Yoshitake Shiraishi

     Golden Kamuy

Backstory

Golden Kamuy has been on my watchlist for many, many years, but I never got around to it until very recently. I was hooked from the very first episode, as I knew I would be; what I did not know was this this stupid, goofy guy would dig himself into my brain like the little worm he is. We put on the first few episodes and I felt an immediate sense of foreboding when Shiraishi appeared on screen. He is just different enough from my usual 'type' that I was (and still am) extremely embarrassed about liking him - hopefully that embarrassment will dim with more time.

About Shiraishi

Shiraishi is... well, he's goofy. He's a goofy guy. He is an escaped convict from Abashiri prison, and has a pattern of tattoos on his body that correspond to part of a larger map leading to a hidden stash of gold. He's known as the 'Escape King' due to his record of breaking out of every single one of the (many) prisons he has been incarcerated in.

I don't really have that much to say about him?? He is goofy. He's silly. He loves candy and flirting with women and does not have much success there. He can dislocate his joints. At the point where I'm at in the manga, he has not had very many serious scenes - he's very much a comic relief character, but for some reason I really like him I guess??? Sometimes a silly guy can be so healing.

About My S/I

(I did some research to try to make my S/I fit into the Golden Kamuy lore, but it may still be somewhat innacurate... please be nice to me!! My friend had to help me...)

My S/I is an American from San Francisco. Her father had a high position in a textile manufacturing company that exported materials into Japan and imported finished products back to the United States, so he had been to the country several times for business reasons. After the San Francisco Earthquake of 1906, the family's home was destroyed; they packed up everything they had and moved to Hokkaido, where he was able to continue his work on the exporting side.

Golden Kamuy takes place in 1908, so she has only been living in Japan for around a year and a half. She speaks decent Japanese after being heavily immersed in the language and can communicate when it comes to simple topics, but she doesn't know a lot of more complicated words, and can't read complex kanji. She can speak fairly well, and her speaking is a bit better than her listening comprehension. If something is written with furigana, she can read it in its entirety, but may not recognize some words. She can't write anything except for a few words related to the family business. Although the language is daunting and it gives her a headache when she has to read lots of text, she does honestly find it fun and interesting to learn new words when speaking with people.

Lore

They end up meeting not long after my S/I gets engaged. Her father arranged a marriage of convenience for her with the son of another prominent family in the textile industry, but he is an extremely unpleasant man, and she wanted nothing to do with him. The stress of this arranged marriage hanging over her head led her to make a rash decision and she attempted to run away from home. Without a plan in mind, she snuck out in the middle of the night and began trekking through the forest. Unfortunately for her, she got stuck in a raging blizzard, and very likely would have died if a certain someone hadn't stumbled upon her.

Shiraishi manages to pull her out of the blizzard, into a tent or hut or wherever it is he's staying while he's on the lookout for intel. They spend the night together and... honestly... some steamy things might have happened, nobody is for sure!! The following morning he meets back up with Sugimoto and Asirpa with my S/I in tow, and convinces them to let her tag along just until they can find a town outside of her family's frame of reference to drop her off at. This happens fairly early into the canon events of Golden Kamuy, so she really only gets to spend a week or so with Shiraishi.

After they part ways, she manages to get involved in the textile industry in her new town. She's grateful for the opportunity, though she still misses Shiraishi a lot, even though they didn't know each other for very long...

Eventually, after the final events of Golden Kamuy, Shiraishi comes back to visit her!! They have a joyful reunion, and even end up getting married! And eventually they settle down with their newfound wealth to enjoy each other's company for the rest of their life together, hehe!

What I Love About Him

♡ He is so!!! Silly!!! I can not overstate the importance of a silly man, especially when paired up with a tense/high-strung woman. He can literally fix her.

♡ This is kind of dumb, but,,, I never really saw the appeal of tattoos until him (@_@;)

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