The television anime adaptation of Satoru Noda’s Golden Kamuy manga has expanded its cast by three members, the official website announced. Directed by Hitoshi Nanba at Geno Studio, the series scheduled its premiere for April, bringing together a production team and a sprawling historical adventure set in Hokkaido.
Cast Additions Bring New Faces to the Hokkaido Gold Rush
The upcoming television anime adaptation of Satoru Noda’s Golden Kamuy manga announced three more cast members alongside official character designs. Houchu Ohtsuka joins the lineup as First Lieutenant Tsurumi, Kenjirō Tsuda steps into the role of Hyakunosuke Ogata, and Yoshimasa Hosoya takes on Genjirō Tanigaki.
Houchu Ohtsuka is known for roles including Ajin’s Satō and Naruto’s Jiraiya, while Kenjirō Tsuda has appeared as DEVILMAN crybaby’s Kōji Nagasaki and Sound! Euphonium’s Takuya Gotō. Yoshimasa Hosoya’s prior work includes My Hero Academia’s Fumikage Tokoyami and Attack on Titan’s Reiner Braun.
These performers join a previously revealed main cast that includes Chikahiro Kobayashi as Saichi Sugimoto, who has had supporting roles in Gintama, Gingitsune, and Granblue Fantasy the Animation. Haruka Shiraishi stars as Asirpa, recognized for roles such as From Up On Poppy Hill’s Sora, A Centaur’s Life’s Kyōko, and Anne-Happy’s Hibari. Kentarou Itou rounds out the main group as The Escape King
Yoshitake Shiraishi, drawing on past performances including Naruto Shippūden’s Chouji Akimichi, Yowamushi Pedal’s Jin Tadakoro, and Bleach’s Renji Abarai.
Behind the Scenes at Geno Studio
Production duties for the adaptation rest at Geno Studio, where Hitoshi Nanba directs the project. Nanba’s previous directorial work includes Fate/Grand Order: First Order, Gosick, Heroman, Baki the Grappler, and We have always been 10 cm apart.
Noboru Takagi handles the series scripts, bringing experience from Baccano!, Durarara!!, Altair: A Record of Battles, and Kuroko’s Basketball. Kenichi Ohnuki designs the characters for animation, with a portfolio spanning Gundam Build Fighters, Digimon Universe: Appli Monsters, and Samurai Gun.
The production’s sound direction is managed by Jin Aketagawa at Magic Capsule. Authenticity and atmosphere in the northern setting are supported by specialized supervisors: Hiroshi Nakagawa oversees the Ainu language, and Eugenio Uzhinin guides the Russian language elements. Musical composition is credited to Kenichiro Suehiro. For the theme songs, MAN WITH A MISSION performs the opening theme song, while THE SIXTH LIE provides the ending theme song.
Manga Roots and Critical Recognition
Satoru Noda launched the ongoing manga series in Shueisha’s Young Jump magazine in 2014, building a readership that brought the total number of copies in print to 4.2 million by the time Shueisha published the 12th volume on December 19.
Viz Media releases the manga in English, and it describes the first volume: In the early twentieth century, Russo-Japanese War veteran Saichi “Immortal” Sugimoto scratches out a meager existence during the postwar gold rush in the wilderness of Hokkaido. When he stumbles across a map to a fortune in hidden Ainu gold, he sets off on a treacherous quest to find it. But Sugimoto is not the only interested party, and everyone who knows about the gold will kill to possess it! Faced with the harsh conditions of the northern wilderness, ruthless criminals and rogue Japanese soldiers, Sugimoto will need all his skills and luck—and the help of an Ainu girl named Asirpa—to survive.
The property has earned industry recognition over its run. Noda received a Manga Taisho award for the manga in March 2016. The series was also nominated for Best General Manga at the 40th annual Kodansha Manga Awards and for the 20th Annual Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize in 2016.
