Sugimoto may be immortal, but can he defeat an immortal bear?!
Creative Staff
Story & Art: Satoru Noda
Translation: Eiji Yasuda
What They Say
The enigmatic and beautiful Ainu soothsayer, Inkarmat, can see the paths to the past and the future—what fate has she seen for Sugimoto? Sugimoto and his friends continue their journey to the northernmost reaches of Hokkaido and the infamous Abashiri prison. Even if they can manage to meet with Noppera-bo, will he give them the answers they want? And what do rumors of an immortal bear have to do with the tattooed skin treasure map?
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Sugimoto and his companions may have survived hell house, but now they are broke and lost all their bombs. They need to raise money to buy more bomb materials, so they resort to what they know, trapping and selling pelts. But in the middle of that slow process, they stumble upon a beautiful young Ainu soothsayer. The local village swears her predictions come true but Sugimoto and the others are all skeptical and try to keep their distance.
Well, everyone but the gambling addict Shiraishi. He takes what little cash they have and the soothsayer to the local horse track. Amazingly, things are going great and Shiraishi’s winning left and right. But this is Golden Kamuy, so nothing can be that easy. It would only be natural that Sugimoto and the others show up and throw a monkey wrench into Shiraishi’s winning streak.
Through a perfect storm of randomness, Kiroranke ends up being a replacement jockey for a horse that is supposed to throw the race. Throw in Shiraishi betting against Kiroranke, the yakuza threatening to kill anyone that doesn’t throw the race, and Kiroranke’s refusal to throw the race and a bomb is simmering!
In the outfall, Sugimoto and the others find themselves fighting off the yakuza and three massive man-killing bears. Oh, and they don’t have any ammo or bows! Will this prove that Sugimoto isn’t actually immortal?
In Summary:
If you haven’t started reading this series yet, why not? Seriously, I read a lot of seinen and this is one of the best series out there. Action, yakuza, soldiers, mystery, humor, and a fascinating natural history lesson set in the historical setting of the Ainu people of northern Japan. This series is extremely well written and entertaining. Plus Viz has given the series the larger A5 trim size which makes it all just that much better. Get out and get your copy now!
Content Grade: A
Art Grade: A-
Packaging Grade: A-
Text/Translation Grade: A
Age Rating: Mature
Released By: Viz
Release Date: December 18, 2018
MSRP: $12.99