by The mega-hit comic ” Golden Kamuy ” ( Satoru Noda /Shueisha), which has sold over 22 million copies in total, has finished serialization in 2014, and in July 2022, the final 31 volumes of the book with plenty of additions will be released. The story of Saichi Sugimoto, a former soldier, and Ashipa, an Ainu girl, in a battle over a huge amount of buried treasure has come to an end.
However, “Golden Kamuy” is not over yet. This is because the 4th season of the TV anime series, which aired the 1st and 2nd seasons in 2018 and the 3rd season in 2020, will start in October 2022.
In this article, we will look back on the TV anime up to the 3rd season, and also comment on the 4th season of this autumn’s top-class topical work with some predictions. In addition, I will also write a recommendation for a pilgrimage trip to “Golden Kamuy” that will make you want to go to Hokkaido.
Whether you haven’t read (watched) all of “Golden Kamuy” or haven’t seen up to the third season of the anime, I hope that this article will help you prepare for the fourth season smoothly. From here, we will introduce the first to third seasons of the TV anime.
Phase 1: Episodes 1-12
Sugimoto is a veteran soldier nicknamed “Immortal Sugimoto” for his military exploits during the Russo-Japanese War. He needed gold, and when he heard that there was gold panning, he came to the northern lands. There, he hears about a huge buried treasure hidden by the Ainu. The clue to the hiding place was tattooed on the bodies of 24 prisoners in Abashiri Prison, after which they escaped.
However, Sugimoto wasn’t the only one who was led by money. Standing in his way is the 7th Division, led by Lieutenant Tokushiro Tsurumi, who plans to establish an independent nation based on the Ainu’s buried treasure, and Toshizo Hijikata and Shinpachi Nagakura, who survived the Meiji Restoration. It is a faction of the Shinsengumi.
Sugimoto meets Ainu girl Ashipa, one of the 24 prisoners, Yoshitake Shiraishi, the “beloved jailbreak king”, and Genjiro Tanigaki, a former Matagi, in Hokkaido and Sakhalin. throw yourself into They must collect the tattoos of escaped prisoners before the 7th Division and Hijikata’s faction. Regardless of life or death.
Before long, Ainu man Kiroranke reveals that Ashipa’s father is Ashipa’s father, who stole the buried treasure and tattooed the hiding place in code.
In order to ascertain the truth, the only way is to meet “Nopperabo” after all. Sugimoto and his friends, who have traveled from Otaru to Naganuma, head for Abashiri Prison where he is imprisoned.
I would like to introduce “Otaru Kihinkan” as a sacred place where pilgrimage is possible in the first phase. This extravagant building was the setting for an episode of Henmi, one of the escaped prisoners.
Phase 2: Episodes 13-24
On the way to Abashiri, Sugimoto and his party head to Yubari after receiving information from Shiraishi about a prisoner with a tattoo. Lieutenant Tsurumi plans to create fake tattoos there, and the battle becomes even more chaotic as the fake tattoos are used in a battle for the “tattooed human skin” of an escaped prisoner who has already died.
Toshiyuki Kadokura, who is an insider in Abashiri Prison and becomes Hijikata’s friend, and Otonoshin Koito, a newly appointed officer academy graduate who admires Lieutenant Tsurumi, are increasing in number, and the scale of the story is finally set in Abashiri. What.
In order to get all the answers from “Nopperabo”, Sugimoto and his friends, who fought together with Hijikata’s group, cooperated with each other despite their various motives, and finally infiltrated Abashiri Prison while fighting the 7th Division. Meanwhile, the 7th Division appears with destroyers and attacks the prison.
In the midst of a fierce battle, Sugimoto finds out the “Nopperabo” that was hidden by the head of the prison, Shirosuke Inudo, and tries to bring him face to face with Ashipa. Hyakunosuke Ogata, a sniper who defected from the 7th Division and shows his own movements, and what actions did Kiroranke, a man who knows “Nopperabo”, take?
Speaking of the sacred place of the second period, it will be “Abashiri Prison”. It still exists today as the Abashiri Prison, but in 1983, the Abashiri Prison Museum opened on the slopes of Mt. You can see buildings such as the “Former Abashiri Prison” and “Former Abashiri Prison Futamigaoka Prison Branch” which are designated as important cultural properties of the country.
Season 3: episodes 25-36
Sugimoto and Tanigaki, who survived Abashiri Prison, are captured by the 7th Division and follow Lieutenant Tsurumi. They chase Tsurumi’s confidant Hajime Tsukishima and Ashipa, who has been kidnapped along with Koito. The destination is Sakhalin, the birthplace of Ashipa’s father.
There, the four of them fight escaped prisoners in a traditional Russian martial arts game, Schenk, and get involved in troubles such as appearing in a performance of a horse troupe and being targeted for life.
Ashipa, along with Ogata and Kiroranke, who kidnapped her, was in a battle with the Russian army. Lieutenant Tsurumi, who has a pipe in Russia, had already passed on their movements and information.
Sugimoto and the others head north in search of Asirpa’s whereabouts. The purpose of Ashipa was Ako Prison in North Karafuto, a Russian territory. In the prison, “Nopperabo” and Sophia, a female revolutionary who was a companion of Kiroranke, are imprisoned.
There, Ashipa learns about her father’s past and remembers the key to unlocking the tattoo code, but Ogata notices it.
Will Sugimoto and Ashipa be able to meet again safely?
Karafuto is the main stage of the third season, but it is possible to make a pilgrimage to Kushiro and Nemuro, where Hijikata visited in episode 32.
The Nusamai Bridge, which spans the vicinity of the mouth of the Kushiro River, appears in the main story. Also, in the Ainu corner of the Kushiro City Museum, you can see autographed colored paper and pop art by Satoru Noda, the original author. And when you go to Nemuro Hanasaki Cape, which was depicted in the confrontation scene between Hijikata and the escaped prisoner, you will be greeted by the powerful “Nemuro Kurumaishi”, which is shaped like a wheel.
I can’t wait until season 4…! How far will it be drawn?
Finally, we will introduce the content that is scheduled to be broadcast from October 2022 based on the “4th season PV 1st” that has been released at the moment. Horror-taste episodes of master gold panner Master Heita and the battle with Jack the Ripper are confirmed.
Then, Pirate Fusataro, who will fight together with Sugimoto Ichigyo, appears. Furthermore, it is unclear to what extent the story will be drawn as per the original, but it seems that Private First Class Usami Tokishige will enter the war in earnest. The face of the 7th Division is getting darker and deeper.
The appearance of Jack the Ripper means that the “Sapporo Beer Factory”, that is, the current “Sapporo Beer Museum” and “Sapporo Factory” will be the stage of the battle. A popular sightseeing spot in Sapporo that makes you want to make a pilgrimage to the holy land even if you don’t like beer. Also, pay attention to the background of the anime.
The TV animation “Golden Kamuy” has reached about 1/3 of the original. From the end of the 3rd season, when many mysteries were revealed, the future of “Ichikakekin Survival”, will be more scaled up and more interesting. It’s only a few days until the start of the 4th season.
