Audience reviews
20 · Sample from the first available page, separate from the total number of ratings.
prozyne
Golden Kamuy, an unexpected banger!
My intro to this anime was through a clip that made me double check whether this anime's title was Golden Kamuy or Golden Shower. After a few more such questionable and thought-provoking clips, a certain image solidified in my mind about this anime. The reality, though? It was quite different!
Went in expecting absurd comedy, which it indeed delivered but I was also provided with such a great cast of characters with a lot of depth and layers to them. Another aspect which I had no idea this anime had, but found really delightful, was the coverage of certain ethnic groups, majorly The Ainu. The author did a lot of research for this and gives a beautiful dive into these ethnic group's cultures, practices, food, clothing, and various other traditions, whic…
Read at the sourceGeF05
This anime is everything I wanted from a story. It manages to have well-written protagonists and antagonists, is nicely animated (except for the very few times there is a little bit of CGI, which happens very rarely), and the story is incredibly written.
The world of this anime feels really real because of the immaculate writing; you feel tension at every moment because you know the characters can die.
I can't put into words how thrilling this anime is to watch without spoiling it. The first season is kinda slow (for a good reason — lots of setup), but after that, this anime has one of the most breathtaking stories I've seen in a while.
Read at the sourcejilebi_james23
The opening season does a good job at showing what we can expect from further seasons
It starts as a very serious no nonsense show (it is) involving war, survival, mystery and treasure hunt elements
but then as the show progresses the main characters' dynamic started growing on me,
there is more to this show than its serious plot, light hearted humor, adorable and silly antics from Asirpa, her cool wolf, being concerned over Asirpa's pacifist actions which could potentially bring harm to her and the ones she care
I was already enjoying the show from the 2nd ep, the plot and other characters only turned out to be huge bonus!
each episode also features hunting a new animal, and describing how the Ainu cook it , how it tastes and also facts from Ainu's culture.. I was not particularly in…
Read at the sourceTheF00lling
This is some of the best start to a season I have ever witnessed. The characters, setting, world building and the story was phenomenal. Sugimoto and Asirpa's dynamic was refreshing. What made me laugh was watching these serious characters end up in goofy situations. The humor is perfectly blended in the drama and thrill of the series.
The Hokkaido setting was honestly new for me. I learned a lot of Ainu and their culture.
This is guaranteed to be a great watch. I started the manga after this season ended and was still entertained. This has a really good replay watch.
Read at the sourceSgtSalamander
Golden Kamuy has been sitting on my watchlist for years, pretty much since its release in 2018. It seemed like the kind of grand adventure that I'd have a good time sitting down with and experiencing over a few days. They started teasing the "final season" several years ago, and when they finally released it in March of 2026 I decided it was time. Well, they got me. Somebody needs to communicate to these studios exactly what the word "final" means. In any case, I do believe my mind is made up, and while I will watch it regardless, whatever happens in the next arc is unlikely to change how I feel about it. In short, I have a complicated opinion of Golden Kamuy. On the one hand, it delivered what I came for, that being high-octane action and a fascinating, granular lesson about Japanese hist…
Read at the sourcePookiexdo0kie
A great anime with great respect and representation for the Ainu when is the two indigenous groups in Japan also very informative about war and how soldiers deal with their lives even after the war it's quite funny that upon watching this anime it feels like the war happened yesterday but in reality it's already been 1 to 2 years in their world since the war happened
I absolutely love the facts about Ainu it's quite informative about a culture I never knew about before this
The characters are well written. I absolutely love the little girl. She has so much respect for her culture yet wants to be an independent woman.
Same thing before the main guy he respects the Ainu and that's something I love about this anime is everyone respects the culture and he's not only muscles and war. It feels l…
Read at the sourcesimpydimpy0HN0_
I think this anime is so underrated it is mind-blowing. Although to be fair, "Gay cooking show+ Vinland saga" is like very much up my alley. But imo it is so much more. I think the characters are unmatched, truly all of them are interesting and well written. I love the history lesson and cultural aspect of the show--it highlights the minority indigenous peoples living in eastern Russia/northern Japan. It is one of the freakiest shows I have ever watched for sure which brings a shocking kind of humor to party that I can actually understand being too much for some (but to me this is the best). While the plot is relatively simple, there is no shortage of depth to the story and characters. Overall, it's just a lot of fun. Tugs at the heart strings and makes you laugh out loud all in the same 3…
Read at the sourceIkarugaSilvergun
I can't recommend this anime.
Yes the setting is something different but you will have the feeling that you're watching an Anime about cooking and ...of course killing animals. Look i get it they want to show how life was back then - it was rough. But in every epsiode they kill or hurt animals. Then they explain how they make food out of it - or they just eat them raw. That's just too much. By the time they went wale hunting i said "ok that's it". I tried to give it a chance but i just don't want to see animals getting hurt in EVERY episode - and the focus of the show is just that. The main plot feels secondary...or at least it gets treated that way in my opinion. Also the animation style is not really good - it lacks a lot of detail and sometimes feels drawn for a very young audience.
Read at the sourcek-0da
That was pretty okay!
Golden Kamuy is a fun romp through an era and setting I haven't really seen before in an anime. 1903 Hokkaido is a fascinating place to set a story in, and the anime overall met my expectations.
I love the flat colors and background design of this anime. Like I said earlier, I really love exploring the setting of 1903 Hokkaido, and witnessing all the historical details. I also really love the character designs; the Ainu characters in particular are favorites, especially how some characters' hair looks like paper strips. I think that character design element just looks so cool. Everyone has a unique silhoutte, which is also fun. And, yes, the mangaka just loves men, so I appreciate the more "masculine" character designs in a sea of bishies. Also, big fan of how the…
Read at the sourceKrohanar
In short:
If you want an anime that has some gore, seinen themes, and some nonsense action, this is for you! If you want a deep-thinking battle shonen, maybe you should look for another anime.
Intro:
Golden Kamuy is a fun anime, where you get involved in a plot that is a little bit strange, but also really fun. The story is set in Hokkaido, and the studio even hired an Ainu (an ancient tribe that lives in Hokkaido) language expert for the parts where the language is spoken. This brought an immersive aspect to the anime.
Animation: 7
It is well animated. The style looks a bit like Jojo's (Araki's art style) but at the same time, it's not as exaggerated as Jojo is. It feels nice, but nothing too beautiful.
Sound: 6
It has some parts that are fun, and nothing feels off. It's average.
Char…
Read at the sourceExcel44M
There are tons of action anime out there, but not many good ones with a historical theme. Only Kimetsu no Yaiba, Gintama, and Vinland Saga that come to mind when talking about historical themed anime, especially those combined with action genre.
While browser anime on Bilibili, I found Golden Kamuy. I had heard about it before, but since it wasn't really popular, I underestimated it. Because I wanted to watch anime, and other choices didn't seem interesting, then I start dig deeper into Golden Kamuy. It had a stable MyAnimeList rating, around 8.1/10, only the first season got around 7.8/10. It also has historical theme with action, I hoped it would be fun to watch it.
At first, everything was fine. It wasn't boring at all, but it felt overwhelming. Many characters were introduced, each…
Read at the sourceVenom_waz
Could have been Vinland Saga 2.0, instead became a gay cooking show.
Had really high hopes for this one, with it's complex characters and intriguing premise.
Instead the 3rd and 4th season just showed that the writer doesn't know where they're going with the show at all.
The MC doesn't evolve in any way (at least as far as I watched), the author choosing instead to focus a lot of the runtime on characters who are already dead, either that or giving hundreds of flashbacks to already established characters.
Not to mention the fucking cooking scenes, although fine at first, quickly became the author's favorite way of killing the pacing.
The amount of gayness that occurs in the later seasons is really weird, like...
At some point enough is enough. Makes you think what kind of show the cr…
Read at the sourceSupersonic_Pain
Golden is rather fitting
This series has got good characters, funny moments (although I do think it leans too much on "ha ha, Asirpa thinks miso is poop"), great and tense battles, an engaging adventure, if you are looking for good anime and haven't seen this, you are sorely missing out.
The story follows our 2 protagonists, Sugimoto and Asirpa, and while I wouldn't say I cared all that much about their motivations specifically, I did like them, which made me want to see them succeed anyway. You get a good amount of time to see them bond and get a good look at who they are as people. Even without the crazy wacky gold rush going on in the background, just watching Sugimoto learn the ways of the Ainu and having him go hunting with Asirpa was pretty fun to watch, not to mention insightful.…
Read at the sourceGT3_gamer
Man, never would have thought that I would enjoy this anime. This is an absolute hidden gem that I missed when it was aired. I remember I was curious about this anime because, from the sounds of the synopsis, I thought it would be done in 2 seasons. But to my surprise, now that we are in 2025, they have announced the 4th season. I can't even believe it at first but upon watching the first season, now I get it. Without further ado let's start the review.
Starting with the OST, man, I'm in love with the OP and ED. My first impression (on the year it came out) of the OP, specifically, was that it didn't feel like a 1900s song at all, especially with how much English is used in the lyrics. After hearing it more and more, especially in late 2024, I don't know how, and I don't know why, but I f…
Read at the sourcejoemaamah
For me, the best anime always have a exceptional story as the foundation of everything that goes on. That is very much what happens with Golden Kamuy. I've been watching anime for 55 years, and this is one of the best stories I have ever seen animated.
Set in tumultuous times, it examines contrasting cultural differences between an aboriginal and a colonial culture. But that is just the one level. It's a mystery. It's a treasure hunt. It's a crime show. It's an action anime. It can be comedic, but there is more in the way of drama. There are so many writing layers, and they are all executed with perfection. The writers deserve kudos. If you want a great story, without a doubt we have one here.
Great stories require great characters. Our MCs are quite the odd duck pair, but as time pass…
Read at the sourceResting_Bonfire
Golden Kamui
I've heard a lot about this anime on YouTube, especially that it's supposed to be relatively funny. And to my surprise it is, it has a similar and qualitative humor as Gintama. And it even has a rather interesting main plot, which is actually in the spotlight and not just secondary.
Unfortunately... these positive words only apply from season 2 onwards. The first season is so bad that I considered quitting the anime at episode 7. The pacing was disastrous, the animation mediocre, the dialogue dull, and no tension at all. There was a joke 2-3 times per episode, the leftover was even more boring than watching any Penguin documentaries. Sorry, but penguin documentaries are boring.
It's only thanks to my iron willpower that I made it through the first season. Who on earth is g…
Read at the sourceDigiCat
Well, this watching experiance was... unexpected
To be fair, the story and characters were filled with potential to be extreamly interesting, the execution not so much...
This anime has absolutely no freaking idea what it wants to be
The tone shifts so erratically, jumping from a gourmet slice of life, to all out comedy, to the most gruesome gore fest
I get how the gore fits the story, but the way it was presented, going from gore, to happy comedy, back to blood splatters, and then we're all happy again, in the matter of minutes, it had me questioning wheather the soul purpose of the anime was to traumatize it's audience
What reinforced this thought?
Out of all the gruesomeness in this, you see animals get gutted and skinned, you see people get skinned and mutilated, and the one thing in…
Read at the sourceRebelPanda
Golden Kamuy tells an action-packed treasure hunting story, it deftly weaves in an unflinching portrayal of Ainu culture. The in-depth detail that the culture is shown in is likely thanks to the Ainu consultant on the production staff, ensuring the greatest accuracy possible. Moreover, this series never shies away from discussing the ugly way Japan treated the Ainu in the past either, in turn making the story more realistic and believable.
The story follows Saichi “The Immortal” Sugimoto, a gruff survivor of the Russo-Japanese war. Famous for violently slaughtering his foes to escape from dozens of life-threatening combat situations; as we see in many thrilling action sequences he’ll never be content with death, motivated by his unfinished business. Panning for gold during winter in Hokka…
Read at the sourceDarkfiend47
(SPOILER-FREE Review for Golden Kamuy Seasons 1-3)
Golden Kamuy is one of those shows that gets better and better by each season. The tagline in the manga describes it as "Yaminabe Western," referring to a type of hot pot dish where all the ingredients are added by different people with the lights off, so nobody knows exactly what's going to pop up in the dish. It is one of the best Historical shows in the sense that it makes full use of the era it is in and how it affects the individuals in it. You'd notice that it also has one of the most unique of settings. It takes place after the Russo-Japanese war (1904-1905) in the snowy regions of Hokkaido. A rare pre-WWI show. Also Seinen. Logically speaking such a general review should be written towards the end of S3. However if you've seen tha…
Read at the sourceRunasius
The year is 1905, the time of the Russo-Japanese war. The Japanese and the Russian forces are waging a massive war that would decimate armies on both sides. The former has a platoon stationed within a trench in the Hokkaido region of their own country. One of the soldiers spots a battalion of opposing forces on the other side, with some machine gunners in their squad for defensive measures. One of the men, a high-ranking officer, gives his men a signal. The platoon charge ahead, screaming and hurling battle cries as they set their sights on the enemy. But its futile. One by one, they drop dead in an instant, their bodies peppered with machine gun bullets. Except for one man… His rage-inducing roar echoes throughout the battlefield as he charges head-on into the enemy’s trenches. He shrugs…
Read at the source
