‘Golden Kamuy’ Commemorates Live-Action Film By Making The Anime’s First Season Free For A Limited Time On YouTube, English Release Plans Yet To Be Confirmed

Sugimoto (Chikahiro Kobayashi) takes on Tetsuzou Nihei (Akio Otsuka) in Golden Kamuy Season 1 Episode 7 "Complication" (2018), Geno Studios
Sugimoto (Chikahiro Kobayashi) takes on Tetsuzou Nihei (Akio Otsuka) in Golden Kamuy Season 1 Episode 7 "Complication" (2018), Geno Studios

In commemoration of its live-action film finally hitting theaters, the Golden Kamuy anime adaptation has announced that it will be making all twelve episodes of the eponymous series’ first season completely free to watch via YouTube.

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Sugimoto (Chikahiro Kobayashi) makes his anime debut in Golden Kamuy Season 1 Episode 1 “Wenkamuy” (2018), Geno Studio

RELATED: ‘Golden Kamuy’ Live-Action Film Unveils First Teaser Trailer, Official Release Date

Per the Golden Kamuy anime’s official website (translated via Deep L),” The [Golden Kamuy live-action] film is currently showing as a blockbuster hit! To celebrate the release of the live-action movie, the first season of the TV anime (all 12 episodes) will be distributed for free for a limited time.”.

Set to be uploaded to NBCUniversal Japan’s Anime/Music YouTube channel, unfortunately for fans, all twelve episodes of the series will not be uploaded simultaneously.

Instead, the series will release one video, each comprised of three episodes of Golden Kamuy, every week for the next month.

Further complicating matters is the fact that, as according to the anime’s official website, fans will only have a week to watch each of these uploads before they’re replaced by the next one.

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Sugimoto (Chikahiro Kobayashi) rallies his allies in Golden Kamuy Season 3 Episode 11 “Sin and Impurity” (2020), Geno Studio

Adapted from Satoru Noda’s award winning manga and set in Hokkaido after the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905, Golden Kamuy follows Japanese Imperial Army 1st division war veteran Sachi “The Immortal Sugimoto” Sugimoto (Kento Yamazaki – Shin in the live-action Kingdom film series), who after surviving the aforementioned conflict now spends his days prospecting for gold in order to uphold a promise he made to a dying comrade to take care of his wife.

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Sachi Sugimoto (Kento Yamazaki) in Golden Kamuy Live Action Trailer (2024), Credeus.

Eventually finding himself on the trail of a stash of gold stolen from the region’s native Ainu people and buried somewhere in the area, Sugimoto soon makes the acquaintance of Asirpa (Anna Yamada – Saichi Sagawa in Teen Regime), a young blue-eyed Ainu huntress whose father was murdered by the treasure’s original owner.

Realizing they have similar ambitions, the unlikely duo proceed to team-up in the hopes of uncovering both the mysterious treasure and the man who murdered Asripa’s father.

Although Sugimoto begins their quest finding her a tense ally, Asirpa will eventually form a bond with her new partner by educating the war veteran on Hokkaido’s icy landscape, various hunting techniques and aspects of Ainu culture – including their delicious and exotic cuisine.

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Asirpa (Anna Yamada) firing her arrow in Golden Kamuy Live Action Trailer (2024),Credeus.

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Produced by Credeus, helmed by HiGH&LOW movie franchise director Shigeaki Kubo, featuring a script from Kingdom live-action film series scriptwriter Tsutomu Kuroiwa and filled with music from live-action Alice in Borderland composer Yutaka Yamada.

To guarantee that Ainu culture was properly represented on-screen, the studio enlisted the assistance of Golden Kamuy‘s Ainu language supervisor, Chiba University professor Hiroshi Nakagawa, and Ainu artisan Debo Akibe (who also appears in the film itself as Asirpa’s Great Uncle).

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Asirpa Great Uncle (Debo Akibe) in Golden Kamuy Live Action Trailer (2024), Credeus.

Released on January 19th, just like the studio’s Kingdom live-action films, Golden Kamuy’s live-action movie topped the Japanese box office in its opening weekend.

At the time of this writing, the NBCUniversal Anime/Music channel’s Golden Kamuy playlist is region-locked with no English subtitles. However, overseas fans can watch all 25 episodes of Golden Kamuy’s first two seasons for free with ads on Crunchyroll.

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