Until fairly recently, live-action adaptations of popular manga series were a reliably grim prospect in Japanese cinema. Keishi Otomo¡¯s original ¡°Rurouni Kenshin¡± trilogy (2012-14) marked a turning point, creating a model for successful on-screen franchises that has since been replicated by the ¡°Kingdom¡± and ¡°Tokyo Revengers¡± movies, and Netflix series ¡°Alice in Borderland,¡± among others.
The latest contender is ¡°Golden Kamuy,¡± adapted from Satoru Noda¡¯s manga series about miscreants and military adventurers searching for a stash of gold in early-20th century Hokkaido. Directed by Shigeaki Kubo, with many of the ¡°Kingdom¡± team along for the ride, it¡¯s an efficient romp that doesn¡¯t skimp on spectacle. However, its eagerness to satisfy fans may be a turn-off for new initiates.
For the benefit of readers who fall into the latter camp, the story goes like this: Saichi Sugimoto (Kento Yamazaki) is a battle-scarred veteran of the 1904-05 Russo-Japanese War, now trying his luck as a gold panner in Hokkaido. That¡¯s where he hears a tale about a buried hoard belonging to the indigenous Ainu people, the location for which is contained in a map tattooed across the bodies of two dozen escaped convicts.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.