Characters / Golden Kamuy — Sugimoto's Group

Golden Kamuy Main Character Index
Sugimoto's Group | The Abashiri Convicts (Hijikata's Group) | The Hokkaido 7th Division | The Ainu | Barato's Mob | Others

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General

The two main protagonists and the companions they gain during their journey. All of them are looking for the gold for different reasons, but each one is special in that they are all decent (not good by any means) people for the violent era they live in. Although they are composed of only a handful of people, Sugimoto and co. are specialists in their fields, be it at combat, survival in the wilderness or jailbreaking. Moreover, thanks to Asirpa, they can count on the hospitality of the various Ainu groups in Hokkaido to assist them during their journey.

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• Anti-Hero Team: Barring Asirpa and Tanigaki, they search for the gold either out of selfishness, personal gain or their own dreams that require the gold to be achieved. All of them use more than questionable methods during their gold hunt, threatening, injuring and killing many people in the process. None of them qualify as heroes.
• Badass and Child Duo: Sugimoto Saichi is an infamously brutal combat veteran of the Russo-Japanese War known for his uncanny survivability, earning him the nickname "The Immortal". Asirpa is a young Ainu huntress and expert survivalist who helps him look for the legendary gold in Hokkaido in exchange for his help in avenging her father's murder. Even though she's more than capable in her own right, he is very protective of her. Meanwhile, she trusts him completely and has so much faith in Sugimoto that when told that he died from a shot in the head, she manages to believe that he's still alive in spite of no evidence to it, even after having witnessed him being shot and left for dead.
• Enemy Mine:
  • Against the 7th Division now having fake skins, Sugimoto's group has no choice but to ally himself with Hijikata's group.
  • After Asirpa is abducted by Kiroranke, Sugimoto and co. do not doubt allying themselves with the 7th Division to get her back.
  • Ogata becomes an enemy to all parties involved in the gold hunt after he goes rogue, knowing how dangerous he is and his lack of allegiance to anyone other than himself.
• Huge Guy, Tiny Girl: Sugimoto is several heads taller than Asirpa, at least until the timeskip during the epilogue, where she's shown to have grown tall enough to be at the height of his shoulder.
• Everyone Is Armed: With the exception of Shiraishi, all of them carry weapons and will not hesitate to put them to use when they need them.
• Last-Name Basis: With the exception of Asirpa and Kiroranke, who per Ainu naming customs have no surname, they call each other and are called by others exclusively by their surnames.
• Ragtag Bunch of Misfits: They're composed of rather colorful people: two Japanese war veterans, two Ainu, and a escaped Abashiri convict. They are later joined by a Russian deserter and another escaped Abashiri convict.
• Vague Age: A deliberate choice by the author, who gave rough estimates to how old everyone was, all taken in account that Golden Kamuy's first chapter takes place between 1907 and 1908:
  • Asirpa is stated to be "almost old enough to get her tattoo", but the age required for this custom varies from village to village (ranging from 6 to 15). Ultimately Noda would state in the report card released after the last chapter that she's between 12 or 13 years old when the story begins.
  • Sugimoto is stated to be younger than Shiraishi and around the same age than Tanigaki. Since Sugimoto was a teenager when he ran away from his hometown and later joined the army, it puts both of them in their early 20's.
  • Shiraishi is older than both war veterans but far younger than Kiroranke, putting him in his mid 20's.
  • Kiroranke was 15 when he assassinated Czar Alexander the II alongside Wilk in 1881, meaning that when the story begins he's in his early 40's, making him the oldest in the group.

Current Members

Sugimoto Saichi: "The Immortal"

Voiced by: Chikahiro Kobayashi (Japanese), Ian Sinclair (English)

The co-protagonist of the series. A legendary former soldier in the Imperial Japanese Army, who in his youth fled from his hometown after tuberculosis killed his entire family and ostracized him from his village, separating him from his first love, his childhood friend Umeko. Sugimoto would return home a year later, coincidentally arriving in time to see Umeko getting married to his best friend, Toraji. Both men would take part in the Russo-Japanese war, during which Toraji died while saving Sugimoto from a mortar blast. After the war, having promised the late Toraji that he'd take care of the now widowed Umeko, who's going blind. Sugimoto began unsuccessfully panning for gold in Hokkaido, in order to pay for the surgery that would cure Umeko's condition. One day, he met a man who drunkenly blabbered about a legendary hidden gold treasure that could solve all his problems. Sugimoto then set himself to find the legendary gold, and the story begins when while following the man's tale, he's is attacked by a bear and his life is saved by a young Ainu girl.

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• All for Nothing: Played with. By the time Sugimoto reunites with Umeko to give her his share of the Ainu gold in the last chapter, it’s revealed that Umeko not only had already got the eye surgery needed to restore her sight, but also had remarried and even ran her own business. Sugimoto gives her and her son the gold regardless, fulfilling his promise to Toraji and ensuring Umeko and her family will be financially secure for life.
• Alliterative Name: Sugimoto Saichi.
• Anime Hair: Unkempt spiky hair, as usual. Averted when he was in the Army and had a standard military buzz cut.
• Anti-Hero: His goal is to get the gold, and he has no qualm about hurting or killing whoever he needs to in order to obtain it.
• Audience Surrogate: About the Ainu culture as a Japanese who had never met them.
• Badass Boast: Whenever he utters his iconic catch phrase, ass-kicking is not far behind.
  Sugimoto: I'm Sugimoto the Immortal!
• Badass in Distress: Early in the story, the 7th Division captures Sugimoto, but Shiraishi and Asirpa manage to free him. The last battle ends with Sugimoto shot several times, heavily wounded and bloody, stabbed in the chest by a katana and a runaway train plunges him into the freezing ocean, with Shiraishi, Asirpa and Tanigaki looking in despair as he sinks.
• Bayonet Ya: Sugimoto might be a poor shot, but he's more than handy with his type 30 bayonet.
• The Berserker: Sugimoto would make vikings proud over how ferocious he was during the Battle of 203 Hill during the Siege of Port Arthr and in the rest of the Russo-Japanese war. Whenever he battles multiple foes, Sugimoto goes for the most violent way to finish off his opponent, disregarding any wound he suffers while brutalizing his foes.
• Berserk Button: Under no circumstances threaten Asirpa in his presence, let alone harm her. You won't live to tell the tale. Michael Ostrog, the Jack the Ripper suspect, found this the hardest way out of all of Sugimoto's opponents, as Sugimoto made sure to make his death as painful as possible after the serial killer threatened to kill Asirpa.
• Big Brother Instinct: As stated above and below, Sugimoto is very protective of his partner Asirpa, even though she's more than capable of protecting herself, and vastly more experienced in the wilderness than he is. One insult to her is enough to provoke him into murderous rage, as Shiraishi quickly found out in their first meeting. As put by Sugimoto himself in the extras:
  Sugimoto: If they touch Asirpa, I'll murder them.
• Boom, Headshot!: He is shot in the head by Ogata at Abashiri Prison. Not only does he survive, he makes a full recovery.
• Broken Ace: He used to be a cheerful, confident man in his youth, who according to Toraji, excelled in everything he did. The Sugimoto that returned to Japan after the war is a broken and traumatized shell of the man he used to be, with all his former good qualities engulfed almost entirely by his combat prowess and nigh-supernatural ability to survive. By the end of the story, Sugimoto has learnt to accept himself as he is now, admitting he has changed, and that he doesn't need to return to his past self to be happy, being ready to move forward with his life.
• Catchphrase: "I'm the Immortal Sugimoto!"
• Clueless Chick-Magnet: Before and during the gold hunt, many women express attraction or affection towards him, with Sugimoto being none the wiser about it. Before the story started, Umeko was in love with him, Kaneko was completely enamoured with him even after he revealed both his true identity and absolute lack of social standing, and with the gold hunt on, Asirpa fell in love with him as well.
• Conditioned to Accept Horror: His method to cope with all the carnage he causes during and after the war is to convince himself those he kills are evil and thus feel no pain or regret over losing their lives. When he explains this to Asirpa, she considers it a senseless and childish way to justify his own actions.
• Conveniently an Orphan: Downplayed. Sugimoto's parents died of tuberculosis when he was just a teenager, causing him to run away and live as a vagrant in Tokyo, setting in motion the events that led him to join the army.
• Covered in Scars: Sugimoto's body is riddled with loads of thick scars, to the point one might start to believe that he's really immortal, and he never ceases to gain more scars on his battered body more as the story goes on.
• Dented Iron: Sugimoto's able to shake off most of the injuries he gets during his fights, but getting shot in the head by Ogata severely damages him for a while. By the end, he's gained many new scars to add to the absurd amount he already had, and loses most of his left ear.
• Determinator: He will live, no matter what it takes. He will protect Asirpa, no matter what it takes. He was willing to even commit partial seppuku if that was required to find Asirpa.
• Did Not Get the Girl: Umeko, his childhood friend and first love, married his best friend Toraji after Sugimoto ran away from their village. By the time they meet again in the last chapter, Umeko had been remarried to another man for a long time, and Sugimoto amicably parts ways with her for good after a brief conversation.
• Earn Your Happy Ending: He survives all the battles and perils of the gold hunt in spite of suffering horrendous injuries, delivers a respectful amount of the gold to Umeko in order to fulfill his honour debt towards her and Toraji, and is now finally free of guilt and regret over his past and actions. Sugimoto then tells Asirpa that he's finally found a place where he can be happy, choosing to return to Hokkaido with her. He goes on to spend his days living with Asirpa in peace and tranquility at her home.
• Even the Guys Want Him: He attracts plenty of male attention during the story, and many men comment on his good looks. In particular, Henmi Kazuo is smitten with him.
• Eyes Are Unbreakable: A bear digs its claws into Sugimoto's face, and miraculously avoids destroying his eyes. In spite of getting shot an absurd amount of times during his journey, his eyes are never hurt beyond what can be easily and quickly treated.
• Feed by Example: Sugimoto repeatedly tries to demonstrate to his partner Asirpa that the miso he carries is in fact, not ''osoma'' (poop) by eating it. Asirpa responds with either disgust or simply mocking him for eating poop.
• Feel No Pain: Being stabbed through the cheeks with a skewer doesn't faze him. He's so used to getting riddled with bullets that they don't slow him down while fighting and most of the time Sugimoto doesn't even bother to remove them from his body after his fights.
• Fire-Forged Friends: With Asirpa after they work together to kill a man-eating brown bear. Also with Shiraishi after preventing each other from dying of hypothermia.
• Friend to All Children: With the Ainu children, Sugimoto loses all his seriousness and readily plays with them.
• Friend to All Living Things: Sugimoto really likes animals, even though he hunts them to eat. If he had the choice, he'd rather not do it. One chapter has him stranded in a foggy forest for a week with only an injured sparrow chick as his sole companion, whom he quickly grows fond of. It doesn't end well for either of them.
• Going Native: He adopts several Ainu habits such as saying "Hinna hinna" when something is delicious, and his constant exposure to the Ainu language during his journey eventually allows him to understand some words without needing translation. Downplayed after living in Asirpa's village for years, as he keeps his old military uniform on and doesn't adopt their customs, even if he's very respectful of them.
• Good Scars, Evil Scars: His body is covered in them, as full body shots reveal that there's no place in his body that is not covered by at least one battle scar. Notably, he has three scars on his face, two of them perpendicular and across his whole visage, while the third one deviates from the horizontal one like a tree branch. He gains a new one on the side of his left cheek in the final battle, after Tsurumi bit it off.
• Guys Smash, Girls Shoot: With Asirpa. He is a fearsome fighter in hand to hand, but a terrible shot, while Asirpa is an excellent archer.
• Healing Factor: Has an almost superhuman ability to heal very quickly from any serious injury, not even a headshot could put him down for long. The katana he took to the chest in the final battle didn't cause any lasting damage either, as the epilogue shows him to be as healthy as ever.
• Healthcare Motivation: He needs to get the gold quickly, because Umeko is going blind, and she desperately needs to get surgery in America before diplomatic relationships between Japan and America go sour and make the trip impossible. Ends up counting for nothing, as the last chapter reveals Umeko had gained wealth after remarrying during his abscence and had the surgery done, restoring her eyesight way before Sugimoto even found the gold.
• Heartbroken Badass: Sugimoto's love for Umeko did not prosper and in all the occasions he had a chance to change that, it never worked. Especially tragic since Umeko did love him back when they were teenagers and tearfully begged him to take her with him so they could run away together from their hometown, which Sugimoto refused to do out of fear of being infected with tuberculosis and passing it to her. In the second chance he had, Sugimoto returned to their town on the day of Umeko and Toraji's wedding, and in spite of Toraji's terror that Sugimoto was about to steal her away, Umeko firmly stood by her husband to be, refusing to meet Sugimoto. The third and last time, Umeko, now almost blind, couldn't fully recognize Sugimoto due to the stench of violence he was carrying after he returned to Japan a broken man after the war, causing him to once more flee from their home town. Sugimoto would finally manage to put the past behind him during their brief meeting in the last chapter, as seeing Umeko healthy and thriving allowed him to move on from his first love once and for all.
• Hyperactive Metabolism: According to the fanbook, Sugimoto's metabolism is described as abnormally high, and is the reason why he's able to recover quickly from his injuries. It also causes him to sweat profusely and gives him a perpetually damp look.
• I Choose to Stay: Decides in the last chapter that after all he's been through and all he has experienced in their travels together, he's finally found the place that makes him happy, choosing to go back with Asirpa to Hokkaido over trying his luck in Tokyo again. The time skip reveals that they continue living together 3 years later.
• I'm Going to Hell for This: After Asirpa informs him of the Ainu belief that committing murder condemns people to hell, Sugimoto states that he already has "VIP tickets to hell" due to all the lives he's taken. This is an ethos he borrowed from Kikuta.
• I Owe You My Life: Several times over with Asirpa, and it goes both ways. Sugimoto only survives his last fight with Ogata because Asirpa fatally poisoned the sniper.
• It's Not You, It's Me: After Sugimoto burned down his family home and revealed his intention of fleeing the village to Umeko, she begged him to take her along, but he refused, suspecting that he had too contracted tuberculosis and didn't want her to die. He didn't have tuberculosis after all, and Umeko married Toraji in his abscence.
• Insistent Terminology: Asirpa is his partner, (aibō) and they refer to each other by that way and no other for the entire story. The relationship chart in the fanbook further drives this point home by expressing that Sugimoto sees her as "his one and only partner".
• I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: He goes through a lot for Umeko's sake. Umeko turns out to have thrived on her own without his help, and this allows Sugimoto to finally move on after he delivers Umeko his share of the gold.
• Killing Intent: Exhudes an intense one constantly. It even becomes evident to the audience at times.
• Last-Name Basis: Everyone but Umeko (who affectionately used to called him "Saichi-chan") calls him by his surname.
• Loss of Identity: When he came back from the war, the nearly blind Umeko couldn't truly recognize him, perceiving him as a completely different man than the one she grew up with and used to love, and Sugimoto suffered each time his past self was brought up, perceiving himself as being nothing alike who he used to be before the war. Sugimoto ends up accepting himself for who he is in the last chapter, lets go of his past and decides he can be happy again.
• Love Triangle: He was on the winning and then losing end of the same triangle at different times. He and his best friend Toraji both loved their mutual childhood friend Umeko, and while Umeko loved Sugimoto back, making him the winner, he ran away from the village out of fear of infecting her with tuberculosis. Sugimoto would return to their hometown a year later in the day of Toraji and Umeko's wedding, but she firmly stood by her husband to be and refused to meet Sugimoto, making him the loser.
• Made of Iron: He has survived, among many other things, tuberculosis, the bloodiest battles of the Russo-Japanese War, multiple animal attacks, especially bears, falling into a river, the ocean and other large bodies of water with freezing temperatures, numerous injuries from his skirmishes with the elite 7th Division, and even losing part of his brain after getting shot in the head. No wonder he is known as "The Immortal," as he keeps surviving seemingly fatal injuries and recovers from them almost immediately. In the final battle, not even multiple gunshots, a katana to the chest, and a runaway train sinking him into the freezing ocean manages to put him down, as the epilogue shows him alive and well.
• Missed Him by That Much: Various flashbacks from either his or other's pasts show that, although he never met them directly, or was able to properly introduce himself at the time due to the circumstances they were in, Sugimoto has been present in the backstories of several members of the 7th Division before they got involved in the hunt for the gold. It's rare that he or those he's talking to realise their shared connection.
• Mr. Fanservice: Sugimoto has been naked and has exposed his gorgeously sculpted (albeit heavily scarred) body more times than women have been even implied to. Shiraishi and Kironake lampshade it, with Shiraishi saying that Sugimoto has "a face that ladies love" and must be popular with women, and Kiroranke suggesting that Asirpa's insistence in healing his facial wounds is because she likes his looks. Both turn out to be correct.
• Never Bareheaded: Sugimoto always sports the same military cap, no matter the circumstance. Chapter 279 reveals that he had that cap long before he joined the military, receiving it as a symbol of gratitude from Kikuta for helping him out with the Kaneko incident. The cap originally belonged to Kikuta's late younger brother Toujirou, who died of disease during the Sino-Japanese War.
• Not Hyperbole: In Karafuto, a Russian man tricked his group into entering a stenka fighting competition in exchange for giving them their dog back, which he had stolen. Sugimoto warns him that, should they win it, if he doesn't give them the dog back immediately, he would rip out every hair on the man's head with his bare hands. They win. The man tries to weasel them into another stenka fight to get the dog back. Sugimoto then rips out every hair on the man's head with his bare hands, just as he promised.
• Oblivious to Love: The fact that Umeko did love him back flew right over his head, even after she tearfully begged him to take her with him so they could run away together.
• Pragmatic Hero: He needs the gold and won't hesitate to kill anyone he has to gain advantage in the hunt. Threats, lies, deception and wanton violence are always an an option for him in about every situation.
• Prospector: Briefly becomes one in Hokkaido after the war without any success, and then stops in order to start looking for the treasure. His time with Heita reveals that Sugimoto's choices in location and method were both inefficient and antiquated.
• Protectorate: Develops a mutual one with Asirpa, as protecting each other's lives ends up being just as important, if not more, as finding the gold is to them, and they will to go any lengths, no matter how extreme, to make sure the other survives. Their efforts ultimately succeed as both survive the gold hunt.
• Reality Is Unrealistic: His aftermath for brain damage qualifies: instead of commonly depicted highly visible results (like decreased mobility or speech impediments), he's shown to recover without any apparent effects of it. However, one of the many possible results of brain damage in the area he was shot is mild dyslexia, and an exaggerated emotional answer. And in the next chapter, he's shown consistently taking out the wrong photo, being all teary-eyed at having found Asirpa's tracks, and acting much easier to anger, even for his usual standards.
• Real Men Wear Pink: He knows of Joan of Arc through Shōjo Sekai, the best-selling magazine for girls of his time, as revealed by Satoru Noda himself on Twitter. The exhibition that opened after the manga ended revealed that Sugimoto had been carrying a copy of the same magazine during his travels the entire time! He's also a an avid romance novel reader, and a big fan of stories featuring love and romance.
• Red Baron: Nicknamed "The Immortal" due to his uncanny ability to survive no matter how hurt he gets.
• Running Gag: Several:
  • Whenever he eats miso, Asirpa will accuse him of eating poop and show her disgust. Even after she realises miso is both edible and tasty, she'll continue to call it poop no matter how often Sugimoto attempts to correct her.
  • If he meets a cute looking animal, expect Asirpa to hunt it shortly after Sugimoto comments how cute it is.
  • He'll make a comical face at nearly all the Ainu dishes he's faced with.
  • Even if the situation requires him to be completely naked, his hat will stay on.
  • For all his combat prowess, he's an awful shot.
  • Nearly all the convicts and opponents he faces will remark how nice Sugimoto is to them when they are not fighting him.
• Scarf Of Ass Kicking: Wears a tartan-patterned scarf.
• Selective Obliviousness: It's pointed out to him more than once and by different people that Sugimoto started caring about Asirpa a lot more than he's willing to admit to. In the end, he decides to go live with her.
• Shell-Shocked Veteran: Sugimoto has recurring nightmares about the death of his best friend Toraji, whom he grew up with. Toraji died in the Russo-Japanese war, taking a mortar blast that was meant for Sugimoto. His death deeply wounded Sugimoto's psyche, being the worst wound he received on top of all the atrocities he witnessed and commited during his time in the military. When he and Asirpa have to hide inside a deer carcass during a blizzard, she asks him if there is any food he likes, with Sugimoto mentioning dried persimmons, his favourite food growing up, touching on this subject when he says that, no mater how much he and many other war veterans have tried to, they've never managed to turn back into the people they used to be before the war. Asirpa, attempting to help him, asks him to bring her to his hometown so they can taste the dried persimmons he loves, in the hope that it will bring him back to who he was before the war. Sugimoto, overcome by his trauma, the weight of the loss of his best friend, and the memories of his peaceful life before the war that he can no longer return to, is overcome by tears, unable to offer her any response.
• Silly Reason for War: During the Yamada Circus arc, Koito's gift in acrobatics overshadows Sugimoto's harakiri's act, the whole reason of them being there in the first place, as Sugimoto is trying put on a show so amazing that it will make the news, in order to inform Asirpa, whose location is unknown, that he survived the events of the failed assult on Abashiri prison. A subplot develops with Koito refusing to tone down his performance and Sugimoto trying to outdo and eventually sabotage each other's show.
• Small Role, Big Impact: He doesn't seem to recall and vice versa, but no only Sugimoto has met a significant number of the 7th Division soldiers involved in the gold hunt before it began, but Sugimoto's actions had a vital role in their backstories, and in some cases, may have even have led to their participation in the gold hunt in the first place.
  • During his hunt for Kenkichi, the killer of his beloved sister Fumi, Tanigaki joined the military and took part in the Russo-Japanese War in the hopes of finding Kenkichi, who had also enlisted, in order to kill him in revenge. During the war, he met a Sugimoto, then a 1st Division soldier who was part of the White Sash, the infamous suicide charge brigade. Feeling respect for him, Tanigaki offered him a kane mochi he had and let his native accent slip, prompting Sugimoto to mention hearing someone with an Ani accents similar to Tangaki's in his platoon, giving Tanigaki the clue he needed to track Kenkichi down, and ultimately find out the truth about the circumstances of Fumi's death.
  • After Tsurumi and Tsukishima were injured in a mortar blast, they both needed sleds to cross an ice-cap to reach a the nearest military hospital, the problem being that there was only one sled left to carry any wounded. Just as the soldiers were about to prioritize Tsurumi's life, leaving Tsukishima to die, Sugimoto, who was placing the mortally wounded Toraji onto one of them, told them they can use the sled instead, saying he was told to "give priority to the ones that can still be saved." This leads to both Tsurumi and Tsukishima surviving the war. Ironically, this immensely kind gesture would prove costly to Sugimoto years later, as Tsukishima would go on to be Tsurumi's right hand man and main enforcer, and Tsurumi would prove Sugimoto's worst nemesis during the gold hunt and by far the most dangerous enemy he ever faced.
• The Social Darwinist: Combat only, but he makes it clear that when it's a matter of life and death, the strong survive and the weak perish.
• The First Cut Is the Deepest: His refusal to run away with Umeko in his youth, her subsequent marriage to Toraji, his death in combat, and Umeko's eventual widowhood haunts Sugimoto for years, over how painfully things ended, and how things could've been had he chosen differently. He finally moves on in the last chapter, deciding that the past is the past and that he's moving forward with his life.
• 'Tis Only a Bullet in the Brain: He gets shot in the head by Ogata, and for all his famed recovery ability, Sugimoto does show the realistic effects of brain damage afterwards, though they are pretty mild in his case: slight dyslexia and an enhanced emotional response, becoming significantly more sentimental and easier to anger than he used to be.
• Trademark Favorite Food:
  • Miso goes well with anything to him, and he always carries some around.
  • His time with Asirpa made him develop a fondness for salted brains, listing it as his joint favourite food in the volume extras.
  • His favorite food growing up was dried persimmons, a staple of his hometown and a reminder of the peaceful times he had before disease and war tore his life to shreds. Asirpa wants him to take her to his hometown so they can taste some dried persimmons together in the hopes it will help him return to who he used to be before the war. They do that in the last chapter, and Sugimoto states that it didn't change anything, because he didn't need it anymore, as he had finally accepted himself and no longer needed to return to his past self to be happy.
• Unexplained Recovery: Downplayed, as a big part of his character focuses on his ability to endure and survive seemingly-impossible situations that would be fatal to most men several times over, but even then, it's a little jarring when he survives being on the front of a runaway train engine that barrels off the tracks at the end of the station, through the brick wall at the back, and then crashes into the sea and sinks like a stone. Whilst in a mutual death grip with Tsurumi. And pinned to the train itself with a sword stabbed through him. The manga even frames it like the situation would result in his very definite demise, but in the next final chapter he's shown to have survived without it ever being shown how he overcame that particular death-trap.
• Unfriendly Fire: Sugimoto admits to having almost killed an officer who pissed him off, which cost him any medals his service had earned him, plus his military pension. The boots he always wears are a memento from that fight.
• Used to Be More Social: Went from a popular, cheerful man in his youth, to a solitary vagrant after he ran away from his hometown. His return from to Japan as a traumatized war veteran only isolated him further and further, until his chance metting with Asirpa.
• Where I Was Born and Razed: Sugimoto burned down his family home to sever his ties to his home village after his family's death and the shunning they had suffered by the townspeople due to the stigma around tuberculosis.
• Wounded Gazelle Gambit: Fakes being on the verge of death to convince Tsurumi that he's willing to cooperate as long as they bring him to the hospital, enabling his escape from the 7th Division.
• Worthy Opponent: To Hijikata and Ushiyama. Both saw Sugimoto's combat ability and praised him for it, looking forward to the moment Sugimoto would clash with them.
• Wrestler in All of Us: Delivers a Shining Wizard to Ushiyama in their brawl.

Asirpa

Voiced by: Haruka Shiraishi (Japanese), Monica Rial (English)

The co-protagonist of the series, a young Ainu huntress who meets Sugimoto at the start of the story, with the Japanese name "Kochoube Asuko". She quickly befriends him and agrees to help the war veteran look for the treasure, in exchange for getting revenge on the man who killed her father. Asirpa is unique among Ainu women in that she is a skilled survivalist and hunter; being vital to the party in and out of combat, even though she refuses to kill anyone. Asirpa the one that ensures that her group can survive while trekking through the harsh wilderness of Hokkaido.

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• Action Girl: Asirpa doesn't kill people, but still participates in the action and can put up a surprisingly tough fight for someone so young and small. Her well timed arrow shots save Sugimoto's life many times, most crucially, she's the one who puts down Ogata for good during his last fight with Sugimoto, shooting a poison arrow at his abdomen.
• Ancestral Weapon: Her menokomakiri, a dagger made for women that was crafted for her by her late father, and her traditonal bow, made by herself. Kirawus, a fellow Ainu, finds Asirpa's insistence on using her traditional weaponry strange, but she refuses to use guns for either fighting or hunting, citing that they are too heavy for her small build.
• Anguished Declaration of Love: Delivers a roundabout one to Sugimoto before they go face Tsurumi in the final battle, teling Sugimoto that she doesn't want to lose even the most important person in the world to her.
• Already Done for You: In the lead-up to finding the buried gold, the improbability of Asirpa being able to use the gold for her people is highlighted quite a few times, as she's a young child in the company of trained killers who vastly outstrip her in combat experience, and who would be the ones who would have the final word in what happens to the gold. Not to mention how difficult and time consuming it would be to transport that amount of gold around without it being stolen. Once the party finds where the gold is buried, the group digs up what turns out to be a buried and preserved land deed, that certifies that half of the gold had already been used to buy vast swaths of land for the Ainu people, leaving Asirpa relieved and thankful that her father did find a way to turn the hateful 'Golden Kamuy' into a benevolent one for the sake of the Ainu. Everyone except Asirpa collapses in disappointment from the revelation that the gold had already been spent before they even started to look for it. Slightly subverted as it's immediately revealed by Hijikata that the remaining half of the gold is still buried in Goryōkaku, and thus is still usable, and by that Asirpa decides to see the hunt through to the end alongside her companions, even though she already has what she wanted from it.
• Badass Adorable: Very badass and very adorable, at least when she isn't making hilariously ugly expressions during the funnier and lighthearted moments of the tale.
• Badass Native: She is a Hokkaido Ainu.
• Badasses Wear Bandanas: She wears an Ainu bandana, and is very rarely seen without it.
• Broken Bird: She is noted to have rarely smiled ever since her father died, and only Sugimoto manages to break that stoicism. Sugimoto's apparent death at Abashiri depresses her to the point that she's unable to even speak for days, and only her faith in his improbable survival brings her back to normalcy over time.
• But Not Too Foreign: She's legally Japanese, but is ethnically three quarters Ainu (both Sakhalin and Hokkaido) and one quarter Polish.
• Can't Hold His Liquor: Justified, as she's probably never drunk alcohol before, and has a very small and light frame. Every time she is shown drinking, she quickly gets completely wasted.
• Cerebus Retcon: She is surprisingly adept at hunting and survival in the mountains for a young Ainu girl, especially in a culture where women are expected to to be homemakers and hunting is left to the men. It is mostly presented in a lighthearted way to expose the most interesting parts of Ainu culture, and seemingly give Sugimoto a competent partner in his trek through the Hokkaido wilderness. When Sugimoto meets the real Noppera-Bou/Wilk in Abashiri Prison, the disfigured prisoner confesses that he had been secretly raising his daughter as a freedom fighter that would wage war against the Japanese government for Ainu independence, using hunting and survival training as a pretext to develop her combat skills. This becomes far more shocking since Asirpa doesn't want to kill anyone, yet he planned for her to eventually become a martyr that would kickstart revolution, something that would require her to both kill people and eventually suffer a violent death that would inspire the Ainu to revolt.
• Character Development: After watching a cinematograph (early film), that has footage of both of her parents living happily and peacefully in her village decades before the gold hunt, Asirpa finally understands the significance that finding the gold and putting it to good use would have for her people and the survival of their culture, resolving to find it and easing her doubts on the matter.
• Chekhov's Gunman: She is the only person left who knows how to decipher the code that leads to the gold's location. The other one was her late father. This was deliberate, as Wilk designed the code in such a way that the only one able to solve it would be Asirpa, with the added advantange that it made Asirpa too valuable to kill for anyone looking for the gold. The different factions only solve the code and find the gold's location after acquiring the necessary clues from her.
• The Chiefs Granddaughter: Her late maternal grandfather was the most important man in her village, and her maternal grandmother (Huci) is still revered as a vital authority figure. Her father Wilk was also seen as the would be leader of the united Ainu peoples in their push for independence, at least until it all fell apart due to Tsurumi's machinations.
• Clingy Jealous Girl: Several times, always towards Sugimoto:
  • When Inkarmat expressed her fondness towards handsome men with scars during their first meeting, making Sugimoto feel shy, Asirpa interrupted them by telling Inkarmat that Sugimoto puts poop in his food and eats it, causing Inkarmat to immediately lose interest. Sugimoto, after months of listening to the Ainu language, figured out what Asirpa said, and confronted her about it, which she denied with both a calm expression on her face and evidently red ears, much to Kiroranke's amusement.
  • When a group of Ainu women showed interest in Sugimoto, Asirpa quickly told all of them that Sugimoto puts poop in his food and eats it, adding that he'll do the same to their food, turning them off him instantly.
  • When a drunken Ainu village chief expressed his liking for Sugimoto and offered him to marry his daughter, Asirpa was quick to distract Sugimoto by telling him to smell her hand as she had touched a snake earlier, making both men lose track and ending their conversation.
  • When Ogata figured out that Sugimoto was in the gold hunt to help the widow he was in love with, Asirpa suddenly interrupted the conversation by breaking into a hoparata (crane dance), chanting loudly and gesturing wildly. When Sugimoto asked why she did that, she lost her cool and claimed it was because they had been eating crane meat, all while blushing and refusing to look at him, much to Ogata's amusement. Ogata would later exploit the information he learnt from Asirpa's reaction in his attempt to manipulate her into giving him the key to the gold in Russia.
• Conveniently an Orphan: Her mother died of illness when she was an infant, and her father was murdered when she was around 7. She spent her time in solitude in the mountains honing her hunting and survival skills while grieving his passing.
• Cradle of Loneliness: Asirpa is shown cradling to Retar, the wolf whom she and her late father raised together since he was a pup.
• Curtains Match the Window: Has dark blue hair and dark blue eyes. Her eyes prove her connection to Wilk.
• Daddy's Girl: Asirpa has nothing but fond memories of her late father and praise for his ability as a hunter. He's the one who taught her how to hunt and survive in the harsh Hokkaido wilderness, contrary to how a Ainu girl is traditionally raised. Justified in that her mother died of illness while she was an infant, and that Wilk was raising Asirpa as a revolutionary and partisan who'd fight for the cause of Ainu independence.
• Disappeared Dad: Her father was murdered 6 or 7 years before the story began, and finding out who killed him is her reason to join the gold hunt. As it turns out, Wilk wasn't murdered, but instead had spent all those years as an inmate in Abashiri prison after falsely admitting to the killing of the Ainu chiefs who had gathered the gold. Wilk never informs Asirpa of this, making her believe he had died, in order to both spare her the shame of living as the daughter of a murderer, and to keep Asirpa's existence a secret from Tsurumi, protecting her from the lieutenant's revenge.
• Earn Your Happy Ending: After going through an indescribable amount of pain, loss and tragedy, Asirpa ends up getting everything she wanted out of the gold hunt. She manages to find out the kind of person her father truly was and what happened to him, finally making peace with the fact that he's gone. She's able to keep her culture alive and improve the future of her people for generations to come thanks to the land deed, securing deals with the Japanese government for the rest of her life, and the gold doesn't cause further any carnage. Asirpa ends her story going back home to live with Sugimoto, who she has grown close to over the course of their adventure..
• Everyone's Baby Sister: Asirpa is well beloved by almost the entire recurring cast, even those that are working against her. This is due to a mix of her nice, magnetic personality, her reliability in and out of battle, being central to solving the code within the tattoos, and her status as everyone's beacon of morality. Even the sociopathic Ogata is somewhat nice to her, even if it's just out of pragmatism. It ends up playing a crucial role in Ogata's death, as he associates her virtue and refusal to compromise it with the one his late brother Yuusaku had, whom he had murdered after failing to corrupt him. It causes Ogata to start feeling guilt over his actions for the first time in his life, and unable to shoot her, he shoots himself instead.
• Exact Words: "I won't kill you" (emphasis added). Said during the fight with Ogata in Russia, who dares her to break her vow to never kill anyone. Cue a very angry Sugimoto right behind him.
• Fire-Forged Friends: With Sugimoto after they work together to kill a man-eating brown bear.
• Friendless Background: While Asirpa is shown to be well liked in her village, her grandmother informs Sugimoto that Asirpa has never had a friend before. Justified by Asirpa when she explains her refusal to interact with the bear cub Sugimoto found, knowing the bear would end up being sacrificed. Since Asirpa has had both her father and her companion Retar dissappear from her life, she protects herself from experiencing the pain of separation again by keeping her distance and not forming bonds with anyone.
• Foreshadowing: Early in the story, Asirpa removes the meat of the area hit by her poison arrows, in order to prevent the poison from spreading throughout the prey and spoiling the meat. When Tanigaki is poisoned, Asirpa cutting off a chunk of the affected area in his leg saves Tanigaki from certain death. Kumagishi Chouan, who was hit in the abdomen, was impossible for Asirpa to save, as cutting it off would've killed him just as fast as the poison would. During Ogata and Sugimoto's last fight, she purposefully pierces the sniper in the abdomen with her poisoned arrow, ensuring his demise.
• Gender Is No Object: Surprisingly, most of the cast doesn't call attention to her gender, even though the series takes place during early 20th century Japan/Russia and Ainu culture expects women to be traditional homemakers. The only exception is Asirpa's grandmother, who worries that her granddaughter's lack of skill in traditionally feminine tasks will prevent her from getting married.
• Good Cannot Comprehend Evil: She asks why Anehata would kill the animals with whom he's made love if he knew how wrong his actions were. Her first meeting with Tsurumi ends in this as well, as she decides that the man is insane and there's no negotiation possible with him.
• Good Is Old-Fashioned: Downplayed. Asirpa follows and cherishes her Ainu culture, but ignores some of it's customs such as getting her mouth tattooed, as she's around the age to do so and steadily refuses to get one, and believing in divination, which goes against her belief that fate is not predetermined and can always be changed. Her initial dislike for Inkarmat stems from this.
• Gratuitous Foreign Language: She'll use Ainu words and terms in her speech, especially in those times that there are no Japanese equivalents that serve to explain a concept or introduce something new.
• Hair Color Dissonance: She's portrayed in the manga artwork and the anime as having dark blue highlights in her black hair. Her hair is outright dark blue on the covers for Volumes 2 and 11 of the manga.
• Hunter Trapper: Asirpa is skilled at hunting and setting up traps, which is how the party obtains most of it's sustenance and funds.
• Hypocrite: Asirpa has a rule against eating man-killing animals, but often finds excuses to eat them anyway. While she refuses to kill anyone, she aides several murders by her actions during combat. And once she remembers the key to finding the gold, she delays telling Sugimoto, fully aware of how urgently he needs the gold and the immense danger it puts everyone in, just so he'd have to remain by her side longer, because of her fear Sugimoto will abandon her once he finds the gold to return to Umeko.
• I Do Not Like Green Eggs and Ham: At one point, Asirpa becomes convinced that miso is poop and refuses to eat it. When she forces herself to try a Japanese dish with miso, she finds it delicious. She continues to call it poop regardless.
• I Know Your True Name: Hijikata knows the Japanese name she has in the family registry. It's "Asuko Kochoube", the one clue Noppera-Bou gave Hijikata about Asirpa's real identity.
• Incorruptible Pure Pureness: Asirpa is by far the most morally upstanding member of the cast, refusing to break her vow to never kill anyone despite all the atrocities she goes through, maintaining her moral code at all costs. Sugimoto goes above and beyond trying to help her in keeing her vowm not wanting her to become a murderer like him, being well aware of the devastating effects that the ensuing trauma has.
• Innocent Blue Eyes: Asirpa has dark blue eyes, and her innocence relative to the rest of the cast (while she is a ruthless hunter, she's no warrior or murderer) is something Sugimoto is fiercely protective of. It becomes plot-relevant when it's revealed her father came from Russia and her eyes confirm her link to Noppera-Bou, a Russian-born partisan.
• Insistent Terminology: Sugimoto is her partner, (aibō) and they refer to each other that way and no other for the entire story. However, her relationship chart in the fanbook has Sugimoto listed as her "Partner?", questioning if she "secretly harbors some feelings deeper than that". As it turns out, she does, as she has a crush on him.
• Jabba Table Manners: One omake has Asirpa somehow managing to get a whole boiled otter's head stuck to her cheek while eating without her noticing it.
• Jack of All Trades: If it's hunting or mountaineering related, she can do it and do it well, be it hunting, first aid, trapping, horse riding, archery, etc.
• Jeanne d'Archétype: Invoked. Wilk had been secretly raising to be a freedom fighter who would wage war against the Japanese government for Ainu independence, using hunting and survival training as a pretext. Once Sugimoto finds out, he calls him out for trying to make her some kind of Ainu Joan of Arc because it would mean she'd have to be a murderer and eventually die a martyr.
• Little Miss Badass: Asirpa is only 12 or 13 years old, and though she doesn't fight people directly most of the time, she's still a very competent combatant and the most adept survivalist and hunter of the group. In fact, she was hunting bears with her father since she was around 7. It turns out Wilk had been raising her into becoming a freedom fighter who'd wage war against the Japanese government for Ainu independence, using hunting and survival training as a pretext to train and develop her fighting skills.
• Long Hair Is Feminine: Played with. She is the only girl of Sugimoto's group and has the longest hair down to her mid-back. However, she has no skill in typically female occupations, much to her grandmother's worry.
• Luminescent Blush: Whenever she blushes, her ears will go bright red.
• Master Poisoner: Asirpa can cook up deadly poison able to take down bears, and that can kill humans with ease.
• Meaningful Name: Asirpa means "new year" but can also mean "future" in Ainu, reflecting why she calls herself an Ainu woman for a new era, while she respects Ainu traditions, she doesn't follow all of them blindly. Meanwhile, her Japanese name, Asuko Kochoube, comes from the Japanese word for tomorrow (asu) and a locational surname derived from Kochōbetsu in Tōbuchi, Sakhalin. The first name roughly corresponds to her Ainu name, while the surname foreshadows that her father is a half-Polish half-Sakhalin Ainu settler. As her father wanted her to become a figurehead for an eventual Ainu uprising, her names take on a much darker meaning, since she was meant to kickstart the Ainu future through revolution and martyrdom.
• Ms. Exposition: About the Ainu culture, their food, customs and tradtions.
• Never Learned to Read: She's illiterate. Justified as Ainu is a spoken language and that she never went to school, refusing to do so in spite of her father's insistence that she did.
• Obsessed with Food: No matter where the party is, she is always eager to hunt any animal they encounter, so she can cook it and eat it.
• Pelts of the Barbarian: Asirpa wears a fur over her clothes to protect herself from the cold. It came from Retar's deceased parents.
• Phenotype Stereotype: Hijikata speculates early on that Asirpa must have Russian ancestry upon seeing hints of green in her blue pupils. It's later revealed that her father, Wilk, is indeed a Russian born Ainu-Polish man.
• Please, Don't Leave Me: She begged Retar to stay with her when he heard the howl of another wolf, to no avail. Her anguish leads her to cry for her deceased father, the root of her abandonment issues. She later fears at various points that Sugimoto will abandon her as well, but in the end her fears are eased since Sugimoto not only stayed with her until the gold hunt was done, but chose to remain by her side after the gold hunt had ended.
• Poisoned Weapon: Armed with a wooden bow with a string that she made of a whale's dorsal muscle, and equipped with deadly poisoned arrows.
• Precocious Crush: She has an increasing one on her partner Sugimoto, who's roughly twice her age. It ends up causing trouble for her in many ocassions, since her feelings for him cause Asirpa to delay telling Sugimoto the key to find the gold so he stays by her side longer, and both Ogata and Boutarou exploit this in order to gain an advantage in the gold hunt in different ways. Ogata does it by heavily suggesting that Sugimoto died while still in love with Umeko, something Asirpa had been dreading since the very moment she heard of Sugimoto's past, and Boutarou by constantly encouraging her to pursue and be bolder with her feelings, so that she gives up the gold hunt in order to be with Sugimoto.
• Protectorate: Develops a mutual one with Sugimoto, as protecting each other's lives ends up being just as important, if not more, as finding the gold is to them, and they will to go any lengths, no matter how extreme, to make sure the other survives. Their efforts ultimately succeed as both survive the gold hunt.
• Running Gag: Several:
  • If a cute animal shows up with her in the cover, no matter how jovial the situation, expect Asirpa to brutally hunt it in the next page.
  • She's convinced that miso is poop. Even after eating it and finding it delicious, it's still poop to her.
  • In spite of the impressively broad Ainu cuisine shown in the series, she continously serves Sugimoto brains, eyes and other seemingly unappetizing parts, much to his reticence.
  • Many times it will look like Asirpa has made a breakthrough or found something crucial, only for it to be revealed to be poop instead.
• Secret-Keeper: A non-private situation; once she remembers the key to solve the gold hunt, she initially decides to not pass the code to her partner Sugimoto, due to her many fears that he'd abandon her, that he'd put himself in increasing and possibly mortal danger with no one around to help him, and because she's in love with him.
• Shipper on Deck: She thinks that Tanigaki and Inkarmat should marry.
• Skewed Priorities: Asirpa running out of her favorite seasoning draws a far more emotional reaction from her than being told that her father is indeed the infamous murderer Noppera-bou.
• The Smurfette Principle: She is the only female member of Sugimoto's group.
• Spell My Name With An S: Asirpa can be alternatively spelled as "Ashiripa" when spelled in katakana, which is the spelling used in the official French translations.
• Supreme Chef: In spite of being repeatedly stated to be poor at typically femenine skills, and the unusual (for the Japanese) ingredients and appearance of her traditonal Ainu dishes, there's no doubt that Asirpa is a fantastic cook. Sugimoto certainly thinks so, telling Asirpa in the last chapter that he enjoys her cooking more than the luxury food available in Tokyo, and lists this as one of the reasons why he wishes to stay with her, much to her joy.
• Team Chef: She's the one in charge of all the cooking.
• Thank Your Prey: Asirpa thanks her prey by making use of anything possible from them, following the Ainu belief that it honours the departed animal's life to do so.
• Thou Shalt Not Kill: Humans she won't kill no matter what, hunting any animal is fair game. She strictly adheres to this code no matter what happens. When she learns that her father is a mass murderer, she weeps out of disappointment. Even after Kiroranke continuously exposes her to the multiple injustices that the Japanese and Russian governments have subjected the Ainu and other Far Eastern indigenous peoples and the reprehensible exploitation of their natural resources, Asirpa still wonders if the gold is worth finding at all, since it will fund more bloodshed and further tragedy. All her experiences ultimately lead her to initially conclude that the gold is cursed and should remain buried forever.
• Training from Hell: She went through very harsh training in survivalism since early childhood by her late father, Wilk, with the secret goal of her becoming a freedom fighter waging war against the Japanese government for Ainu independence. Judging from what is shown in the series, it involved making her hunt a bear alone when she was 7 or younger. As a result, she's the most adept survivalist and hunter in Sugimoto's group if not the whole series, as has a vast array of skills that keep the group alive in their trek many times.
• Trap Master: As a hunter, Asirpa is skilled at setting traps, not only for animals, but humans as well. It's via this method that they capture the first convict, and how they meet Shiraishi.
• Tyke-Bomb: Wilk trained her for hunting and survival since her early childhood as a pretext to [turn her into a freedom fighter for the Ainu against the Japanese government. Sugimoto, having experienced the horrors of war firsthand, calls him out on going to such extreme lengths for the cause of independence and for putting Asirpa in such danger, figuring out that she would need to die a martyr for the cause.
• What Beautiful Eyes!: Several characters comment on it more than once, particularly Sugimoto.
• Wise Beyond Their Years: For a 12 to 13 year old girl, she is quite mature and calm considering all she goes through. However, her relatives are quick to point out that for all her maturity, she's deep down still a fragile, lonely little girl who's still grieving her father's death.
• You Killed My Father: Her motivation to join the gold hunt and partnering with Sugimoto is find out who killed her father, and to get revenge on her father's murderer. Although Wilk turned out to be alive, he eventually was murdered by Ogata, and Asirpa played a key role in Ogata's eventual suicide, indirectly fulfilling her revenge.
• Your Favorite: Boutarou quickly figures out that Asirpa's eagerness to cook up salted brains every place she's at is due to it having become Sugimoto's favourite food, and spells out what she's attempting to achieve by it, much to her embarrassment.

Shiraishi Yoshitake "The Escape King"

Voiced by: Kentarō Itō (Japanese), Ben Phillips (English)

One of the Abashiri escapees, a convicted burglar and serial jailbreaker. As his nickname suggests, his unique talent is to be able to escape from any kind of prison or restraint without fail. Impressed by Sugimoto and Asirpa's determination, he decides to gamble on their success and supports them whenever he can. Unfortunately, he proves useless whenever "escape" is not part of the plan.

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• Accidental Misnaming: Shiraishi is called the "Excrement King" by Asirpa. It takes a good 50 chapters until she feels he's trustworthy enough and properly calls him "Escape King".
• A Lighter Shade of Black: One of the few sympathetic convicts. It helps that he isn't a murderer, and while he is a career criminal, Shiraishi is fairly harmless.
• Amusing Injuries: Various animals bite Shiraishi on the head, to his dismay. He's also prone to get smacked, but unlike Sugimoto's severe injuries, Shiraishi is never shown to be seriously hurt.
• Badass Boast:
  • He utters a one-time boast when they ask him if he could break into a certain prison to speak with a convict in there.
    "I've been thrown into every single prison they've got in this country! But there wasn't a single one of them... that I couldn't break out of."
  • He boasts about his legendary skill to frighten a particularly annoying prison guard.
    (To an annoying guard, while in prison) "Really, you shouldn't bully me too much... or I'll break out when you're the one on duty."
• Boys Like Creepy Critters: Shiraishi used to have a pet lizard and a pet rhinoceros beetle. It turns out the beetle is an empty shell in which Shiraishi hides small objects such as the copy of his cell's lock's key.
• Bunny-Ears Lawyer: He is generally an incompetent idiot most of the time, but he's an invaluable information source for the party, his ability for breaking in and out of places is undeniable, and it comes in handy several times. In a cast filled to be brim with with combat monsters, genius masterminds and various powerful parties attempting to acquire the famed gold, it's Shiraishi who gets the Ainu gold in the end.
• But Now I Must Go: He parts ways with Sugimoto and Asirpa in the finale without saying goodbye, stating that he doesn’t like teary farewells.
• Butt-Monkey: The one character who draws the short end of all the jokes involving him.
• Casanova Wannabe: His attempt at seducing Ienaga is pathetic, to say the least. It's stated by Noda that Shiraishi has never had a girlfriend, and all of his romantic experience comes from paying prostitutes. Fittingly, the last time we see him, he's walking right into Yoshiwara, the famous red light district of Tokyo.
• Conveniently an Orphan: He was abandoned in a temple when he was a baby, and doesn't have any known relatives.
• Crazy-Prepared: He keeps many items in his stomach that do come in handy whenever he's bound, like a cartridge full of gunpowder to break locks.
• Crippling Overspecialization: If you need to escape, he's your guy. Anything else, better look for someone different.
• Deliberate Injury Gambit: Shiraishi can easily dislocate his joints, enabling him to pass through narrow orifices or escape arm locks. Not even Ushiyama could hold him down.
• Earn Your Happy Ending: After suffering humiliating misfortune after humiliating misfortune throughout Sugimoto and Asirpa’s adventure, it’s Shiraishi who manages to get away with the Ainu gold, eventually becoming the king of an island somewhere off the coast of Burma, fulfilling the late Boutarou's lifelong dream.
• Enemy Mine: His initial confrontation with Sugimoto is interrupted after they both fall into a frigid lake. They agree to a truce so they can not die from the cold.
• Escape Artist: Shiraishi's specialty. He's extremly nimble and knows his way around locks, but also exploits the organization of the prisons themselves to his advantage, having such an understanding of prison life that in one ocassion, he pays a prisoner to snitch on him on purpose to aid his own escape.
• Exact Words: During Sugimoto's capture by the 7th Division at the start of the manga, Shiraishi made a deal with Asirpa, that he'll help her rescue Sugimoto, in exchange, he gets a share of the gold, which she agreed to, as long as Shiraishi shared his part with Sugimoto. When Asirpa tearfully begged before the final battle to let the gold remain buried, to not ever go back to the well and forget about the gold entirely, she was directing her words towards Sugimoto, who abided by her request. So Shiraishi did exactly it was as agreed, and grabbed his share at the end of the manga, since he was the only both able and allowed to do so by those terms.
• The Friend Nobody Likes: Shiraishi proves so annoying at times that almost no one from either Sugimoto or Hijikata's group wishes to put in the effort of saving him when he's captured by the 7th Division. Only Sugimoto volunteers to save him.
• Le Parkour: Shiraishi is a practitioner of this.
• Lovable Rogue: He is a convict, but is portrayed sympathetically and comically throughout the story.
• Master of Disguise: He briefly infiltrated the 7th Division headquarters and slipped away unnoticed, disguised as one of their soldiers.
• The Millstone: Shiraishi screws up a lot. One notable instance is him tripping and dropping a bag of bombs into a fire while trying to escape Ienaga's hotel, not only putting the whole group in mortal danger, but also forcing them to stop their hunt for the gold to replenish their supplies. The other is when Hijikata kept providing him with countless chances to escape for the 7th Division through various ruses and disguises, only for Shiraishi to miss every single one of them. Hijikata, frustrated, ultimately ends up cutting off the ropes holding up the bridge Shiraishi and the soldiers were on, which finally allows Shiraishi to escape.
• The Mole: Shiraishi secretly works for Hijikata's team after being coerced into occasionally feeding them intel or giving copies of Sugimoto's skins. However, the copies he gives them of the skins are fakes, letting Sugimoto know he really didn't want to betray them.
• No Historical Figures Were Harmed: Based on and named after Yoshie Shiratori, who escaped prison 4 separate times. In the museum that the historic Abashiri Prison was converted into, a statue of Shiratori escaping through the skylight in his underwear is attached to the ceiling.
• Non-Action Guy: Shiraishi is not a fighter, nor is he brave. Whenever trouble occurs, he flees or hides.
• No-Respect Guy: Nobody respects him, nobody. Even animals have no respect for him, with Ryū putting him bottom last of his respect list.
• Politically Incorrect Hero: When he first meets Sugimoto and Asirpa, he asks the war veteran if she is his pet Ainu "dog" and if she knows any tricks, a clearly racist insult based on Ainu sounding phonetically similar to dog (inu) in Japanese. Sugimoto, utterly outraged at the insult to his partner, threatens to make him unable to speak and is about to break his jaw with his bare hands, before Asirpa stops him, saying she's used to being hearing things like that and worse because of her Ainu heritage, so it's not a big deal. Sugimoto internally laments in anger that no one should need to get used to hear such things, and spares him. Shiraishi wisely decides to never have such an attitude with Asirpa from that point on, and to his credit, he never again does so.
• Red Baron: "The Escape King"
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here:
  • In Chapter 91, Shiraishi tries to run away from the party because he knows Sugimoto will learn that he's been working for Hijikata the entire time and as seen in his nightmare, he fears he'll be brutally murdered for it. However, Sugimoto puts the issue behind him, as he checked the skins Shiraishi gave to Hijakata and saw that they were fakes, meaning that, while Shiraishi did work for someone else, he never betrayed them.
  • Subverted later in Karafuto. Kiroranke and Ogata tell him he doesn't need to accompany them anymore as their next travels will be very dangerous, and Shiraishi has tried and failed to convince Asirpa to escape with him. The group parts ways, but immediately after the fact, Shiraishi recalls the many times Sugimoto entrusted Asirpa's safety to him should anything bad happen, and Shiraishi can't bring himself to leave her alone in Ogata and Kiroranke's company, knowing how dangerous they are. He rejoins the group immediately.
• "Shaggy Dog" Story: Shiraishi's flashback involves him endlessly looking for Sister Miyazawa, a nun based on a lousy portrait made by Kumagishi Chouan, breaking out of various prisons before inevitably getting recaptured by the police and imprsioned again, only to escape once more and repeat the process until he got locked up in the prison the nun worked at. In the end, he gets his wish and meets the sister, who ends up looking exactly like how the "lousy" portrait made by Kumagishi depicted her.
• Stating the Simple Solution: He has a knack for finding simple solutions to aid Sugimoto and Asirpa. Firstly, he said that rather than locate the convicts bearing tattoos, they should locate the author of the codes, which kicks off the Abashiri Prison arc.
  • Later on, he brings up the event of Noppera-Bo taking part of the gold and his ship capsizing as a reference that that specific gold could be used to trace where the majority's location, thus removing the need for gathering all the tattooed skins.
  • At the end, he comes up with the most basic, yet most effective way to get the Ainu gold, by simply returning to Goryōkaku, digging up the gold from inside the well, and carying it away, sometime between the 3 years that passed between his last meeting with Asirpa and Sugimoto in Tokyo, and sending them his letter from Burma.
• Stealth Hi/Bye: A constant with him, as he usually pops out of nowhere to say hi and vanishes just as suddenly. Does it in the very last chapter twice, when he walks away unnoticed from Sugimoto and Asirpa, wishing them luck in the future before they realize he's gone, and in the very last page of the manga, where he sends them a letter 3 years later revealing he took the gold and became king of a Burmese island.
• Stomach of Holding: He keeps some items in his stomach he ties to his teeth for later regurgitation, such as a small razor blade, needle, wires or even cartridges.
• Sweet Tooth: Shiraishi always has candy on him, as the page showing his equipment only lists two patches on the knees of his pants where he stores some. In chapter 92, when he's captured by a platoon of soldiers, the only way Hijitaka has found to catch his attention while the soldiers kept on being distracted was to disguise himself as a sweets merchant.
• This Looks Like a Job for Aquaman: Discussed. Shiraishi's sole talent is escaping from prison, which isn't particularly useful when most of the manga is spent fighting people to the death in the Hokkaido wilderness.
• Tunnel King: Shiraishi can dig through any kind of tunel, no matter how narrow it is or what it's made of. When evading Asirpa and Retar, he easily dug through the snow.

Vasily Pavlichenko

Voiced by: Yuichiro Umehara (Japanese), Josh Grelle (English)

More of an associate by mutual goals compared to the rest of the core group, Vasily is a Russian border guard who was wounded and had his unit was wiped out by Ogata and Kiroranke. After this event, he deserted from the Russian army where he would join Sugimoto's party to have his revenge on Ogata.

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• Cold Sniper: Had no problem shooting an old man in the head during an ambush, simply for carrying the best rifle, and is said by Ogata to be able to listen to his friends wounded cries for help all night long without batting an eye nor feeling any impulse to help them. He also shoots a 7th Division soldier in the head after being told by Asirpa to just shoot him on the foot.
• Enemy Mine: Vasily and Sugimoto have a deep seated mutual grudge against Ogata and thus are easily able to become allies in order to kill him, in spite of communication between the two being nearly impossible and knowing nothing about the other.
• Facial Horror: Covers up the bottom half of his face after being shot in the jaw by Ogata. By Chapter 245, it appears to have healed and scarred over, the scar being more prominent on his left cheek where the bullet exited from.
• Handicapped Badass: Is left unable to speak properly due to Ogata shooting him in the jaw, destroying his molars in the process. Since then, Vasily could only communicate through gestures, drawings and mumbles, but is easily up there with Ogata as the best marksman in the series.
• Hidden Depths: Revealed to be a talented artist who when not sniping makes very accurate drawings of people, landscapes and animals. In the epilogue, a painting he made inspired by Ogata's nickname got sold for 300 million yen after his death.
• Mother Russia Makes You Strong: A durable and stoic Russian sniper, who shrugs off damage without major fuss. Neither his maiming by Ogata or Sugimoto attacking him during their first meeting managed to put him down. The epilogue revealed he lived at least until 1940, a good 30 years after the events of Golden Kamuy, being one of the few survivors of the gold hunt.
• No Historical Figures Were Harmed: His sniping skills and mouth injury are a reference to Finnish sharpshooter Simo Häyhä. He's also named after Soviet sniper Vasily Zaitsev. In the epilogue his surname is revealed to be Pavlichenko, the surname of another legendary Soviet sniper, Lyudmila Pavlichenko.
• Sixth Ranger: Tried to kill the gold hunters while Asirpa was still traveling with Ogata and Kiroranke, and shoots at them again after being reunited with Sugimoto under the belief Ogata and Kiroranke still remained with them. Ends up becoming a member of the team after following them around for a while and joins them in their escape from Sakhalin.
• Talking with Signs: He doesn't speak any Japanese, and his injury left him unable to talk, so he has to communicate with Sugimoto and his group using drawings, mumbles and gestures.
• The Voiceless: After Ogata shoots him on the jaw, damaging it permanently.

Former Members

Retar

A white-furred Hokkaido wolf who follows Asirpa and helps her from time to time. Thought to be the last Hokkaido wolf in existence.

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• Badass Adorable: Has a sweet personality around Asirpa and Asirpa alone, and is still a proud, dangerous wolf around everyone else.
• Big Damn Heroes: Regularly appears to save Asirpa during the start of the story.
• But Now I Must Go: Twice. First, when years before the story he left Asirpa's side after hearing howling calling for him, devastating her. After he and his mate save Asirpa from Nihei, Asirpa realises Retar had left her that night because he had a mate and a family to go to, and so they both part ways once more, this time forever.
• Canis Major: Big enough for Asirpa to ride him.
• Demoted to Extra: His prominence in the story greatly decreases following the group's struggle with Nihei. Understandably, Asirpa doesn't want to endanger Retar's life any further or risk him kiling a human, so she deliberately keeps her distance from him, which marks his exit from the story.
• Horse of a Different Color: His large size, combined with her small build, enables Asirpa to ride him like a horse.
• Last of His Kind: May be the last Hokkaido wolf on existence. It turns out Retar has a mate and cubs.
• Meaningful Name: "Retar" means "White".
• Sugar-and-Ice Personality: He acts like a wolf in public, but acts more like a big dog with Asirpa alone. When Sugimoto shows up, he immediately goes back to a dignified, prideful wolf.
• Surprise Litter of Puppies: He is friendly towards Asirpa and used to live with her until he left her to live in the wild. He's later revealed to have left because he found a mate and had several cubs with her.

Kiroranke

Voiced by: Masaki Terasoma (Japanese), Ricco Fajardo (English)

A fellow Ainu old friend of Wilk, whom Asirpa regards as an uncle, and who's also a veteran of the Russo-Japanese War. He soon cooperates with Asirpa, Sugimoto, and Shiraishi in the gold hunt right after meeting them, in spite of Sugimoto's wariness about his character. It's eventually revealed that Kiroranke fooled everyone, assisting Ogata in the murder of Wilk, and took advantage of the carange and confusion after the failed assault on Abashiri prison to abduct Asirpa and take her to Sakhalin, exposing his motivations and past as a former revolutionary and terrorist with the goal of achieving independence for the ethnic minorities living in Far Eastern Russia and Northern Japan. His true name is Yulbars.

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• Ambiguously Evil: During and after his introduction, he's shown in a far shadier light than anyone else that joined the party up to that moment. He reveals his true colours after he stabs Inkarmat in the stomach with his makiri, and assists Ogata in killing his old comrade, Wilk. He is in fact a former revolutionary aiming to liberate Hokkaido from Japanese control to achieve independence for the Ainu and the rest of the Far Eastern Russian indigenous peoples. He was also a ruthless terrorist in his youth, being responsible alongside Wilk for the assassination of Czar Alexander II, and remains a wanted criminal in Russia even decades after the regicide.
• Animal Motifs: Tigers. They are his namesake, since his real name is Yulbars, which means tiger in the Tartar language.
• All Love Is Unrequited: Sofia, the love of his life, only saw him as a younger brother, and even after decades had passed and Wilk, the man Sofia longed for, was no longer alive, she didn't see Kiroranke any differently than she always did.
• Arc Villain: Takes over as the main antagonist alongside with Ogata during the Karafuto arc, after he abducts Asirpa to take her to her father's homeland in an attempt to make her remember the key to finding the gold.
• Awesomeness by Analysis: Can predict the outcome of a horserace just by observing the horses, and accurately explain how Inkarmat could predict the results of the race as well. His analytical abilities help him derail the Abashiri assault, splintering the party so that no one capable of stopping his actions would be around him, silencing Inkarmat, successfully assiting Ogata in murdering Wilk and abducting Asirpa in the chaos.
• Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: When Asirpa, Sugimoto, and Shiraishi first meet him, Kiroranke comes across a genuinely kind and friendly man, even Sugimoto isn't fully convinced of his demeanour. As it turns out, Kiroranke is a ruthless, murderous partisan who inflicts far more damage to the party than anyone they had met before, assisting in Asirpa's father's murder, and Sugimoto's near fatal shooting by Ogata.
• Bomb-Throwing Anarchists: He was a member of the "People's Will" revolutionary movement in late 19th century Russia and assassinated Czar Alexander II alongside Wilk by a grenade throw.
• Born in the Saddle: Kiroranke has been close to horses since youth, which is not so surprisingly considering that the Ainu during the Meiji Era had a reputation for being very good horsemen. Not only he knows how to analyze their behavior, but also he can also outpace experienced jockeys on a heavier than usual horse, in spite of his very large build, and with a horrible head start to boot.
• But Not Too Foreign: He's a Russian born Sakhalin Ainu-Tartar man. The fanbook reveals neither him or Wilk were raised or felt Ainu, they just chose to live amongst them once they got to Hokkaido.
• Chubby Chaser: He prefers his women big and plump, with his wife's stocky build being an example of his preferences. Sofia's plump appearance in her midde age delights him immensely.
• Demolitions Expert: Part of his former job as a sapper, and Kiroranke has a bag of grenades he carries everywhere.
• The Engineer: Kiroranke's job in the Army was that of a combat engineer or zapper, and proved invaluable to the Japanese army with his ability to make ready to use grenades in no time.
• Instant Soprano: His reaction when Tanigaki accidentally grabbed his nether regions when fleeing stark naked in the darkness, as they were being attacked at an onsen in a pitch black night.
• Karmic Death: Tanigaki stabs him the same way Kiroranke stabbed Inkarmat in Abashiri, with the exact same blade to boot. He makes sure to make Kiroranke aware of this.
  Tanigaki: You left this at Abashiri prison...and I came to return it.
• Large and in Charge: He's certainly a big, muscular man, and after he abducts Asirpa alongside Ogata, Kiroranke is the one calling the shots during their trek in Karafuto.
• Last Words: He dies calling out the name of the woman he loved.
  Kiroranke: Sofia!!
• Love Triangle: Was involved in one that ultimately only had losers. Kiroranke was instantly smitten with Sofia during their youth as revolutionaries in Russia, but she only ever had eyes for Wilk, who in turn never had any romantic interest on her.
• Manipulative Bastard: Once he manages to separate Asirpa from Sugimoto, Kiroranke wastes no time in manipulating her into sympathizing for the plight of the indigenous populations of Karafuto, in order to turn her against the Japanese and Russian governments. It works, but not in the way Kiroranke intended, as Asirpa's resolve to help her people strengthens now that her worldview has broadened, but she still doesn't show any interest in starting the violent revolution Kiroranke had hoped for.
• Rapid Hair Growth: He shaves his beard off to disguise himself as a jockey in chapter 61. It grows back into a stubble minutes after the race ends.
• Smoking Is Cool: A cool and stylish man, who always has his pipe and tobacco box at hand.
• Unrequited Love Lasts Forever: Neither the decades that passed, nor marrying a different woman and having several children with her helped Kiroranke move on from his feelings towards Sofia. His last words and thoughts as he dies are about her.
• Well-Intentioned Extremist: He's a freedom fighter and proud advocate for minority populations, but his ruthless, unscrupulous behavior causes him more trouble than it's worth and ultimately gets him killed, stabbed by Tanigaki in revenge for his attempt to murder Inkarmat.
• We Used to Be Friends: His friendship with Wilk got ruined beyond repair shortly after Asirpa's birth, because Wilk changed his mind and abandoned their plans about revolution and independence in favour of building a world that his daughter could live in instead, something that enraged Kiroranke over all the sacrifices he and Sofia had made for a cause that his friend no longer cared for. A conflict ensued, and Wilk got the upper hand in their brief fight, and they'd never be in good terms ever again, with Kiroranke even assisting Wilk's murder at Abashiri years later.

Former Private First Class Tanigaki Genjirou

Voiced by: Yoshimasa Hosoya (Japanese), David Matranga (English)

A Matagi soldier who serves in the 7th Division, and a veteran of the Russo-Japanese war. Initially, he's shown chasing Asirpa in the hunt for the skins, until Retar attacks him savagely, leaving him at death's door and unable to fight. His recovery and a chance encounter with the legendary hunter Nihei Tetsuzou leads him to reevaluate who he wishes to be, as he's torn between his Matagi heritage and his duty as a soldier.

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• Agony of the Feet: Injures his feet by playing with a pair of sey-pirakka, a children's toy made out of seashells that works as pretend shoes that Osoma was playing with. They obviously break under his weight, into many sharp shards that slice his feet open, putting him in utter agony and desperately calling for Huci's help.
• A Lighter Shade of Black: Definitely the most stable and morally upstanding 7th Division member.
• Badasses Wear Bandanas: Tanigaki switches to an Ainu bandana while recovering in the village.
• Borrowed Catchphrase: "Boner!" It's his go to word for both motivation and celebration. He inherited it from Nihei.
• Butt-Monkey: Ties with Shiraishi as the unluckiest party member at times, as in various moments he gets the short of end of the stick, being mocked by other characters for his clumsiness, getting mistaken for Anehata by the Ainu, and getting kicked off the sled of Enonoka's grandfather by Sugimoto for being too heavy.
• The Cavalry: Returns during the final battle to help, just in time to rescue Asirpa from falling and losing the land deed. He gets a bullet to the abdomen from Tsurumi to for his troubles.
• Clear My Name: Because Anehata stole his rifle and used it to kill a doe the scholar had raped, the Ainu think Tanigaki's the culprit and want to punish him by crippling him, forcing the soldier to flee.
• Cold Sniper: He is handy with a rifle, and can handle himself in snipe fight in spite of having an equipment disavantage and carrying a severe injury. Moreover, Tanigaki, as an experienced hunter, puts his knowledge to good use, gaining an advantage over purely military sharpshooters.
• Conflicting Loyalties: Between his unit, his Matagi heritage, and his deeply rooted morals. He also feels indebted to the Ainu and particularly Huci for nursing him back to health, and later his love for Inkarmat is thrown into the mix. Although he deserts from the 7th Division early on, Tanigaki doesn't really wish to fight them and mostly stays neutral in the gold hunt due to his conflicting loyalties.
• Earn Your Happy Ending: After being thrown around by all parties involved and put in mortal danger multiple times because of a treasure hunt he doesn't really care about, Tanigaki is able to leave Hokkaido alive, returning to Ani with his wife Inkarmat and their infant daughter. They go on to build a large, happy family, having 15 children together.
• Egomaniac Hunter: Wants to kill Retar solely out of his pride as a hunter.
• Even Evil Has Standards: Tanigaki is a ruthless hunter and a war veteran, but killing innocent people is something he won't do.
• Evil Poacher: Tanigaki wants to hunt down the last Hokkaido wolf, solely out of his huntng passion and for no real gain.
• Foil: To all other soldiers or former soldier characters. A major theme in the series is how war irremediably changes people and not everyone can change back to who they used to be once they rejoin civil society. By spending time in Asirpa's village, Tanigaki managed to put his past as a soldier behind him, in contrast to people like Tsurumi, Ogata and Sugimoto, who remain anchored to their pasts and what they've done and lost due to war.
• Going Native: Downplayed. He starts wearing customary Hokkaido Ainu clothing after Asirpa's grandmother shelters him, but remains faithful to his Matagi heritage and doesn't act Ainu.
• Handicapped Badass: Even if he needs crutches to walk, he is perfectly capable of killing his foes.
• Heel–Face Turn: He quickly deserts from the 7th Division, refusing to kill innocent people. Justified as he never intended to become a soldier in the first place. He's unique in being the only member of Sugimoto's party who has absolutely zero interest in the gold, unlike Asirpa who, while conflicted over it during most of the tale, still wishes to find it.
• Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: An poisoned arrow designed to take out deers pierces his leg. He barely survives the ordeal thanks to the quick actions of Asirpa and later by Huci's medical care.
• Intergenerational Friendship: With Cikapasi, bonding over their mutual interest on hunting.
• I Owe You My Life: Asirpa and Huci saved his life early in the story when he got poisoned. Out of gratitude, Tanigaki promises to Huci that he'll make sure Asirpa returns safe and sound to her village.The ending proves that, although he wasn't the one to bring her back, Tanigaki fulfilled his oath as Asirpa safely returned to the village.
• Life-or-Limb Decision: A big chunk of his leg had to be removed to extract the deadly poison from the arrow that hit him.
• Manly Men Can Hunt: He is a skilled hunter, on par with Asirpa.
• Manly Tears: Twice.
  • Tanigaki shed many during the war as he listened to his brother-in-law Kenkichi, who finally told him the truth about Fumi, Tanigaki's beloved late sister, and how her demise really occured.
  • He also weeps openly again when Inkarmat gives birth to their daughter.
• Mr. Fanservice: Tanigaki is practically the manga's idol. His muscled physique is the most regularly exposed out of all the characters (even a formal photo session turns into a gag when the photographer asks Tanigaki to provocatively pose in his fundoshi). Moreover, the marketing also puts him at the forefront, with one notable panel during Jump Festa 2018.
• Real Men Wear Pink: During the Yamada Circus arc, Tanigaki gets to star in a parodic Shojo-esque plot as he gets way too engrossed in his role as a backup dancer, with a lot of comedy derived from this giant hunk of a man playing the part of a teenage girl.
• Scarily Competent Tracker: Per Matagi tradition, he's an excellent tracker, and is able to easily discern tracks of any kind, be they animal or human, as Asirpa found out during their first meeting.
• Signature Item Clue: Tanigaki finally finds Kenichi in the battlefield, and he's been left blind and deaf due to a grenade blast, mortally wounded. Tanigaki eases his pain by offering him some of his kane mochi that only the two of them ever knew the recipe of. The taste of walnut allows Kenkichi to recognize Tanigaki despite having no sight or hearing, and he dies with no regrets, knowing now the Tanigaki family will finally know the truth about their beloved daughter's death after years of suffering.
• Ship Tease: Has several moments with Inkarmat. The two of them go from playing family for Cikapasi's sake to having sex, and later, she becomes pregnant with their child and gives birth to their daughter. In the epilogue, they are shown to be married and have 14 more children together.
• Would Hurt a Child: Zig-zagged. He doesn't raise his rifle toward Asirpa, but also doesn't hesitate to take her hostage and deliver her to Nihei.
• You Killed My Sister: Tanigaki lived a traditional life as Matagi hunter in Ani, Akita, until news arrived that Fumi, his beloved sister, was murdered by her husband, Kenkichi, a friend of Tangaki and his family. Consumed by rage, Tanigaki searched through the region for the killer, and severed ties with his hometown, his family and the Mataghi in order to continue his search despite being repatedly begged by all of them to stop. He wound up joining the army after hearing that the killer had enlisted, and thanks to a casual conversation with Sugimoto, finally managed to locate his sister's murderer. As it turns out, Kenkichi, who was on the verge of death, used his last moments to confess to Tangaki that only killed Fumi out of her own request due to her not wishing to suffer the ravages of smallpox any longer. The revelation brings Tanigaki to bitter tears over how much they all lost in the process.
• Younger Than They Look: Despite his beard and generally rugged appearance, he is no older than Sugimoto who is in his early twenties.

Ōsawa Fusatarō: "Boutarou the Pirate"

Voiced by: Tomokazu Seki (Japanese), Major Attaway (English)

One of the 24 escaped Abashiri convicts. A convicted murderer and robber, especially of ships, known to have killed at least 55 people during his crimes. Boutarou is an exceptional swimmer who can hold his breath underwater for about 30 minutes, allowing him to pull people underwater to drown them, robbing them of all their belongings. His modus operandi, swimming prowess and knack for attacking ships earned him his sobriquet "The Pirate". During a heist, he meets Sugimoto's group by chance, and after a skirmish and by force of circumstance, he becomes a party member. His dream is to get the Ainu gold and conquer a South Asian island to build his own kingdom.

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• A Father to His Men: For all his eccentricities, he truly cherishes his crew and his friends, considering all of them "vassals of his kingdom" and is willing to lie down his life for their sake. It's exactly how he ends up dying, taking the bullets for Shiraishi, entrusting his dream to him with his final breath.
• Ambiguously Bi: His eagerness to get close to Shiraishi aside, both of his flashbacks leave little doubt about his orientation, with one showing him naked in bed with Wakayama the Yakuza looking over him, and the other one shows him getting his driving lessons in Eddie Dun's car, once again alongside Wakayama, with the American pantless, the yakuza boss only wearing a choker, and Boutarou naked again. Still expresses that his dream involves having as many children as he can with as many women as he's able to.
• Anchors Away: Throws an anchor around in his introductory fight, wrecking a part of the ship, and by pure luck avoids clocking Asirpa with it. Sugimoto immediately punches the wind out of him in response.
• Badass Driver: Boutarou is able to chase down the 7th Division in a Sapporo beer car, of all things.
• Berserk Button: Do not harm his crew members. He'll lose all joviality and murder you on the spot.
• Cape Snag: At the climax of his fight with Sugimoto's group, Boutarou's hair gets caught on a riverboat wheel. He survives when Sugimoto cuts off the tangled hair with his bayonet, defying the usual outcome.
• Charles Atlas Superpower: A lifetime spent diving has increased his lung capacity to the point where he can hold his breath for 30 minutes, due to his mastery of lung packing. He's also an exceptionally good swimmer, with his webbed hands and large feet assisting him in the task, and is shown to be both strong and durable in spite of his lanky build. This is especially notable as while most characters are Made of Iron and some degree of abnormally strong, Boutarou appears to have full-blown superpowers. He gets the best out of Sugimoto in both of their fights, and only a hail of bullets while he's already heavily wounded from the 7th Division takes him out for good.
• Conveniently an Orphan: Lost his entire family to smallpox, plunging him into a life of crime. He attempts to raise this point with Sugimoto, Shiraishi and Asirpa to garner some camaraderie, as all of them are orphans, but none of them are convinced, Shiraishi over being aware of Boutarou's dangerousness, and Asirpa and Sugimoto over being put off by his nosiness.
• Extreme Mêlée Revenge: Delivers one to Ueji Keiji in Abashiri after Ueji lied to him for months about a supposed aunt who came to visit him. Boutarou is only stopped from killing him when Gansoku shows up wanting to join in, forcing him to stop.
• Genius Bruiser: He's certainly strong and can more than hold his own in a fight, as Sugimoto soons finds out. The genius part comes from having more or less figured the key parts to solve the code by his own initiative, getting his information about the gold by going to Ainu villages, and by having already seeked out the convicts on his own. His eagerness to make Asirpa give up on the hunt stems from this, as he soon figures out she's the key to the gold and is too risky to have her be killed in combat.
• Heroic Sacrifice: Dies as he throws himself in front of a hail of bullets to save Shiraishi's life.
• I Just Want to Be Loved: His dream to find the Ainu gold, use it to build a kingdom in an island and have as many children as he possibly can was born out of him suffering the tragedy of having his entire family die of smallpox when he was a child; Boutarou simply wants to build a new family so large he that won't ever be alone again.
• Last Request: Uses his last breath of life to leave his grandiose dream of buiding his own kingdom in the South East Asia using the Ainu gold to his good friend Shiraishi, asking him to make sure that he'll never be forgotten. The last chapter proves Shiraishi fulfilled his request, against all odds. Doubles as a humorous moment when Shiraishi immediately mispronounces Boutarou's name.
  Shiraishi: I won't forget you. ''Oosaka Fusatarou...'' Also known as Boutarou the Pirate.
• Lean and Mean: Partially. While he's indeed lanky and tall, and his actions are unequivocally evil, he's a fairly pleasant person, provided he's not trying to rob you or questioning you incessantly about your dreams, your family or your personal relationships.
• No Sense of Personal Space: He simply has no concept of it, be it physically, as shown by both of his flashbacks and constantly getting to minimal distance with Shiraishi and Sugimoto, or when it comes to people's private lives and relationships, a topic Boutarou is simply fascinated by and cannot let go of, much to Sugimoto and Asirpa's annoyance.
• Ruthless Modern Pirates: Leads a band of these, and is described as particularly ruthless before his introduction, with 55 confirmed dead from his various robberies and heists.
• Shipper on Deck: The biggest one in the series by far, for Sugimoto and Asirpa. Neither of them are willing to entretain his questions for long, but Boutarou quickly figures out that Sugimoto cares way more about Asirpa than he likes to admit, and that Asirpa is in love with Sugimoto, but isn't ready to tell him yet. To Asirpa's embarrassment, Boutarou simply refuses to drop the issue for the entire arc, often bringing it up within earshot of Sugimoto. It's a deliberate ploy by Boutarou, who's counting on Asirpa giving up on finding the gold to go back to her village to live with Sugimoto.
• The Cuckoolander Was Right: Boutarou, up to that point little more than an eccentric, nosey convict who died not too long after his introduction, manages to live long enough to tell Shiraishi he cannot escape all his life and should settle down at some point, asking him to inherit his dream of using the Ainu gold to become king of a South Asian island, and incessantly tells Asirpa to pursue her love for Sugimoto, to forget about the gold and go back to her village to live with him. The ending shows that all those things went exactly as Boutarou wanted them to go. This was alluded to in the fanbook by Noda, long time before the ending:
  Satoru Noda: He (Boutarou) will have a huge impact on some of the characters by the end of the story.
• Visionary Villain: His goal is to get the Ainu gold to found a kingdom in a Southeast Asian island, and to have lots of children so that his exploits will live in eternity. His motivation for this is surprisingly sympathetic, as his entire family died of smallpox when he was young, so Boutarou plans to have a new family so big that, no matter what happens, he won't ever be alone again. His death at the hands of the 7th Division prevents him from fulilling his dream, but the very last page of the manga reveals that Shiraishi honoured his last wish and used the remaining half of the Ainu gold to make Boutarou's dream a reality.
• Wouldn't Hurt a Child: His missed anchor strike on Asirpa was entirely due to not being aware of her being in the ship. In fact, while he snatchs Asirpa from Sugimoto when both are suffering from smoke inhalation, he ends up saving her life by taking her away from the burning building.

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