Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 Stars.
Oh that was creepy! Really from the first page, you know that this story won't end well. It's unsettling and odd but at the same time so gripping, you can't stop reading because you just want to know what will happen to these people.
It is also a lesson to never pick up any strange thing you might find by the seashore or anywhere in general just put it down and run.

This book is very unsettling. It does a great job of just slowly building up the mystery and the tension. It worked well to get me interested in what this entity is, how it works and what it wants. I really appreciated how logically the kids’ response was to this supernatural entity and how scientifically they worked to try to figure out how it operated. That ending sent shivers down my spine.

I really enjoyed this! A girl finds a statue that ends up being more than she, or anyone else, expected. I'd like to find out more about how this story pans out!

Golden Gold is a very strange story : Hayasaka finds an old statue by the seashore. Bringing it home, she cleans it the best she can, but not knowing what to do about it, she leaves it in a temple. Shortly after, a strange creature appears and follows the teenage girl everywhere. Nobody knows who or what it is, but one thing is sure : it seems to bring good luck to the inhabitants of the house.

If you love creepy stories, this one is perfect for you. A very strange atmosphere follows the reader as we discover the little island where the heroine lives. You can only access it by boat, and it is rare for tourists to venture in the isolated part of Japan. Old beliefs and legends blend in the narrative. I couldn’t let go of this manga. It is well written. There is a lot of suspense and the author reveals very little about the story, revealing very slowly the information. I cannot wait to read the next volume and discover the strange creature’s motivations. No doubt they are not good …

Absolutely bizarre and a little creepy! I had no idea what to expect from this, especially when it started off so strangely - plus the cast of characters is pretty diverse. Still, I'm very intrigued by the mystery of it all, and I wonder what's going to happen next.

Definitely an original, spooky sort of manga.

Golden Gold is super creepy! I really enjoyed it and how the creepiness is somehow invisible and you're scared even though you don't know why. The story takes place in Neijima Island, where Ruka lives. She has a crush on a boy and her grandma has a store. Ruka ends up finding a weird doll-like figurine from the sea and suddenly the creature comes alive after she put it in a shrine. It keeps following her and she thinks it could be a god of fortune. Only those not born on the island see it as it is, all the others see it as an old man. Somehow the weird creature starts to develop the island to its liking. The whole thing is so interesting and the story combines horror with a Japanese country life so well. This makes the setting extra creepy and I don't know where this is going, but I think I need to find out. Although I'm scared.

The art looks nice. The backgrounds are amazing and detailed, but the faces look a bit odd at times. I love how the characters have facial expressions and the liveliness is the best part surely. The slight wonkiness works out well though, as it adds to the creepiness. This series is surely something else and thus refreshing by every standard!

what is this?? like this girl finds this totem that is a god but the people on the island see it as a person? and people start to get rich but also crazily obsessed with money and rich, probably a social commentary on society but is so weird and slow that did not shine between the other mangas i read.

Creepy, bizarre and leaves you with more questions than answers. I was hoping for a horror manga but nothing much happens here and it's not scary at all. I wanted to know so much more about the figurine as there's definitely more than meets the eye. Overall, this is a promising story but not really worth bothering with until you have the entire series out.

Golden Gold (A Manga by Seita Horio)
We begin our tale in the distant past. As a samurai warrior walks along a coast littered with the dead. Each of the bodies he passes are human, but only just. Their faces are like cherubs, and their earlobes are elongated. The samurai counts the bodies and realises that one is missing. We move to the present, and we are on the same stretch of coast. There is a road here now, one that leads to a small town, and we learn the coast forms part of an island. Time hasn’t changed much.

Hayasaka and Oikawa are friends but Hayasaka looks at the young man Oikawa is becoming and realises she wants more. Unfortunately time is not on her side when Oikawa tells her he intends to move to the mainland for college. A distraught Hayasaka draws into herself and, on a lonely stretch of coast, she finds a shrivelled effigy of what she thinks might be a god of prosperity. She takes the effigy home with her, too slow to realise the mistake she is making until the effigy springs to life and the people on the island begin to change.


Golden Gold is a slow burn of a manga that does not rely on the cutesy trappings of many manga that follow similar themes. Though there is an element of love interest in Golden Gold, the love is an unrequited one, one that is laden with bitterness and more than a little fear. It’s a tale laced with images of a broken future for the characters as the story starts. It is a foregone conclusion that Hayasaka will remain on the island, and it’s obvious that Oikawa is likely to leave. But Hayasaka’s fears of all this are put on hold when the effigy comes to life and the people of the island cannot see it for what it is.

Not a lot is explained in the first issue of Golden Gold. We are shown our cast of characters, and the island culture is somewhat explained. We are introduced to each character's main concerns, most of which have to do with the island being isolated and cut off from mainstream culture, and the benefits that come with it. When the effigy begins to move it does not do a whole lot. It takes up residence in the local hotel, which is owned by Hayasaka’s family, and most see it as a little old man. It eats and it sleeps, and otherwise does little except follow the odd character around on their daily chores.

There is an unmistakable eeriness to these scenes. The effigy gives the impression it is surveying people's lives, or perhaps laying down the groundwork for something to come. Though it does nothing aggressive, it does nothing at all in fact, it is obvious it is doing something to the population of the island. We just don’t know what. We see the symptoms of what is happening, but we get the firm impression we don’t have all the facts, and we shouldn’t jump to any conclusions.

Golden Gold is an absorbing read, it’s unsettling and its characters feel well rounded. It’s one of the more realistic manga I have read recently. There are no “fan service” moments, and no gore or weirdness a reader might associate with the genre. It’s a straight tale with few, if any, gimmicks. The only strangeness, so far, is the effigy itself, and everything around it acts as it would in the normal world.

While I am no aficionado of manga, I do read a good amount of it, so I consider my views to be from someone outside of the community who usually consumes such entertainment. From this perspective Golden Gold would be a good place for someone unfamiliar with manga to begin. Its story is straightforward and requires absolutely no prior understanding of the culture of either manga, or the country in which the story is set. Not only that but it’s a good read. It entertains, the characters are personable, and though not a great deal happens it’s a quick and easy read that lays the road for something that genuinely interests the reader. I’ll certainly be interested in where this all leads our characters, and will look out for volume two in the series.

Thank you to the publisher #Kodansha and #NetGalley for letting me read and review #GoldenGold by Seita Horio.

Volume 1 review:

On the island of Neijima, Hayasaka Ruka is trying to figure out how to keep her friend, Oikawa, from moving off the island. She stumbled upon an idol who follows her home. This story is about the kind of luck this idol has brought to her family.

I think the artwork is nice and the story interesting. I will be looking for Volume 2. I would like to see what happens next.

This story was interesting and unique which made me want to keep reading, especially towards the end! The story definitely started to get creepy/eerie. Can't wait to see what happens next!

Thank you Kodansha and NetGalley for this arc in exchange for my honest review!

I didn't like the art at first but I got hooked on to the story and forgot about it. Some panels are quite creepy and the art helps a lot. Overall, it's funny, creepy and weird. I'm happy this isn't a one shot, I'm looking forward to the rest of the series.

Thank you to Kodansha Comics and NetGalley for this arc.

This manga was super interesting! I really loved the building creepiness of the totem(god) and how its very slowly effecting the island natives. I think we'll definitely see things get a lot worse from here which will tie in to the first scenes of the manga where I believe this god has caused this same chaos elsewhere before.

Its extremely interesting and doesnt rely on any kind of gore or horror gimmick to give you that sense of worry or chills, it just is off putting all on its own in subtle ways that pile up. Definitely looking forward to later volumes.

Ooo, creepy! This one has a bit of a slow start, but then WHAM! The creepy factor turns up to a hundred, and I was invested! I don't know how to describe this one because it has a wide range of characters and I think it could appeal to many different readers. Basically, if you like supernatural stories involving old gods that probably ends badly for the characters, then I'd pick this up! I will definitely be checking out volume 2!

Hayasaka Ruka lives with her grandmother who runs a general store/Inn. She doesn’t have any friends except for Oikawa who she has a crush on, unfortunately he says he’s moving away next year. One day while on the beach Ruka finds a weird looking statue, she was told to put it in a shrine as an offering, she asks the gods to help her in keeping Oikawa from moving away. All of a sudden the statue vanishes from the shrine and when Ruka looks around she sees it has come to life. Obviously freaked out she runs away but the little guy is following her. It is to be believe that the statue is an idol (god of fortune).

I’m not sure what I was expecting from this manga but it definitely wasn’t this haha. The little idol is actually really cute and the way he walks around makes me laugh. I definitely can see how this little creepy Idol is going to be a problem in the end, it seems to be causing madness with the locals. I am curious to see how this progresses but the ending to this volume was a letdown. It didn’t really leave us with a cliff hanger or anything it kind of just ended? Which was odd but nonetheless I’m eager to read the next volume!

Thank you NetGalley and Kodansha for letting me read an advance copy in exchange for my honest review!

I'm definitely need to know what happens next, I'm hooked! The little god statue creature is literally one of the creepiest things I've ever seen though. I can't stand looking at it. Great art, great story!

Thank you so much to Kodansha Comics and NetGalley for providing me with an e-ARC; it is greatly appreciated.

What a funny little book ! Based on the description I was thinking this might be a manga where it's several stories in one that all take place on the island. Instead we follow our main character, Hayasaka, and the events that occur after she finds a bizzare looking idol on the beach. She cleans it up, takes it to a shrine, and following the lead of a local folktale, prays to it for help. This seems to bring the idol to life, but he has grown to the size of a child, which is just straight up creepy !

It's quite lighthearted at first as it establishes the characters. There's a humorous undertone throughout most of the story, as the characters simply do not know what to make of this idol turned "God." However, by the end of the manga you can definitely see the sinister side of this good fortune, so it appears that the story will get darker as it goes on.

Since this is the first volume, it's mostly about establishing the setting, characters, and situation, so that we're on the same page as the main characters. Due to this it is more dialogue heavy, which I did not mind at all. I felt like this book accomplished quite a lot for a first volume, and ended in a perfect spot to just give the reader a taste of the darkness of the God's power.

Overall I'm really looking forward to continuing on with this series. It's exactly as NetGalley bills it, a "bizzare, supernatural new story." I did see that it came out in its original language, Japanese, back in 2016, and there are currently nine volumes released there. I'm hoping that this is good news for the English translation, as I am ready to jump into the next volume !

[Thanks to Netgalley and Kodansha for an ARC in exchange for an unbiased review]

A small island turns out to have a big history and that means major problems when a little ‘be careful what you wish for’ comes calling. Hayasaka’s crush is moving away to the mainland and she makes a selfish request in a fit of youthful innocence, but when something answers, she may have awakened something that should have stayed buried in the past…

Well, this is an object lesson in not judging books by their covers, as this one isn’t especially compelling and gives nothing much of anything away. Yet what’s inside this volume is a cracking start to a tale of creeping dread.

Poor Hayasaka is a hapless teenage girl with a very vague otherness, explained later, that kept her apart from her old class. So she now lives and goes to school on the island with her grandmother and has a classmate, Oikawa, who she’s totally into. Her attempts to get her feelings across add needed levity to a story that is, by design, rather low on such moments.

This is a very cute pairing - Oikawa is clearly not quite infested with hormones yet, utterly oblivious to Hayasaka’s feelings as they toddle around anime and manga stores together. She’s a great heroine too, filled with intelligence and pluck, but also lots and lots of naïveté.

She finds an idol (?) and cleans it and sets it up at the local shrine as an offering, making a ridiculous dream wish that would keep Oikawa from attending high school on the mainland. Then all hell slowly begins to break loose. The idol thing goes from harmlessly ugly to creepy as hell in no time flat and it starts to manifest some bizarre changes in both the populace and their fortunes, maybe in response to Hayasaka, maybe not.

What really makes this story work once it gets going is the way it examines good fortune as the legitimate curse it could be, the way these things change people (whether by normal means or… other…) and what toll this could have on the people <i>providing</i> that money (there’s a scene where a woman just loads her cart to bursting at a store for no good reason that’s oddly chilling).

The other great pivot is that we start off with the othering of the outsider - a writer and a reporter are on the island to get some work done and Hayasaka has no time for them and the locals are the usual small town weirdos. The shouty guy really makes an impression with his minimal page time.

However, as things progress, it becomes clear that only people not born on the island are free from whatever madness is currently gripping the populace. So rather than being the enemy, these outsiders might be the only chance this village has. Or they’re doomed because of their outsider status as tends to happen, we’ll see. It’s a cute tweak to that trope though.

There are a couple faults - while I think the flashback that opens the series is rather necessary, it doesn’t land quite as strongly as you’d want an opening to do and doesn’t get pulled back into the narrative until a little too far down the line.

Hayasaka’s strange ability is also really cool, but as of right now it hasn’t added anything to the story except explaining why she left her old school and that could have been given a much more mundane reason. It seems very divested from the plot right now and could have been handled better or made more relevant from the get-go.

Still, small issues. Once this starts going and the changes start coming it’s clear that things are only going to get much, much worse and Hayasaka’s home is right at the middle of it. The mangaka knows how to draw some of the creepiest grins ever and deploys them to good effect.

This story also gets the way you need to set an atmosphere and layers on the slow-building horror with effective results. There is a transaction that closes out this book that feels about as evil as one can get and about five seconds away from erupting into full-on violence. And it’s a simple conversation.

4.5 stars - rounded down because of a couple of small issues, which I think will get ironed out in the second volume. I had no idea what this was about and I’m rather thrilled I took a chance to read it because it is some weird, creepy horror and very worthwhile.

My gratitude to Kodansha Comics and Netgalley for providing me with an advanced reading copy of this series in exchange for an honest review.

Hayasaka Ruka was pissed off at her childhood friend for deciding to stay in Osaka for the coming year because it has the nearest Animate store. Fueled by rage and greed, she prayed for a statue she found to have a branch of Animate store on their island so that her childhood friend will stay there forever and never leave her. Little did Ruka know that the statue she found isn't exactly a deity... but an object that feeds human desires and greed in exchange for <i>something.</i>
Spooky! A fruitful fortune that emerged from the common man's greed... but there's a twist. Seita Horio polished Faustian bargain in this modernized thrilling series, the Golden Gold. I have to see the future volumes of this golden series!