Sugimoto may have earned the nickname Immortal on the battlefield, but can he survive the wilds of northern Japan during the winter while the elements and his fellow man are all out to kill him?
Creative Staff
Story & Art: Satoru Noda
Translation: Eiji Yasuda
What They Say
A tale of high adventure and survival on the Japanese frontier!
In the early 20th century, Russo-Japanese War veteran Saichi Sugimoto searches the wilderness of the Japanese frontier of Hokkaido for a hoard of hidden gold. With only a cryptic map and a native Ainu girl to help him, Saichi must also deal with every murderous cutthroat, bandit, and rogue who knows about the treasure!
In the early twentieth century, Russo-Japanese War veteran Saichi “Immortal” Sugimoto scratches out a meager existence during the postwar gold rush on the wild frontier 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.
The Review! (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Technical:
This release is from the Viz Signature line, so it is large format. The cover is an attractive wrap-around with the protagonist on the front cover and the head of a roaring bear on the back. The colors are focused on hues of red, yellow, orange, and brown. Combined with the story synopsis text in both black and yellow, everything just makes for a cover that stands out compared to most manga. The are not any extras in the form of color pages or translator notes. However, at a few places throughout the book, the author has illustrated the main character and labeled their clothing.
Noda’s art is attractive and detailed, especially in the variety of clothing amongst the various characters and with the animals. There are many animals in this volume and the receive a great amount of detail. Besides the serious style of the art, there are also some humorous, distorted faces thrown in for comedic relief at times. Something that is done quite well given the seriousness of this story.
Content:
Immortal Sugimoto is the name he earned in the Japanese military fighting against the Russians. Battle-scarred, but not broken, Sugimoto survived the war despite being shot in the neck during a battle. Sugimoto has found himself in the gold rush area of northern Japan. But his luck for survival is not translating to luck for finding gold. But why does he need money, a lot of it, and as soon as he can get it?
Therein lies the crux of this story. Not to ruin it here, but this will prove to be something the author sprinkles throughout this first volume, giving the reader a little piece of the pie a chapter at a time. I am hoping that this style continues throughout this series as I found it to be almost like an internal mystery the author is slowly sharing with us. But done right, and this will allow the reader to connect with Sugimoto.
A local drunkard often drinks while he watches Sugimoto splash around in the river panning for gold. On a day that will change Sugimoto’s life forever, the drunkard shares the story of a brutal killing of local Ainu and the theft of a massive amount of gold. The thief was thrown in prison without giving up the hidden location of the gold. To get around the government, the thief tattooed over a dozen other prisoners with portions of clues to the treasure’s whereabouts. When the authorities learn of this, the try to transport the tattooed prisoners to a new location but they manage to escape and head to northern Japan.
It all seems like a fanciful story until the drunkard sobers up and tries to kill Sugimoto!
This leads to a chance encounter with a grizzly bear and a young Ainu girl that saves Sugimoto’s life. Thus begins an adventure in the wilds of northern Japan with Sugimoto learning about how to survive in the wild from the young girl while the two of them try to hunt down the prisoner with the tattoos mapping the location of the hidden gold horde.
In Summary:
Golden Kamuy is a great story and a nice change from the glut of super-powered teenager series we get released in the U.S. Not only is it a good read that had me glued to the next page, but Noda’s art is so good that multiple times I felt like I was there in the story, or I could easily imagine the cold of the winter air.
This story takes place shortly after the end of the Russo-Japanese War, on what was at the time considered the Japanese frontier, Hokkaido. Throw in a gold rush, add some guns, mix it with natives treated poorly (Ainu), and we have the Japanese version of what most of us grew up watching in the Westerns genre of Hollywood. Thus, the setting and early examination of the characters is interesting, time will tell if the characters can drive the story more than just the novelty of the story’s era and location. However, Golden Kamuy is off to a great start.
Content Grade: A-
Art Grade: A-
Packaging Grade: B+
Text/Translation Grade: A
Age Rating: Mature
Released By: Viz
Release Date: June 20, 2017
MSRP: $12.99
