#huci

[ricomola]

Ok, this was the last thought I needed to draw.

[every-ogata]

[chinchintatap]

this is one of the pages that IMO describe the essence of GK so well. or at least parts of it. it got the osoma/miso jokes, Tanigaki the bear cub getting fed and raised by a friendly Ainu family, Shiraishi getting bitten in the head by an animal of choice, Sugimoto's face of defeat or "I can't talk back to Asirpa because she saved my ass so many times out in the wild and will continue to do so", a character (here: Tanigaki) having both an internal crisis and eye-opening moment of what he wants from life and what choices he made that led him there...

[sweet-suzume]

I love Huci too!

[glorifiedwalkinggun]

obv ogata is with them a literal traitor what are you talking about

[all-golden-kamuy-offical-art]

[tanigakis-big-titties]

These queens

Art by Satoru Noda, colors by me

[usoppsweave]

i decided to re-read golden kamuy again from the very beginning because i miss it so much and i just needed to re-experience it all over again (because i also kinda forgot what the beginning of the series was like). anyway, just look at sugimoto. look at the sweet cinnamon roll man.

🥹

[pearlwingdraws]

Started reading Golden Kamuy a couple of days ago and this is my conclusion

[kcgarashi]

🍨 - What are expectations your muse has had about love that either was false or impossible to live up to?

let’s talk about romance! muse questions

Don't leave her for someone prettier. She likes to think she's a simple woman, but Matarera used to get caught up in the idea that having a partner would just fix things. Bad time at work? Find a date. Got punched in the face on a mission? Go on a date. She used that first rush when you kind of like someone to run away from her problems. Having a partner doesn't make you complete and communication about intention early in a relationship is important. Rera's more level-headed about that now, she sets the bar low and if things work out then that's great, if they don't then...well it was fun while it lasted?

There's only one super important expectation she has now, and it's that her paternal grandma has to like them.

[bellamer]

Tanigaki saying he's one of Huci's kids now too because she took him in...

Shut up, I will cry right here and right now...

[geminipdf]

przetrwałam imprezę na której 90% osób w tym dziewczyna mojej najlepszej przyjaciółki należało do KIKu (Klub Inteligencji Katolickiej) 👍

[goldenkamuyhunting]

I wonder if you still will answer an ask / question. My ask is Do you personally think / feel there is some character that's like ended up a waste ( in term development ) or just.. didn't need to exist / continue into the next chapter at some point ? Like example, in your analysis Ogata should just died in vol 19 something like that I think.. I suddenly think like.. Vasily is a big waste or maybe he shouldn't continue to be Ogata's rival because I personally dont see it, sometimes i really think he's just like a fan service character ? Vasily went to take revenge on Ogata and go as for to Japan for that, that sound kinda romantic or something someone said that and i really dont see that ( I think Vasily fans gonna hate me ). I think Tsukishima & Koito prolly the same case at the end how they ended up breaking their loyalty to Tsurumi. I'm sorry if it's wrong the end of chapter kinda confuse me a lot.

Yes, I do still answer, even if sometimes I'm really slow about it.

Should I warn everyone that this isn't a Noda apprecciation post and that the back button in this case might be your best friend?

I hope people will be intuitive enough to figure it out on their own so without further ado let's dig into this.

Do I personally think / feel there is some character that's like ended up a waste ( in term development ) or just.. didn't need to exist / continue into the next chapter at some point ?

Oh yes. I feel quite a lot got wasted and this doesn't include just characters but also plot points actually.

Before someone will say something, I'll clear up a couple of things about what I mean.

First of all, this is my personal opinion. It's not The Truth. It's just how I feel.

Second, for me a story has to fit with Anton Chekhov's advice: If it's not essential, don't include it in the story. Especially, I'll add, if you want to write only 31 volumes and then you'll end up rushing things to fit everything in them.

So, let's start.

Let's cut from the story Sugimoto's feelings for Umeko which go nowhere and supposedly ended when Kikuta told him he should let Umeko go. He could be just in the story to help a friend's wife. After all that's why he's in the story in the anime, which completely cut Umeko's role and, anyway, it seems that's what Noda wanted since Sugimoto supposedly wanted to marry Umeko solely because Toraji told him so.

Q: Sugimoto’s main motivation to participate in the gold hunt was to heal Umeko, the girl who was his childhood friend and whom he loved. However, in the last chapter, he gives his share of the gold to Umeko’s son, since her eyes were already healed. Why did you do that?

Noda: If Umeko had not remarried and her eyes weren’t healed, the story would have needed a few more chapters, which, considering that it was post-climax, would have made it drag on needlessly.

The reason for that is Toraji told Sugimoto to get together with Umeko before dying, and he is not the kind of guy who could have ignored that and return to Hokkaido with Asirpa. [Noda’s interview for Yomiuri online paper]

Actually also let's cut her eye problems. Let's send Sugimoto to get money for Toraji's son, so he can go to school. If the whole thing with Umeko becomes a bother that needs to be solved offscreen without Sugimoto's intervention, let's just not include it.

The same goes for Ogata's feelings for his grandmother. We are told that Ogata didn't kill Tanigaki because he was a grandmother's boy and so he didn't want to murder Huci even though not killing Tanigaki causes him plenty of troubles and then... it turns out in an interview he probably poisoned his grandparents and they're no more discussed in the story.

Q17: Are Ogata’s grandparents still alive? If not, how did they die? Noda: They both disappeared before Ogata enlisted. There was half-eaten food left on the table. [Q&A section from the Golden Kamuy fanbook]

Honestly I would cut also Tanigaki's tragic backstory with his sister because... it goes nowhere in the end. He completely forgets he was meant to go back home and tell his father how his sister died, he actually goes back home because he has Inkarmat and Tsurumi is hunting him.

And since we're at it, let's cut the whole "Huci might die of worry for Asirpa", since Huci gets all better as soon as they hand her a baby.

Note that those plot points were all things I liked when I assumed they would go somewhere... instead they are just brushed off, forgotten or solved offscreen. They didn't really serve to the story, Ogata could have not killed Tanigaki because too many in the village saw him entering in Huci's house and might attack him if he were to shoot at her, and Tanigaki could have gone after Asirpa because she saved his life.

Then we've characters like Svetlana, who served zero purpose, Ogata and Vasily that were kept alive for no reason at all after Vol 19, the whole subplot with Central that went nowhere along with Wada's murder, since Tsurumi has the support of Yodogawa and could have gotten the weapons from him instead than doing it from behind Wada's back and then killing him.

To have Wilk include, among the tattooed convicts, a well known child murderer and who cares if that guy would go on murdering children once free (even though murdering children is generally considered one of the most disgusting crimes even by criminals) and his daughter is also a child, makes a huge disservice to Wilk as a supposedly good father.

Saving Tsurumi was unneeded, and the same goes for the whole Tsukishima-Koito-Tsurumi plot that goes nowhere.

Sofia shouldn't have known she had no part in Tsurumi's daughter's death if, afterward, she was meant to die thinking solely at how regretful she felt for it, and not at how her men died because she thought trying to fulfil Wilk and Kiro's dream was a good plan.

And since Jack the Ripper was clearly so poorly researched about, Noda could have just turned him into some Japanese mad slasher, no need to toss in the story another murderer who kills because he's a Christian with warped beliefs like Sekiya... and talking about warped belief and psychological problems already seen, we've Heita who has warped Ainu religion beliefs and hears voices like Edogai... okay, he's actually worse than Edogai but still close enough.

And what about the fake skins plot? Noda even forgot one of those fake skins at a certain point and solved the plot abruptly.

Ariko didn't need to 'die' to be resurrected short after and then STAY OUT OF THE STORY and not even help Asirpa, despite his father being the one who triggered the Ainu massacre falling for Tsurumi's manipulation. Not that the guy knows so this too was unneeded.

And actually the story would have probably benefitted by having Inkarmat die due to her wound and Ienaga be killed once she saved Sugimoto.

And should we dig into Tsukishima's tragic backstory which also go nowhere?

Or the rather terrible story of the raped white bear?

The extra story of the roasted little bird?

The whole "Wakayama was the one behind the skin in Barato" plot with annexed the whole "searching for the skins is useless" which gets forgotten with a shrug?

And let's not forget the whole Central plot that goes nowhere. Tsurumi knew already of the gold, Ogata got involved by Central for unclear reasons (why pick him?) and Kikuta got in the game too late and contributed too little all for Central to do basically nothing in the story.

And, since we're at it, the whole Noboribetsu thing was also handled poorly.

I guess I could add more but that's what came to my mind as of now. I fear it's already way too much...

Now, I've basically rushed up through everything and I realize this instead would need to be expanded to be more understandable, as some plot points/characters might seem of relevance... when actually could have been solved way more quickly and efficently... especially since at the end Noda rushed through the story because he wanted to end at vol 31.

If one has a set a specific volume for the ending he should do well his math and not add extra that merely dilute the story for no real purpose.

If it's not essential, don't include it in the story.

But whatever, if you or someone else now feels the need for clarifications of why some plot points/characters felt useless/didn't deserve to live that long, you can write me.

If you or someone else feel they actually were important, okay, that's your opinion, I'm not saying you've to change it, just don't try to change mine. I prefer not to argue about things I didn't like of GK, it makes happy no one and feels rather boring.

Sorry if this wasn't what you were hoping for and thank you for your ask!

[chinchintatap]

Huci is ready to risk it all for Shiraishi it seems... (also wheezing at the side eye he is giving those Ainu kids because they pointed out his ear lobes LMAO)

[running-with-the-feels]

Another Hanzo is Ainu headcanon/ramble

As far as I can find, and pls correct me if I am wrong/misunderstanding/you know more information, but in Ainu culture, the deity (not sure if deity is the right word here but its what my source: "https://www.ff-ainu.or.jp/web/english/details/post-6.html" used) that was most important/relevant to day-to-day life was Apehuci Kamuy, who was the deity of fire and resided in the hearth. Any prayer to any deity was started with a prayer to Apehuci Kamuy.

So Hanzo being a pyromancer after his death and resurrection would take on a whole other layer of meaning.

Especially bc (see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kamuy-huci {I know it's wikipedia, I am sorry, pls use the books cited as sources and take what I say with a grain of salt} and https://glam.uoregon.edu/s/uo-ainu-collections/page/kamuy and https://www.japan.travel/en/japan-magazine/2209_exploring-ainu-culture-and-historical-treasures-hokkaido/) She was a primarily protective entity, specifically the guardian of the home and governing all domestic affairs. The hearth was also considered the domain of ancestors and those who had passed on.

AND

Worship of her (as far as I can find) meant that the hearth fire in a hope was never to be extinguished, it must always be kept burning. So Hanzo came back from the dead with fire powers, not bc he woke up in hell, but bc of Apehuci Kamuy. He is the hearth fire now that his home has been destroyed, kept burning to honor Apehuci Kamuy and keep a connection to those he had lost. Having him be convinced that he came back, not bc of Quan Chi, but bc of Apehuci Kamuy, would make his conviction that he is honoring his fallen family and clan that much more understandable and tragic.

Also, as far as I can find, due to the fact that the hearth fire houses the dead until they can be reincarnated (grain of salt, grain of salt, pls tell me if I'm getting this wrong) it is meant to be kept pure. What exactly "Pure" means in this context is a little unclear, but once Hanzo finds out about how he has been tricked I'd bet that particular aspect would send him spiralling all on his own. If he's taken his vengeance on the wrong person (especially bc he burned Bi-Han to death) has he made the hearth fire impure? has he damned his clan to never reincarnate?

a bit of an angsty hc, I'll admit, but honestly I think it fits.

[glorifiedwalkinggun]

shiraishi yoshi-take me far away from you