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goldenkamuyhunting · 4 years

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Quick outline of the changes in Golden Kamuy Vol 21

Here is a general outline of the more relevant changes that take place in Vol 21 compared to the magazine. Note that as usual I won’t dig into minor changes or redraws unless they seem to be relevant for the plot or characterization (or I really like them).

Also, to better let you understand some scenes or from where they come out, in some scenes I replaced the Japanese test with either the scanlation test or an appropriate translation (most of them courtesy of Lusetoj). Remember that this is merely an informative post and you’re actually supposed to support Golden Kamuy and buy the volume, either in Japanese or in your country’s language and that no, I don’t know if I’ll do a similar post for vol 22.

This is just because they changed so many relevant things here I wanted people to be able to follow them as they might affect future chapters and our understanding of them.

So now let’s start.

We spend a moment on the cover, which sees the return of Tanigaki on it.

Tanigaki is kind of a surprise as in the past after a cover with Sugimoto we always had a cover with Asirpa.

Of course the first time we had a group of 8 volumes before we had a cover with Sugi again but the second time we had 9 so it’s possible the cover for Vol 19 with Kiro was a last minute change.

Maybe the Sugimoto cover was meant for vol 19, with Asirpa on 20 and, yes, Tani on 21. We’ll see if Tsurumi will be on 22. Otherwise it’s possible to specualte the cover order is purely coincidental.

It’s also worth to mention that the backcover this time have Cikapasi (in the past it has Nihei).

On a personal note I would have preferred if it was Cikapasi who was on the front cover as in this volume he’s more relevant than Tanigaki but whatever, overall Tanigaki in the whole story has more importance and more fans than Cikapasi so okay, I get why Noda preferred to have him on the back.

We then move to the colour page.

It’s the colour cover of chap 193. In Vol 20 I wondered if Noda would use it later. Well, now it’s later, I guess.

A colour cover that was in the chapters included in this volume and that instead go lost is the one of chap 203.

The one of chap 205 was included in vol 20 so it’s not lost.

It seems in this volume there’s no short summary.

Now something really noteworthy while in the past volumes included 10 chapters, this one includes 11, the last presenting heavvy changes... but we’ll get there later.

Other chapters too saw the addition of extra pages and panels to expand scenes that already were in the magazine version so we can better understand what’s going on and of scenes that are redrawn, either to improve their quality, correct mistakes or add to the plot.

Note I’m not going to add them all but only those which are plot relevant (or that I particularly like).

Let’s start with chap 201.

Chap 201 is one of the most tame in terms of changes.

We can see that in the cover Ogata and Tanigaki now have their rifles and Koito his sword.

I was wondering if, now that vol 20 changed things so that Tsukishima was present when Ogata called Koito ‘barchonok’, hearing Koito asking about the word would ring a warning bell in his head but that’s not the case. The scene is as it was in the magazine.

The image of Vasily gets redraw so that some particulars are improved and his colours now matches with the ones he has in the other chapters.

The one relevant change in this chapter for me is in the final page. In the magazine Sugimoto had light in his eyes, now the light is no more.

Who has heard me or @chibivesicle ramble about the relevance of characters’ having light in their eyes know that we think when they have none is clearly a bad sign. Sugimoto is in full murder mode and Noda wanted us to see it (and he’s also holding the miso better but okay, this is not plot relevant).

The move to chap 202.

Not much is changed in this chap.

They only added some shading to Asirpa’s face in this scene in which Tani told her they couldn’t move because, if the sniper was Ogata, then the target was Asirpa, to imply how this affect her.

Poor Asirpa, a friend of her is under attack and she’s made aware it’s due to her this is happening. Noda did great to underline how this affected her.

We move to chap 203, which, as mentioned before lost its colour cover.

We’ve then a change, instead than a man in the sledge, the ones passing through the street are a man with his whole family all of them on a single horse, a dosanko, a particularly strong Hokkaido horse.

Sugimoto’s sentence as he spoke to Vasily was changed as well.

In the magazine he said something along the line of how ‘when I think to myself that the world Asirpa is seeing has me in it... I feel like I became clean somehow and can be saved.’

Now instead he says this:

The change fits more with what Asirpa will later say in chap 206 which in the magazine originally seemed merely Asirpa’s interpretation of Sugimoto’s words when now is a direct reference to them.

Noda added the Russian version of the sentences Tsukishima said to Vasily and to Sofia and Svetlana’s dialogue. Gansoku though still talk in Japanese and Sofia talk in Japanese to him as well.

Noda also added three small panels of Gansoku, fighting and showing his delight at being hit.

We continue with chap 204.

Chap 204 expands the Tanigaki/Cikapasi scene. Originally, when Cikapasi wondered if Inkarmat was well Tani said only he was sure she was and that they should go visit her when they were to get back. Now he talks about a telegram saying she’s well to which Cikapasi is delighted, with Tani now implying visiting her should be the first thing they’ll do once back.

When Tsukishima talks with Vasily they added the Russian version of his words.

Girel also looks slightly different.

There’s also some minor redrawing but, as you can see though, the changes aren’t really big.

So let’s move on chap 205.

There are some changes in what Sugimoto says to Tsukishima.

In the magazine Tsukishima urged Sugimoto to act because Tsurumi was about to come and Sugimoto replied although he’s sure hadn’t met Tsurumi yet he didn’t believe Asirpa would open up to a man like him. In the volume Tsukishima’s comment is cut and Sugimoto mentions Asirpa’s name when he says he’s sure she hadn’t met Tsurumi yet instead that when he says she wouldn’t open up to him.

Among the minor redrawing I found fun how ‘director Asirpa’ now also has a fitting hat.

Node decided to remove Asirpa calling the guys 3rd rate actors. She’s also not salivating anymore.

He also removed the ‘hey Inaba’ from this scene. I think the idea is to paint Asirpa as less of a rude director.

In place of Asirpa saying ‘We’ll do a story about the Kamuy’, Noda added a minor infobox about the tales of Pananpe and Penanpe.

For some weird reason Noda also redraw the scene in which Tanigaki hit the ground. It’s not relevant, I’m just sharing it because he changed Tani’s pose a lot... not really sure why as it doesn’t seem Tanigaki is making an effort to shield himself, unless it’s some sort of reference to another series.

And so to chap 206 we go.

It’s worth to note in this chap Girel is drawn same as in the magazine, in short he doesn’t wear anymore the glasses Noda geve him for the volume version.

Among the redraws I find worth to mention how not only Noda cut Shiraishi laughing at Tsukishima but changed the bit regarding Tanigaki, Cikapasi and Enonoka. It’s not just that the Tanigaki-bird flies more. In the following panel Tanigaki’s face is now visible but darkened. This remarks how Tanigaki is present in the panel, yet leaves the focus on Cikapasi and Enonoka. Tanigaki’s face is the focus of our attention in the following panel where, like in the magazine, he’s alone but his eyes are shining much more. Likely he too got emotionally involved watching that scene but those three panels are here to anticipate what will happen in chap 209, Cikapasi will choose to stay with Enonoka and leave Tanigaki.

We continue with new changes in the dialogues, specifically in what Sugimoto says to Asirpa.

While in the magazine Sugimoto gave his own interpretation of what Wilk told him ‘he said he raised you so you could fight in a war’, now he correctly reports Wilk’s words about wanting Asirpa to know how to hide and fight and that she would be the leader of the Ainu people.

He also corrected his words about Kiro. While in the magazine he just mentioned he took her to Karafuto and then died to as to push Asirpa into believing she had to think she had to fight, now he clarifies Kiro brought Asirpa to Karafuto to remind her how to break the code and died as a consequence of this (well, actually he died as a consequence of three men ganging up on him and they would have been four if Sugimoto could have a say in it). However this too, combined with what Wilk did, pushed Asirpa into thinking she had no other way but fight.

Another change is here. While before Sugimoto referred to “Stand at the head of the Ainu and die” and “Fight and kill people” as what they were telling her, now he calls all this as a curse casted upon her.

Next chap 207 & 208.

i couldn’t notice any relevant change in these chapters which is a pity as people might remember I pointed out how the skin count was wrong in them.

The same goes for chap 209.

Things start to change with chap 210.

We start tame with Koito now calling Hanazawa ‘former commander of the 7th division’ when in the magazine he called him just ‘commander of the 7th division’.

I mention this because now I wonder, who’s the commander of the division, the guy above Lieutenant colonel Yodagawa? Has such a commander be appointed? Is he in Tsurumi’s paycheck? Will he be relevant in the future?

Who knows?

Sugimoto and Asirpa’s talk is also different. Not only Shiraishi is present in the beginning and leaves after but Sugimoto replies to Asirpa’s question about what will happen to the Ainu.

Sadly Sugimoto’s idea they’ve an overwhelming advantage is a naive delusion... and maybe he too knows it and that’s why his eyes are completely black, without light. In his wish to save Asirpa he probably knows he’s sacrificing the Ainu.

This bit was also changed as in the original Tsuki didn’t mention Ogata.

This text is changed as well. In the magazine Koito said just ‘was because he wanted me to realize that we were being bade into pawns for first lieutenant Tsurumi, just like he and his father were!’

Now it mentions both Hanazawa and Ogata’s name and the sentence is visually split into two parts.

Then, although dialogues remained the same, Noda changed Tsuki’s expression in this scene. Tsuki now smiles when he says he was tricked too.

Tsuki also gets some new lines here as a flashback also expand the scene.

Noda changed a bit Tsuki here. Actually I wonder if he’s crying considering Noda added whiteness below his eyes.

Noda inverted Tsuki’s lines here as in the magazine he said:

“The first lieutenant is very skilled at saving people with “sweet lies.””

“So I don’t know what his true goal is.”

At the end of the scene Noda added Shiraishi spying them.

And so we reach chap 211... which is like a new chapter.

For start there are changes in the discussion between Sugimoto and Shiraishi here. In the magazine Shiraishi says Asirpa isn’t the Asirpa he knew anymore. In the volume he says she isn’t the Asirpa he first met.

... and here.

Koito’s expression is changed so as to show he’s not happy at all to see Tsurumi.

Now, when Tanigaki comments about how Tsurumi would let Asirpa see Huci she doesn’t say she’ll understand what kind of man Tsurumi is by looking at him. To make up for it Sugimoto says everything will go well and we get an exchange between Usami and Tsurumi showing what Tsurumi planned to do to Asirpa... clearly not even considering to listen to her demands.

As said before, the overwhelming advantage over Tsurumi, existed only in Sugimoto’s dreams.

Again Koito doesn’t look particualrly happy of being praised by Tsurumi contrary to the magazine version.

At this point the plot drastically diverges from the magazine to the point it’s no more an addition or a slight change but a real retcon and I’m not sure how Noda will deal with it in the future.

In the manga Asirpa and Tsurumi exchanged a glance, he was reminded of Wilk’s eyes and commented she had the same eyes as him. This words affect Asirpa (who previously has said she would get which sort of man Tsurumi is by looking at him, a scene removed from the volume) and, as Shiraishi throw up she prepare to toss her arrows.

In the volume instead things will go very differently... but let’s see them first.

All this is an important change as it shows Asirpa didn’t act merely due to her intuition or out of prejudice but because Tsurumi clearly acted in a manner that ended up creeping out even his own men, a manner that clearly implied he planned to part her from Sugi and keep her trapped (as he was doing with Inkarmat only in a much less friendlier environment) and that he had no friendly feelings for the Ainu and wouldn’t keep into consideration their wishes.

There’s actually much more to say about the changes but I’ll let it for a meta, if I’ll manage to write one.

Back to the changes, despite all he has heard from Tsurumi, Sugimoto now looks a lot less assertive and comfortable with Asirpa’s decision.

Tsurumi’s men are now better drawn and characterized, you can see Kikuta and Sugi now also informs them the arrows will kill them with just a scratch.

The last two pages are partially redrawn. but in them Asirpa also gets the chance to better clear up her position. Tsurumi also immeditely sends his men after her.

Anyway the volume ends here.

Enonoka do the thanks but her image is so tiny as Noda has used up all the pages he had hence the poor quality.

Anyway that’s all. As usual I recommend everyone to get the volume as it’s much better than the magazine version.

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