu coat she wears also shows her cultural style of clothing with the deerskin boats to protect her from the cold. She looks like a hunter that shouldn’t be underestimated. As a new studio, I would say that Gene Studio made an interesting impression. I’m not overwhelmed or disappointed by the production quality as it manages to capture the elements of the battle scenes and is faithful to the character designs. However, it does fall short occasionally on capturing the full vivid details of the manga.
The soundtrack and music overall creates the sensation of a survivalist show. The OP song contains electric beats and montages of characters in action. Meanwhile, the character voices really does sell their personalities. If you don’t believe me, just take a look at intimidating of a man Tsurumi really can be.
Golden Kamuy is a historical fiction that can be a bit deceptive once you really get a bite of the show. Director Hitoshi Nanba took the important concepts of the manga and gave this adaptation a breath of life. As someone who has read the manga, I definitely recommend giving it a try if you’re hungry for more. It previously won the 9th Manga Taishou award and rightfully earned so. As an anime series, Golden Kamuy is also a show that’s fortunate to receive a golden treatment.
KANLen09
At the time of this review, the series has been greenlit for Season 2 this Fall, and I could not be more than happy for a continuation of the series! But what all the hoopla, what is this series actually about? Golden Kamuy (in Ainu language: Golden Gods) is more than just the typical action-adventure anime like so many others out there. It's fun, great and enjoyable for many reasons, to the point where it’s proof that we want at least a 2nd (to 3rd if possible) season to continue the series (if possible). The story goes of the 20th century Russo-Japanese war, centered in the cityof harsh-northern-filled-wilderness Hokkaido, where we got to know and learn the most fearsome yet determinant of the series: the male MC Saichi “Immortal” Sugimoto, a veteran soldier who has fought in the war and miraculously survived after the deadly ordeal. It was there that he is promised to upkeep with his now-dead comrade (Toraji) from a dubious story of a large chunk of hidden Ainu gold (that’s worth about 800 mil yen), and the main goal to steal it and finance his widow (Umeko) for years to come.
The problem? It was stolen by a man called Nopperabo during transportation, and knowing his near-arrival death, so once captured and imprisoned, he carved out a map on 24 of the fellow imprisoned inmates on the location of the gold. And now, with that info, Immortal Sugimoto is set on the journey to find the gold.
Alas, not everything is well as there are other groups and individuals who are eyeing on the same gold as Sugimoto does: The Imperial Japanese Army’s 7th Division, led by Lieutenant Tsurumi for use on military dictatorship to run an independent Hokkaido that’s separated from Japan; a group formed by former samurai Toshizou Hijikata, who escaped alongside the tattooed 24 inmates to steal the gold to fund Hokkaido and its loss from the Russo-Japanese war, and some others who are just stealing for themselves.
In the wilderness, Sugimoto comes across the wild bears of the wilderness, and seeing that survival is in the eyes of the beholder, it looks as if he will be taken down by the bear. And so, enter Asirpa, an Ainu girl who knows the way of the Hokkaido wilderness, and her ulterior motive: to avenge her father’s death, because of his involvement of the transportation of Ainu gold that Nopperabo had successfully stolen in the first place (but not the main culprit who murdered her father). With that, with the intentions of Sugimoto and Asirpa, both set their journeys into a common place with different goals in mind.
Fun fact: Lo and behold, as much as a native Ainu she is, she does have a Japanese name (Asuko Kochoube) that reveals the plot even further, and one step closer to knowing the real murderer and her roots. Will this be explained, let's hope for Season 2 to explain what's left!
As much as the story setting and its storytelling is pretty much a perfect 1-to-1 adaptation from the manga source, I personally think that everything here is consistent, matches what the manga sprinkles on its historical context, and the icing on the cake is the native Ainu dialect (that’s exclusive to Hokkaido), supervised by the same guy who did the manga translation (Hiroshi Nakagawa), and it’s a great job learning and watching the show in its entirety.
The characters here are also what made the series more enjoyable to tackle and journey with. On the good side, we have Immortal Sugimoto, the courageous yet unstoppable man of valor, Asirpa the lone Ainu girl, but is just as fearless and is able to interpret her surroundings well, the Escape King Yoshitake Shiraishi, who's able to escape from just about any level of danger, which forms the good team to get the gold for justice.
However, the enemies are just as brutal, from the relentless Lieutenant Tsurumi, whom by his half-android-like face shows no qualms of authority, and his motto is to snatch the opportunity in whatever ways possible. Hijikata Toshizou is no brute either, whilst looking for the Ainu gold, he is manipulating behind the scenes in some forms and ways that like Tsurumi, is firm and no questions asked.
The art and animation by Geno Studio is once again, great, inspirational and a visual treat. Their previous work (Kokkoku) is a testament to this anime, and the once-founded studio to take over the defunct Manglobe is now becoming a reality to look out for quality content. With that said, it wouldn't be true if the series was all good. The elephant in the series is with the CGI-laden wild bears, and it's quite apparent that it didn’t mesh well with the background visuals, not to mention that it's outrageously visible. Everything else on the side is truly well done, a big shout out to the people handling the facial expressions of the characters (during the characters’ meal times, shouting “hinna hinna!”), it's just so uncanny and comical, it always gives off much laughter each and every time.
The music is phenomenal, and one of the best OSTs you could have this season. All reputable music artists in play with their new songs (MWAM’s “Winding Road” for the OP and THE SIXTH LIE’s “Hibana” for the ED), I still stand by my testimony from my prelim and say that in terms of musicality, it's one that’s worthy of listening to on it's own and evokes the emotions of the characters, and is the best representation of the series as a whole.
In the end, you might be wondering, is the anime better or as well adapted as its acclaimed manga counterpart? From an overall standpoint, the anime adaptation replicates as much from the manga as possible, but due to it being a 1-cour, the historical context is downplayed significantly, and not to mention that the anime adaptation sometimes doesn’t give off the same vibes as how well the manga did. Had this been a 2-cour (24-26 episodes), we would have appreciated much more, but I'll give props for what was presented here generally, and I would say that both are even as much as manga adaptation goes.
With that said, Golden Kamuy is definitely one of the better and premier shows of this season and it's comes recommended if you want a slice of history that’s not too heavy, and more so on the diversity of the culture behind it all.
dadnaya
Just because the setting isn't highschool doesn't make the anime automatically good. Golden Kamuy is a combination of a National Geographic/History channel program about the Ainu and rush for gold. Before the Spring2018 began, I had gone over the trailers of the shows to air this season. Golden Kamuy presented a nice cast of voice actors I like, an era around 1900, guns, wolves and rush for gold. Sounds like a pretty solid action anime. Now, I can't deny that Golden Kamuy had some sweet action, but unfortunately, both the action and the story took a backseat to the "Ainu culture". I don't know, after watching most of the show, peoplecame and said "The action wasn't the point of the show, but the point was to show the Ainu culture".
Well, I can say for sure that the trailer made it look a lot better than it is in reality. If they showed the "Ainu culture" mostly in the trailer instead of the action and thrill, I doubt it would've attracted as many people.
So, what exactly is shown that I found tedious and boring?
For the first half of the show (and even a bit later), ~7 minutes every episode were about the Ainu Cooking. Take Shokugeki no Souma, remove the Ecchi, remove the competition, remove the Shounen aspects.
We're left with 7 minutes out of ~20 every week of "Oh this broth is so good, the squirrel meat isn't heavy and the chopped bones make it crunchy" etc. etc. etc. Then also don't forget to put "Hinna Hinna" afterwards.
Then, the hunting, and of course explanation how everything works.
"This trap is a barrel with a few nails in it. The foxes come to lick the bottom of the barrel and then get stuck. We hit them with a stick to finish them off"
"It is said that fox pelt is bad luck, [...] you can sell fox pelt for 1 yen, and these animals' pelts for 1 yen too, and this for 3 yen..."
Sorry, but it was just not interesting.
The real plot of the gold rush, along with a few groups all trying to get the big gold prize is.... pretty damn good.
It features a few groups, some are military veterans from the Russo-Japanese war, some are even older but all of them... are interesting. And are voiced by great voice actors.
It's a shame that the real plot kicks in only around episode 10, and even then it still has the "filler" stuff like before.
For example all of episode 12 was about horse racing, and how the Ainu use fortune telling. We got only 3 minutes maximum of continuation for the clash between the groups after the gold.
The art didn't do justice as well. The controversial "CGI Bears" as well as the "CGI fire" and other CGI stuff just didn't fit well.
I understand the staff wanted to make it look special (If I remember correctly, what's what they said why they made CGI bears) but it just doesn't look good.
If I wanted to commend to Golden Kamuy, it would've been the OP/ED. MAN WITH A MISSION and THE SIXTH SENSE did absolutely an amazing job.
Overall, was Golden Kamuy good? So-so, it depends what you're expecting and what you want to watch. And also, a second season was announced so there's a chance it'll cover the failures or at least continue the story in S1, and not show us almost a full episode about kids playing with a stick.
6/10
badabass
Story: 10 The main story looks so promising for me. They were using the historical value as their basic to expand the adventurous vibes in a nice way. That was some brilliant moves, and i just love this kind of decision, and so far. The studio did a very nice way to keep the pacing intacted in the right direction, and i believed they were did a very well done adaptation so far. So, yeah, its more point for the show! The setting was simply amazing. I just can't believed this series had a nice setup on the past timeline. Its looked incredible and more importantly,the historical value that much happening in the Hokkaido past, especially with Ainu tribe that still exist on that era, just so nice to be watched. Its great, i just love how its explained more of Ainu tribe's culture, their language, their habit, and such, a nice additional score went by to that point. What a great lesson i had by watching this series. The story telling on these episode had me to highlight it too. Its just interesting, and the narrator did a great job explaining some line that really help building the vibe for the current arc. Its really help me a lot. The plot just another my favourite. Its so fluent with everything that happened. First, it might looks like an after war problem. But its ended up with a hunting theme, by taking a little adventurous. However its turned around again by learning a new knowledge for me, yes its Ainu tribe, by announcing the girl. And then, finally i got a big picture about what was goin on. Its not just your usual adventure and a normal hunting time. Its just more than that, with an eccentric characters as a great addition, and multiple variable of its plot to advancing. A lot od complexity, made me realized that these series just way bigger than i could anticipated. Its very appreciated. 10 points for this Introduction.
Art, Animation in general: 8
I might be not so good to reviewing this kind of aspects. But i must be honest that the art and animation sometimes, were not so appealing. Sometimes its missed to be united in a good animation, while the others had a static animation. The crappy art style sometimes emerge to the surface created a big questions to me, while the direction at the end somehow used some weird cut. But its fine to me, otherwise, the transition over their ending theme song just well matched up. So, i should take it easy knewing the storyline was just so amazing. So, at general, its not so problem for me. Sometime its surely not went smoothly. I just take it as a comedy aspect for the show to advancing more eccentrism that began to be this series strength. Its real, how weird Asirpa looks when she comically referred miso as shit, but its turned to be a funny thing, and almost happening while Shiraishi or Sugimoto did a derp face for the sake of humour. Its suited well for me, and i can't take it as their mistake. Its just a designated art, and animation. Its just their style to posessed a relatable expression while its needed. So, i take it at as my personal satisfaction. So, no joke, its 8 for me.
Sounds effect, soundtrack, OP ED theme sections: 9
The sounds effect felt nice, especially with the nature and animal sounds, its fine by me. The battle cry ambience of effect was their best, especially with their battle or action involved sounds, its greatThe VA did a great job too, while voicing all of that amazing character pretty fluent. I just love their OP and ED quite well done, and its so catchy on my hearing too. Overall, i just not taking such a long phrase on these one. Its great for me. So thats it all.
Characterization: 10
I may be sounds too biased. Bcause its just my personal compliment. So, here i am took this section as short as possible. While sometimes Sugimoto might looks like your typical shounen MC show with its determination could get rid everything with his shouts only. The moment to built up his characters just amazing. Its started with something in generic, obviously. A war, that place him to be an immortal people. However, its not stopped into like that. Since his coincidence meeting with a chibi girl from Ainu tribe, his way of life suddenly changed. This is the beauty of his characterization, the relations between them held some good moments, and its just so soothing to be watched. At the end, its just served into a nice little connections that brought back more curiosity to see how they were finished the beautiful relations. Its not ended up with those two. The side character had so many perfect characterization. I even thought that the series span the side character more than the main twos. Lol. However, its just felt nice as the result. The main twos were not losing their shines, and its connected well with the plot story. How could i said a big complain when all of them just looks so great? From the hunter, the King of Escape, the leader of a military forces, the individual soldier of him, the old samurai man, the citizen, the villager of Ainu tribe, the prisoner, they had all the perfect characterization needed to be added on the long duration series. Golden Kamuy already showed to me how well it could handle such a thing. A great characterization with their own eccentricsm. Its lived, its made the series felt interesting and so entertaining.
Enjoyment, plus my overall scores: 10.
This is my personal enjoyment as an anime watcher only. 12 episodes were not enough to fully capacitating my own satisfaction. So, a 10 for this Introduction for the long series of their adventure felt so logic with their eccentricsm, a unique story, and so diversed characters with their rich in many personalities.
Thats it for me.
Youbamii
Apart from the 3D CGI animals this anime is pretty well done they follow the manga and the facial expressions was pretty well done and the colours in this show was outstanding, I also have to give credit to the opening and ending but mainly the ending because the visuals during the ending was brilliant and the ending track was awesome as well 👌 I gotta say among the shows that was airing at the same time this seires was the most enjoyable to watch every week I did feel a bit sorry for the animals that they killed and ate tho R I.P butbesides that this series was awesome I can't wait for season 2, the Japanese voice actors for this series was good especially hijikata loved him everytime he spoke
BlackCat2834
I'm not going to review each season individually just because MAL insists on listing them on different pages. This review will be on the series as a whole, not just season 1. I also won't make this review too long because I hate absurdly long, convoluted reviews. Story: 10/10 This story was masterfully crafted. Not only is the premise quite note worthy for being intriguing and even somewhat mysterious (with the identity of Noppera-bou being a mystery and a huge portion of the driving of the plot is based on that fact), the adventure Sugimoto and Asirpa embark on together is one with exctiting action, engaging sidecharacters/antagonists, audacious humour, compelling backstories and a nice amount of Ainu culture exposure along with Japanese and Russian history. These reasons alone should tell anyone who might be on the fence about watching this anime that they have certainly stumbled upon one that is worth watching.
Art:8/10
The art is very good. I like the colour scheme and the care in details.
Sound: 8/10
The soundtrack is great! I love it!
Character: 10/10
These characters are some of the most unique and interesting characters I have ever seen in an anime. Some of my favourites being Lt. Tsurumi, Toshizou, Ogata and Tanigaki. And the best part about this is that instead of trying too hard to make the characters out to be more than they are, the story allows them to shine in the best way possible. (I hope you can understand what I mean)
Enjoyment: 10/10
This anime is in my Top 10. I freaking LOVE it! The story is so captivating that I find myself not wanting to turn it off even to sleep or do something else. It's so much fun to watch!
ktulu007
Golden Kamuy is an anime from just last year. It's based off a Noda Satoru manga that's been going since 2014 and the anime was handled by Geno studio. No relation to a certain marionette with a gun arm. So, I don't know anything about either the writer or studio. Let's dive right into the series. We'll just be looking at series one today. I might look at the second another time. Story: The story is set shortly after the Russo-Japanese war. Our hero, "Immortal" Sugimoto fought in the war as a soldier and always managed to survive in spite of being put into many deadly situations. Sincethe war ended, he's panning for gold to try to help an old friend's widow. He's listening to a drunken idiot who tells him the story of a bunch of escaped convicts with tattoos leading to a great treasure. At first, he doesn't believe it but then the drunkard sobers up enough to really regret telling the story and Sugimoto discovers that he is, in fact, one of the tattooed convicts. Sugimoto quickly ends up pairing with a young Ainu hunter named Asirpa in order to find the treasure before the other groups hunting for it do.
The only glaring narrative problem with this series is that it can be overly slow at times. There are a lot of scenes with Asirpa just explaining hunting techniques or outdoors survival information to Sugimoto and they don't do much for the major narrative. They're just kind of dragged out, boring segments. You could cut out the bulk of these scenes and really lose nothing. It's like Noda did a lot of research into the Ainu, how they lived and hunted and really wanted everyone to know.
To the series' credit, the concept is a strong one. Having two major groups and a small one all looking for the same treasure with their own motivations to do so makes for a good, dynamic conflict. And even if the hunting scenes do go on too long, I do appreciate the details about Ainu life and culture. They give the series a strong grounding. The series also does a decent job of balancing the more serious aspects of the story with some more comedic elements. Although the joke of Asirpa thinking that miso is faeces does get old pretty quickly. The series also does end at a good point. There's enough intrigue to get you interested in the second series and enough content that you don't feel cheated.
Characters:
The series does a good job of developing its major characters, Sugimoto & Asirpa. It also does a good job with certain side characters, most notably Tanigaki. I'll also credit it with fleshing out the differing motivations for wanting the treasure pretty clearly. That being said, a lot of the convicts they encounter are pretty much nothing characters and there are some other side characters who don't really have anything to them.
Art:
The artwork is nicely done. It's got some good details. The backgrounds are well done. The various animals we see are drawn nicely. The action sequences are great. The only real issue I have with it is that it does suffer at times from "shounen design." Basically, having characters who are supposed to look interesting and unique but look kind of stupid. The big examples are Tsurumi & Ushiyama. I know we're supposed to find them both somewhat intimidating, but it's hard to view them that way since they both look goofy.
Sound:
Kobayashi Chikahiro, Shiraishi Haruka & Nakata Jouji deserve a lot of praise for their performances in this. While all the performances are pretty good, those three are fantastic in their roles. Suehiro Kenichiro's soundtrack is nicely composed as well.
Ho-yay:
There's a bit where a couple guys fall for a cross dressing man, but that's about it. And when they find out he is a man one of them really freaks out and the other isn't too happy when he comes to his senses.
Areas of Improvement:
Skip the vast majority of the hunting scenes. We really don't need to see a long explanation for how to hunt bear or a fox or a rabbit. If we wanted to know that, we'd be watching Huntin' and Killin' with Jimbo & Ned. If you need to put in some filler to stall for time, at least have the characters talk about something interesting or use the time to develop some characters. Long explanations about hunting techniques aren't either.
Let Asirpa realise that Sugimoto is not, in fact, practising coprophagia. The joke works at first but after a while it just gets old and you want it to end.
Rework the designs for Tsurumi & Ushiyama. The idea behind Tsurumi's design might work if you had his scalp torn open and his skull clearly visible in a more disturbing way rather than making it look like he's wearing a white plate strapped to his forehead, but Ushiyama's flashy square in his forehead will never not look stupid.
Final Thoughts:
In the end, Golden Kamuy is a pretty solid series. There might be some things that don't work very well, but at its core the series has a compelling concept, well written major characters, strong artwork and animation and good performances. Is it among the best anime ever made? No. Is it a good, entertaining series? Yes. My final rating is going to stand at a 7/10.
SleepySRH
If netflix or a major anime viewing platform like Adult Swim or Toonami ever picked this up it would BLOW UP!!! Fans of shows like Rurouni Kenshin or Full Metal Alchemist will totally love this show. The protagonist bring back old classic hero tropes in a unique feeling. They are powerful and you know, the leads of the show, but they also feel very defeat able. No godlike powers just strong performances and strong wills to survive what the story throws at them. Animal lovers beware though this show is not shy about hunting. It's the main way they survive and "the brains are usually tastywith a little salt" and they dont let the eyeballs go to waste either.
Plays out superbly and each of the characters have their own unique feel in a show that could have made them very bland. Voice acting is great too. I recommend you watch it dubbed if you can.
If your looking for a show without magic powers and realistic feel this is the anime for you.
Injenss
This Cabela's Hunting simulation game was amazing. 10/10 would definitely buy this game again. This is a wonderful anime about hunting. You follow our heroes as they hunt foxes, whales, fish, bears, squirrels and other game. It will teach you how to survive in the wilderness when the crap hits the fan. Need to know how to gut a deer and warm yourself with its innards? Golden Kamuy has got you. Need to know how to burn poop in order to antagonize a wolf? Golden Kamuy has got you. Need to know how to skin a squirrel? Golden Kamuy has gotyou. Need to know how to skin a human? Yes, even then, Golden Kamuy has got you.
This anime was brought to you buy a team of psychopaths who will simultaneously teach you how to track and hunt people, and laugh while doing it. You'll wonder if you're losing a part of your soul as you laugh as people are gutted and attacked by wild orcas. Death has never been so hilarious.
In all seriousness, this is a good anime. It's pretty insane, but not the most insane thing I've seen today, since I also watched a the first few episodes of Zombie Land Saga, but it's pretty close. Basically, a war hero who survives every attempt to kill him and an ethnic hunter girl, team up to track down and skin inmates who have a map to a mountain of gold that was stolen from her people. As word spreads about the maps, former military elites, and remnants of the Shinsengumi start hunting for the gold, too. Which leads to lots of chaos and death and gore and...laughs?
That's probably the most surprising thing about this anime, is that it's really funny. Animes like this are usually very serious, but Golden Kamuy manages to mix in tons of humor while war veterans and convicts pretty much massacre each other in very gory ways.
Outside of that, the characters are likable, the story is interesting, and while the animation could be better, it's not bad. I really have no complaints about the anime. It's pretty good. Although, the ending of the season was kind of flat as it was just a bridge for the second season. Fortunately, I'm watching this late, so I don't have to wait for a second season after finishing this.
Story: 9
Art: 7
Sound: 10
Character: 10
Enjoyment: 10
Overall: 9
JBT81
HINNA HINNA i feel like i should just write that a hundred times for my review... but someone might read this so i'll try to do a legit (ish) review. Basically, this story is inspiring to me. not because of the effort that the two main characters (Asirpa and Sugimoto) put forth, in spite of all their hardships. not because of the trust these two characters gave to each other. not because of the artwork or musical score. not because of anything other than the peek into Ainu life. only because of "hinna, hinna" if you will. i had never considered that there might be native Japanese peoplelike there are native American people. i had even studied up a bit on Japanese history (because i so thoroughly enjoy anime). before Asirpa i was blind. i was missing a part of the Japanese "story." Golden Kamuy tipped me into what i thought to be a puddle of culture that turned out to be a much larger body of metaphorical water. lul
i have not spent a great deal of time studying them, but i can confirm; i would love to meet someone with a significant portion of Ainu blood and culture in their life. their spiritual beliefs, their social customs. i want to learn!
if this review somehow interests you (waow, many surprise) then i suggest you give this show a shot. you might love it!
thanks for reading this far, (or skipping to the end!! cheaters... もう)
-Jordan
Dukino
This was such a fantastic show. Not only is is setting and time period very unique for an anime. But just about everything else here was very well done. The only major thing I can think if that holds it back, along with the seemingly cookie cutter set up, is the art and animation. So yes, while the manga does it better in that regard. This is still a very faithful and excellent adaptation of an already amazing story. The characters are all very distinguishable and cool, the story once it gets going is very captivating and easy to follow, and even the comedy isreally good. It's a real good time.
Story: the story is very straight forward to start. Simple treasure hunt set up. But with an interesting twist, the map to the treasure is tattooed on the bodies of a number of escaped convicts, adding some life and death stakes to an already harrowing situation. Not only finding the stash of gold, but first having to hunt down and maybe kill all the convicts to get their skins. Once it sets the board so to speak, it gets really vibrant and sprawling. There's a lot of moving parts by the time this initial season is over. Numerous players in this game working for numerous sides to their own ends. All chasing this legendary amount of Ainu gold. It's essentially a Japanese Western. Which leads to some really in a sense typical plot points. But the characters and the way this handled are amazing. 9.
Art: from CG bears, wolves, and later horses, the art and animation is definitely the shows weakest point and about the only thing holding it back. While it does leave a lot to be desired in many shots and scenes. It is by no means show breaking. Comparatively it pales to the manga. But it gets the job done. Plus at least once, or more depending on things, we get some really good shots in there too. 7.
Sound: there's not too much to speak about on the sound I think. It was good. Snow sounded like snow, the animals sounded like animals, everything fit with sound effects and such. Speaking on the voice acting. Watched both the sub and the dub. Both are all really good, can't go wrong either way really. Both have a few minor drawbacks, but are still solid. 8.
Characters: the absolute best part of this show, and this world really, the characters shine so brightly it's nuts. Sugimoto himself our lead is while not looking it really, a very compelling guy and a great lead for our story. His brash devil may care attitude from being a war veteran, something rare as hell in anime and kinda cool, gives his nickname of Immortal Sugimoto some real credence. That side of him is only rivaled by his very caring and kind nature when he's around Asirpa. She is great too. Serving as our co lead and lead female character, Asirpa is a great gateway into the Ainu culture which itself is very fascinating. She's a very strong willed girl with a lot of spunk and a ton of personality to boot. Asirpa does also add a lot of comedy to the story at certain points. All which hit really well. Along with our Escape King Shirashi, the comedy is very well done and genuinely funny. All the side characters and "villains" are all very good characters and all stand on their own as unique personalities. From Ushiyama, to Hijitaka, to Tanigaki, to Ogata, to Tsurumi, to even Kiroranke at the end, they all make themselves a valuable part of the story and help move it along. 10.
Enjoyment: save to say I really enjoyed this show. It has such a cool feel to it and everything clicks. I loved every single episode and all the story beats clicked so well. It was a fun time and enjoyed every minute. 10.
Overall: as made evident by this already lengthy review, loved it all. Being a manga reader I pretty much knew what to expect going in, but is was still captivated all over again. This story is so very unique one in a sense, but always very familiar too. It fits a very specific niche I suppose. But I do also think it applies to a wide audience and can be enjoyed by just about anyone. With the announcement of a Season 2 (!!!!!!) in October, my excitement and joy cannot be measured. Fantastic series. 9/10.
Resting_Bonfire
Golden Kamui I've heard a lot about this anime on YouTube, especially that it's supposed to be relatively funny. And to my surprise it is, it has a similar and qualitative humor as Gintama. And it even has a rather interesting main plot, which is actually in the spotlight and not just secondary. Unfortunately... these positive words only apply from season 2 onwards. The first season is so bad that I considered quitting the anime at episode 7. The pacing was disastrous, the animation mediocre, the dialogue dull, and no tension at all. There was a joke 2-3 times per episode, the leftover was even moreboring than watching any Penguin documentaries. Sorry, but penguin documentaries are boring.
It's only thanks to my iron willpower that I made it through the first season. Who on earth is going to convince someone with a start like that? There was nothing about the anime that could even begin to hold the viewer's interest. But surviving the first 10 episodes was worth it. After that, the anime actually gets interesting and even good.
The main plot is very simple and generally gives me a certain Jojo vibe. Which is all the more noticeable in the later seasons. Especially with the constant gay humor among the main characters. It begins with the protagonist accidentally meeting the Loli protagonist. Through various happenings, they decide to collect "skins" of prison escapees that have something to do with the One Piece. Only by putting the skins together can the true map of the treasure be revealed. The enemies they fight are either some madmen or future antagonists.
Unfortunately said, practically nothing happens in the first season until episode 10, and due to the very weak pacing, the episodes are all the more difficult to watch.
[Conclusion 4]
This is one of the few anime that gets better as time passes. And I'm really glad I survived the first season, it was worth it. If you like series like Gintama and Jojo, you will definitely get your money's worth here. All 3 series have a lot of similarities in style, humor, and structure.
[Enjoyment 3]
Timbbs
The story of golden kamuy is enjoyable, at least in the first season. It first appealed to me with its history, wilderness themes, and treasure hunt themes. I All of those themes greatly interest me. However, where golden kamuy falls short is its attempt to combine all of those, and many more themes (cooking, ainu culture, political drama, slice of life, etc...) into one. Each episode feels like unimportant to the overall story and as if it was just put there because the author said "Hmm wouldn't it be cool if we did blank". I don't dislike any of these themes on there own, buttogether they don't seem to mesh well. I would also like to note that it's not inherently bad to put these together, but it doesn't lead to a higher score. The animation speaks for itself, its not remarkable and its not atrocious, I'm willing to overlook the cgi bears, but the first time I saw one I paused the show thought about how that might have been the worst production descion I have seen so far. The sound also speaks for itself, I'm in the minority here but I enjoyed the OP ngl. Characters are a redeeming aspect of the show, they all have very distinct personalities and quirks. Moments of the show made me genuinely laugh from time to time, and these moments distract from the incoherent parts of the show. Some of the characters seem to like emotion and drive, but I'm willing to overlook that because I don't think the show is that serious. Overall the show in enjoyable and worth a watch if nothing else is piquing your interest at the moment. The themes of the show clash quite harshly, which can detract from the experience. Just a fun show to put on if your bored, but don't expect too much. 6/10
CrawlinChaos
In case someone just wants the quick review right away, my verdict is that if you have even a bit of curiosity in the manga series or manga in general, then read this over watching it. Story: The source material for this manga is absolutely great. A comedy adventure Seinen which is a dream come true for my interests. The world is fairly fleshed in the anime, although the manga does moreso through the introduction of historical context and small tirades about local wildlife and food. The characters themselves become very interesting, more get introduced with their distinct personalities and reactions. One thing about adventure mangaand anime that is fantastic is that eventually, you come to know how a character should react, because you become in tune with their personalities. Golden Kamuy does a good job at introducing these kind of characters. One BIG fault in the anime i saw is that my personal favorite arc, (focusing on an old samurai, his comrade, and a sniper wandering into a lawless town. It was explicitly Kurosawa thing to do, the author wrote a love letter to the samurai films of old.) That was completely cut out. Now it's a nitpick maybe to some,at 12 episodes things have to be skipped and streamlined. But even then, the final episode landed on an arbitrary note. It could have easily ended on the samurai arc. Again personal nitpick that highlights that the manga is filled with more information. 7/10
Art: CGI bears everywhere. Good lord i hope they make them look better because there is an arc with 3 bears constantly in frame as a foe. Besides that though, the artstyle is adequate. People are identifiable, movement is sometimes a little choppy but it works, the comical facial expressions translate well. 6/10
Sound: nice opening theme and ending theme, but i can't say i remember much of the music within the actual episodes. In fact, at times i felt the show was too quiet, although that kinda adds to the natural aspect of it. 6/10
Characters: I have already stated above that the characters are amazing. Interesting dynamics arise as you follow 3 groups that have their own goals, getting even more interesting when they bleed into each other as members start using various groups for their own gain. I can't get too into detail because i feel it is much more effective to watch it. 9/10
Overall: Good introduction, but the manga is much closer to the authors vision so if it interests you please go read it. If not and you enjoy the manga, rejoice because you get a second season this same years.
intothekey
When trying to tell someone why they should watch this show it's hard to figure out where to begin. Golden Kamuy is really it's own thing. If I had to compare it, It's got the bizarreness of JoJo, the humor of Gintama and the action of Rurouni Kenshin. This isn't a realistic anime, so if that's what you want out of it your not going to find it. It's about Eccentric people after gold and butting heads in the bizarre ways. The pacing of this show isn't for everybody. If you want action all the time it's not that show. It places a large emphasison survival and character interaction. I love this stray from the norm, however it might not be for everyone. If you're a fan of slice of life then this is a welcome addition. A fair bit of the show is spent gathering food and eating while by the campfire.
Don't let the other reviews fool you, there's a ton of action. And the fights in particular get intense. If you don't like blood or brutal fighting. Then this show probably isn't for you because it's loaded with it.
The story itself hasn't gotten me too engaged personally but the characters make the show. The world feels very lived in and the characters aren't just there as tools for the story to progress. They feel like they have there own lives. A lot of characters in anime feel like soulless NPC's I don't really get that from this show.
GokaiKing
Golden Kamuy (meaning Golden Gods in the Ainu Language) is one of the better Original Anime that came out this Spring 2018 season. Even before it aired it had a lot of Hype behind it since the manga already had a big folowing. So, Did it live up to it's hype? Let's Find Out. Story: 7/10 The Story Follows Sugimoto "The Inmortal", A soldier that survived the Russo-Japanese war of the Meiji era that Wants to help his deceased Comrade's wife, along with Asirpa, an Ainu girl that saves Sugimoto from the harsh, cold Climates of Hokkaido, in their Quest to find a stash of gold hiddenby some criminals. In order to find that treasure they need to find several escaped prisioners, each with a diferent tatoo that when put together give away the location of the treasure. In my opinion the story was pretty good. The stakes are always rising And I never felt that someting happened just to keep the stoy moving. The story flowed naturally and didn't really feel too forced.
Art: 6/10
The Art in this Anime can be clasiffied in 2 Parts, Traditional Animation and CGI. The traditionally animated parts were pretty good. The characters felt expressive and the animation was all around Smooth and Beutiful. On the Other Hand, the CGI Was atrocious. Most CGI Used (Mostly the bears) felt forced and not really needed. I think they could've used traditional animation to do the bears and other Animals but Whatever. If you don't mind the use the use of CGI in anime then you will really like this Anime's style. the good thing is that the CGI was only used in the early episodes so no need to worry.
Sound: 7/10
The OST Ws really good. Most Background music was nice and not to distracting. The OP is done by Man with a Mission, One of my Favorite Japanese bands. Even if the anime itself doesn't catch your interest I recommend you go watch the Opening. the ED was also good, just not as memorable.
Character: 8/10
All Characters are very Charismatic and play off each other perfectly. Just not to spoil some interactions, I'm Gonna mention one of the earlier ones. One of the Times Asirpa and Sugimoto are eating, Sugimoto decides to add Miso to what they were eating (I don't remember the details). Asirpa thenmakes a Disguted face and starts calling Miso "osoma" (meaning Sh*t in Ainu basically). This becomes one of the recurring jokes of the show and it never gets old.
Enjoyment: 9/10
This Anime is really enjoyable. The Action Moments are Epic AF and the Funny moments are really funny. its a roller coster from start to finish. not really a lot to say.
Overall: 7/10
The Show is really good. It is a Nice Historical Comedy action anime and its definately worth a Watch. Its only 12 episodes so its not that much of a compromise. Even if you don't like the historical premise I recommend you watch it. You may be pleasently surprised by its really good humor. With this I Sign off. Until the next review. bye
-Afloo
RebelPanda
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 actionsequences 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.
joemaamah
For me, the best anime always have a exceptional story as the foundation of everything that goes on. That is very much what happens with Golden Kamuy. I've been watching anime for 55 years, and this is one of the best stories I have ever seen animated. Set in tumultuous times, it examines contrasting cultural differences between an aboriginal and a colonial culture. But that is just the one level. It's a mystery. It's a treasure hunt. It's a crime show. It's an action anime. It can be comedic, but there is more in the way of drama. There are so many writing layers, andthey are all executed with perfection. The writers deserve kudos. If you want a great story, without a doubt we have one here.
Great stories require great characters. Our MCs are quite the odd duck pair, but as time passes, we see their relationship is not just one of convenience. This series has a ton of side characters too, with both allies and villians getting some interesting personality traits. There's almost too many characters to keep track of, but ultimately they all become essential to the saga. One nicely done piece of writing is that these characters are not all good, and they are not all bad. They have complex personalities and motivations. There's double crosses, triple crosses and quadruple crosses. They seem real in that regard.
My only knock against the first season is the animation. There are truly some terrible 3D renderings plopped in the middle of the production. Luckily, they only are a scourge of the first season. But the rest of the artwork is above average, with some beautiful background work. The 2D animation is professionally rendered and was commendable.
The VA work for the MCs is splendid. The banter between them is so well done. The secondary characters are mostly well done too, although a couple of the villians are a touch overacted. Not sure if that was a directorial thing, but considering how well put together everything else in the series is, I can't beat him too severely. I don't often mention it, but the director also uses the soundtrack to great effect. Whether it's to heighten tension or to balance that with lighthearted moments, it's always enhancing a scene, and never distracting.
This first season, while not perfect in every way, still does so much, so much better, than the usual puke the studios mass produce any more. If I were grading this season, it would get a 91/100, a very nice A-. But this is just the beginning of the tale. It gets better and better as more seasons are added, that are worthy of full-blown 10 rankings. Look, it might not be any skin off my back, but I'd suggest ingesting as many seasons of this title as you can get your hands on.
Darkfiend47
(SPOILER-FREE Review for Golden Kamuy Seasons 1-3) Golden Kamuy is one of those shows that gets better and better by each season. The tagline in the manga describes it as "Yaminabe Western," referring to a type of hot pot dish where all the ingredients are added by different people with the lights off, so nobody knows exactly what's going to pop up in the dish. It is one of the best Historical shows in the sense that it makes full use of the era it is in and how it affects the individuals in it. You'd notice that it also has one of the most uniqueof settings. It takes place after the Russo-Japanese war (1904-1905) in the snowy regions of Hokkaido. A rare pre-WWI show. Also Seinen. Logically speaking such a general review should be written towards the end of S3. However if you've seen that far then there's no use of me convincing you that this show is pretty good.
Story (8/10) :
Long story short ; There is tons of gold hidden somewhere and and several individuals try to seek it for their own desires. The clues for this are hidden in code on the backs of prisioners scattered all around Hokkaido. Sugimoto Saichi (The MC) wants to seek this gold to help his dead friend's widow. On his way he gets attacked by a bear. Later gets rescued by an Ainu girl who has a connection to the lost gold. Both of them go on a journey to find the gold. It sounds simple on paper and follows a "Multiple people seeking the same thing" formula (like a Fate/zero) but done extremely well. A fun adventure with a lots of twist and turns through out keeping it exciting. A cycle of trust, alliance and betrayal ensues as everyone is psychopathic in one way or another. Its Historically accurate for the most part. It showcases the the way of life of The Ainu (a nomadic group) i.e how they hunt, what they eat, their rituals, traditions and their culture. In that sense it counts as Edutainment.
S1 is the weakest season IMO as its a bit more casual. It is more introductory on the characters and the parties that will take part in the golden expedition. Not to say there weren't threats and roadblocks on the way. S2 is the best season as it expands its world and the story. Big revelations are made. It delves into some of the best character backstories you'll ever see and gives them more depth. Truly the Golden season. S3 continues the journey, specifically traces the past of a couple of key characters. S3 is good too but not as great as s2, although it has the best animation so far.
Characters (10/10) :
This is the best part of this show. All the characters in this show are awesome, written very well and have much depth to them. ''The Immortal" Sugimoto Saichi called so because of his willpower to NOT die. He's more of an anti hero than a hero. Asiripa, an Ainu girl of the new generation adapting the modern lifestyle with Ainu traditions. A fierce yet innocent one. Ogata, a chaotic guy you would hate and love at the same time due to his wits, combat skills and unpredictability. Lt. Tsurumi, A charismatic bastard who is a schemer and a manipulator who leads a special infantry division called the 7th division. He is also extremely smart. Hijikata Toshiro, a former leader of the Shinsengumi who still has the fire in him to start a revolution. Ogata and Tsurumi are my favourites as they give the show a unique flavor and they change the course of the show simply by their presence. These are only some of the characters and as there are wide range of them. The fact that everyone is still relevant by the end is just brilliant.
Visuals (8/10) :
A random person once said "Golden Kamuy is greatness hidden behind a CG bear." That's true as people could be turned off by a funny looking CG bear that makes early appearance. But the fact is the bear makes a total appearance for just a couple of eps or so adding upto just a min through the show! That shouldn't make anyone not watch the show. The animation in general is aight. Geno Studio was small new studio. S1 was decent but after that they improved on the animation quite a lot. They used the animation and budget right. Not to mention they have complex character designs. They usually wear winter attire and the soldiers of the 7th division including Sugimoto always wear their uniforms. The Animation is used very well even though its made at a low budget. The Fight Choreography is insane! The combat looks similar to how soldiers fight using their own form of martial arts and tactics.
Music (9/10) :
OSTs sound more western than Japanese. But that was the idea. Some of the EDs and OPs are just incredible. The ED starts playing just before the ep ends which gives an awesome vibe and also hype for the next ep. Akin to FMAB. Everything by the band "The Sixth Lie" is great. The right music is played at the right time. Especially during backstories.
Enjoyment (8.5/10) :
I really enjoyed the ride. They made a simple story of "who wants the gold" really worth watching. The characters alone and their dynamics with one another make it worth a watch. The Humor....ehh is a hit or a miss. Sometimes its good sometimes it resorts to toilet humor. The comedic timing is also often misplaced. The pacing is also up and down at times.
Overall (8 - 8.5/10) :
I didn't expect much after a casual S1 but I was wrong as it got better and better. Its akin to old western cowboy movies about the gold rush but with a distinct Japanese twist. A Good Historical Seinen adventure anime which is unpredictable mostly because of the characters and twists. S4 is on the horizon at the time of this review.
S2 - 9/10 (Gold) > S3 8.5/10 (Silver) > S1 8/10 (Bronze)
