Golden Kamuy
a review by Benkei
a review by Benkei
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The Story ════ ⋆★⋆ ════ Sugimoto, "The Immortal," is a survivor and war hero from the Russo-Japanese war. When the war is over, Sugimoto is looking for money by panning gold. He learns about a missing Ainu fortune that has an exorbitant value. Sugimoto teams up with Asirpa, an Ainu girl who's also searching for the gold, but they're not the only ones looking for the fortune.The story of Golden Kamuy is worthy of a masterpiece. The complex dramas and relationships between characters set this story apart from any other that I've read. There's no such thing as friendship or alliance in this post-war universe, in which everyone is fighting for their own values. The only thing that breaks all the gruesome vibe is the amazing comedy, media references and overall humor like one battle hardened veteran crying because he can't fit in a idol-like scenario.The story is also filled with historical research and information. If you search for commentaries on each chapter, you can find "accurate" (even with poetical liberty) of many events such as the Sino-Japanese War, weapons, strategies, food, technology, and cultural aspects of the time.════ ⋆★⋆ ════
The Art Style ════ ⋆★⋆ ════ The art style of Golden Kamuy is pretty good. Since the world setting is a gruesome post-war period, there are a lot of black-and-white plays. The fluidity of the frames is amazing, so even in fast, close-quarters combat, you can still understand what's happening, even when it involves martial arts such as judo, kendo, and others.
The level of detail is crazy, be it on tattoos, ornaments, weapons, vehicles, or clothing. You can feel the amount of care and passion that has been put into representing each of the different minorities in Japan, their individual cultures, and how Japan was in that period of time.
(Sheesh)════ ⋆★⋆ ════
The Characters ════ ⋆★⋆ ════ There are a great number of characters in this work: Sugimoto, Asirpa, and multiple groups trying to find the Ainu fortune. I'm glad to say that I've never seen a manga that could handle so many characters and still manage to have individuality in between them. Even with the long list of supporting characters, I have to really think hard if I want to find one that is just boring or that could be deleted. Everyone is nice and serves a purpose..As I always like to talk about the main characters, Sugimoto and Asirpa are great. Sugimoto is the post-war veteran, hardened by trauma and violence, while Asirpa is down to earth, always looking for good food and to pass on the Ainu teachings.
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Conclusion ════ ⋆★⋆ ════ If you're like me, you skip everything and read only the conclusion because you don't want to get spoiled with other themes. So I will try to be brief on this point:Do yourself a favor and read it. I picked this work because a dear friend of mine was like, "peak peak, let's read it." I can't explain how good the experience of reading Golden Kamuy was. If you're into the war scenario, political intrigues, drama, Samurai X Guns, and history in general, that's going to be your new favorite.45 out of 45 users liked this review
