Golden manga

Sword Art Online Progressive Canon of the Golden Rule, Vol. 1 (manga)

Satoru Noda’s writing of Golden Kamuy was supervised by a linguist specialized in the Ainu language in his efforts to get it right. His manga introduced the Ainu culture not only to western audiences, but also to many Japanese people who don’t know any more about them than the average Californian knows about the Tongva. You will enjoy learning how the Ainu see nature, animals, food, and their animistic beliefs as they are introduced in the story little by little. My favorite is their tradition to give young kids temporary vulgar names like Osoma (Ainu for poop) in order to protect them from evil spirits. The little culture shocks between Asirpa and Sugimoto are quite entertaining whether it’s Sugimoto reluctantly accepting to eat the eyes of a hare or Asirpa mistaking Miso for Osoma.

Golden Kamuy is a great pick for anyone who is into historical fiction. The more you know about the events depicted in the story the more you will get from it. It’s not necessary to be a history buff to enjoy it though. Even if you have never heard of the Ainu or the Russo-Japanese War, Noda’s got you covered giving you all the context you need as he takes you through a story with all the most appreciated manga beats.

In 2019, the series even became the international “face” of manga when featured in promotional visuals for a major manga exhibition at London’s famous British Museum. And it could be argued that Golden Kamuy provides an answer to the question, “What is it that manga seeks to express?” The answer is: perversion. Or if that seems misleading, then the primal energy we might call human desire.

If I can be excused for turning to a personal anecdote, while working for a manga publication in my younger days, a senior colleague once told me: “Manga’s no good as a mode of expression if it isn’t connected on some fundamental level to human libido.” When that libido strays too far into the red zone, one might be denounced as a pervert. Golden Kamuy is full almost to bursting with just such perversion.