#golden kamuy chapter 185 | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

chibivesicle · 6 years ago

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Golden Kamuy chapter 185; how to cram in as much as possible in single chapter. Uh, thanks Noda-sensei. . . .

It is here, the translation for gk chap 185 is up on mangadex and everyone is a twitter about it. So time to tackle the chapter and what all is happening.

My co-dependent rescue cat is sitting next to me, so let’s do this! I am going to focus on three major things happening in this chapter;

1.) Ogata and Asirpa

2.) Tsukishima and Svetlana

3.) Sugimoto and Koito

I’ll start off the easiest parts to tackle; Sugimoto and Koito.

It looks Koito is going to shine in a combat situation with one of the escaped convicts here.

The Russian convict has ordered him to throw down all of his things as he approaches Koito from behind. It appears he’s making a move to pull out his sabre and strike by time he has turned to face the man. I practiced iaido many moons ago and we know he is skilled in the sword arts so this is just a very basic but effective move to do. He’s removed his mitten and will be yielding his sabre with his gloves. I predict Koito’s gonna kick some Russian convict bum.

Another thing to note is that he’s got what my friends would refer to as either “idiot mittens” or “kids mittens” b/c the mittens are physically attached to a string which likely either attaches to his jacket sleeve or all the way through the jacket to the other mitten through the coat. I like this detail b/c it is both cute and I have lived most of my life in northern places so this is a very banal yet accurate touch. Noda really shows his Hokkaido background there! As a desert dwelling northerner I really appreciate the detail!

Ok onto Sugimoto.

As soon as Sugimoto is reunited with Shirashi he immediately asks where Asirpa is after violently shaking the poor guy. This shows that Shirashi has held up his promise to Sugimoto to make sure to stick with her when he has not been able to. Sugimoto is sweating before Shirashi can even answer and when he does he states that he’s with Kiro and Ogata, but oddly doesn’t even mention Sofia. He conveys what Ogata reported to them. Interestingly, Sugimoto starts with Ogata shot me and then shot Wilk and emphasizes that Kiro was Ogata’s accomplice.

These statements show Sugimoto’s inherent dislike/distrust of Ogata. He makes it sound like he was shot first on and Wilk as well. He knows that Inkarmat told everyone that Kiro signalled to someone elsewhere before the shots happened. That means Kiro was making the ultimate call on what would happen - Ogata was too far away to confirm Wilk’s identity - Kiro had to ask Asirpa who was close to him before making the decision to shoot Wilk.

Everything about the current events show that Kiro is the leader - Ogata can’t speak any of the native people’s language, and as the events have unfolded it is clear that he’s not sharing his plan with Ogata - b/c he’s the leader in their group and Ogata is his assistant. I think deep down Kiro still loved Wilk as a friend so it isn’t as if he could have shot him, but instead he looked for someone else who could - oh here’s Ogata and he knows that he has to have some father issues even without knowing the full details.

Anyways, this is setting up an interesting showdown since it is quite clear that Sugimoto is working on his full emotions and not reading the situation to realize that the bigger threat isn’t Ogata but Kiro. He likely wants revenge for shooting him and almost killing him but he did the exact same thing to Ogata so they are technically even as far as their interactions. But Sugimoto is in part masking or not realizing it is revenge b/c he’s using saving Asirpa as his reason to hurt Ogata and Kiro. He used saving Asirpa as the reason to kill all of the convicts in the silent kotan arc. Who pointed this out to Asirpa? Ogata.

Next is Tsukishima and Svetlana

Finally after all of these chapters we’ve found Svetlana! Not surprisingly, Tsukishima is interacting with her. He’s the only party member who can speak Russian and he seemed most emotionally impacted by her parents story in the lighthouse.

Tanigaki is leading Koito and Tsukishima following Sugimoto’s trail. I guess Tanigaki is so engrossed in tracking Sugimoto, it takes Tsukishima glancing to the side to spot Svetlana. Where are his full matagi skills? Tsukishima not only yells that someone is there to them but by time he stops to recognize her, he has to yell for Tanigaki and Koito to wait (which they clearly do not do) and he turns away from her telling himself that he doesn’t have the time to talk to her. Are they ignoring his commands or unable to hear? The entire time he’s talking to her, they keep walking away.

You can see how he’s sweating so hard trying to come to a decision and he finally dives in to confirm her identity. He has chosen to help her vs continue on with Koito and Tanigaki. She confirms who she is and he tells her about her parents. She tells him she wants to leave Karafuto/Sakhalin and she didn’t care how she got out.

His face is then shaded, as he likely understands exactly how she feels as he was also trapped on Sado island. He pulls her up and tells her to head to the dogsled and to wait for him there. He boldly tells her that she’s going home.

She then protests that she wants to go to the city and wants to see St. Petersburg which if she made it to the mainland she maybe could reach it.

This is so well done as the next page is his reaction! Tsukishima is incredibly upset as he can’t believe she doesn’t want to tell her parents that she’s okay.

How they feel waiting for her - he knows exactly what that feels like as his fiancee was waiting for him and she was told that he died and at the same time when he returned home he was frantically searching for her. His emotions are so raw and real but he’s speaking how he feels - that he’s connected with both her and her parents and can’t believe how much this is hurting them. This is who Tsukishima is deep down, a man who cares deeply for others and for those he loved. No repressed, deadpan Tsukishima - just raw Tsukishima.

When she’s finally able to speak, he learns that she committed a crime with the man she was with (it is unclear if she actually loved him or just saw him as an out) so she didn’t want her parents to actually know that she had been arrested. She likely thought she was protecting her parents and their honor I guess or she was just so ashamed that she couldn’t face them and would prefer to disappear than admit the truth. She’s in a tough spot and once she says this Tsukishima then realizes the situation is more complicated. And who else got arrested? Tsukishima. I hope they have a great conversation.

I really like this interaction, we got to see a side of Tsukishima we’ve never seen but he never “lost” it; he was very upset but he’s going to calmly talk to her until what ever happens with the kerfuffle between Tanigaki & Koito and the escaped convicts.

Now on the the most complicated part but the most awaited - Ogata’s and Asirpa’s conversation.

Their conversation starts with Ogata’s back to the viewer and he tells her that she’s figured out the key to the code for the tattoos. This is an excellent panel format as the page needs to be turned to get to the next panel.

Ogata then kneels down in front of Asirpa and pushes the edge of his hat back to that she can see his face as he’s kneeling down (you can see the hand motion lines to the left of his right hand). The next panel has him below her after he asked her to tell him what the code is.

He then states that he just wants to get a fair amount of the gold and states that his needs are like Shirashi and Sugimoto who need some of the gold but not all of the gold. In the panel where he tells her than he doesn’t need all the money and that having that money would result in him not having a quiet peaceful life. He is explaining that who ever takes all the gold will only be caught in a future conflict over the gold and he doesn’t want that. In the last panel his facial expression is so soft, he’s blushing and you can’t blush on command or when you are lying. Blushing shows that he’s in part embarrassed but that he’s likely telling her his honest feelings. Ogata isn’t good with his feelings or with expressing his feelings so his blushing makes sense.

He continues to explain that if she told him the code than she can leave this crazy fight to the death over the gold. She can return to her life with Huci and Osoma and do what she wants to do, not do the things that Wilk wanted her to do or Kiro wanted her to do or even Sugimoto wants her to do.

Ogata is the first adult who is asking her for her permission to take on her burden and let her go back to being a kid. He’s not insulting her, he’s not belittling her, he’s honestly asking her if it is okay for him to do what he wants to do and that it is okay for her to leave this situation.

Asirpa’s face is sweating the entire time while he’s talking about her life back him with Huci and her extended family. This looks exactly like how she looked when Tanigaki found her after the swamp. She tried to remain calm with what Tanigaki said but she’s sweating and she’s trying to keep a straight face.

Ogata is the only person in the party who admits the dream aspect to be is just a dream but does offer the advice that she should contact Huci through a letter. This likely has to do with Ogata’s own soft spot and love for his grandma. Even though he wonders about the concept of love due to his experience with his parents, it is clear that he loves/d his grandma since he thinks it is important to contact her. Sugimoto finally jumps in to say that they could head back and help her feel better. He tells her that she doesn’t have to be so stoic in regards to her feelings toward Huci.

But once Sugimoto says that is spurs Asirpa to want to be treated like an adult in the situation. She needs to know if the man in prison is her father! She states that this is for her own future but forgets about Huci’s feelings or her relationship with Huci in this instant to look more like an adult.

Sugimoto then states that it is well said and indicates that he’s fully behind supporting her decision. But of course it is to Sugimoto’s benefit to support this course of action b/c he still needs to get some of the gold. Even if he isn’t acting outright for it in this scene this is in the background - the gold for Umeko is still something that he has to achieve and even though he deeply love and cares about Asirpa, she’s his key to getting that gold.

Okay, back to their conversation. Ogata is still kneeling/squatting before Asirpa and explains that she is allowed to leave the fight for indigenous people’s rights to Kiro and Sofia and the she shouldn’t have to carry such a heavy burden that both Sugimoto and Ogata now know through various means that Wilk wants Asirpa to lead her people to independence. Ogata knows how young Kiro was when he got involved with the partisans, he’s smart enough to know that she’s at the same impressionable age to get sucked in too. Yes, Kiro assassinated the czar at the at of 15, but that implies he got involved at an even younger age when he’d be most impressionable.

He then says, “Please tell me, Asirpa.” and he’s still blushing when he says this. The next panel has a grey shaded shot of Asirpa’s face and you can tell that now her eyes are shadows which means she’s likely thinking very seriously about things and also dealing with a lot of emotions underneath. The arrangement of the two panels side by side shows the power dynamics in this situation, she’s above him, he’s kneeling below her, he’s blushing and she’s got a stone cold stoic expression. It is almost like their normal expressions have been reversed or flipped. We’ve seen Asirpa blush plenty of times in front of others while Ogata keeps a cool expression. Like here when she does the crane dance. Sugimoto is clueless but he knows exactly what happened.

She finally asks him what he’s saying is true, why ask her separate from Kiro? There is a lot going on that statement - she’s asking him if his objective is true. A valid point, but this does match what he has been saying from the start, he wants some of the gold, he just added in the part that she doesn’t need to be a part of the revolution or be a part of the gold hunt and just go back to being herself. He still remains mysterious about his reasons for wanting some of the gold. I still fall back on @goldenkamuyhunting‘s meta post about his mother’s geisha debt. He likely needs to pay off that debt and then he’d need some money so that he can leave a quiet and peaceful life; since he stated if he had all the gold that would not be possible. I’m going to read between those lines and interpret it to mean that he just wants to lay low, hang out with his rifle and move on.

Now the second part is why he wanted to ask her away from Kiro - this means two things; 1.) she’s smart and figured out that Kiro is the one will determine what to do with the gold [not her] and it will have to do with independence for the indigenous peoples. 2.) she still has faith in Kiro and doesn’t think that her providing him with the code will have a negative impact on her e.g. she essentially joins the partisans by default by supplying the code and helping them to attain the gold. if it is #1, then she is confirming what Ogata is saying and that he’s worried about her and wants her to choose her future and to leave the hunt for the gold. When Ogata was caught in his brother fever dream, Asirpa began to wonder if finding the gold was even worth it. It shows that the actions and events around the gold had her questioning the reason for all of the death and destruction that it has brought so far. If it is #2, then she is setting up a fight between Kiro and Ogata since she already bluntly asked Kiro if he killed Wilk right after Inkarmat told her. Maybe she put more faith back in Kiro after Abashiri, since she saw with her own eyes that Kiro did not “kill” Wilk. If she confronted Kiro based on her conversation with Ogata she’d just go up and be like, “Hey, Ogata wants me to tell him the code so then he will be working with you.”. There is no way Kiro wants Ogata to be his partner with the key to the code, it puts him in too powerful of a position and Asirpa no longer has any value to Kiro. Kiro has never treated Ogata like a partner in the entire Karafuto arc and Ogata knows that currently he’s not useful and at a disadvantage. By knowing the code he protects Asirpa and the same time puts him in a more dangerous position but gets him closer to the gold.

After her question statement we get this panel. We can hear Kiro yelling for Asirpa and he’s just looking at her with such a tired face. It is hard to tell how he’s feeling here, Kiro yelling just but the pressure on both of them to find a reply, perhaps he’s thinking what to say . . . but definitely he’s stressed out by the situation. He just put himself out there and he’s likely an emotionally exhausted wreck.

Kiro then wonders how far away they went, but seriously where’s Sofia? Not with him. The Russian convict then manages to steal Tanigaki’s rifle and fires it at him as he attempts to block it with some sort of item from his pack.

Ogata immediately recognizes it as the same gun as earlier. He then grabs his binoculars to see who is approaching. His facial expression has gone from this soft face back to business.

The then sees Sugimoto through the snow; it looks like he’s trying to sneak up on their position from behind some ice. His rifle appears to still be on his back and I don’t think this type of weather Sugimoto has the advantage compared to Ogata. If he’s going to hurt him, he’ll have to get a hell of a lot closer. Keep in mind that Shirashi is likely with Sugimoto as they were both following Ryu towards Asirpa. Shirashi is the other non-violent member of the group so he may play a role in holding Sugimoto back if need be.

Sugimoto’s eyes are looking to his left and not straight ahead but the shadows around them show that this is serious business. He’s pissed and he’s in the zone and remember any person who Sugimoto thinks is bad isn’t human. And b/c Ogata isn’t human, he won’t feel pain or will it be bad to hurt him.

Of course Ogata is full on shocked that it is Sugimoto. His face says it all - he didn’t kill him and while he looks completely in shock, you can see he’s already pulling his rifle down off of his shoulder b/c he knows he’ll be coming for him.

It then ends with the final panel here. He admits it, that deep down he knew he didn’t kill Sugimoto. Snipers instinct I guess. It looks like he’s realizing that he did not take the right course of action in their situation, I wonder if he shot Sugimotos thinking that if he lived he’d go after Kiro first, since it is clear that Kiro is the leader in their actions. But unfortunately, Sugimoto thinks Ogata’s the one in charge.

This ending panel really hits home that both Ogata and Sugimoto are tightly linked to Asirpa and both have drawn out emotions from both of them that they’ve tried to hide or bury.

So what are my overall impressions on this? I think chapter 186 is going to see how all of these tense emotions between our characters play out.

Do I believe Ogata? Yes, I currently do - we’ve never seen these expressions from him nor these behaviours. When he lied to Tanigaki at Huci’s house, he was smiling like a cheshire cat and seemed too relaxed. There was no softness nor blushing. I’ve spent too much time staring at his facial expressions in this chapter - he’s different and it likely has to do with how he feels after his fever dream. He’s saying that the wants the gold for the same reason since the beginning of the series - he wants a cut but not all of it. He’s figured out Kiro’s endgame - he wants Asirpa to join the partisans and fight Russian and Japan and for the people’s rights. But he’s forgetting that is what he wants to have happen not Asirpa. Ogata is not a greedy individual, this has been demonstrated throughout the series, he only has what he needs and he keeps to himself.

Ogata is the first adult who is telling Asirpa how crazy all of this is and that it is okay for her to make her own decision on this not as an adult but that she has a right to not be an adult. Yes, she wants to be treated as one but becoming involved with the partisans will not allow her to go back to where she was before and she won’t see Huci again. I think her sweat while Ogata was talking her shows that deep down she knows if she keeps going on this path she won’t likely see Huci again. We don’t know Ogata’s own grandma’s backstory - perhaps he was unable to see her b/c of his decision to join the military and he regrets it and thinks she should have that chance. The difference between Ogata and Sugimoto, is Sugimoto started out treating Asirpa like a kid and then switched to treating her like an adult. Ogata started out treating her like an adult but is realizing it is okay to let her be a kid, b/c she is one.

The irony of the entire situation is that when Sugimoto was talking to Wilk he was upset that he wanted her to become a partisan and lead the Ainu and Sugimoto just wanted her to go home to Huci and hunt and eat brains. Ogata upon learning more about Wilk via Kiro and Sofia has come to the exact same conclusion, she’s best living her life in the kotan with Huci hunting deer. Both men have realized she shouldn’t be involved in this entire situation and want her to be happy. So the both want the same thing for her but they also want a small cut of the gold for their own use. So at this point in the manga, it is clear that Ogata and Sugimoto are the same in regards to their interaction with Asirpa. Likely, the only person who will help them achieve both of their goals is - Asirpa and I hope she does.

#golden kamuy #gk meta #golden kamuy chapter 185 #asirpa #ogata hyakunosuke #tsukishima hajime #svetlana #koito otonoshin #sugimoto saichi

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scyllua · 6 years ago

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Chap.185

"Tell me, Asirpa." One panel in chap.184 actually made me thing Ogata was out of his Neutral alignment zone to be back into his Neutral Evil self (if you happen to know the classic 9 moral alignments in the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game*), but I'm going with the above panels for this post instead.

Past the Abashiri arc and when in Karafuto already, Ogata spends a rather extended period of time (extended for him, in any case) being simply Neutral, traveling with the the party, using his sniping skills to provide food, putting up with some poking when shooting the wrong kind of game (I mean animals, by the way: remember the reindeer incident?), letting out the occasional "citatap" and limiting his usual remarks for the right kind of moment (like stating that there was no Kamuy, but Him... not textual words but close enough, if I remember correctly?) The confrontation with the small Russian group that ambushes the party past the frontier and the following flashback regarding his younger brother provide the development his character needs, but as these chapters serve mainly as plot exposition for Kiroranke, Asirpa's father and the story behind the stash of gold and why it's so craved, Ogata falls into the background for the most part.

...Personally, I've always thought of his alignment as Asshole Evil (or simply Asshole if he isn't up to anything too heinous at the time, but just being his cocky, smug self), though another GK reader I usually chat with (my brother) is the opinion that he could be considered a moral alignment by himself. One quite important fact about Ogata's character, in any case, is his motivations, or lack thereof as far as the plot is involved: none has ever been made obvious by his actions or otherwise stated by a reliable source, inlcuding himself (...if you want to take his word as "reliable" for anything he might have to say, of course). As another GK fan made me ponder, it might just be that's precisely the point with this character: he might have no actual motivations to do as he does, or in any case, the manga won't tell us about them. In a story where every other relevant character has a defined background -very detailed, or just maybe only outlined, but present in any case- and a solid personality, Ogata's lack of apparent motivations behind his actions is bound to catch the readers' attention. That's one of the reasons why I thought author Noda has outlined him deliberately so and...well... what motivations could a character this psychotic and sociopathic need or have? The lack of any would further shape said personality: in the above panels, for instance (and over the span of three chapters), Ogata will go to great lenghts to get Asirpa to reveal an important piece of information to him, and that includes being a serious contender for the Award For Best Dramatic Performance In The Golden Kamuy Manga... but just as easily, he'll give it up and turn on her instead.

There's still some way to go in the manga in plot terms, and after the events of chap.188, Ogata's character and future look rather uncertain to me. However, I can't deny there's always the possibility that Noda will tell us more about him and, at long last, his motivations, cravings, goals, aims... Until then -if that ever comes to happen; knowing Noda, it could be never... or in the next chapter-, I'll keep thinking of Ogata as a character with no particular motivations to analyze or ponder about.

*In the D&D game, there are 9 possible moral alignments, all based on an opposing Law - Chaos and Good - Evil axis, plus a neutral (ie. not falling to any of the other 8) alignment. Thus, a Lawful character ("lawful neutral" for game specifics) would adhere to a moral code or set of laws of some sort, while a Chaotic ("Chaotic neutral") would disregard laws and be impredictable, though said character could just not follow any set of rules or comply to social standads. Moral alignment "sets" are possible as long as they don't contradict themselves, for a total of 9: "lawful neutral", "lawful good" and "lawful evil"; "chaotic neutral", "chaotic good" and "chaotic evil"; "neutral", "neutral good" and "neutral evil". In another post I described the cast as being a D&D party. If the moral alignment system would be applied to them, I'd say that: - Sugimoto is Chaotic Good. - Asirpa and Tanigaki are Neutral Good. - Shiraishi begins as more of a Chaotic Neutral to become a Chaotic Good over time (and around the right kind of people). - Inkarmat hits me as more of a Neutral character. - Hijikata is Lawful Neutral and possibly Ushiyama as well (but more because of a personal code of physical discipline rather than any abiding to laws). - Ienaga, Kiroranke and Ogata are... Neutral Evil, some more obvious than others. Regarding the 7th (and the 27th Regiment in particular): - Tsurumi would be Lawful Evil. - Tsukishima and Koito would be Lawful Neutral, though any moral codes and ethics sense they may have seem to be override by their dedication to Tsurumi. - Nikaidou would be mostly Neutral, but becomes Murderous instead whenever nearby Sugimoto. - ...and just as some Japanese fans seems to think... I'd also say Usami is Neutral Evil. In spite of the cheerful smile and disposition, or maybe because of it? He seems to follow his impulses and enjoy killing with too much abandonment to be really Lawful to me, in any case.

#golden kamuy #ogata hyakunosuke #asirpa #kinkamu #edits #fan talk

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