Golden Kamuy: Volume 7 manga review

Golden Kamuy Graphic Novel Volume 7 cover image

In the early 20th century, Saichi “Immortal” Sugimoto is a veteran of the Russo-Japanese war who is scrapping out a meager existence.  This is also the postwar gold rush on the wild frontier of Japan's Hokkaido region.  Sugimoto stumbles upon the first “piece” of a map leading to a fortune in hidden gold belonging to the Ainu (an indigenous people of Japan and Russia).  However, ruthless criminals and rogue Japanese soldiers are also hunting for the gold in the harsh northern wilderness.  It will take all Sugimoto's talents and the help of an immensely-skilled Ainu girl named Asirpa to survive, let alone find the gold.

As Golden Kamuy, Vol. 7 (Chapters 60 to 69) opens, Sugimoto and Asirpa travel with their allies, Yoshitake Shiraishi (“the Escape King”) and Kiroranke (an Ainu).  They arrive at an Ainu village where they encounter the beautiful diviner, Inkarmat.  Shiraishi is immediately smitten with her fortune-telling abilities, so they two travel to a local horse-racing venue.

The quartet later get involved in helping an old Ainu woman retrieve a treasured heirloom taken from her and currently in the possession of an American businessman living in Japan.  Before all is said and done, Shiraishi's gambling and the heirloom will pit the quartet against a monstrous brown bear and a mysterious pair of men who may both be yakuza.

[This volume includes bonus manga.]

THE LOWDOWN:  The Golden Kamuy manga is a superb read, volume to volume.  Calling it consistent is almost lame.

Golden Kamuy Graphic Novel Volume 7, in this series of great graphic novels, is one of the series' best to date.  The entire bear siege section is a blast to read and would make an excellent graphic novel by itself.  It is an edge-of-your-seat thriller that even involves a car chase, of sorts.  There is also a love story, of sorts.  I just don't want to spoil it with details, but it is no spoiler to say that Golden Kamuy is a golden read.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS:  Fans of Westerns and of Japanese historical dramas will want to try the VIZ Signature title, Golden Kamuy.

A+
10 out of 10