Golden Kamuy watch order
Hokkaido, a few years after the Russo-Japanese War: veteran Saichi Sugimoto and the Ainu girl Asirpa hunt a hoard of stolen gold whose map is tattooed on escaped convicts, while soldiers and an old samurai want it too. Satoru Noda's manga: five TV seasons, a string of OVAs, and one last arc still to come.
First time? Watch the TV seasons in order: Seasons 1–4, then The Final Chapter. Slot in the OVAs after Season 1 and Season 2 if you want the side stories the TV run skipped.
First-timer order
The five TV seasons. They tell the whole story so far without gaps, so the OVAs can wait until you know you love the characters.
- Golden Kamuy
Sugimoto meets Asirpa, learns about the tattooed convicts, and crosses paths with Lieutenant Tsurumi's 7th Division and Hijikata Toshizo, who all want the gold.
- Golden Kamuy Season 2
The groups chase more tattooed convicts across Hokkaido and the season builds to the raid on Abashiri Prison, where they hope to find the man behind the tattoos.
- Golden Kamuy Season 3
After Abashiri the party splits: Asirpa travels north toward Russian Sakhalin, and Sugimoto, travelling with Tsurumi's men, goes after her.
- Golden Kamuy Season 4
Back in Hokkaido the race for the remaining skins heats up. The first season by a new studio, Brain's Base. Broadcast stopped after episode 6 and restarted from episode 1 in April 2023.
- Golden Kamuy: The Final Chapter
Every faction converges on Sapporo, where a convict's skin and a Jack the Ripper copycat draw them to the brewery, and the race then heads for Hakodate's Goryokaku fort. Stops short of the manga's ending, which the Runaway Train arc will cover.
Story order
The TV seasons with each OVA after the season whose stretch of the manga it comes from. The Sapporo cinema release is left out because it repeats The Final Chapter's opening episodes.
- Golden Kamuy
Sugimoto meets Asirpa, learns about the tattooed convicts, and crosses paths with Lieutenant Tsurumi's 7th Division and Hijikata Toshizo, who all want the gold.
- Golden Kamuy OVA: The Bodyguards of Barato (optional)
Optional, but canon. Hijikata and Ogata get caught up in a gang war in Barato; it fills in what happens off-screen around Season 1's last episode, which shows the start and end of the same story. Originally bundled with manga volume 15.
- Golden Kamuy Season 2
The groups chase more tattooed convicts across Hokkaido and the season builds to the raid on Abashiri Prison, where they hope to find the man behind the tattoos.
- Golden Kamuy Season 2 OVA (optional)
Optional, but canon. Three side stories from the stretch of the manga Season 2 covers, which the TV run skipped: Shiraishi's prison-break romance, "Monster", and the Shiton animal stories. Bundled with manga volumes 17, 19 and 23; watch them after Season 2.
- Golden Kamuy Season 3
After Abashiri the party splits: Asirpa travels north toward Russian Sakhalin, and Sugimoto, travelling with Tsurumi's men, goes after her.
- Golden Kamuy Season 4
Back in Hokkaido the race for the remaining skins heats up. The first season by a new studio, Brain's Base. Broadcast stopped after episode 6 and restarted from episode 1 in April 2023.
- Golden Kamuy OVA: The Lightning Bandit and Ogin the Viper / Long-Tailed Tit (optional)
Optional. Two more manga chapters the TV run skipped, made by the Season 4 team and sold with the spin-off novel Tsurumi Tokushiro's Wish. Watch it after Season 4.
- Golden Kamuy: The Final Chapter
Every faction converges on Sapporo, where a convict's skin and a Jack the Ripper copycat draw them to the brewery, and the race then heads for Hakodate's Goryokaku fort. Stops short of the manga's ending, which the Runaway Train arc will cover.
Release order
Everything in the order it came out in Japan. The Season 2 OVA episodes came out one at a time between 2019 and 2020.
- Golden Kamuy
Sugimoto meets Asirpa, learns about the tattooed convicts, and crosses paths with Lieutenant Tsurumi's 7th Division and Hijikata Toshizo, who all want the gold.
- Golden Kamuy OVA: The Bodyguards of Barato (optional)
Optional, but canon. Hijikata and Ogata get caught up in a gang war in Barato; it fills in what happens off-screen around Season 1's last episode, which shows the start and end of the same story. Originally bundled with manga volume 15.
- Golden Kamuy Season 2
The groups chase more tattooed convicts across Hokkaido and the season builds to the raid on Abashiri Prison, where they hope to find the man behind the tattoos.
- Golden Kamuy Season 2 OVA (optional)
Optional, but canon. Three side stories from the stretch of the manga Season 2 covers, which the TV run skipped: Shiraishi's prison-break romance, "Monster", and the Shiton animal stories. Bundled with manga volumes 17, 19 and 23; watch them after Season 2.
- Golden Kamuy Season 3
After Abashiri the party splits: Asirpa travels north toward Russian Sakhalin, and Sugimoto, travelling with Tsurumi's men, goes after her.
- Golden Kamuy Season 4
Back in Hokkaido the race for the remaining skins heats up. The first season by a new studio, Brain's Base. Broadcast stopped after episode 6 and restarted from episode 1 in April 2023.
- Golden Kamuy: Sapporo Beer Brewery Arc (cinema release) (optional)
Skip if you're watching The Final Chapter. Two roughly 67-minute cinema releases in Japan that premiered the opening episodes of The Final Chapter ahead of TV.
- Golden Kamuy OVA: The Lightning Bandit and Ogin the Viper / Long-Tailed Tit (optional)
Optional. Two more manga chapters the TV run skipped, made by the Season 4 team and sold with the spin-off novel Tsurumi Tokushiro's Wish. Watch it after Season 4.
- Golden Kamuy: The Final Chapter
Every faction converges on Sapporo, where a convict's skin and a Jack the Ripper copycat draw them to the brewery, and the race then heads for Hakodate's Goryokaku fort. Stops short of the manga's ending, which the Runaway Train arc will cover.
Explained
Are the OVAs canon? Can I skip them?
They're canon: each adapts manga chapters that the TV seasons left out, and they were originally sold on DVDs bundled with manga volumes (the 2025 one with a spin-off novel). The main story never depends on them, so you can skip them, but they're full episodes with the cast and studio of the season they belong to, not recaps. The Barato OVA ties in most directly, since Season 1's finale shows only the start and end of that story.
Why did Season 4 stop and start again?
Season 4 aired six episodes in autumn 2022, then the rest was postponed after the death of a key staff member. In April 2023 it restarted from episode 1 and ran to the end in June, so it's 13 episodes in total. It was also the first season made by Brain's Base, which took over from Geno Studio, so the look changes a little.
Is The Final Chapter the end?
Not quite. It aired 13 episodes from January to March 2026 and stops just before the last stretch of the 314-chapter manga. The Runaway Train arc, which finishes the story, was announced right after for winter 2026–27; its exact date and length hadn't been announced as of October 2026. The manga ended in 2022 and is available in English from Viz.
What's Golden Douga Gekijou?
Half-minute chibi comedy shorts that ran on the official website alongside every season from 2018 to 2023, many adapted from the manga's bonus pages. Fun but skippable.
What about the live-action version?
A live-action film came out in 2024, followed by a nine-episode WOWOW drama later that year and a second film, The Abashiri Prison Raid, in March 2026. Netflix carries them in many regions. They retell the same story from the start, so they're an alternative, not a continuation of the anime.