#Hasegawa Olga

[goldenkamuyhunting]

Would Tsurumi's character arc changed to a grand extent if the fate of Olga and Fina was different? In a way they lived and Tsurumi had less to no trauma about his family. Is his arc really lowkey turns around what happened to his family, kind of? What changed do you think it would make for his role in GK if that event went different in which they lived?

It's an interesting question!

Possibly it would have, as he might have decided to remain in Russia with them, maybe even switch loyalties between Russia and Japan, or he would take them back to Japan with him and not harbour any other ambition than be with them or, at least, wouldn't have harboured such a great grudge toward Wilk and might have remained a more human person or, at least, a less ambitious one.

There's to say though, in the last third of the manga his family drama is underused, basically it merely became an excuse to guilt trip Sofia into talking and into letting Tsurumi kill her. Tsurumi insists it's not his family drama what's moving him, and even though it's made clear he hates Wilk because he blames him for his loss and transferres this hate to Asirpa... well, all this hate just exists and goes nowhere.

It's not a motive, it's not an obstacle to overcome, it's not something that causes him to make mistakes (unless we want to consider the fact his brain started leaking like crazy in Vol 21 when he talks with Asirpa and never again [by the way this wasn't in the magazine version so if you're reading the mangazine version you might not know what I'm talking about]).

So... who knows?

The story wanted to say that loss was the thing that turned him into the Tsurumi we know so, without it, we wouldn't have Tsurumi therefore theoretically Fina and Olga's survival would have been a big change for him... but again, with how underused the whole thing was, we can't really tell what exactly it would have changed.

That's a question, I guess, only Noda knows the answer of.

Still thank you for your ask!

[naruysae]

Golden Days 👩‍🍼✨🪞 — Process

[ginkochama]

Warmth

[unicat-w]

the hasegawa

[tokoyamifumi]

okay WAIT i need to talk about golden kamuy again. WARNING, MAJOR MANGA SPOLIERS AHEAD. 

so at the end of the sapporo arc tsurumi takes asirpa and sofia to a church to interrogate them about the key to solving the code right, in my opinion this location was clearly intentional.

in this scene tsurumi is explaining his past with sofia and wilk, and sofia is once more faced with the guilt that haunted her for 18 years. she explains her side of the story to asirpa and tsurumi explains how his family was killed by wilk, and how wilk became nopperabou. the fact that this exchange takes place in a church gives me the feeling that this was a confession, telling asirpa of their sins so they could be absolved of them. why asirpa? because as we saw in the last supper painting, asirpa was seated in the spot jesus was in.

i think it goes even further than that however, tsurumi revealed to sofia that wilk had killed his family, not her, he was absolving her of her guilt in the situation, the grim reaper delivered salvation and forgiveness to her. this is evident when he eventually kills her and says that he forgives her (but not wilk). the dichotomy of asirpa representing jesus and tsurumi representing the grim reaper is an important one, because both are seen as saviors. asirpa is pushed into the role as the future leader of the ainu, and tsurumi saves his men from hellish circumstances and gives them purpose, to the point where they fervently worship him. the fight for the gold has become a holy war between good and evil for the future of japan.

also i just thought of something else, seeing as how asirpa is jesus, it could be argued that wilk is the representation of god, and by killing olga and fina, he was essentially casting hasegawa out of heaven, leading him down the path of tsurumi. thats mostly speculation, but it makes sense both in the catholic canon and gk canon

[atonedfor]

Ogata Hyakunosuke & Hasegawa Olga

Blessed Are Those Who Mourn

Promotional image for an in-progress Golden Kamuy fanfiction, i.e. writing a “golden ending” for Ogata. He just needs some helping getting there: namely, from a girl who fell through time, one alternate world to the next.

Read the first chapter on:

Archive of Our Own

Fanfiction.net

Official Tumblr (TBA)

Spoilers for manga chapter 177/anime episode 33 onward:

Two years after losing her father in a workplace bombing, fifteen-year-old Hasegawa Olga is hit by a speeding truck and transported from the year 2007 to 1907, where she finds a soldier lying close to death on a frozen riverbank. While trying to drag him to safety, Olga encounters an army officer who greatly resembles her deceased father, Kouichi, and has scars matching her father’s fatal wounds. Although the officer, First Lieutenant Tsurumi, denies any relation, Olga speculates, wrongly, that he really is her father, who time-traveled after dying like she did, leading to a series of mutual misunderstandings.

In the end, Tsurumi gives the impoverished girl a male identity as “Hasegawa Osamu”—allegedly for her own safety—and the paid job of caring for the soldier she rescued, Superior Private Ogata Hyakunosuke, during his stay in the hospital, but on the condition that she leave the city once he recovers.

With his teeth wired together while his fractured jaw heals, Ogata receives the assistance of a teenager named “Osamu”, whom he believes to be Tsurumi’s unwanted illegitimate child—a parallel of Ogata and his own father, the late Lieutenant General Hanazawa. During their six weeks together, the aloof and guarded soldier, a hardened veteran of the Russo-Japanese War, begins warming up to his kindhearted caretaker.

Following an abrupt attempt on both his life and Olga’s, Ogata leaves the hospital prematurely and decides to bring Olga with him, no longer as alone as his nickname of “Solitary Wildcat Sniper” would imply.

—

Have been working and researching since May, with eight chapters total and many fragments waiting for assembly. /i’m basically going to rewrite the entire story, pls wish me luck.

[piduai]

do you think there’s some wiggle room for assuming that fina and olga were killed accidentally by a stray bullet or do we all agree unanimously that wilk killed them purposely in order not to get compromised?

who is this "all" you're talking about, not only i disagree with that theory i think it's incredibly stupid and one of the worst to float around. wilk did not kill fina and olga on purpose. stating otherwise is a disservice to both wilk and tsurumi as characters. it is reductive.

first of all it is logically unsound. why would wilk do that? he is not omnipotent; even in the event that he saw that it was fina behind the bushes (which he didn't) for him it would have been just seeing her in her own backyard. he didn't know of her agreement with hasegawa. why would he kill her then? i've seen people propositioning that he must have seen her holding the wanted posters and put two and two together because he's smart, but he hasn't. he saw the poster only after she has been shot:

and because he is indeed very intelligent, he did put two and two together; hasegawa is not the man he thought he was, he's wanted by the government too, he's MUCH more dangerous than he seems, and he is aware that the three of them are considered enemies of the state. on top of that one of the three just accidentally shot his wife and child. this is trouble. that's the reason he hastily dragged sofia out of there, because he didn't know what hasegawa is capable of. even in the unlikely event that he killed fina because, as you say, he didn't want to be compromised, why would he let hasegawa live, then? if that were the case, he would have killed him too. so this makes absolutely no sense.

second of all, this would unnecessarily paint wilk as an absolute monster. and for what? he is a difficult case i'll grant you that, but he is not a monster. wilk's cold and cruel logic was extended to circumstance, but even that considered, would he kill the woman who has been receiving him in her house for months while her husband was sharing his precious knowledge with them, and their infant child besides? he has been shown as being a person capable of feeling deep gratitude even before he had asirpa (he gifted inkarmat his own mother's kimono for being his guide and teacher around hokkaido). would he do that to the people who showed him so much kindness? i don't think so. wilk has assassinated the russian emperor because he was a political extremist. he killed his own dying comrade when they were being chased because it was absolutely necessary, sofia admitted that after a lot of hesitation she would have done the same. killing fina and her child wouldn't have been a necessary sacrifice even if he concluded that she knew about what he is; it would have been an act of evil. and wilk is not an evil figure in golden kamuy.

third of all, if he had done that, then he would have completely, unequivocally justified tsurumi's hatred and vendetta against him. if we look at it the way it is in canon - it was a tragic accident that happened in the midst of chaos, nobody at the site knew exactly who was the killer (until tsurumi retrieved the bullet), they all shared the blame in some way but ultimately it couldn't be pinned on someone alone - then tsurumi's attitude towards wilk is complex and multi-layered, but while he has a right to be resentful towards him and the trio as a whole, ultimately his grudge borders on petty because, again, it was an accident. if it were on purpose, then he would have been 100% justified in his actions towards them. who can blame someone for loathing the intentional(!) killer of his family and for wanting to get revenge? which would murder a good chunk of tsurumi's carefully crafted characterization at the core for no good reason.

[osomanga]

Vasily Conspiracy Theory

Something I’ve thought about since long but ne’er quite put into words coz it’s a bit of a sretch about connecting Hood-chan to plot beyond sniper....

So,

Vasily, Ilya and the two Russian border guards...

are pretty much Tanigaki, Tamai, Noma and Okada

It pretty much plays out in that way. The ones from each group that lived and joined the gang: Tanigaki Genjiro and Vasily

And...

I mean, Tanigaki...

Whatever did Tsurumi think when he heard that story??

Beacuse what Tsurumi did was the very same thing: The Japanese spy that burned down his house with his dead wife and daughter’s bodies.  

He had told Fina to go home to her family home with Olga

So she had a family somewhere who didn’t know she was coming home but would maybe get to know if ever they heard of the death of the wife of the japanese photographer.

Now Vladivostok=/=Sakhalin. It’s not far, but Vasya as a border guard by some stretch may have been sent alongside Ilya... But also Vasya looks in his late 20s/30s like Ogata, whereas Fina would have been around 40 like Tsurumi had she lived. Plus like, Sofa is already the connect to Hasegawa Koichi.  

Nonetheless what if Vasya sees Tsurumi and his radar goes off: Hasegawa Koichi looking like a zombie.

Or not.  

[chibivesicle]

Golden Kamuy chapters 265 & 266. The reunion we’ve been waiting for.

After the flashback told by Kiro on their way to break Sofia out of prison in Russia, we learned about Tsurumi’s past as a spy in Vladivostok and his family who died in his encounter with the Russian secret police.

It has been a long time coming for that flashback to be connected to present day (well in the manga timeline) Tsurumi and Sofia.

The cover page has an image of Tsurumi with Olga and Fina seen through a keyhole.  I want to know - who is the person looking through the keyhole at them?

Is this supposed to be symbolic of Tsukishima and Koito listening to him?

The chapter starts off with Kikuta meeting up with Koito and Tsukishima as they realized not everyone made it to the rendezvous point.  Of course they then quickly decide to separate, but tell Koito to stay behind.

Kikuta and Tsukishima separate and we learn that Ariko and Kantaro catch up to Hijikata as he states they are going to rescue Asirpa.  Sofia’s men also state they are going to rescue Sofia.  Everyone is still converging on the same point.

Koito carefully decides to go back and investigate because he was concerned by Tsurumi’s facial expression upon meeting Sofia.  He knows there is more to the story and he’s not just going to blindly follow Tsurumi’s orders.

Of course, he catches Tsukishima doing the same thing!  I love how he tries to pull rank on Tsukishima but not really.

Their argument is kind of adorable in a way - both men are trying to understand what is going on in a pot calling the kettle black sort of way.

Tsukishima may have sunk low when he tried to stop Tanigaki and Inkarmat, but the time on Karafuto changed both of them.  He revealed to Koito how he had been manipulated by Tsurumi and tried his best to keep on keeping on, but Koito had stopped him from that direction.

What is more interesting is to learn that Koito didn’t even realize that when he spoke to Tsurumi normally at the brewery!  As a reader I had made a poor assumption where I thought he had realized he spoke normally, but it seems to have been lost in the heat of the moment and only Tsukishima picked up on it.

Tsukishima points out the obvious to Koito and I love how he finally realizes this with a little sweat.  Koito had been so into well just doing things, that he needed to be reminded of what he had done.

Tsurumi then sends Nikaido out to allow him to talk to Sofia and Asirpa undisturbed and even double checks that the church is empty!  Which they had already done when Tsukishima and Koito were with him!  Tsurumi does one more check of the rooms as the two men hide under a desk or table of some sort.

Tsukishima wonders if Tsurumi is going to discuss something that he doesn’t want any of his subordinates to hear.  Tsukishima looks upset and angry about this while Koito seems more concerned.  Sofia and Asirpa are tied up and tied to a pew in the church.

There is a flashback where Sofia noticed the photos in the stove of Hasegawa’s photo studio and she grabbed the one of her with Kiro and Wilk. Tsurumi then sites down in a chair across from them in a relaxed posture.

Sofia comes to and realizes that she’s tied up and then notices Asirpa next to her.  Tsurumi finally removes the gag from Asirpa and comments that wearing her headband suits her as the special child of the ainu.

She’s unsure how to reply to the comment and Tsurumi states he’s glad to talk to her.  He then mentions Sofia Golden Hand and talks about meeting again.

Sofia of course wants to know who he is and he controls the conversation by discussing that it has been 18 years since they last met.  He then holds up the photo and refers to her by her fake name she used when they were in Vladivostok.  Only then can she put the pieces together slowly (I mean she took quite a beating before being brought to the church).

Tsurumi then presents the finger bones of Fina and Olga to Sofia while we see the view of the door keyhole.

Of course Tsukishima is the one watching while Koito listens through the door.  We get Tsukishima’s flashback to when he saw Tsurumi with the finger bones alone with bare feet.

Tsukishima now has the names of the people the bones belonged to.  Sofia bewildered asks him if he is Mr. Hasegawa.

She has figured out who this mysterious Japanese man is and what her relationship to him is.  Tsurumi calmly thanks her for recognizing and remembering as his weird brain fluid leaks.  Sofia is speechless as Asirpa begins to apply what she knows - asking if the photo is of Wilk and Kiro - and if it was taken in Russia as she recalls Kiro’s story that first introduced Sofia to her.

Koito is concerned to learn that Tsurumi was married with a family and he then turns to look at Tsukishima who is clearly upset.  He is very pissed off at Tsurumi.

It is clear that Tsukishima likely knows more that is making him this angry about the situation.

The chapter ends with a confident looking Tsurumi.  He reveals that they recovered letters from Kiro’s possessions which included the ones sent back and forth with Sofia.  He then suggests that they talk to Asirpa together. . . .

so that they can explain what happened to the Ainu.  It begins to rain harder, likely reflecting the tears around everyone in this situation and the quest for the gold.

Being an intelligence officer, I’m going to think that Tsukishima likely handed over the letters to Tsurumi not knowing about the milk ink, and was left in the dark as Tsurumi kept this information to himself. 

We know Kiro wouldn’t have been dumb enough to use actual ink.  Though, I wonder why Kiro kept the letters from Sofia.  Either he thought no one else would crack them or he did it for nostalgic reasons and his unrequited love of her.

I honestly expected more from this chapter.  For a long awaited ‘reunion’ of sorts it falls flat for me.  I wanted more from Tsurumi.  I wanted more from Sofia.  The character development and decisions from Tsukishima and Koito are predictable as they continue to think for themselves in the hunt for the gold. 

And where is Kikuta off to?  Find Ogata who is currently preoccupied with Vasily?  I had high hopes for things and it fell short.

So with that, let’s slide into 266 - pinky finger bones that has Tsurumi and Tsukishima wearing civilian clothes in Vladivostok.

Tsurumi quizzes Tsukishima on the meaning of the name of Vladivostok and Tsurumi explains the strategic importance of such a location.

A random Russian man then approaches Tsukishima.  He is curious if they are Japanese as he wants to talk about a random Japanese man.

Tsukishima frantically flips through a book (likely a dictionary for translation) as he asks the man to slow down so he can look up some things.  He then realizes after the man approached them that Tsurumi walked away quickly.

There is a burn out building and Tsurumi is standing outside of it, the brim of his hat shading his eyes as Tsukishima is breathing heavily implying he ran after him.  Tsukishima slowly reads the sign which reads ‘Hasegawa Photograph’ and he immediately comments that it was the name the Russian man had mentioned.  And that he had a wife and daughter, but the fate of them was not stated.  Quickly, Tsukishima asks if Hasegawa was someone Tsurumi knew.

Tsurumi says no but with a pause, there are lots of Japanese people living there and he must have been odd.  This clearly tells us that Tsukishima knows that Tsurumi lived in Vladivostok before!  He does his best to avoid looking at Tsukishima in his reply.

Tsukishima keeps thinking about the name as Tsurumi walks away from the remains of the studio.  It is then that Tsukishima mentions that Tsurumi’s mother’s maiden name was also Hasegawa, since they traveled to pay respects to his mother in Niigata.

Tsurumi remarks that Tsukishima remembers well and then tries to state it is a common last name in the area. 

The action returns to the resent where Tsukishima confirms that the Hasegawa he was asked about was indeed Tsurumi.

He begins to discuss what he knows about the Ainu gold, were about 50 years ago, 1860s, a more radical element of the Ainu were trying to rebel against the shogunate.  They sought to purchase munitions and arms from the Russian Imperial Navy - but the ship sank and they were left with the gold and nothing to purchase.  Tsurumi skips ahead to the fact that Wilk was in search of the gold, and Asirpa realizes that the man who taught Sofia, Kiro and Wilk Japanese had to have been Tsurumi.

Sofia, clearly in shock hangs her head as she recalls meeting Olga and Fina and enjoying their time together.  Tsurumi catches her attention by holding the finger bones in his hand before her. It is clear he’s trying to manipulate her to reveal as much information as possible by guilt tripping her.  Tsurumi looks totally creepy as he holds his head at an odd angle looking down at her.

He reveals that he was the only wanted man that day.  He knows that she found the wanted poster about Wilk and returned to warn him.

Because the three of them approached him and his studio, it is possible that Fina and Olga would have lived.  Sofia is barely holding things together.  She’s sweating, her eyes are stressed and it seems she’s moments away from losing it.  Kiro explained that Sofia felt guilty about what happened to Fina and Olga, even though it was unclear what happened that day.

Tsukishima and Koito are thinking about what Tsurumi has told them and others in the 27th previously.  That controlling the land where their comrades feel should remain in Japanese hands so that they can rest in peace. 

But a full page spread where both men’s veins are bulging as they wonder if Tsurumi’s true goal -

is related to morning his dead wife and daughter by making Vladivostok a part of Japan so he could honor them.  All in all a very ‘petty’ goal for a man asking others to fight and die for him.  That isn’t what Koito or Tsukishima want to do in the army for obvious reasons.

Tsurumi continues to interrogate Sofia.  He wants her to validate the deaths of Fina and Olga.  Talk about really putting on the psychological pressure!  Tsurumi wants to know what Kiro told her.  He makes it clear by referring to Kiro as Yulbars and frames it as the sacrifice of his wife and child.

Tsukishima is wondering why he’s questioning her about something that happened 18 years ago.  It seems like this line of interrogation is out of revenge and doesn’t serve a functional purpose.

Sofia weeps and finally speaks.  Yulbars told her that Wilk changed because Asirpa was born.  This goes back to what Kiro told Inkarmat at Abashiri - Inkarmat wanted to know how Kiro could kill Wilk, and he replied that he had changed.

So, really, Tsurumi already knew this.  Inkarmat told them that he said ‘Wilk had changed’.  Why confirming this from Sofia makes sense is beyond me at the moment as a reader.  Kiro stated this clearly - it wasn’t like he was hiding the info. . . . maybe Noda realizes that Abashiri was a long time ago in the context of the manga?  Or that Tsurumi wants to have confirmation from another source about Wilk changing.  Does he need an irrational amount of evidence?  Or does he want to torture Sofia as much as possible by dragging up the past?

The chapter ends with Shiraishi and Sugimoto watching Koito sneak back into the church.  They conclude that Asirpa must be there and that they should do something.  Sugimoto begrudgingly states they need Hijikata’s assistance as Shiraishi is surprised at his restraint.

Their attempt to drive forth and find others results in them crashing into a likely telegraph pole and they fly out of the beer bottle car. 

I guess Noda wanted to end the chapter with a joke but it seems to fall short.  I hope they don’t do anything stupid that complicates the rescue of Asirpa.

These two chapters have brought the reunion of Tsurumi and Sofia about, but I’m unsure if it has been effective as I would have expected for such a huge reader ‘payoff’.  Sofia is shocked to learn that Hasegawa is alive and clearly wants some sort of revenge on her for her actions.  Tsukishima and Koito know too much about his possible highly personal goals.  Neither of them serve under Tsurumi so that the bodies of his family can be on Japanese soil.  It seems like such a petty reason to try to use the gold to establish a military state on Hokkaido.

I am glad that Tsukishima and Koito are thinking about their actions and may finally consider their blind faith in Tsurumi.

As I previously stated, I’m still unsure what confirmation that Kiro concluding that ‘Wilk changed’ from both Inkarmat and Sofia does to help Tsurumi out.

I’m personally disappointed that Kiro didn’t destroy the letters that Sofia sent him.  I’d say it is obvious that when Tsurumi got them, he knew exactly what to do with the letters as a former spy.  I wonder if Tsukishima feels left out since he likely read the letters and didn’t know what to make of the nonsense that Kiro and Sofia exchanged?

I hope that Sugimoto and Shiraishi don’t mess things up even worse.  What ever Tsurumi discusses with her - I feel that it is something that she alone needs to hear and decide how to respond as the figure at the center of the quest for the gold.

I can’t write a meta without wondering what Ogata is up to?  Having him distracted with a sniper battle with Vasily seems to be a waste of his effort and attention, unless Kikuta is going to get mixed up with them?

Well that’s all I’ve got for now.  I’m behind and need to catch up on the next chapter!

[recentanimenews]

Golden Kamuy – 33 – A Wolf in Vladivostok

As Kiroranke and Sofia exchange correspondence, smuggled in and out of the prison with a little help from master of disguise Shiraishi, Asirpa, Kiroranke, Shiraishi, and Ogata stay in a village of the Nivkh, Karafuto’s most populous ethnic minority. Kiroranke maintains that Sofia could have crucial information about Wilk and the code for the gold.

Because he claims the gold will benefit all minorities including the Ainu, Asirpa is willing to go along with his plans. We also learn that Sugimoto’s team has reached the reindeer farmers who previously hosted Asirpa’s team. They’re still a ways behind, but Sugimoto is looking forward to reuniting with her at Ako Prison.

That’s pretty much all for present-day events, as Kiroranke spends much of the rest of the episode telling a story about—among other things—how he, Wilk, and Sofia learned Japanese from a man named Hasegawa Kouichi, who ran a photography studio in Vladivostok. Kouichi has a happy life with his wife Fina and infant daughter Olga.

Before the three revolutionaries arrive at his doorstep wanting to learn Japanese, Kouichi spots a lone wolf on the outskirts of town—an ill omen, if you will. Still, Kouichi welcomes the three and they learn quickly, with Wilk learning the quickest while Sofia seems least motivated to learn. Sofia is also immediately smitten with little Olga. Kouichi even likens the three to the Three Great Nobles of the Restoration who successfully modernized Japan.

It isn’t long until Kouichi learns that his three visitors from the far west were responsible for assassinating the emperor. Assuming the Russian secret police will descend upon his studio soon, he tells Fina to take Olga and go far away to await word from him, insisting she not return under any circumstances.

As it turns out, the police aren’t there for the revolutionaries; they’re there for Kouichi, a Japanese spy using the studio as a front. Sofia, Wilk, and Kiroranke break out the guns and do their thing; none of the police can be allowed to escape. Kouichi makes things a little easier in the ensuing siege by revealing he keeps a machine gun hidden amongst his photography equipment.

As the three take out the police, Sofia fires a shot into a tree, and I half-expected it to be that lone wolf Kouichi spotted earlier, which he encountered a second time while Wilk was teaching him about traps. Instead, it’s Fina, who did come back for Kouichi. A bullet hit both her and Olga, killing the child and leaving the mother in bad shape.

Sofia is beside herself with grief and regret, but there’s little time for either; she and her compatriots must flee before attracting more attention. When they reach the seasonal ice floes that allow passage from Russia to Karafuto—the same ones Kiroranke will use in the present to help Sofia & the other inmates reach their allies on the mainland—Sofia declares she won’t be going with Wilk, whom she loves, or Kiroranke, deciding to stay in Russia to stoke the fires of revolution.

We then return to Kouichi holding his dying wife, and the moment he tells her the truth: his real name is Tsurumi Tokushirou. That’s right, that Tsurumi, with the busted skull. It truly is a small world. Now we know the connection between him and the revolutionaries, and it’s another horribly tragic story, this time centered on one of the series’ main players.

Lt. Tsurumi seemed to accept his wife and daughter’s death as an accident, but he’s quite a different man since his head injury. This added history will color all future interactions (if any) between Tsurumi, Kiroranke, and Sofia. Kiroranke also writes to Sofia that Wilk has died, and though the woman has become hard-as-steel in the years since she last saw him, she still can’t help but weep from the news.

By: braverade

[goldenkamuyhunting]

While anon's ask about the GK women isn't wrong about love being a central part of their character arc/plot, I personally think it's very surface level to say love is the only big part of the female character's arcs in Golden Kamuy. Personally when I think of the most important characteristics of charas like Asirpa, Inkarmat, Sophia, etc etc I don't think of how they show/depict love right away (though no doubt it's a big part of their character and arguably what distinguishes them from the men/male charas), but more their own personality and strengths/abilities, which help support how they give and receive love. It's a lot more indepth than most female characters would give in most shounen stories so I appreciate Oda writing female characters with the dignity and respect they deserve.

Hum...

credits when it's due, anon said and I quote ""love" be a part (or central) to their character plot", not just that 'love is central to their plot'.

Note how central not only is the second option but it's also between brakets. I might be wrong but I think not even anon meant to imply love is all there is to those girls (anon is free to correct me though).

As I've linked in that same reply my rather long and detailed view on female characters, I didn't feel necessary to rewrite all their respective strenghts. As I said in the past, I think that for being a Seinen GK does well enough in regard to characterizing female characters.

It's also worth to note that shonen are aimed to a younger audience compared to seinen, so characters aren't necessarily expected to have the same depth (mind you, I'm not saying they can't be deep and well characterized, just that there's often less request for it... but in the end it depends on the author).

Now, just to put things into perspective on why people has disappointed by the way females seems not to exist independently by males, there are 30 female characters (sort of) in GK which, as I've said in the past are many, diverse and well characterized but yes they're almost all tied to 1 or more male characters and, if they weren't, they wouldn't be in the story.

Let's see how they're split.

They've no name and are just some male character's mother/wife/daughter/grandmother

1 Nihei's female populated family

2 Kiroranke's wife

3 Hidoro's wife

4 Edogai's mother

5 Tanigaki's mother

6 Ogata's grandmother

7 Youichirou's wife

8 Tanigaki's daughter

9 Makanakkuru's wife

They've a name but they're in the story because they're some male character's mother/wife/daughter/grandmother/love interest/sister

1 Kenmochi Umeko (Sugimoto's initial love interest, Toraji's wife)

2 Chiyoko (Hidoro Tamotsu's lover and love interest of Hidoro Shinpei)

3 Inkarmat (feels one sided love for Wilk, will become Tanigaki's wife)

4 Tanigaki Fumi (Tanigaki's sister, Aoyama Kenkichi's wife)

5 O-gin (Sakamoto's lover/wife)

6 Ogata Tome (Ogata's mother, Hanazawa's ex-lover)

7 Harumi Chiyo (Tsukishima's love interest)

8 Hasegawa Fina (Tsurumi's wife)

9 Hasegawa Olga (Tsurumi's daughter)

10 Koito Yuki (Koito Otonoshin's mother, Koito Heiji's wife)

11 Noriko (Heita's brother's wife)

12 Hanazawa Hiro (Hanazawa's wife and Yuusaku's mother)

13 Kaneko Kaeko (Yuusaku's arranged fiance, she gets a crush on Sugimoto)

They are strongly connected to a male and won't be in the story without said male but they've also a goal/role that's independant from male characters

1 Asirpa (Wilk's daughter... she's dragged into the gold quest because first she wants to avenge her father and then discover his role in the Ainu slaughtering, she's also Sugimoto's partner... but through the story she manages to develop a goal that's independant from males, aka protect the Ainu culture)

2 Riratte (Wilk's wife... though yes, she's also Asirpa's mom which is more important.. though Asirpa doesn't know her if not for what her father told her)

3 Sofia (one sided love for Wilk which lead Kiro to think she's the best to give them info about Wilk that might help them solve the code, Kiroranke's love interest... but she's also a revolutionary who wants improve Russia... too bad she sacrifices her goal to fulfill the one of Wilk and Kiro)

4 Svetlana (leaves her family to follow a male but wants to see Saint Petersburg)

5 Sister Miyazawa (Shiraishi's idealized love interest, she doesn't even know of his existance and wants just to do her role as a nun)

6 Monoa and the other Ainu women of her village (they were the mothers/wives of the Ainu of their village, who were held captive by escaped Kabato convicts and would want to marry Ushiyama... actually I'm placing them here solely because in the end they carry on living on their own without men but without the Kobato convicts they wouldn't likely be in the story)

7 Osoma (she got a totally unncesssary crush on Tanigaki... that she overcomes thanks to a crush for a boy her age... but she's also Asirpa's cousin and that's more relevant)

8 Enonoka (while she was doing good at being a female character on her own, ultimately the story implies she'll marry Cikapasi once she grows up... and yeah, technically she's in the story to help her grandfather with his job and to carry Sugimoto's group through Karafuto)

They aren't in the story due to a male!

1 Susupo (she's Asirpa's grandmother and while it can be argued she became as such by marrying a male... well, said male is deceased and never seen in flashbacks and it's only worth is it's established early on Susupo is an important figure in the village because her husband was)

2 Kaneko's maid (not only she's not in the story due to a male but encourage Kaneko to not think her worth is tied to how handsome her husband will be)

It's... basically almost the totality of the female cast who's dragged into the story due to male characters who're mostly the focus of the story so that even well rounded characters like Asirpa or Inkarmat or Sofia just feel too tied to the male characters... and the fact the story feels the need to give them unnedessary crushes for male characters (did Asirpa really need to have to crush on Sugimoto? Couldn't she just see him as a brother figure? Especially since Asirpa is rather young? Did Sofia really need to have to crush on Wilk? Couldn't they just be companions? Did Inkarmat really have to crush on Wilk also? Same as Asirpa couldn't she just see him as a brother/father figure?)

So while I think that GK is doing remarkably well in regard to female representation for being a Seinen... well, this is very far for equal opportunities representation and I'm not surprised if someone is annoyed and feel like females are ALWAYS sidelined compared to male characters in manga... especially because in many countries shonen and seinen are the predominant manga which get translated, so if you aren't aware of what's a shonen, shoujo, seinen, josei but collect each story under the umbrella term of manga, the disparity gets even more marked.

That's why my stance is to aknowledge GK for how he's doing better, but also aknowledge that female representation in it is far from perfect.

Also... I think it's just a typo but Oda is "One piece" creator... "Golden Kamuy" was made by Noda... ^_-

Sorry for the long reply you probably didn't ask for.

The whole 'females in GK' would probably deserve a full meta which, at this point, I'm not going to write but, in honor of all those who complain, I wanted to write I also understand why they've problems with them, because indeed there are problems with them, even though I tend to see GK as a work that, for a seinen, deserves more praises than criticisms in that aspects.

Again sorry for the long reply.

[naruysae]

💀 🔥

[goldenkamuyhunting]

Ramblings and crazy theory time about GK chap 313 “Last stop”

I thought after giving a warning for two chapters it wasn’t necessary to keep them up but someone proved me wrong so we start with the WARNING again.

If you only want to hear praises for “Golden Kamuy”, the ban button for either the tag ‘Golden Kamuy Ramblings and Theories’ or myself (I’ll suggest the latter) is the right choice to make my posts disappear from your dashboard.

With a fair warning given, let’s move on.

So we’re almost at the end of the story.

Sugimoto’s strike, as it was easy to predict, cuts away the enamel piece protecting Tsurumi’s forehead as well as the rope of Asirpa’s quiver and part of Tsurumi’s chest.

Asirpa, realizing this will cause the quiver to fall, runs to grab it. However there’s another thing that fall from Tsurumi’s now cut jacket, which are Fina and Olga’s fingerbones.

Now, I’ll do a little jump back at chap 309. In it Tsurumi talks about his plan to join the Kwantung garrison and use the land deed as a bargaining chip. He then touches his chest and says in Manchuria he will build up his strength once more.

The visual put a big emphasis on this by leaving the spot Tsurumi touches white, in contrast to his uniform, as if shining. Back then most of us assumed this meant Tsurumi put the land deed inside his jacket and that it was in the spot he was touching. But what was there wasn’t the land deed, it was Fina and Olga’s bones because when Tsurumi thinks at Manchuria he likely includes in it the Outer Manchuria which included Vladivostok, where his wife and daughter’s bodies rest and of which he planned to take possession.

I personally like a lot this subtle reference to them, to how he includes them in his ambitions, in his plan to rebuild his strength.

Back to 313 we go.

Tsurumi too realizes the quiver is falling but he also notes the bones falling.

He has a moment in which he could decide for which ones to reach out and save, if the quiver with the land deed that would support his ambitions or his wife and child’s finger bones which, he said, were the only and last prove of their existence.

Tsurumi decides to go for the quiver, and we could assume breaking his enamel protector was Noda’s way to tell us this is Tsurumi’s ugly side but actually, the full extent of his wounds remain covered and it’s only when Tsurumi, once grabbed the quiver, turns toward the falling bones, evidently hoping against hope he could retrieve them too and is forced to see them falling and being shattered by the wheels of the train we fully see the extent of his wounds and it’s not his ugly side what we’re seeing but his scarred, wounded side, as his expression is one of pain and loss as he watches those bones shatter and there’s something like light in his eyes, and white lines on the bottom part as if to represent tears.

Now we move to an action scene that I like to believe Noda will expand better in the volume version because it’s a tad too jumpy in the visual, as if it were missing panels. Of course the idea might be also to do so as to give an impression of rushed actions. I don’t know, we’ll see in the volume.

Anyway it turns out Asirpa has pulled out her knife and now she’s cutting the rope Tsurumi is holding, freeing the quiver from his grasp but then… she’s falling off the train.

Sugimoto jumps to grab her but… Tsurumi is already standing and slams him on the ground and steals Hijikata’s katana, which he then uses to impale Sugimoto, the tip of it embedding into the train, all of this under Asirpa’s desperate gaze.

Tsurumi, in full Shinigami mode, fluid starting to drip from his forehead, looking at Asirpa, claims that ‘Everyone that you love will be killed by the Golden Kamuy. You’re responsible for all of this… Wilk!!’

Evidently, if Ogata saw Yuusaku in Asirpa, Tsurumi instead sees Wilk in her and continues in his maladaptive behavior of pushing on him the blame of everything, refusing to take responsibility for anything.

But it turns out when Sugimoto jumped toward Asirpa he managed to grab her hand and, using all his strength, he manages to toss her above her head (and above Tsurumi’s as well) and toward the horse on which Tanigaki and Shiraishi are, his last words for her being ‘he’s Sugimoto the immortal’ with a gentle smile, though his eyes look pretty fatigued.

Tanigaki and Shiraishi grabs Asirpa while the locomotive crashes through the stop of Hakodate station. Tsurumi would like to jump off But Sugimoto manages to grab his hand, the one that’s holding a gun, and, before Tsurumi could use it to shoot at Sugimoto, turn it toward Tsurumi and then pull him close and make him shoot himself.

Tsurumi, now above him, is drawn with his eyes completely black, sclera included and slams his teeth close.

It’s a visual reminder of the promise Tsurumi made to Sugimoto long ago, in reference to his own nickname as Shinigami and Sugimoto’s nickname as immortal. In fact in the Japanese myth Shinigami snuffs the candles representing the life of mortals, and this cause them to die. Since Sugimoto is however immortal Tsurumi told him “Even if your life’s candle is an immortal flame that can never be blown out… all I have to do is bite the candle down to nothing!” and, as he said so, he repeatedly clamped his teeth close as if to imply he’s biting something.

So basically Tsurumi is reminding him of how he’ll kill him.

Meanwhile the locomotive falls into Hakodate bay, dragging them with itself. Sugimoto, for once, loses his hat in the impact, and I’ve no idea if Noda is considering this or not but, since Sugimoto’s right cheek basically doesn’t exist any longer, for him it’s likely not enough to keep his mouth shut to avoid water to enter in it so he’s at an even faster risk of drowning, especially considering the sword is holding him against the locomotive.

Outside Shiraishi, Asirpa and Tanigaki look at the scene worriedly, Shiraishi with a bump on his head and Tanigaki with his left side pretty wounded, which, I guess, is the result of grabbing Asirpa as she fell.

Shiraishi though, is already removing his clothes, ready to jump in the water to save Sugimoto...

...and, in fact, in the last panel, we can see only two dots on the ground and then there’s a third that’s moving toward the water which, I bet, is Shiraishi.

There’s to wonder if this time Sugimoto will want to accept the ‘kiss of life’ or will refuse it like he did when he fought with Boutarou…

...and if it’ll serve something, exactly due to Sugimoto’s damaged cheek (though maybe this time, kissing his cheek might be the right solution to the problem...).

Of course they need to remove the sword to pull him away from the train… but I don’t know how much good this will do to him as the sword might be stopping the blood to fill his lug and drown him in his own blood instead than water.

But whatever, he’s Sugimoto the immortal, so maybe he can survive to this too... or not. Honestly I wouldn’t be surprised either way.

Now… many stories start with a thesis that they prove or deny.

We can say that “Golden Kamuy” thesis was if Sugimoto really had VIP seats for the train to hell.

He undoubtedly had VIP seats for hell.

Now the question is... will he be saved because the good he did outweight the lives he took? Or will punishment come anyway as the title of the next chapter seems to imply (314 as Kamuycentral found out can be read in Japanese as ‘Saichi dies’)?

We can only wait and see.

Now, in case someone missed it, I overall enjoyed this chapter. The jumps in the actions can be blamed to the short number of pages and easily fixed in the volume or be a wanted choice so as to give a sense of things moving fast. Tsurumi was undoubtedly well handled, Noda humanized him in having him regret briefly the loss of those bones but, at the same time, kept him grounded in his maladaptive copying mechanisms, blaming Wilk for everything refusing to see his own faults, refusing to see how his focus on his own selfish goals lead him to his own loss. In the moment he could have saved the bones, he chose the land deed, he chose his own ambitions, he chose himself. So is now, so was in the past in which it was him who accepted Wilk’s group as students, it was his spy work that lead the police to his house, it was him handing them weapons that lead Wilk’s group to answer the fire so effectively and all this combined lead to Fina and Olga’s death.

Wilk wouldn’t have been there if he hadn’t accepted him as a student, Wilk wouldn’t have fired around if his spy work hadn’t drawn the police to his house while they were there, Wilk wouldn’t have managed to get out of the house if Kiro hadn’t covered him with the machine gun Tsurumi provided them.

But Tsurumi can’t accept the part he had in his own tragedy and has to keep on blaming Wilk while, at the same time, he continued to make the same mistakes and losing the people around him due to them.

At the same time, I’m a bit sad that Tsurumi’s past prior to his life as Hasegawa wasn’t explored. What about his disgraced original family? Of course Noda might not have felt the need to develop it because their story might be the same as the story of tons of families and therefore very familiar to Japanese people and my need to have it cleared up might simply be born by how I’m not Japanese and therefore unfamiliar to it.

Another matter I’m not really happy with was how the huge arc for Asirpa to decide to kill someone and go to hell with Sugimoto ended up in nothing. Ultimately my problem isn’t that Asirpa didn’t kill anyone but that she didn’t even try to kill Tsurumi despite Tsurumi being a clear threat to her and Sugimoto. And yeah, I knew we would end up like this, that Noda wouldn’t have let her become a murderer but in the end it’s not that she resolved not to kill him, it’s just… it didn’t happen she did so much as try.

But whatever, this is not a chapter about Asirpa, it’s a chapter about Tsurumi and, from this side, it’s a solid one.

Lastly two words about Sugimoto because I loved how not only he saved Asirpa but tried to comfort her by telling her he’s immortal. I’m pretty sure Sugimoto doesn’t want to die, but still he cared about her to the point he prioritized saving and reassuring her. Next chapter will be probably more centered about him so I’ll save the rest for the next chapter.

[goldenkamuyhunting]

I love GK, but like most mangas, good female characters scarce. Inkarmat and Sofia are the only two developed female characters; Asirpa's character is currently indistinguishable from the standard stock heroine. When Inkarmat and Asirpa had that conversation on the lake, I was hoping they'd talk about anything other than... oh well they talked about Wilk, sigh. Also that recurrent trope of killing off female characters as plot drivers for male characters is starting to grate. What do you think?

Hum...

I’ll discuss your points one by one if it’s okay with you.

1) I love GK, but like most mangas, good female characters scarce.

“Golden Kamuy” has, comparatively, a much smaller female cast than a male one. However this is not because it’s a manga, it’s because “Golden Kamuy” is a seinen, a manga aimed at adult Japanese men between the ages of 18 and 40 and, sadly, it seems this kind of target audience has made clear they aren’t that interested in female characters, beyond the ones who are written to exist to support the male cast.

If you’re interested in manga with a bigger or a better female cast you might consider trying shōjo or josei manga, which are aimed at female readers.

Sadly in almost all the countries of us western readers, the manga that get more imported are shonen (aimed at young boys) so the general impression is that manga as a whole have a scarce female cast.

I’m not saying so to excuse shonen or seinen, this is just a characteristic of their genre and, since their target audience is often not interested in a better female cast, I fear things aren’t going to change.

2) Inkarmat and Sofia are the only two developed female characters; Asirpa's character is currently indistinguishable from the standard stock heroine.

Now... for a Seinen, “Golden Kamuy” has a decent female cast, with females that are different among them for age, race, interests and characteristics and who often try to be in control of their own lives.

Yes, they’re all females who, one way or the other, are tied to the male cast because the male cast is the real main character, as, as said before, this is a work that aims at male readers and male readers want to identify with male characters but, at least, female characters are different among them and, although way too many of them are minor characters, many of them are developed. Development isn’t necessarily measured in how much pages you’re given but in how much of you (your story, your character, your goals) is developed. Many female characters have this.

Let’s go through them starting from Asirpa:

ASIRPA: Main character along with Sugimoto. I wouldn’t say she’s the standard stock heroine more than Sugimoto is the standard stock hero. She has, of course, some character traits who’re mandatory for the action heroine, she’s intelligent, mature and capable well beyond what would be expected for someone her age. Her character arc is one of growing up, because she’s a child and this is the sort of character arc you usually give to a child, but she isn’t just ‘growing up’ as in ‘becoming more mature’ she’s growing up in the sense she becomes aware of the Ainu and the other minorities problems and how hard it is to solve them, she’s also growing by learning tragically what a war means, what it means to watch people you care about die all around you, what it means to have your life threatened, to have the lives of the people you care about threatened, if it’s easy or not to pull a trigger. Her non violent beliefs are challenged as she is asked more and more to decide if she wants to fight or to keep on not killing people. Men around her, starting from her own father, are also killed as a plot device for her grown.

KENMOCHI UMEKO: Sugimoto’s love interest and childhood friend. She challenged her family by still getting near Sugimoto despite his family situation and was willing to go with him when he considered escaping. We don’t know why ultimately she married Toraji, might be to forget Sugimoto, might be because he loved her more than Sugi, but when she did she was firm in her purpose and didn’t walk out of it or mourned her fate once Sugimoto came back. She made clear she would stay with Toraji. And she also doesn’t remarry despite social pressure and the fact she’s losing her sight.

SUSUPO: Asirpa’s grandmother. She’s caring and nurturing with everyone, Tanigaki included but she’s also strongly tied to old female roles. However, when Asirpa beats Sugimoto up, she doesn’t scold her and even though she believes Asirpa would be better married she doesn’t try to force her but let her free to live her life.

OSOMA: Asirpa’s very young cousin who knows how to speak Japanese. She’s friendly, gets a crush on Tanigaki and then grows out of it.

NIHEI’S FEMALE POPULATED FAMILY: Although we don’t really see them beyond Nihei’s first born daughter, we learn Nihei’s wife is tough and scary and that Nihei had to babysit his own daughter.

They survive, differently from Nihei only male son who dies... same as Nihei himself.

KIRORANKE’S WIFE: Although Kiro didn’t love her as much as Sofia it’s implied he loved her. She’s tough enough to manage even when Kiro is out and can count on the support of her siblings in case things are too hard.

HIDORO’S WIFE: Cruel, tough and clever, she’s the real boss in the family. She got ambitions, when she can’t get pregnant from her husband she’s not afraid to question HIS fertility instead than blaming herself, and even concedes herself a lover. She’s not a positive character but she’s basically the opposite of Huci.

CHIYOKO: She’s the damsel in distress of “Golden Kamuy” and the opposite to Hidoro’s wife. She looks kind and gentle. Lover to Hidoro Tamotsu, she however falls for Shinpei and gets pregnant from him. She’s willing to leave with him to make herself a new life.

INKARMAT: Strong willed, clever and manipulative, she’s not afraid to travell alone through Hokkaido or cooperate with Tsurumi, betraying the rest of the group. Yes, she can’t grow out of her childhood crush for Wilk, but, at least, she’s the one who’s in charge when she decides to spend the night with Tanigaki and, differently from Tanigaki, can plan things. She’s also generous and motherly with Cikapasi but she’s not afraid to attack Kiro when she believes he’s involved in Wilk’s death or to place herself in front of Tanigaki when Tsukishima threatens to kill him. She can read the mood and doesn’t reveal how Koito stole Nikaidou’s hand but use it to affirm her authority and get money from Koito.

EDOGAI’S MOTHER: Abusive and manipulative to the point she castrated her own son so that he wouldn’t become like his father, managed to traumatize Edogai so much that, when she dies of heart attack, he keeps her alive by turning her into a stuffed corpse.

TANIGAKI FUMI: She marries the one she loves and is beloved by her family. When she falls sick with smalllpox her actions are similar to the ones of Sugimoto’s father, she doesn’t want the village to be infected and wants her husband to leave her and find happiness.

TANIGAKI’S MOTHER: She falls into depression due to her daughter’s death and Tanigaki leaving the family and, ultimately, dies.

SISTER MIYAZAWA: Although she wasn’t a beauty to Kumagishi she was so lovely he kept her printed in his own memory. She’s tough enough to travel from male prison to male prison to offer her services as counselor.

MONOA AND THE OTHER AINU WOMEN: Although they ended up prisoners of the fake Ainu and forced to cooperate with them they tried challenging them by trying to ask for help to Sugimoto’s group and when they could they even fought the fake Ainu personally, killing some of them.

O-GIN: Deranged criminal, madly in love with Sakamoto, she’s not even afraid of Tsurumi.

OGATA TOME: Ogata’s mom, madly in love with Hanazawa. However, as her love isn’t returned she gets insane and lives in a delusion until her son poisons her. She’s kind of the opposite of O-gin.

OGATA’S GRANDMOTHER: As far as we know it’s her and not her husband the one who took back home Ogata and his mom and raised him. Ogata was so fond of her he couldn’t kill Huci because she reminded him of her.

ENONOKA: Karafuto Ainu kid. She’s the one who deal with Koito when he rents her grandfather’s sleds and dogs. She knows Japanese and she can count and handle business. She goes with Cikapasi when they’ve to retrieve the dog and cooperates with him to come up with a plan to retrieve it.

HARUMI CHIYO: She was willing to marry Tsukishima but disappeared short before he came back from war. Tsukishima believes she killed herself out of grief for his death, instead she merely accepted to marrying another man since she believed Tsukishima to be dead.

YOUICHIROU’S WIFE: Beloved by him, according to him helped him to become human again, giving him peace. She loved him back and gave him a bird beak so he would always remember Nemuro, even when far. They were living peacefully when a man took her hostage because he had a grudge on him. He killed the man and was arrested. When he escaped he came back to her because she had fallen ill and was about to die, remaining with her till she died and only then he left their kotan and clearly lost his will to live.

SOFIA: Although she’s a noble she’s also a revolutionarian who can fight on par with Gansoku, shoot and plan the murder of the emperor. Beloved by her men, for whoms he care and who doesn’t get behind, she has a motherly side. Kiro falls for her and will always love her but she falls for Wilk and will always love him... though she wanted to avenge Kiro when he was killed.

HASEGAWA FINA AND OLGA: Tsurumi’s beloved wife and daughter. While Olga is too young to do anything else but being loved, Fina loved Tsurumi and was loved back. Tsurumi spoke with her and, differently from him, she could pin why Sofia couldn’t learn Japanese. He believes she was smart enough to figure out he was a spy yet remained with him anyway, actually, when she believed he was in trouble she came back for him despite the danger and ended up killed with her daughter.

SVETLANA: Leaves her family because she wants to see Saint Petersburg, gets arrested, escapes, gets found by Tsukishima but decides she won’t go back home so she travels with Gansoku proving she know how to use a rifle.

KOITO YUKI: Not much is know except she’s a proper woman who worries a lot for her own son.

RIRATTE: Asirpa’s mom who died short after Asirpa’s birth. She gave Wilk his name and she was cheerful and bright, capable to make funny faces and be strong spirited. Wilk loved her a lot.

NORIKO: Assuming she was as Heita portraied her she likes to seduce/play with men and she’s easily bored.

HANAZAWA HIRO: Although she’s also a proper Japanese lady she’s not shy to try to plot behind her husband’s back to try to spare Yuusaku from becoming a flagbearer. In a way she’s the opposite of Koito Yuki who instead passively accepts for her sons to become soldiers.

KANEKO KAEKO: Upperclass girl in a rush to get married due to social pressure. She’s willing to sleep with ‘Yuusaku’ to force him to marry her. She likes good looking men but she’s so impressed by Sugimoto’s bravery that, despite understanding he’s a nobody, she would be willing to marry him instead than Yuusaku. She’s an excellent student, marries a big name in the world of finance and dedicates her energies nursing men who were back from war and helping their widows.

KANEKO’S MAID: She’s very supportive of Kaeko but also makes that beautiful speech you can read above so she gets a mention.

There’s more females, I know I’ve skipped a bunch because they were minor but the ones I mentioned, despite often being minor, still are all different one from the other, and, often, in charge of their own fate. Although they’re almost all tied to men, many of them are not subservient to them, but this doesn’t mean they all fall into the action girl trope.

It’s much, much more than what other male authors do with their female cast.

Is it a dream cast, the representation females wants? Hell no, but, at least, there’s an attempt at making them people. Yes, they’re often tied to the male cast or in service of it, but that’s also typical of this genre.

None of them is sexualized despite some of them being sexy or having sex. For each of them Noda though to a different character design. Noda tried to make them characters with their own wishes, histories and personalities.

Again, it’s far from perfect, but this’s not the story I would pick up for poor female representation.

3) When Inkarmat and Asirpa had that conversation on the lake, I was hoping they'd talk about anything other than... oh well they talked about Wilk, sigh.

It’s true that to pass the Bechdel test a story should have at least two women in it, who talk to each other, about something other than a man but the main topic of this story are men.

Everyone and their mom has talked with Asirpa about Wilk, we had Hijikata, Sugimoto, Ogata, Shiraishi, Tsurumi and so on doing it, because Wilk was a huge topic of interest. If the characters aren’t talking about Wilk, Sugimoto’s group is talking about Tsurumi, because he’s chasing them and he’s a rival in the gold hunt, and, if they’re not talking about Tsurumi, they’re talking about Hijikata or of another adversary/member of the group who, incidentally, is male.

It’s worth to mention though, that in their first discussion Asirpa and Inkarmat talked about Inkarmat’s predictions and how Asirpa didn’t believe in them.

Also, Inkarmat talked with Huci about Asirpa being in danger, Asirpa talked with the Ainu women in the fake Ainu village about the Osoma, Svetlana talked with Sofia about Saint Petersburg, Asirpa talked with Enonoka about the differences between minorities while Yuusaku’s mom told Kaeko her experience as a nurse.

It’s all minor because it’s often not really that relevant in the plot because this is a story about men, so they’re what’s relevant but still they can have conversations about something else.

4) Also that recurrent trope of killing off female characters as plot drivers for male characters is starting to grate. What do you think?

The first character killed as a plot driver is Toraji. Then we’ve Wilk (who’s first assumed dead and then dies for good) and who’s a plot driver for 3 female characters (Asirpa, Inkarmat, and Sofia) as well as male characters since his death affected them too... only not so emotionally, more on a practical side. We’re told Sugimoto’s father is the last to die in his family and this triggers him to leave his village (which ties in with the discussion Sugimoto and his father had in whcih his father encouraged Sugimoto to do so). Then we’ve Youhei. Then there’s the bear trio (sort of, they more tip Tsurumi on how he has a rebellion in his ranks and trigger some other events so more than plot drivers for male characters they’re just plot drivers). Then Nihei. Henmi’s maddness is caused by his brother’s death. And then many other men until, finally, Fumi gets killed.

Characters can be killed off in order to be plot drivers for other characters. This is what makes a story. The real problem comes not when a female met this end (females can die and it would be tragic if men were to remain unaffected by their death) but when ONLY females met this end or when the scale is tipped so that plenty of females die for this, while only 1 or 2 males do.

5) What do you think?

I think “Golden Kamuy” is a seinen and that if I want to read it I must be aware of the characteristics of this kind of manga which, among other things, are that it’s a story that panders to a male readership so the female cast will be scarce and aimed at supporting the male one.

I think that “Golden Kamuy” if viewed as a story targeted to general audience instead than just to males, is definitely not perfect, that due to this there’s no balance between female representation and male one, that often females are in the story merely because their story is connected to the male cast (they’re love interests, wives, daughters) and that the fact that we’ve plenty of male protagonists force them to focus on the males.

I think that sometimes Noda ends up including ties to males that aren’t really necessary, like Asirpa’s crush for Sugimoto or Osoma’s crush for Tanigaki, or how Sofia felt obliged to carry on Wilk and Kiro’s goal (instead than doing it to help Asirpa or to help her people) and ultimately felt guilty toward Tsurumi to the point she let him shoot her and needed him to absolve her.

I think sometimes he just ends up letting himself influence by popular tropes (like how everyone fall for the main character) and this caused him to make choices who weren’t really that needed by the plot but, since they’re part of the genre... he just included them.

So yeah, I’m not always happy with what happens in “Golden Kamuy”, as who read my meta knows, sometimes I protest loudly about things I don’t like (see, for example, Sofia’s death scene).

However I try to give it credits when it’s due.

This is just me though, everyone is entitled to see things the way they prefer.

Thank you for your ask and sorry for the late reply!

[goldenkamuyhunting]

Golden Kamuy Manga through 2021

So this is a very long and image filled post which goes through all the 38 chapters (same as the past year) and 4 volumes of GK that were printed during 2021, giving a REALLY short summary of the relevant events of each chapter and posting 1 or 2 pictures for each chapter plus the colour covers which happeared as well as the covers for each volume.

In short yes, this is a very imege filled post but I felt images would wake up feelings we had through the year reading GK much better than summaries.

So please, enjoy travelling with me through the plot of GK for what had been the year 2021 and HAPPY NEW YEAR to you all!

Let’s enjoy GK through this 2022 as well!

In 2021 in JANUARY:

We saw Sofia being taken captive along with Asirpa, as she got a concussion trying to protect Asirpa [Chap 264]

While Tsukishima and Koito try to eavesdrop what’s being said [Chap 265]...

...Tsurumi talks with Asirpa and Sofia, letting them figure out he was Hasegawa Koichi [Chap 265],

...and informing them about the plan of the Ainu who originally gathered up the gold [Chap 266].

In FEBRUARY:

We learned why Kiroranke and Wilk argued [Chap 267]...

and why Kiro believed Wilk had chanced [Chap 267].

We also discovered how Tsurumi created discord in Wilk’s group... [Chap 268]

... how this ultimately lead Wilk to become Nopperabou... [Chap 269]

...and why Kiro decided Wilk had to die [Chap 269]

In MARCH:

We got confirmation that it wasn’t Sofia but Wilk the one who, by mistake, shoot Fina and Olga [Chap 270]

...and Tsurumi of course took care to traumatize us and Asirpa as payback for finally getting this information [chap 270]

Tsurumi then explains to us his point of view on Wilk and Kiro’s plans as well why the manga is called as such... [Chap 271]

...before forcing Asirpa to reveal to him the code [Chap 271]

We had a new colour cover [Chap 272] 

Along with Asirpa and Kikuta, we’ve been shocked by how coldly Tsukishima ‘murdered’ poor Ariko, who helped Sofia and Asirpa to escape [Chap 272]

We’ve felt worry as Asirpa started to have a melt down... [Chap 273]

relief when Ariko ‘resurrected’... [Chap 273]

...and a feeling of incoming doom when Koito, despite figuring out Tsurumi was aware they were eavesdropping, decided not to inform Tsukishima about it. [Chap 273]

Also Vol 25 was released.

In APRIL:

We saw Asirpa figuring how to discover which were the fake skins [Chap 274]

We’ve learnt about Sugimoto and Kikuta’s first meeting [Chap 275]

and we’ve seen Sugimoto impersonating Yuusaku in order to protect Yuusaku’s virginity from Kaneko Kaeko [Chap 276]

We’ve also learnt that Harumi Chiyo/Igogusa is alive and married to Kaeko’s cousin [Chap 276]

And assisted to the first meeting between Sugimoto and Yuusaku [Chap 276]

And between Sugimoto and Tsurumi, Ogata, Tsukishima and Usami [Chap 276]

In MAY:

We’ve met Lieutenant General Okuda and see how he tried (unseccessfully) to manipulate Tsurumi [Chap 277]

...and felt as amused as Ogata felt while he was watching a naked 'Yuusaku’ fight Usami completely naked... [Chap 278]

...before groaning when Sugimoto claimed he decided to join the army, thinking this was a clever way to fill his belly [Chap 278]

We also got to see the first REAL meeting between Ogata and Yuusaku [Chap 278]

We learned about Kikuta’s backstory [Chap 279]

of how Sugimoto got his cap [Chap 279]

and of how Ogata works for Central. [Chap 279]

We were annoyed by how Tsurumi was the first to solve the code [Chap 279]

...and shocked as he suddently shot Kikuta [Chap 279]

We helplessly witnessed Tsukishima finishing Kikuta before the latter could shot Tsurumi [Chap 280]

...and discovered the gold is in Goryokaku [Chap 280]

In JUNE:

We discovered that the gold was previously in the Russian consulate and Wilk’s group went to retrieve it at the same time in which Tsurumi was carrying out the final part of his Koito kidnapping plan [Chap 281]

We had a new colour cover [Chap 282]

We’ve seen Sugimoto’s group decide they’ll entrench in Fort Goryokaku where they would fight Tsurumi’s incoming forces [chap 282]

...and discovered Sofia and her men would come help them as well [Chap 282].

We’ve learnt that Sofia (and her men) would now fight to fulfill Wilk and Kiroranke’s goal (chap 283)

...saw Ogata dreaming his mom [Chap 283]

...and be informed than on Hijikata’s tattoo was likely hidden the location of a treasure... [Chap 283]

...the treasure being a land deed that would ensure the Ainu would have the fight of a vast part of the Hokkaido land [Chap 284]

Also, Tsurumi’s attack began [Chap 284]

Also Vol 26 was released.

In JULY:

We had a new colour cover [Chap 285]

We saw Nagakura informing Tsurumi of the existance of the land deed, so as to force him to stop his attack [Chap 285]

In AUGUST:

We met Mansur [chap 286]

... saw Ogata might have overheard Nagakura (or only saw him escaping) [chap 286]

...and discovered Kadokura’s tattoo was actually relevant thanks to Kadokura’s never failing good luck [Chap 286]

...and lead us to discover where the gold was [Chap 287]

We also learnt that Hijikata and Kimuspu, one of the Ainu who first tried to use the gold, knew each other, Kimuspu having saved Hijikata... [Chap 288]

...and how he informed Wilk of how Hijikata was in Abashiri and how they could use him to contact Enomoto Takeaki so as to be able to use the land deed [Chap 288]

In SEPTEMBER:

The 7th division resumes charging against Fort Goryokaku and falls into Hijikata’s trap [Chap 289]

We had a new colour cover [Chap 290]

We learn Asirpa hid the land deed in her quiver [Chap 290]

...and that Nagakura, Kadokura, Kirawus and Mansur are pulling out a cannon to counterattack the destroyers [Chap 290]

We see them counterattacking, Mansur proving he has a formidable aim, hitting two destroyers, one of them, while sinking, hitting with a bullet the aerostatic balloon by mistake [Chap 291]

We discover Ogata is hidden somewhere... [Chap 292]

...and the same goes for Vasily [Chap 292]

We see Kirawus heroically contributing to the battle [Chap 292]

so that they manage to sink the last destroyer, the one on which Koito Heiji was, he letting himself sink with his ship [Chap 292]

Also Vol 27 was released.

In OCTOBER:

We saw Nikaidou trying to kill Hijikata, who’s saved by Toni Anji who takes the bullet for him [Chap 293]

and Koito being forced to go back into the building in which he was held prisoner [Chap 284]

while Toni Anji finds finally peace in death [chap 284]

We cheered for Koito as he finally managed to confront Tsurumi [Chap 285]

and said goodbye to Nikaidou as, after a last fight with Sugimoto, he finally met his brother again in death [Chap 295]

In NOVEMBER:

We learn of a talk between Hijikata and Nopperabou in which the latter told him Asirpa’s Japanese name [Chap 296]

We also see how Sofia is the only one who’s not letting Tsurumi’s men pass from the entrance she’s defending, although all her men sacrifice to protect her [Chap 297]

Worriedly we watched how Shiraishi’s escape plan failed and he was surrended by Tsurumi’s men, Koito included and saved by Nagakura [Chap 297]

...and also how Asirpa’s melt down continues as she sees Toni Anji’s corpse before being chased by Tsurumi [Chap 297]

With relief we saw Sugimoto rescuing Asirpa from Tsurumi and then escaping with Shiraishi toward the north entrance [Chap 298]

while Nagakura shows us he’s a stronger swordman than Koito [Chap 298]

We cheered at the words Sofia told Asirpa [Chap 298]

before seeing she can’t shoot Tsurumi Hasegawa while the latter has no qualms shooting her [Chap 298]

In DICEMBER:

We enjoyed how Kantarou saved Nagakura [Chap 299]

and how Tanigaki saved Asirpa [Chap 299]

We raged as Sofia apologized to Tsurumi for his loss and the latter claimed he forgave Sofia for Fina and Olga’s death only to finish her off and imply he has a grudge against Wilk instead [Chap 299]

melting down with Asirpa due to the pain of losing such a cool character like Sofia in such way [Chap 299]

...before learning where Ogata is and how he has figured out they would escape in that direction but also how, if he wants to do something, he has to track Vasily [Chap 299]

We had a new colour cover [Chap 300]

We finally saw Ogata and Vasily’s new sniper duel [Chap 300]

In which Ogata gets shoot to a leg but manages to take out of commission Vasily [Chap 300]

We also discovered Hijikata, Ushiyama, Sugimoto, Shiraishi, Asirpa and Tanigaki got on a train full of soldiers which Ushiyama takes care to trash [Chap 301]

We worried as Tanigaki got shot and fell from the train [Chap 301]

...and while Sugimoto kept Tsurumi away, Asirpa, trying to reach the front exit, melted down in trauma further [Chap 301]

...all this while Ushiyama tries to enter in Ainu’s legends [Chap 301]

Also Vol 28 was released.

[goldenkamuyhunting]

Most of the trusted men Tsurumi surrounds himself with plagiarized them as children by making them commit crimes that tied him to himself and from which he benefited, for any personal vendettas. Can it be the same as ogata? Could it be that Tsurumi plagiarized Ogata from an early age in order to destroy Hanazawa for some wrong? Thank you

Hum...

I fear I should clarify some things first.

Tsurumi is a master manipulator, Tsurumi himself states it so I don’t think this is up to discussion but, to be honest, through the whole “Golden Kamuy” we canonically saw Tsurumi influencing only two men he influenced from childhood, Usami Tokishige (12/13/14) and Koito Otonoshin (14/16).

All the other people he manipulated, Tsukishima, Tanigaki (in the early stages), Siromakur, Nikaidou, Edogai, Inkarmat, Koito Heiji and so on are adults, not children.

I’m not really counting how he forced Asirpa to tell him the code because that was more blackmail mixed with psychological torture than manipulation (he held her captive, told her Wilk was responsible for Fina and Olga’s death, wore Wilk’s face, threatened to kill Sofia if Asirpa didn’t comply).

We also have to consider 2 more things.

1) We don’t know exactly Tsurumi’s role in the whole Usami thing, he might have acted in such a way he might have set Usami against Tokishige but I genuinely doubt he expected Usami to go for the kill, in fact we might say he considered it a learning experience.

The incident stuck him and he continued to think at it for a long time and then, during the war discovered the answer. If he didn’t know why Usami ended up reacting the way he did, he couldn’t trigger him to that point, and he definitely looked surprise when Usami crossed the line and became a murderer.

So, even if we want to speculate Tsurumi had a hand into the whole thing (we don’t really know) at best we can assume he was experimenting with Usami, seeing how he would react or how far he would go, maybe wanting him to damage a surperior officer’s son, be it by crushing his spirit by proving Takahiro just wasn’t cut to become an officer as he couldn’t beat Usami, or by causing him to sink into depression because their friendship would be broken or just by giving him some bruises... but didn’t expect Usami to go so far as to kill him.

Actually, it’s likely Tsurumi grew more interested in Usami and in manipulating him and keeping him close because Usami, by crossing the line so easily, proved himself to be special.

2) Regarding to Koito he very likely didn’t mean for Koito to commit any criminal act, nor was that invested in him. Even if we assume that Tsurumi’s meeting with Koito in Kagoshima was staged and not casual (Koito was actually meant to be at school when they met but Tsurumi might have been aware Koito tended to skip it), likely the only interest Tsurumi held for Koito back then was as a mean to win the friendship of his father and not for Koito himself. Tsurumi needed Koito Heiji’s support, and so he might have needed information on how to use young Koito to manipulate Koito Heiji into becoming indebted to him.

The whole kidnapping thing happens in 1902, short before the Nopperabou incident. Tsurumi couldn’t know the Nopperabou incident would end up with Wilk ending up in Abashiri, he likely expected to track the gold in that year, which is why he wanted to win Koito Heiji’s support.

Young Koito back then was 16 and, anyway, meant to become a naval officer. He would be of no use to Tsurumi had things gone as Tsurumi expected them to go. When things go in a different way, for quite a while Tsurumi still has little use for Koito beyond using him to get to his father and leave him in Asahikawa.

So, I’m not excusing Tsurumi for what he did or anything, he surely influenced them when they were young and, later, used them for his own purpose but saying “Most of the trusted men Tsurumi surrounds himself with plagiarized them as children by making them commit crimes that tied him to himself and from which he benefited, for any personal vendettas” gives him a deliberate planning in their groming he didn’t seem to mean to have, parly because he didn’t expect things would evolve like that and partly because he didn’t expect them to become of use.

Now... what about Ogata?

Could he have met Tsurumi when he was young?

Noda said he did. According to Noda Ogata studied Russian along with Tsukishima.

Q50: Tsukishima’s life was hinged on learning Russian. How did he do it? I’m curious about whether he went to classes or used study materials available in Japan, or had to learn on site. Noda: Russian knowledge was used merely as a pretext for the army so it’s not that he needed to learn it immediately. He started learning after getting out of prison, from Tsurumi and on site. Ogata was studying together with him, but he wasn’t as diligent about it as Tsukishima. ( Q&A section from the Golden Kamuy fanbook translation courtesy of @piduai)

What does this mean?

Ogata should be born in 1882 (he’s younger than Usami who’s canonically born in 1881 and older than Yuusaku who couldn’t be born later than 1883) and Tsukishima got out of prison in 1996 (when Ogata was 14) and was in Russia in 1997 (when Ogata was 15) so if the two of them learnt it together, Ogata started learning Russian from Tsurumi at either 14 or 15.

This makes Ogata another person Tsurumi brought in Russia with himself despite not knowing Russian.

Now, it can be that Ogata, who has ties with Central since in 1901 we see he’s working for Okuda, was assigned to Tsurumi’s group by someone at Central and Tsurumi met him for the first time when they had to leave for Russia... or it can be that Tsurumi just recommended him for that mission, which would mean Tsurumi knew Ogata from before he was 14/15.

Regardless, we saw Tsurumi attempting to manipulate Ogata when the latter was older, so it’s entirely possible he started from when he met him. What’s more Tsurumi should have been an influencial figure in young Ogata’s life as Ogata will say a couple of sentences that seem to be quote from what Tsurumi himself said.

Of course it’s possible Tsurumi is quoting Ogata but, somehow, I see it as difficult.

So yeah, even though Ogata at some point became aware Tsurumi is a manipulator, a ‘smooth talking bastard’ (chap 103) who ‘always did have a talent for using those stupid cliches to get young men to follow him’ (chap 78), he should have ended up influenced and manipulated as well, at least partially.

Was Tsurumi’s goal to use him to 'destroy Hanazawa for some wrong'?

We don’t know if Hanazawa did something directly against Tsurumi, but Hanazawa is surely a threat to Tsurumi’s plans as he’s against the Mantetsu (while Tsurumi is in favour of it) and he’s Tsurumi’s superior officer, one Tsurumi likely couldn’t force to bow to his requests through blackmail like he did with Yodogawanor that he could win over using father-son love as he did with Koito Heiji.

So Hanazawa always had to go even if he had been on his best behaviour toward Tsurumi. However it’s not like Tsurumi specifically needed Ogata to do it. Despite Tsurumi’s pretty words, Ogata is neither charismatic nor beloved as Yuusaku, so, if Hanazawa dies, he can’t replace neither him nor Yuusaku in the soldiers’ hearts.

Hanazawa’s murder didn’t require a high skilled sniper, it’s a job anyone could do, so it’s not like Tsurumi needed someone with Ogata’s skill set to do the job.

What’s more, as Hanazawa continues to not recognize Ogata and Ogata says he accepted the job solely because he wanted to talk with him (meaning that, as far as Hanazawa was concerned, they weren’t even on speaking terms) it’s not like Ogata had free access in Hanazawa’s house.

Everyone would do.

So, back to the starting point, Tsurumi very likely started to manipulate Ogata from when the latter was wrong but his aim likely wasn’t to use him to kill Hanazawa. Ogata is just an amazing sniper and Tsurumi likely thought this would come definitely of use.

Thank you for your ask