The Golden Kamuy OVAs are now streaming on Crunchyroll

Summary

• Golden Kamuy has exploded in popularity in Japan and features a diverse, older readership.
• The anime adaptation drew attention to Ainu culture and history.
• Crunchyroll recently added 5 new OVA episodes while waiting for news on the premiere of the fifth and final season.

Golden Kamuy was recently a big hit in Young Jump (YJ) magazine, “Shonen jump adult magazine' in that they are both published by Shueisha, are the largest magazines in their respective segments, and share somewhat similar marketing strategies (it's the same magazine that Oshi no Ko was serialized).

Young jump may serialize gore and more “mature” content, but it's not like all titles will be like that. Some can even be mistaken for shounen or even shoujo titles (it happens sometimes Kaguya-sama: Love is warother YJ manga).

Anyway, Golden Kamuy was a hit, and while we don't have any news yet on a fifth and final season (announced in July 2023), Crunchyroll recently added 3 OVAs to their catalog. Except for the last one, each of them consists of 2 episodes, so there are 5 new episodes to watch. OVAs are named “Bodyguard Barato / Terror! Mysterious Giant Bird”, “Love made me escape from prison / A terrifying battle of deadly venom! A massive snake deep in the Hokkaido wilderness!” and “Monster.”

These OVAs were released from 2018 to 2019. There is one more episode, “Shiton Animal Record”, that has yet to make it to the service. Next to the new one Golden Kamuy content, the service also added Kizumonogatari: Koyomi Vamp and Concierge movies on the same day.

A story with Ainu

It exploded in popularity in Japan

Golden Kamuywritten by Satoru Noda, was serialized from 2014 to 2022, totaling 31 compiled volumes. The protagonist, Saichi Sugimoto, is a war veteran who fought in the Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905), which ended in a huge victory for Japan (and a major blow to the Russian Tsar) and cleared the way for the Japanese. hegemony in the territory of Manchuria (although Manchuria was still officially considered Chinese territory, Japan secured special rights).

After the war, Sugimoto heads to Hokkaido, where he teams up with Asirpa, an Ainu girl, to search for a hidden treasure. The plot is fictional, but Noda studied the real history of Hokkaido during this period (Meiji period. 1868-1912) and connects this political background to the story. So the author tries to portray the Ainu people, an indigenous minority group from northern Japan, in a real and honest way. For example, the story features Abashiri Prison, a real brutal prison whose inmates were both criminals and political prisoners.

The anime adaptation helped boost the series' popularity in Japan and brought a lot of sudden attention to the Ainu culture, which is a good thing considering the oppression they faced. Four seasons have aired so far: Seasons 1 and 2 aired in 2018, Season 3 aired in 2022, and Season 4 debuted in 2022.

Studio Brain's Base (To Your Eternity) was in charge of the last series, replacing Geno Studio, animated series 1-3. Shizutaka Sugahara he also took over as director, replacing Hitoshi Nanba from the previous seasons. The series also spawned live-action film adaptations.

Fifth and last
Golden Kamuy
the season premiere remains to be announced. The series is available for streaming on Crunchyroll.

Source: ANN