There are many new anime from the later part of this decade that have turned into exciting hits, but Golden Kamuy feels especially fresh. The anime centers around two unconventional partners, a seasoned war veteran and a young girl hunter, who set out to attain a vast treasure. It may seem like a fantastical premise, but Golden Kamuy grounds itself in historical accuracy and sets its story against the 20th century after the events of the Russo-Japanese War.
This additional context helps Golden Kamuy’s action elements pop even more and feel like a truly unique anime. Golden Kamuy is such a mix of sensibilities that it’s fair to have a number of questions about the property and wonder just what’s real.
10 It’s Loosely Based On Real Events
Golden Kamuy doesn't tell a true story, but it's based against real events from 20th century Japanese history that inform the direction of the anime's story. Sugimoto and Asirpa's mission to find gold through a highly unconventional treasure map isn't something that happened, but the events of the Battle of 203 Hill during the Russo-Japanese War absolutely did. The same can be said for the assimilation of Asirpa's Ainu culture in Hokkaido. Even the Abashiri Prison where the tattooed convicts escape is a real place, but it's just the backdrop for this original story.
9 The Anime's Dub Cast Takes The Effort To Perfect The Regional Dialects
There's an acceptable amount of detail that gets lost in translation when an anime gets dubbed, but so much of Golden Kamuy is interested in the smaller cultures that exist in Hokkaido and the importance of their preservation. The anime specifically has the Ainu language supervised by Hiroshi Nakagawa, an Ainu language linguist from Chiba University, but Monica Rial did further research into Ainu culture to help perfect her performance as Asirpa. Damian Mills, who plays 2nd Lieutenant Koito, also learned Satsuma dialect to add authenticity to his character.
8 The Anime's Director Was Told To Exclude A Certain Manga Character
Adaptation is a fascinating process and anime have different ways of reflecting and updating the source material. This can lead to the addition of new characters or even the removal of others. Golden Kamuy's director, Hitoshi Nanba, explains that the anime's omission of Shiton Anehata was at the behest of the network because of the controversial territory that's associated with the character.
Golden Kamuy is violent and unflinching in many areas, but Anehata gets into animal violence and even touchier subject matter that it's an understandable edit which doesn't greatly impede Golden Kamuy's story.
7 Saichi Sugimoto Draws Inspiration From Two Real-Life Figures
Golden Kamuy is set against a background that explores actual Japanese history. The anime's protagonists aren't real historical figures, but there’s inspiration pulled from several people that turns Saichi Sugimoto into more of a composite. The character's name comes from the great-grandfather of Satoru Noda, the creator of Golden Kamuy. Noda's great-grandfather was named Saichi Sugimoto and became a celebrated war hero. The rest of the character pulls from Hiroshi Funasaka, a prolific soldier who survived deadly injuries like a grenade blast & neck wound and earned the nickname of the "Immortal."
6 It's Produced By A Relatively New Anime Studio
It's very exciting when popular manga series transition over into anime, but a crucial factor in the process is what animation studio is responsible for bringing the material to life. An inexperienced studio can sometimes doom an anime that's adapting strong content. Golden Kamuy is animated by Geno Studio, which is a very new team that's only been around since 2015 and Golden Kamuy is just their second project. Admittedly, there are moments where the animation in Golden Kamuy struggles, but for the most part Geno Studio rises to the occasion and the anime highlights what they can accomplish.
5 The Anime Coincided With An ONA Series
Anime has many different mediums that allows for more creativity with projects. There are ONAs, animated content that premieres online and is usually shorter in nature, and Golden Kamuy has a number of these.
Titled Golden Doga Gekijo, there are 22 ONA installments that are all under 30 seconds long and explore some of the more extraneous content from the manga series. It's a fun extra source of content. Additionally, the proper Golden Kamuy anime has four OVA installments of its own, all of which adapt more self-contained arcs from Golden Kamuy's manga.
4 The Firearms And Equipment All Strive For Accuracy
It takes a lot of effort to accurately depict weaponry and technology of older periods, but Golden Kamuy doesn't slack in this area and they push for realism. Part of the reason that the show is able to accomplish this is that they have separate animation designers to each separate area. Golden Kamuy has a distinct person who designs firearms, another who works on props, and even someone who focuses specifically on animals, which are also a large component of the anime. This specificity rather than stretching resources allows everything to be so accurate.
3 Asirpa's Story Surprisingly Draws From Fact
Golden Kamuy prides itself in its accuracy towards 20th century Japanese history and its look into Ainu culture. However, the idea that Wilk would raise Asirpa, his daughter and only child, to be a hunter runs against the traditional gender roles that Ainu culture enforced. While this is still an unconventional trajectory for Asirpa, Golden Kamuy's Ainu language supervisor, Hiroshi Nakagawa, brings up other rare cases where Ainu girls were raised to be hunters and succeeded in the area. In a way, the anime empowers these rarities even more.
2 The Origins Of Sugimoto's Scar Remain A Mystery
Saichi Sugimoto's past is full of conflict and he's faced a lot of death in battle. One of Sugimoto's most striking physical traits is the large scar that runs down his face. Glimpses of Sugimoto's past have been revealed, but the scar's origin remains a mystery. Sugimoto already has the scar when he's in the Battle of 203 Hill, so it'd have to have happened during a previous conflict that happens some time after he's left home for battle. Golden Kamuy continues to fill in details from the past, so it's possible this injury will eventually be developed upon.
1 Asirpa's Name Hints At An Optimistic Tomorrow
It's always interesting to see how the names of characters, locations, or abilities are handled in an anime. Sometimes they can serve a greater significance or act as distillations of a character and in other series they're completely superfluous. Golden Kamuy puts thought into many of its names and this is particularly the case with Asirpa, where the Ainu culture and language is also considered. Asirpa's name means "new year" or "future," which effectively encapsulates the character's mission to find the Ainu gold and help her people from erasure.