Golden Kamuy (volumes 29-31 complete)
Jan. 11th, 2025 11:30 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
meteordustNow this is how you stick the landing.
It's been six years since I started reading this manga, and I've been following it on and off since then. I'm glad I saved the last three volumes to read in one go. It would have been agonising to wait for it, chapter by chapter, week after week.
The finale was dramatic and cinematic and emotionally satisfying. Worth the wait, worth the journey.
* The big battle at Goryokaku! An action filled showdown where all the factions finally fought it out. (I really appreciated the constantly updating maps showing where everyone was.)
* The reveal of the land deed! Forested land all over Hokkaido, bought with the gold, to secure the future of the Ainu.
* The further reveal that they only used half the gold for it! And the discovery of the rest in the well. A beautiful moment, with a rain of golden sparkles falling through the air into their open hands. A satisfying end to the quest, but at the same time, it feels like the stakes have moved beyond this, with the precious land deed to protect, and the life and death battle ongoing outside.
* The destroyers showing up to shell the fortress! Hammering the defenders hard. But then! When the small team goes up to Mount Hakodate, we learn that decades ago, Hijikata and the Shinsengumi hid their secret weapon there: "The main cannon of the Kaitenmaru!" It was pretty damn cool to see that turn the tide of the battle and give the destroyers something to worry about.
* That insane way Nikaido died, but also that moment of peace he got from imagining he saw his brother again. (And also that earlier exchange between Nikaido and Sugimoto: "You killed my brother! I want his body back!" "He's waiting for you in hell!" Wow, cold.)
* Sofia's last stand!
* Escape from the fortress, and then the final battle on a runaway train! (And somehow a bear! Because why not. Why not.)
* Koito to Hijikata: "Father told me about the Shinsengumi and the Battle of Hakodate and the fall of the last samurai. Now I cross swords with him. They say that Hijikata died at Ippongi Kanmon. Today that site is this train's final stop!" Hijikata's reply: "So, can you correct history's mistake?" Of all the badass characters in this story, he might be the most.
* I loved whenever we shifted back to a glimpse of young Hijikata, the one who fought that doomed battle and supposedly died long ago. And after Koito severely wounds him, he starts flashing between past and present, thinking he's fighting that battle again with all his old comrades. Seeing him full of vigour and hope and belief in the future - it's really something. And then passing the torch to Sugimoto, in the symbol of his sword, telling him to save the Japanese and the Ainu. And his final words with Nagakura: "We had some good times, no? But I thought the best days were yet to come..." End of an era.
* Ogata, that chaos demon, about to shoot Sugimoto in the heart, and taunting Asirpa with, "Killed anyone lately?" And then Asirpa, who has resisted all this time, thinks, "If it's necessary... Yes... If there is a reason..." And shoots Ogata with a lethally poisoned arrow. "... I'm ready to plunge into hell with Saichi Sugimoto!" This is what makes her bloody her hands, and I'm cheering her on. I just love how ride-or-die she is about him too. (And we see Sugimoto shocked, and then moved.)
* And Ogata's end! The ghost of his brother, the ghost of his guilt, finally showing his face. And his conscience arguing with his denial, and him admitting to himself, "I was not a fuckup. But maybe I chose the path of a fuckup..." And that shocking scene of him turning the rifle on himself, but also his ghost brother wrapping his arms around him, saying, "Your birth was a blessing, Elder Brother." Just. Wow. Everything.
* And finally, Tsurumi. I love that Sugimoto scatters the gold in Tsurumi's eyes when Tsurumi is about to shoot him, and swings his sword during this distraction. Tsurumi loses the land deed, and also the tiny bones he carries in memory of his wife and daughter, and the metal plate he wears to cover his forehead injury. And it's like everything coming to an end for him, and he looks like an avenging angel about to strike. But Sugimoto throws Asirpa to safety, off the train, and Sugimoto and Tsurumi are still grappling when the train crashes into the station and then crashes out the other side and plunges into the waters of the bay. I love how much all of this sequence was without dialogue, just pure action on page after page.
* Okay, I guess I had a lot of feelings about all of this.
* I love a good epilogue! This one shows where everyone who survived ended up, and it feels really satisfying, like a farewell tour. And Sugimoto saying to Asirpa, "Let's go home." Their friendship has been the beating heart of this story all along.
This is such a weird series, sometimes so utterly bizarre, I don't know how to go about recommending it. On the one hand, it's a compelling treasure hunt with competing factions, old secrets, and a race against time. On the other hand, it's gory and violent and disturbing. It's also a beautifully detailed history of early 20th century Hokkaido, a meticulously researched depiction of Ainu culture, a meditation on the relationship between humans and nature, and an examination of imperialism, war, and PTSD. (But also, sometimes utterly bizarre.)
It's been six years since I started reading this manga, and I've been following it on and off since then. I'm glad I saved the last three volumes to read in one go. It would have been agonising to wait for it, chapter by chapter, week after week.
The finale was dramatic and cinematic and emotionally satisfying. Worth the wait, worth the journey.
* The big battle at Goryokaku! An action filled showdown where all the factions finally fought it out. (I really appreciated the constantly updating maps showing where everyone was.)
* The reveal of the land deed! Forested land all over Hokkaido, bought with the gold, to secure the future of the Ainu.
* The further reveal that they only used half the gold for it! And the discovery of the rest in the well. A beautiful moment, with a rain of golden sparkles falling through the air into their open hands. A satisfying end to the quest, but at the same time, it feels like the stakes have moved beyond this, with the precious land deed to protect, and the life and death battle ongoing outside.
* The destroyers showing up to shell the fortress! Hammering the defenders hard. But then! When the small team goes up to Mount Hakodate, we learn that decades ago, Hijikata and the Shinsengumi hid their secret weapon there: "The main cannon of the Kaitenmaru!" It was pretty damn cool to see that turn the tide of the battle and give the destroyers something to worry about.
* That insane way Nikaido died, but also that moment of peace he got from imagining he saw his brother again. (And also that earlier exchange between Nikaido and Sugimoto: "You killed my brother! I want his body back!" "He's waiting for you in hell!" Wow, cold.)
* Sofia's last stand!
* Escape from the fortress, and then the final battle on a runaway train! (And somehow a bear! Because why not. Why not.)
* Koito to Hijikata: "Father told me about the Shinsengumi and the Battle of Hakodate and the fall of the last samurai. Now I cross swords with him. They say that Hijikata died at Ippongi Kanmon. Today that site is this train's final stop!" Hijikata's reply: "So, can you correct history's mistake?" Of all the badass characters in this story, he might be the most.
* I loved whenever we shifted back to a glimpse of young Hijikata, the one who fought that doomed battle and supposedly died long ago. And after Koito severely wounds him, he starts flashing between past and present, thinking he's fighting that battle again with all his old comrades. Seeing him full of vigour and hope and belief in the future - it's really something. And then passing the torch to Sugimoto, in the symbol of his sword, telling him to save the Japanese and the Ainu. And his final words with Nagakura: "We had some good times, no? But I thought the best days were yet to come..." End of an era.
* Ogata, that chaos demon, about to shoot Sugimoto in the heart, and taunting Asirpa with, "Killed anyone lately?" And then Asirpa, who has resisted all this time, thinks, "If it's necessary... Yes... If there is a reason..." And shoots Ogata with a lethally poisoned arrow. "... I'm ready to plunge into hell with Saichi Sugimoto!" This is what makes her bloody her hands, and I'm cheering her on. I just love how ride-or-die she is about him too. (And we see Sugimoto shocked, and then moved.)
* And Ogata's end! The ghost of his brother, the ghost of his guilt, finally showing his face. And his conscience arguing with his denial, and him admitting to himself, "I was not a fuckup. But maybe I chose the path of a fuckup..." And that shocking scene of him turning the rifle on himself, but also his ghost brother wrapping his arms around him, saying, "Your birth was a blessing, Elder Brother." Just. Wow. Everything.
* And finally, Tsurumi. I love that Sugimoto scatters the gold in Tsurumi's eyes when Tsurumi is about to shoot him, and swings his sword during this distraction. Tsurumi loses the land deed, and also the tiny bones he carries in memory of his wife and daughter, and the metal plate he wears to cover his forehead injury. And it's like everything coming to an end for him, and he looks like an avenging angel about to strike. But Sugimoto throws Asirpa to safety, off the train, and Sugimoto and Tsurumi are still grappling when the train crashes into the station and then crashes out the other side and plunges into the waters of the bay. I love how much all of this sequence was without dialogue, just pure action on page after page.
* Okay, I guess I had a lot of feelings about all of this.
* I love a good epilogue! This one shows where everyone who survived ended up, and it feels really satisfying, like a farewell tour. And Sugimoto saying to Asirpa, "Let's go home." Their friendship has been the beating heart of this story all along.
This is such a weird series, sometimes so utterly bizarre, I don't know how to go about recommending it. On the one hand, it's a compelling treasure hunt with competing factions, old secrets, and a race against time. On the other hand, it's gory and violent and disturbing. It's also a beautifully detailed history of early 20th century Hokkaido, a meticulously researched depiction of Ainu culture, a meditation on the relationship between humans and nature, and an examination of imperialism, war, and PTSD. (But also, sometimes utterly bizarre.)
