History Manga / GoldenKamui

* CirclingVultures: A stray vulture tries to abduct Asirpa. TruthInTelevision as vultures can fly over long distances from Central Asia to Hokkaido.

Can be read [[http://kissmanga.com/Manga/Golden-Kamui/ here]]

* {{Badass}}: Let's begin with Sugimoto, a MadeOfIron {{Determinator}} ex-soldier, his companion Asirpa NatureHero ArcherArchetype, then the BadassArmy after the treasure, and that one Shinsengumi LivingLegend BadassGrandpa, in short the series is full of Badass.

* VillainoousFriendship: Tsurumi develops one with Yasaku Edogai over their mutual interest in GenuineHumanHide.

* LanguageBarrier: Downplayed. Sugimoto doesn't speak Ainu, but continuous exposure to the GratuitousForeignLanguage makes him able to understand a few words. Later in the manga, Sugimoto hears his name, "ohaw" for "eat, and "osoma" for "poop". Putting two and two together, he correctly deduces that once again Asirpa is telling someone that he is eating poop.

* ArtShift: The drawing is noticeably more cartooney during humorous moments.

* BadassAndChildDuo: In that case, the child is just as capable as the Badass though.

* BankRobbery: Hijikata robs a bank to get some cash, but more importantly retrieves his sword Izumi-no-Kami Kanesada, which ended up in the possession of the bank owner.

* BarbyDollAnatomy: Averted for a change as male characters have their nipples drawn. Hilariously, when Sugimoto has a (not very attractive) gangster strip, he is outraged at the sight of the gangster's nipples, and even orders him to cover them so that Asirpa doesn't see them.

Take one ex-soldier with a remarkable talent for not dying, one Ainu girl with a grudge, and a treasure hunt through early 1900s Hokkaido, and you have Satoru Noda and Hiroshi Nakagawa's Golden Kamui. Currently being serialized in Weekly Young Jump, the series focuses on Sugimoto [[MadeOfIron "The Immortal"]] Saichi, hero of the RussoJapaneseWar, his [[NatureHero Ainu friend and co-hunter Asirpa]], and their search for a massive cache of gold (worth roughly 700M modern USD). However, they aren't the only ones out for it- the [[KatanasOfTheRisingSun Imperial Japanese army]] has a highly skilled division seeking out the gold too, and that's not to mention the criminal who hid it.

* AnnoyingArrows: Averted, even bears may not resist to arrows, especially when they're poisoned.

* BankRobbery: Hijikata robs a bank to get some cash, but more importantly retrieve his sword Izumi-no-Kami Kanesada, which ended in possession of the bank owner.

* BarbyDollAnatomy: Averted for a change as male characters have featured nipples. Hilariously, when Sugimoto has a (not very attractive) gangster strip, he is outraged at the sight of the gangster's nipples, and even orders him to cover them so that Asirpa doesn't see them.

* BottomlessMagazines: Averted, reloading rifles is taken into account, and even Asirpa can run low on arrows even though she's using them sparingly.
* BreatherEpisode: Its not uncommon for a few chapters of brutal, gory action to be followed up with some fine slice-of-life cuteness between Sugimoto and Asirpa.
* CassandraTruth: Averted, Asirpa believe really quickly in Sugimoto's story about a treasure. Of course her father was killed because of it so she has reasons to believe in it.
* TheCatfish: The "Iwan Onnecep Kamuy" is a mythical giant huchen which is 7 meters long and eats bears. Less impressive but as scary are 2 meters long huchen which eat anything on their path, even Shiraishi, who fortunately escapes.

* CirclingVultures: A stray vulture tries to abduct Asirpa. TruthInTelevision as vulture can fly over long distance from Central Asia to Hokkaido.

* CrushingHandshake: When Sugimoto and Ushiyama meet, they shake hand. The narration indicates that masters of judo can determine the other guy's strength. Sugimoto comments that Ushiyama's strength scares him, while Ushiyama likes Sugimoto from the spot because StrengthEqualsWorthiness.
* CrypticConversation: At one point Hijikata gauges Sugimoto by comparing him with other famous members of the Shinsengumi, but referring to them only by their first name so Sugimoto doesn't understand the references and think that Hijikata is being senile.

* CultureClash: Sugimoto and Asirpa have difficulties with the finer points of each other's culture, particularly the [[ForeignQueasine culinary ones]]. One example is that the brains of squirrels are a delicacy to Ainus.

* EndOfAnAge: Golden Kamui is set during the last years of the Meiji Era. Moreover the traditional Ainu culture is disappearing.

* ExtremeOmnivore: Ainus eat almost everything from their prey, such as the raw brain.

* GoldFever: Hokkaido has gold in its soil, so people are looking for it in the island; also a big stack of gold worth hundreds of millions of (current) yen is sought after by many people.

* GreenAesop: One of the recurring theme is that nature is beautiful (albeit harsh) and that humans needs to take care of their environment.
* GrimUpNorth: Hokkaido is the northest main island of Japan and is indeed cold.
* HellHotel: Sapporo World Hotel. Where the pretty owner of this modest establishment will imprison you in his TortureCellar, torture and dismember you if your look [[ImAHumanitarian tasty enough]].

* HostageSituation: Tanigaki takes Asirpa in hostage, and pulls out a PutDownYourGunAndStepAway.

* HumanNotepad: The 24 Abashiri convicts are tattooed a map leading to a huge stash of gold.

* KatanasOfTheRisingSun: The 7th Division of the Imperial Japanese army are one of the antagonists.
* LanguageBarrier: Downplayed. Sugimoto doesn't speak Ainu, but continuous exposition to the GratuitousForeignLanguage makes him able to understand a few words. Later in the manga, Sugimoto hears his name, "ohaw" for "eat, and "osoma" for "poop". Putting two and two together, he correctly deduces that once again Asirpa is telling someone that he is eating poop.
* LanguageFluencyDenial: Asirpa fakes being unable to speak Japanese before Tanigaki, it doesn't work.
* TheLegendOfChekhov: Asirpa tells Sugimoto the story of her father who would crawl directly into a bear's den because there's the saying that "a brown bear will never kill a human that enters its den". Sugimoto would then use that knowledge to save himself from an angry MamaBear.

* LoopHoleAbuse: Asirpa sometimes reinterpret Ainu customs to her advantage, notably eating a man-killing orca.

* MajorInjuryUnderreaction: Sugimoto first and foremost, who receives a bullet in the throat and continues massacring Russians left and right. One soldier gets his face torn off by a bear and continues fighting. One officer gets several fingers bitten off and his only reaction is telling the perpetrator that he's crazy.

* MoralEventHorizon: In-Universe, the Ainu believe that killing an human makes you evil, even if you are an animal. A man-killing animal won't be eaten by Ainus.

* NotWithTheSafetyOnYouWont: At the beginningof thes series, a drunkard steals Sugimoto's rifle and prepares to shoot him with it. Sugimoto confidently pulls the barrel on his chest and knocks out the guy because he sees that the safety is still on.

* OurGodsAreDifferent: Ainu practice Animism, and believe that all animals are gods in their own right.

* PoisonedWeapons: Ainus use poisoned arrows to kill their prey faster, and have to quickly cut off the shot body part to conserve the meat.

* RussoJapaneseWar: Many characters are veteran of this war, which is not surprising since they do come from a division tasked with protecting Hokkaido.

* SelfDestructMechanism: Ienaga implanted one in the Sapporo World Hotel, where pulling a hidden chain will spill alcohol in the TortureCellar then light a fire, burning the building down.

* TheStraightAndArrowPath: Ainus use bows and arrows, and almost never miss their shots.

* UnfortunateNames: Well, not so unfortunate since it is designed to be foul-sounding to ward off spirits bringing illness, but Ainus have names that sound disgusting until they're six year old. Asirpa's first name is "Ekasiotonpuy" meaning "Grandpa's butthole".
* UngratefulBastard: The Japanese government put a chief of staff's seppuku's blame on his subordinates and refused to offer the 7th Division any reward for their sacrifice during the RussoJapaneseWar.
* VerbalTic: Sugimoto learns that Ainus tell that something is delicious by saying "Hinna hinna" while eating, he does this regularly thereafter.

* TheWestern: The series has many reminiscent elements from the genre, even though it's set in Hokkaido in the Meiji Era. The cover of chapter 59 is made to look like a Western poster.

* BearsAreBadNews: specifically, Ussuri brown bears, one of the largest species of bear in the world, at the time of year when they are most aggressive.

* ChekhovsGun: [[spoiler: Nihei's single shot rifle comes in handy during Tanigaki and Ogata's SniperDuel]].

* HellHotel: Sapporo World Hotel. Where the pretty owner of this modest establishment will imprison you in his TortureCellar, torture and dismember you if your look [[IAmAHumanitarian tasty enough]].

* HomoeroticSubtext: From Nihei's introduction onward, characters begin to have more and more gay traits (Henmi has a VillainousCrush on Sugimoto, Ienaga is a VillainousCrossdresser, Ushiyama is bisexual when drunk, even Nakagura indulges in crossdressing at one moment, which perfectly justified in context, didn't need lipstick for the costume.)

* IllGirl: Downplayed; Umeko, Sugimoto's LoveInterest, is going blind but otherwise isn't in danger. It's just that he wants her to see her child grow.

* InVinoVeritas: Sugimoto learns of the big pile of gold thanks to one of the convicts being drunk and [[LooseLips spilling the beans]], though he initially doesn't believe the story until the guy tries to kill him because [[YouKnowTooMuch He Knows Too Much]].

* MadeOfIron: Sugimoto has survived: [[spoiler: Tuberculosis, one of the bloodiest battles of the Russo-Japanese war, encounters with 3 different angry bears, falling into a river in -30F weather, several fights with elite military personnel, and being stabbed]]
* MajorInjuryUnderreaction: Sugimoto first and foremost, who receives a bullet in the throat and continues massacring Russians left and right. One soldier gets his face torn off by a bear and continues fighting. One officer gets several fingers bitten off and his only reaction is telling the perpretator that he's crazy.

* NotWithTheSafetyOnYouWont: At the beginningof thes series, a drunkard steals Sugimoto'srifle and prepares to shoot him with it. Sugimoto confidently pulls the barrel on his chest and knocks out the guy because he sees that the safety is still on.

* SniperDuel: Between [[spoiler: Tanigaki and Ogata. Tanigaki wins.]]

* TheLegendOfChekhov: Asirpa tells Sugimoto the story of her father who would crawl directly into a bear's den because there's the saying that "a brown bear will never kill a human that enters its den". Sugimoto would then use that knowledge to save himself from an angry MamaBear.

* TheReveal: [[spoiler: What amounted to 75kg of gold is revealed to be possibly worth a third of Japan's economy, making the 7th Division's plan to take over the island not so stupid.]]

* UnfortunateName: Well not so unfortunate since it is designed to be foul-sounding to ward off spirits bringing illness, but Ainus have names that sound disgusting until they're six year old. Asirpa's first name is "Ekasiotonpuy" meaning "Grandpa's butthole".

* HellHotel: Hokaido World Hotel.

* AgainstMyReligion: Asirpa refuses the meat of an orca, believing it's killed a man, but Sugimoto reassures her that he did the killing instead, so the orca didn't turn evil.

* VillainEpisode: Several continuous chapters are focused on Hijitaka getting another tattooed skin in the town of Hidaka.