Reading Golden Kamuy as a manga that is not a manga. Thoughts on information from the fanbook and [strictly] manga fandom in general.

Wow, this is the clunkiest title I’ve written in awhile, but there are a lot of things that I’ve been thinking about in regard to GK.

I’ll touch on several different things that I keep coming back to which at heart drive at how I read and interpret the manga as a “certified meta-nerd”. There are two major topics that really get my knickers in a bunch when it comes to GK in particular. So, sit down, pour yourself a beverage and prepare for some strong arguments and frank discussion of issues around GK.

#golden kamuy #golden kamuy meta #golden kamuy is like a novel #i can't believe i'm addressing the sexual habits of fictional characters #not virgins #military history of VD #military and STDs/STIs #manga tropes #manga tropes mislead you #this is not shounen manga #this is not shoujo manga #read books #read novels … すべて見る

@chibivesicleをもっと見る

匿名からの質問:

On the 7th division. After the latest development, where do you think Tsukishima's final loyalties will lie? Also is Koito's family already screwed either way? Considering they have willingly performed treason. And no doubt by now central knows. And Ogata, are you a central agent or not??? Where did your grandparents go? A cat's motives are mysterious indeed.

Hello there,

Thanks for the ask - well asks really. I’ll try to give you my two cents on each question. Q1.) After the latest development, where do you think Tsukishima's final loyalties will lie? A1.) I think Tsukishima’s loyalties will end up with Koito. The two men have grow closer since Karafuto. He revealed his involvement in Koito’s kidnapping, part of Ogata’s background and for a while seemed stuck in his ‘fate’. I think he started to defy that fate when he stayed behind with Koito after Sugimoto stabbed him versus following Tsurumi. Tsurumi saw him hang back, technically against orders. His last major attachment to Tsurumi was when he went full on terminator/tsukinator trying to stop Tanigaki and Inkarmat. Koito is the one who told him to stand down and we know they’ve talked a great deal about what would happen when they’d meet Tsurumi again.

#golden kamuy #golden kamuy meta #ask #ogata hyakunosuke #koito otonoshin #koito heiji #tsurumi tokushirou #warrant officer kikuta #tsukishima hajime

Golden Kamuy chapter 261 - called it.

As the break surrounding American Thanksgiving comes to an end, I have a little more time to write this week’s meta. Overall, I’m feeling pleased that I was able to predict the major plot point in this chapter, but it was pretty obvious.

The chapter starts off with Meiji era firefighters doing their things and Kikuta wanders back into the plot. The fire crew fights the fire sending a crew to the rear of the brewery.

Kikuta is wandering through the building in a less smoky area. Seeing that he’s cool and collected, I’d guess his strategy was to try to slowly cover the ground to find Asirpa.

#golden kamuy #golden kamuy meta #asirpa #tsurumi tokushirou #koito otonoshin #tsukishima hajime #warrant officer kikuta #ogata hyakunosuke #vasily golden kamuy #sugimoto saichi #shiraishi yoshitake #boutarou the pirate … すべて見る

匿名からの質問:

Very much enjoy reading your thoughts and analysis on GK. Question. Do you think Umeko has already married her elderly wealthy gentleman suitor? Maybe even if Sugimoto does manage to get his hands on some wealth and survive, he would return to find her family already moved abroad. I've been thinking about that when Igogusa's episode came up.

Hello,

Thanks for dropping me a line, I’m glad you enjoy reading my meta. I’m still surprised that people enjoy reading my observations.

I think that by this point in time Umeko has married the man who approached her. It was clear she didn’t get a pension or that much compensation for Toraji’s death and she makes it clear that she has to survive the best way that she can.

The fact that Sugimoto was too scared to face her, but is involved for the hunt for the gold, really shows that he hasn’t come to terms with the trauma of the war nor gotten over the fact that he lived while his ‘best friend’ died. I’ve always disliked his friendship with Toraji since he bullied him, yet told him that he did things ‘for him’ like running away and ‘letting’ him marry Umeko, when it was clear that Umeko married him honestly and openly.

#golden kamuy #golden kamuy meta #sugimoto saichi #Umeko #ask

匿名からの質問:

hi! i really like reading your chapter analysis every week... i just wanted to ask, in chapter 260, what do you think that look that tsukishima gives to koito after he talks to tsurumi means? i feel like it can be interpreted differently... but i feel like he almost seems pissed at koito, more than just tensed up towards the whole situation. i wonder if koito and tsukishima will have a full on argument/fight about this in the coming chapters... there's a lot of tension between them, i feel...

Hello,

Thanks for your ask. As far as Tsukishima’s look towards Koito here,

I really think it is a displeased/disappointed Tsukishima since Koito gave away that he’s no longer worshiping/awkward with Tsurumi. This is very different than when they were about to meet up with Tsurumi on Karafuto. When Tsukishima was still dedicated to following through to the end he appears more calm as though he’s accepted his fate in chapter 210.

In chapter 260 he’s frowning versus a more neutral expression. I’m sure he’s disappointed that Koito gave away that he changed in the absence of Tsurumi. He also let Asirpa escape to save Koito so he can’t be that pissed off at him, he risked it all to save him. I wonder if he’s trying to keep a ‘harder’ look to maintain the facade that he’d be willing to kill Koito if Tsurumi ordered him, which was something he considered in the past. But again, since he saved him, that won’t likely be the case.

Even if Tsukishima is pissed off at Koito, the two of them will have to work together since they agreed to before meeting up with Tsurumi after Inkarmat gave birth and they let Tanigaki go.

I’d say Tsukishima’s expression here is the best that captures how he feels in the chapter.

He seems deep in thought wondering what he’s actually doing. We’ll have to see what happens overall.

#golden kamuy #golden kamuy meta #ask #tsukishima hajime #koito otonoshin

匿名からの質問:

Could you elaborate on the progression of the Kiroranke-Shiraishi friendship? I never really gave it a second thought while reading the Karafuto arc (maybe I wasn't paying attention lol), so I was kinda surprised to see you writing about how they became genuine friends! When do you think their friendship really solidified?

Hello there,

Thanks for the ask. Kiro and Shiraishi are some of my favorite members of the GK cast. I think that their friendship really naturally developed over time through their travels. It all started when Shiraishi fell into the water and was chomped on by the fish and Kiro is the one who saves him. It shows us that for the most part Kiro is a good guy and was willing to help a stranger to him (but was a colleague of Asirpa).

#ask #golden kamuy #golden kamuy meta #kiroranke #shiraishi yoshitake

Golden Kamuy chapter 259 & 260 - predictable events [shrugs]

Chapter 259 starts with a flashback to Abashiri Prison as Boutarou is released from solitary confinement. Shiraishi asks him what he did to land in solitary, specifically who he beat up - and we learn it was Ueji. This goes back to the story by Ueji about how he told Boutarou he saw his aunt, a woman that Boutarou has now confirmed never existed. Since Ueji was messing with Boutarou, he was upset/offended enough that he had no problem killing him.

This shows us that Boutarou seems to be sensitive to joking/teasing/bullying as Shiraishi chides him for his frequent trips to solitary.

This allows for us to see a contemplative/serious facial expression on Boutarou’s face before he continues the conversation with Shiraishi who is picking his nose with his toes?

#golden kamuy #golden kamuy meta #asirpa #koito otonoshin #tsukishima hajime #tsurumi tokushirou #nikaido #sugimoto saichi #boutarou the pirate #Shiraishi Yoshitake #warrant officer kikuta #kadokura #kirawus #hijikata toshizo … すべて見る

frogluvr29からの質問:

Forgive me if you’ve talked about this before, I only just discovered your blog and have been immensely enjoying reading my way through it. What are your thoughts on the Inkarmat/Wilk and Asirpa/Sugimoto parallels? A young Hokkaido Ainu girl developing a crush on a politically/militarily involved older guy and teaching him her culture. The first time I read through GK I was so struck by the parallel, it remains one of my favorite parts of the narrative

Hello,

Thanks for the question. As you state there are clear parallels between Wilk and Inkarmat and Sugimoto and Asirpa. I honestly haven’t thought about this for some time both due to the fact that when Inkarmat was injured at Abashiri, she was absent from the story for quite some time.

#golden kamuy #ask #asirpa #inkarmat #wilk #sugimoto saichi

Indie Ainu film currently on Netflix - Ainu Mosir

For anyone who is interested an indie film about an Ainu teen living near Lake Akan is available on Netflix (at least in the States, I don’t know about other regions).

I really don’t want to say that much about it other than check it out if you are interested. I enjoyed it and found it to be a rather introverted and soft film, but I like quiet, introspective films in the first place. It is subtle and moves with a seasonal pace. Here is the trailer:

It featured the Marimo Festival which relates to my own bucket list item to go see the marimo in person. As we are in times of plague, I found it comforting to at least see a few marimo on screen so who knows when any of us will have the chance to travel again exactly.

#ainu #ainu culture #ainu mosir #ainu mosir movie

icing4meからの質問:

i’d like to hear more about what you think the consequences of asirpa’s crush on sugimoto will be! do you think sugimoto knows? i find it hard to believe that asirpa would think that sugimoto would just go “aw shucks” and stay in hokkaido with her if botarou steals all the gold (if that’s the reason why she let go).

I’m combining two asks which are pretty much on the same topic. What do I think about Asirpa’s crush on Sugimoto? First off, thanks for your asks!

I have complicated feelings on Asirpa’s crush on him. Personally, I’ve never been a fan of this plot point/plot device since I’d like to have a female character not being driven in part by a male character.

I’ve been wondering more recently if Asirpa’s crush is a way for Noda to remind us that she’s still not an adult and that despite her best intentions, she’s still going to approach things as a child or young teen. As icing4me states, I too find it hard to believe that Sugimoto would be like, “Welp, no gold to get that expensive eye surgery in the States for the woman I love, Umeko. Might as well stay here in Hokkaido with my adopted kid sister/personal pure icon.”

#golden kamuy #golden kamuy meta #asirpa #sugimoto saichi #ogata hyakunosuke #boutarou the pirate

匿名からの質問:

What is your opinion of lack of awareness of imperialism in fandoms and use of the rising sun for historical accuracy in fandom context?

Hello,

Thanks for the question. Sorry for the slow reply, work has been busy (which is pretty much the story of my blog during COVID). This is a pretty tough question to answer. I have to admit that I do not interact with the GK fandom that much. Sure, I write meta, but any one who has read my meta by this point would understand that I approach the meta from an anti-imperialist viewpoint and have spent a lot of time pointing out that the manga stirs up things that might be uncomfortable for Japanese readers.

#golden kamuy #golden kamuy meta #meiji era imperialism #Hanazawa Yuusaku

Foreshadowing?

One of my favorite chapter titles is the one for chapter 78 - Yubari coal mine as shown here.

I am certain this is based on a movie poster or an amalgamation of various posters.

Note that as Edogai clutches his own Tsurumi that his right glass eye pops out.

Finally in chapter 256, this happens. Ogata’s glass eye pops out.

Noda, that was a long time you waited to play this joke.

#golden kamuy #ogata hyakunosuke #Yasaku Edogai #tsurumi tokushirou

Golden Kamuy chapter 258 - I’m honestly not shocked by what transpires in this chapter.

As Abashiri 2.0 continues, the chaos continues to separate the various groups. Ushiyama is able to toss Jack’s body in a wheelbarrow and he informs the rest of their group that the 7th is there. Hijikata orders an immediate retreat with Toni and the wee babe Kantarou. Of course Shiraishi runs after them telling them that he lost Sugimoto. And with that we get to the title page.

Ushiyama points out where he last saw them and Kadokura, Sugimoto and Asirpa are trapped in the rapidly burning building. Kadokura tries to find an exit but, of course it is smokier and does not help.

#golden kamuy #golden kamuy meta #asirpa #sugimoto saichi #hijikata toshizo #ogata hyakunosuke #boutarou the pirate #tsurumi tokushirou #warrant officer kikuta #kadokura #Shiraishi Yoshitake #tsukishima hajime #koito otonoshin … すべて見る

匿名からの質問:

hello ! who do you think has the best ass in gk?

Hello,

Thank you for this important and thought provoking question! This has become a more difficult question the more I’ve thought about it. I can’t decide exactly, so I’m going to rank them. I think the best ass goes to Kiroranke. When he was first introduced we got a glance at his here after he rescued Shiraishi from the giant fish.

Alas, Kiro is no longer with us, so I should select a few extant characters.

#golden kamuy #golden kamuy meta - sort of

Golden Kamuy - 257 - good riddance and a tanuki shows its secret

Yet another week and another chapter of GK has dropped amid the continued shit show that is the COVID-19 pandemic. I for one, was glad that our terrible tattooed convict Ueji finally met his demise. I hated his character from the start (which means I really had to not like him) so, I’ve been waiting to see what happens to him.

#golden kamuy #golden kamuy meta #sugimoto saichi #asirpa #hijikata toshizo #tsurumi tokushirou #kadokura #wilk

匿名からの質問:

Hi ! <3 I want someone to give pat pat on the head of Ogata, I mean, the man clearly need love it breaks my heart :( Do you think that one day we could see such a scene in the manga like you know just someone being nice with our asshole cat maybe this kind of attention could help him face his regrets and guilt ?

Hello there, sorry for the slow reply to your ask; it has been a long week.

Technically, we’ve already had many chapters of the manga where Asirpa has been nice to Ogata. She was the first character to reach out to him. I’d argue that the Karafuto crew of Kiro, Shiraishi and Asirpa as well as Sofia were okay with him. It is clear that most of the members of the 27th were either actively mean to him or bullied him while others just let it happen. So, since characters have been nice to him already, I do not think it will take more characters being ‘nice’ to him to get him to face his regrets and guilt. Those are internal issues that he will need to solve himself. His coping mechanisms was to compare himself to someone like Usami who clearly had issues. The fact that he’s now being ‘haunted’ by Yuusaku when he thinks about doing terrible things but can still snipe Usami implies that his own feelings are shifting.

Going back to the beginning of the manga, the nickname Noda used for the character summary at the beginning of each tankobon was ‘solitary wildcat sniper’. I think Ogata needed to interact with other people to gain some sort of confidence or something to reflect on himself. But since Ogata is doing his own thing, he will likely be the one who determines how his emotional healing goes, not any other character. He’s also living up to his namesake, a single man with the skills of 100 so his fate may be to just keep going about things as his solitary lynx self.

匿名からの質問:

Do you think there is a chance, any chance, that Tsurumi will be betrayed by his subordinates? I lowkey hope the gold will never be found but of course, it's not possible. At least Asirpa must be the one who gets it :')

Hello there,

Thanks for the ask. Work has been super busy so my replies and whatnot have been slow. I’ve been hoping that some of Tsurumi’s subordinates will betray him. As early as Yubari, I have been hoping for Tsukishima, but the longer the manga continues the less likely I’ve found that to be a possibility. After Koito stood up to him with Inkarmat and Tanigaki, I’ve regained hope the Tsukishima will be forced to go against Tsurumi. The other character that I think is most likely is Koito. With Ogata’s hint when he escaped from the Russian hospital, Koito began to put the pieces together as the what happened when he was 16.

#golden kamuy #golden kamuy meta #ask

Golden Kamuy: chapters 255 & 256 - chaos at the brewery, superior private vs superior private, the death of the first Tsurumisexual

I was hesitant to write a stand alone 255 summary and I am glad that I waited until 256 was out. I also had a busier than expected work week which kept me busy. The fire that Jack set at the brewery was large enough that the local fire department is alerted to fight it.

The next few pages show how late Meiji era firefighters worked with a horsedrawn steam pumper.

The chief calls for a bugle player to call in the rest of the firefighters and they start spraying while the main pump starts.

#golden kamuy #golden kamuy meta #ogata hyakunosuke #asirpa #sugimoto saichi #ushiyama tatsuma #tsurumi tokushirou #Usami Tokishige #hijikata toshizo #boutarou the pirate … すべて見る

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Golden Kamuy meta peeps . . .

With this whole tumblr policy change - anyone have any ideas were we could move to still have long form discussions of the series without getting flagged b/c the content is mature?

Help? Wordpress? I dunno, the last online tool I used before tumblr was livejournal -_- . . . .

I’m an old fart so I’m not hip to other places to post, but I want someplace that can be able to deal with lots of text, images and won’t be upset I drew a picture of a cat Ogata in a rather embarrassing but normal feline position.

I get twitter is more flexible but I greatly dislike it as a platform b/c again, I’m an old fart. Plus, you just use twitter to link to long form stuff.

Does Hijikata have a useful tattoo?

Something that has been bothering me for awhile in Golden Kamuy; out of all of our convicts with tattoos, we’ve never seen what Hijikata’s looks like, I mean what it really looks like.

Hijikata had a different motive when they broke into Abashiri as he sent Shirashi and Sugimoto to the wrong Nopperabo and needed to get the warden to reveal Wilk’s actual whereabouts. But this really got me thinking, I couldn’t remember what Hijikata’s tattoo looked like and I began to question if he had one.

Of course, I neurotically went bank to the beginning to see how he had been introduced. But before that, I want to highlight how other characters were introduced.

Our first convict, the sad drunken-wife beating guy was shown after the bear killed him and ate his innards here.

Current hypothesis, Ogata is watching Kiro to protect Asirpa.

Work is still busy but I can’t help toe into the Golden Kamuy discussions. Procrastination/exhaustion and its finest!

So I read chapter 176 today and something finally stuck with me and it was how Ogata just had that look, you know his slightly scrunched up nose staring directly at you look. So I’m going back a bit to flesh out the nagging feeling that i’ve had ever since chapter 139.

Chapter 139 - To Karafuto has this full color panel with Ogata and Kiro. They are clearly labeled as “bad guys”.

Golden Kamuy chapter 261 - called it.

As the break surrounding American Thanksgiving comes to an end, I have a little more time to write this week’s meta. Overall, I’m feeling pleased that I was able to predict the major plot point in this chapter, but it was pretty obvious.

The chapter starts off with Meiji era firefighters doing their things and Kikuta wanders back into the plot. The fire crew fights the fire sending a crew to the rear of the brewery.

Golden Kamuy 235 & 236: Clint Eastwood as a postal delivery man and our pirate has domestic desires . . .

Hello all, I apologize for the delay in my posts. I am one of the many people who had to change from a job of going into work to working entirely from home and online only. I have found the transition to be incredibly difficult - I have always had a strict division in my work/home balance. Add on top of that the fact that I live alone with my cat, my parents are almost 2,000 miles away and my brother is currently in Tokyo has made things very stressful. I don’t mean to dump this on you [readers], but sometimes I think it is better to at least say these things since a lot of other people are dealing with this or some version of these situations. It sucks, it is messing with my life and I am trying to deal with this situation.

Okay, enough about me, let’s get to GK.

Chapter 235 starts with Boutarou and Sugimoto about to have a showdown (to the death since Sugimoto just wants his skin). It starts out with Boutarou sizing up Shiraishi, he appears a bit playful and curious that Shiraishi is still in Hokkaido - based on Shiraishi pre-Asirpa/Sugimoto/Kiro he really was a self interested guy. You’d expect he’d make his way back to Honshu and have some fun going to red light districts. The fact that Shiraishi has a pensive look means he’s trying to think a way to deal with this situation and also reacting to the assumption of his personality. He immediately sees Sugimoto reaching for his bayonet and realizes they need to ask him if he know more information.

Golden Kamuy chapters 233 & 234 - creepy candymen and a sexy pirate

Golden Kamuy chapter 213: the classic trope - the enemy of my enemy is my friend - on ice!

This week’s chapter was only slightly shocking with the reappearance of our favorite (and only Russian sniper) Vasily. I’m going to be a little slower with my turnaround time on the meta for the next little while - my work schedule is less ideal and I’m having a hard time adjusting to it, so please bear with me for the next few months, things will lighten up towards the end of November.

Overall, I’m not surprised at how things went down in this chapter but I’m just feeling “meh” about it. It seems like a transitional chapter for a realignment of the factions - pretty common by this point in GK.

Golden Kamuy chapter 204. Let’s get that down on film. . .

Golden Kamuy chapter 222. The next arc is about to begin with the factions re-defined (again).

I have to admit, I’m going to complain about the recent pacing again - chapter 222 is acting as a pause to help the readers reorient themselves to the shifting factions and alliances. I really wish this was spread out a bit more over the past 10-15 or so chapters. Chapter 222 is a good point to begin the shift to the next story arc. I had predicted previously based on pacing, that the next major arc would start around chapter 230. It is looking like that will be the case. For right now, I’ll hypothesize that the next arc will be the gathering of all of the skins and Asirpa will see them allowing her to connect them to the code and the actual location. Asirpa will likely be the character which all of the action and events will revolve around.

Let’s dig into chapter 222. First off, I am happy to see that Inkarmat survived her risky surgery. Noda started the chapter out with a various clear page with her telling a fortune for Koito. After everything that she has been through, I find it interesting that she is still performing her fortune-telling after the events of Abashiri. Just like Shiraishi, the fox jaw hits him in the eyes, but when she reveals that his fortune is good, he’s super excited with the results.