#to following koito and i see the point but listen. that's just how he is. choosing to follow koito who has never lied to him and is a person

[kashilascorner]

A particular painpoint for me aside from what I commented in the tags of the og post is Siraishi both not saying goodbye and getting the gold. I think getting the gold was on brand with him and the final wink to fulfilling Boutarous' wishes is cute. However he does not get a dream of his own so to speak. On the other hand, he doesn't properly say goodbye to Sugimoto and Asirpa because he's not one for goodbyes or whatever. I see where this is coming from, this is all good old Siraishi, nevertheless I do think doing both things kind of fumbles his arc and growth which is a shame because his character growth was one of the things that had me most impressed in the latter half of the manga

Oh ok. I get now why a lot of people didn't vibe with the ending.

All and all: excellent manga, overall very good final act, too rushed final 2-3 chapters but weak and honestly mediocre epilogue, which makes the high of the ending kind of leave a bitter taste. I think Noda had a good steed and suddenly he had to finish and had to rush all. So the ending in the sense of the final arc was good but the ending proper (final couple chapters) + epilogue......... Not so much

[tosikoarts]

SFW Alphabet | Usami Tokishige

🎵 This may become a little brutal If I'm honest but It's any-anything for you my dear, I promise 🎶 You can figure our what I was listening to while writing this piece. Anyway, hope you’ll like it, anon!  You can check tosikowrites tag for more.  Warning: there’s a lot under the cut.

A = Affection (How affectionate are they? How do they show affection?)

The fact that Usami fell in love and now can’t shut up about them is not that surprising since the soldiers of the 7th Division have already witnessed his unhealthy obsession with the First Lieutenant. The dangerous aura of infinite adoration he carries does not bother others as much as well, maybe, because now his cursed energy has more output options, you know? It is not concentrated on one person and seems not so intense. Seems.

No matter how wild his fantasy runs, Usami behaves himself in their presence. Of course, his nerves are as taut as a rope since if he loosens up his attention he may not contain his passion…Chooses words carefully so as not to push them away and comes across as a lovely bubbly young man with the cutest smile! Even sitting in silence together is special. Usami can’t quit staring at them, they are so majestic!

He wants to follow them everywhere. Eat together, go on morning walks together, sleep together. Usami is a human version of burdock that will either quite by accident bump into his crush every other day or shamelessly ask them if they will be in this specific place or if they want to go there with him.

Personal boundaries? Don’t know her. As soon as his loved one gives him green light, Usami’s hands are all over the place. If he isn’t pinching their pink cheeks then he is patting their head. If he isn’t patting their head, he might be squeezing their ass. Usami is all about physical affection in every possible way, and it is extremely important for him to touch his partner. He might even lose it when they put a hand on his knee or take him by the hand, leave alone anything spicier.

Usami will end anyone who steps between him and his loved one. For him this is a cut-throat axiom, it is as natural as breathing, and it should be obvious to the surrounding. Anyone who wants to separate them automatically signs their own death sentence that will be carried out immediately by Usami himself.

B = Best friend (What would they be like as a best friend? How would the friendship start?)

To be friends with the rabid Superior Private, you have to be a mad lad with no moral compass (the questionable moral compass is ok too) just like him or be a literal angel with the patience of a sage and a heart of gold to deal with the chaos Usami brings into your life. Also, this person has to have impeccable reflexes just in case he decides to cut this friendship off. Takagi Tomoharu didn’t and where is he now?

With such a friend, nothing is scary. Friendship with Usami provides invulnerability in situations where an ordinary person would think twice. In addition to that, Tokishige doesn’t really look for troubles and prefers to spend time like a real hedonist: red-light district workers know his preferences very well, the owner in his favorite diner always meets him with a question “the usual?”, and Usami knows places to hang around in general. His friend gets to experience life delights with him as well.

He needs so much attention! If it was up to him, Usami would spend at least an hour every day with them even when they have already talked about every single thing in the world. Everyday chats about nothing are cool, mutual flattery is appreciated. These points lead to Usami being overly possessive: if his best friend suddenly starts spending more time with someone else, he will definitely take action against this stumbling block.

Demands that his friend to follow the “the enemy of my friend is my enemy” rule. They are obligated to get embittered at Ogata. No, Usami doesn’t explain why, they just have to.

C = Cuddles (Do they like to cuddle? How would they cuddle?)

Usami has restless ass syndrome. It’s like restless legs syndrome but with ass: he can’t sit still for more than 15 minutes. Cuddles do not last longer than that and often progress into steamy making out. It doesn’t mean he doesn’t like to cuddle though. Usami prefers to do it while leaving some space for moving so the leg hug is just perfect. Any other position including classical spooning feels like a rabbit trap.

If his partner is bigger than he is, Usami will definitely lie on their chest with legs wiggling up in the air. First of all, now he can see their lovable face, and second of all, he is on top which means being in control.

D = Domestic (Do they want to settle down? How are they at cooking and cleaning?)

Eeeh. Does he want to settle down? No, not really. Let’s say, there was no reason for him to think about settling down but even if there was, Usami would aggressively shake his head in negation. He is, just like Koito, too young to plan a quiet family life, and, at the moment, living on the wheels without thinking up ahead seems much more exciting than being chained to one place with one person. In his head, things are kind of overexaggerated but the answer to the question is still no for the next 10 years for sure.

E = Ending (If they had to break up with their partner, how would they do it?)

It is highly unlikely that Usami will break up with his partner in a proper manner. Self-deprecating comments and taking the blame for a failed relationship have no place in his explanation if he even decides to talk about it. Most likely Usami will leave them as spontaneously and unexpectedly as he popped up in their life in the first place: hops on a horse, gives them short indifferent look over the shoulder, and fades into the darkness of the night to never be seen again. Maybe, it’s for the better since Usami doesn’t have to face the fact he has nothing to say. Well, he chooses to be silent since crushing them with disinterest that makes the kid throw the old toy into the toybox doesn’t please him either. No check-ups, no letters, no “let’s stay friends”.

F = Fiance(e) (How do they feel about commitment? How quick would they want to get married?)

Avoids this question to the last minute because he is too young to commit and jump into family life. Usami reminds me of the type of person who wants to experiment in youth so that in old age he would not regret missing exciting opportunities. There is not a chance he will propose until he comes to the conclusion that he has already seen and experienced the most impressive stuff. So, maybe, from 7 to 10 years? Most definitely feels neutral about having an affair or two since he has a pretty lenient conscience.

G = Gentle (How gentle are they, both physically and emotionally?)

Emotionally? Absolute emptiness with, perhaps, distorted memories of family love arising here and there. His feelings are strong, aggressive, filled with preceding excitement before the upcoming fun. Calm states of mind such as serenity, clarity, boundless love are too underwhelming for Usami. Wouldn’t call him gentle in the physical sense either: life is motion, and he has to move or do something, anything to feel alive, and impatience makes his moves rough and harsh. Even in a gentle embrace, it seems that he squeezes his loved one to their ribs cracking. He kisses them out until they want to slip out of his hands like a gasping fish. They may like it, they may not, but Usami doesn’t loosen his love grip and remains a (little) wild in the relationship.

H = Hugs (Do they like hugs? How often do they do it? What are their hugs like?)

Usami hugs them at the most unexpected moments, takes them by storm to squeeze the hell out of them. Perhaps these are his favorite ones, to pick them up high and spin, leaving their legs tingling in the air like a ragdoll.

His hands never stay in one place. Feeling their warm body under the fingertips is indescribable pleasure so Usami gives himself free rein to rub their back, squeeze their sides, press them to his chest, and nuzzle into their neck. He may bite them as well.

Can’t stand to be hugged when he is obviously busy to the point where Usami can kinda gently push them away but sees no problem when he does the same to his partner. Believes that everything can be forgiven for his big puppy eyes (and other particular qualities).

I = I love you (How fast do they say the L-word?)

Casually says it on like the second day of official dating over the cup of tea. Hard to say if he is for real so confident in his feelings or if he does it to check their reaction but nevertheless. Usami looks his loved one right in the eyes with undisguised beaming complacency, and his confession is short, definite, and unobjectionable. Propping his chin with his pale hands, he immediately returns to the casual conversation and keeps going joyfully about whatever on his mind like Usami didn’t just murmur how he is in love with them forever and for ever. After that, he is elated. Confession is a kind of seal of belonging to him, consent of another person is optional, it doesn't matter at all, all that does it that they are his and he is theirs.

J = Jealousy (How jealous do they get? What do they do when they’re jealous?)

This shit is scary for everybody involved. Usami doesn’t get jealous per se but he has a strong feeling of having his loved one in his possession. Should someone try to covet his partner as hell breaks loose: regardless of who exactly was the initiator, - his loved one or another person, - Usami immediately takes action. In his mind, his partner can’t be guilty of infidelity, they were simply coerced into foul play and have to be taught how to recognize such a thing, they are innocent. This awful other person is different though, they are the ones who need to be taught some manners.

To start a fight Usami needs one dirty look, one carelessly thrown word. This is just an excuse to allow himself to take out all the anger on the poor soul. If Koito likes to gab hours on end but secretly hoping to avoid getting physical, Usami sees talking as a waste of time. Of course, if one fight is not enough, then Usami can go in for murder.

After the accident, he acts a lot rougher with his partner forcing them deeper into submission. To maintain ego and control and to be sure that they know their place, Usami needs praise, persuasion, and tons of physical affection.

K = Kisses (What are their kisses like? Where do they like to kiss you? Where do they like to be kissed?)

Loves the concept of kissing, loves to kiss, and to be kissed. Sees every kiss as a personal signature but also, on another level, rewarding pastime so Usami is all about steamy make-out sessions. He is eager and rough, oftentimes marks his partner in visible areas with not only bright hickeys but with straight out bites. The look of dark crescents from his teeth scattering on their delicate neck turns Usami on like nothing else.

Likes to be kissed all over the body, would prefer them to be as rough though since casual soft kisses don’t really set a mood for him. The same goes for them, Usami won’t leave a spot unkissed on their body. Has a thing for the neck, wrists, and insides of the thighs.

L = Little ones (How are they around children?)

Don’t let him around kids because it seems like Usami is good at it but in reality, he just builds up an army of naughty children to throw eggs at the neighbor's door. He like a devil coerces the goody angel into a mini-revolution under the nose of parents without offering any candy. Give this man a free hand, remove Tsurumi from his life, and you’ll see Usami growing into a cult leader. So, yes, he is pretty good with children older than like 5-6 years old, can’t do shit with babies younger than that. Usami hasn’t thought about being a father himself because beyond pranks and fun he knows absolutely nothing, zero, nada about raising children.

M = Morning (How are mornings spent with them?)

Incredibly active and varied if Usami managed to fall asleep before midnight the day before. He unceremoniously wakes his partner up either covering their face with kisses or pulling the blanket off them or starting a pillow fight. Expects his loved one to rise and shine without spending an hour just sitting here with an empty stare in the void.

Even when Usami collapses in the bed at dawn, it is possible that he will accidentally wake them up with a sweeping elbow blow to the nose. During the cold season, his partner should be ready to wake up trembling without a blanket. This bastard steals it every other night.

It is rare to see Usami cooking or doing anything useful at all in the house in the morning. He prefers to wander around while his partner lays the table and talk out loud to himself.

N = Night (How are nights spent with them?)

Unpredictable. He may get lost for an evening, come back with no explanation (we all know he was up to no good), and crash next to them with a smug smile. Other nights Usami can’t leave them alone: it feels like it is vital for him to fiddle with their fingers, play with their hair, pull them into a tight hug. The maximum relaxation effect is achieved with a couple of bitter sake shots drunk before meals.

Sleeping. Nobody canceled messed up sleeping schedule (check out the last letter of the alphabet) so Usami may have to make up for it by going to bed as early as 8 p.m.

O = Open (When would they start revealing things about themselves? Do they say everything all at once or wait a while to reveal things slowly?)

Opens up slowly but doesn't pay much attention to what exactly he is saying. Everything that has happened to the present moment is already history so Usami treats it as such. What once pleased or upset him does not evoke any strong emotions now and he easily reveals his past to the loved one. Usami, of course, avoids mentioning the murder of his friend but with a partner who very clearly shows their loyalty, he will not hesitate to describe how much it turned him inside out and changed him, opening doors to the darkest corners of his soul. In return, Usami asks his loved one tons of questions from favorite color to a relationship with their mother, feeling free to ask the most intrusive ones.

P = Patience (How easily angered are they?)

He is in the state of the boiling kettle 24/7, ready to whistle for any given reason. Not that he is that angry, but definitely in an unstable state of mind. When he gets pissed off, Usami doesn't change in the face, except that his smile can get even wider baring sharp small teeth. In most cases, other people have to restrain his anger so the military does a good job at keeping Superior Private in check with an iron fist out of battles and letting him go wild when the situation requires it.

In the relationship, Usami teeters on the brink just like the outside of it but his reactions to upsetting situations are milder and are easily resolved by sublimating desire to destroy into intense workout, make out, etc. He is easy to blow out but he tries really hard to do not harm his loved one.

Q = Quizzes (How much would they remember about you? Do they remember every little detail you mention in passing, or do they kind of forget everything?)

There is a whole room in his mind palace to store volumes of information about the loved one. Usami thrives on discovering different aspects of his partner’s personality in deep conversations and in characteristic behavior that he enjoys so much to observe. Therefore, nothing goes unnoticed.

Perfectly navigates the tone of their voice: Usami knows exactly how their sadness sounds when they try to veil it with cheerful words and when to step back when they rise their voice in a fit of anger. Awfully useful with a person who has a hard time communicating and/or expects others to understand them just like that.

R = Remember (What is their favorite moment in your relationship?)

He doesn’t have a favorite one. All meaningful moments like the first meeting, first kiss, other first times occupy equally important places in his heart so if asked Usami will murmur how every second with them is unthinkably precious and he can’t pick just one!

S = Security (How protective are they? How would they protect you? How would they like to be protected?)

Ready to faithfully protect his partner in the most dangerous situations. It is obvious, isn’t it? Usami will cover them like a shield on the battlefield, but most of the time he prefers to eliminate the source of danger: thanks to a state of perpetual alert and intense adrenaline rush, he can ignore multiple injuries for hours while shooting off foes. Usami lacks the voice of reason so he tends to overreact when it is completely out of place.

Oh, Usami doesn’t let anybody touch his loved one. As soon as he sees a hand reaching to them, he reflexively grabs it if not twists it with excessive force. Strangers understand they should not mess with Usami from his piercing look but there is always a fool who tempts fate in vain.

T = Try (How much effort would they put into dates, anniversaries, gifts, everyday tasks?)

Not that much. He doesn't bother planning dates and gifts but sometimes there are moments of enlightenment that make Usami sit down and think about how to impress his loved one in a good way. Most of the time he prefers spontaneity to foresight since in his mind whatever is fun to him will work for them too.

Anniversaries are the dates when Usami is all sweetness and light: he runs around his loved one ready to bend over backward for their enjoyment. Seriously, he is ready to be used as a footrest for the whole day if it’s what they want.

Slacks on everyday tasks though, he is great at avoiding daily chores under the stupidest pretext.

U = Ugly (What would be some bad habits of theirs?)

I won't even start talking about how unhinged he is, you should have had figured it out by now. I just have to mention again that this is an integral personality trait and Usami cannot physically change it. Take it or leave it. He is not forcing anybody to participate in his violent misadventures but he won’t tolerate attempts to stop them.

Control freak, Usami thinks he owns a person when in the relationship. He quite seriously believes that he is in control of their life and can decide whether they can or cannot do particular things. Of course, if they do not act in accordance with Usami’s wishes, they will be punished to prevent further misbehavior.

V = Vanity (How concerned are they with their looks?)

Usami’s skin is naturally silky and he likes to keep it this way despite the harsh weather conditions. Nobody knows if he is using any creams or other cosmetics but the fact remains: his face is almost baby-like soft. Also, running men tattoos fade quickly due to their location so Usami has to renew them quite often. He does it with enviable regularity and forbids everyone (except his partner and First Lieutenant) to touch his cheeks. His clothes are in fair condition as well as his shoes. Usami wears his clothes neatly, and never wears them off to the holes and patches.

W = Whole (Would they feel incomplete without you?)

All attempts to break up with Usami end with his theatrical chuckle and short “good joke, darling”: they are not going anywhere until he allows them to do so. The more times his partner brings this dumb question up, the angrier he gets, barely hiding it behind biting his lips. By the time his patience bursts, Usami has already come up with a plan to keep them by his side, voluntarily or compulsorily. If they decide to leave him because they didn’t get enough attention and affection, Usami will try to fulfill their every whim. If they express their concerns regarding his behavior, Usami will learn how to hide unsightly features better. All in all, he is not going to let them go just because they want to. It seems that the risk of ending on the side of the road gives him even more fervor to fight for their love.

The only thing that remains for his loved one is to leave Usami with no farewell letter left behind. Otherwise, they risk gaining a stalker with military experience under his belt. Not the best combination if you ask me.

If they were killed, Usami one hundred percent will find their murderer and tear them apart. Literally. He snaps, he is not going to hold back any longer.

X = Xtra (A random headcanon for them.)

Must be an obvious one but Usami is a kinky bastard. He tries such things to which no adequate person would agree or if they did it is unlikely that they would tell anyone about it. This applies not only to sexual behavior, he is eccentric in general, he is not held back by social rules and limits of decency. Usami would set few things on fire just to see how long it takes each to burn to the crisps. Sucks fingers and toes. I don’t know, he does everything you are kind of uncomfortable to do. Might fuck around and start another war idk.

Y = Yuck (What are some things they wouldn’t like, either in general or in a partner?)

Can’t handle boring people. Looking at what he considers “boring” people tells that it includes people with no character, withdrawn from society and recent events, silly and predictable ones. First, most likely they would not interact with Usami considering how unhinged he is. He is more trouble than he is worth, you know. And secondly, Usami doesn’t notice them in the crowd. If his loved one happens to be too boring, he will leave them, sooner or later.

Anyone standing between him and First Lieutenant can forget about any relationship with Usami. It is impossible. The gears in his head are spinning like crazy to come up with a perfect plan and get away with their murder. No hard feelings, but Usami’s obsession with Tsurumi isn’t going anywhere, and the only scenario he can agree with is dating someone who if doesn’t support it then at least doesn’t try to ward him off of it.

Z = Zzz (What is a sleep habit of theirs?)

His sleep schedule is an absolute mess with no hint of changing in the future. First of all, Usami sleeps 4-6 hours per day, can’t sleep during the day so he doesn’t take naps and doesn’t nodes off. At the same time, these short hours of sleep do not stick to night time only: sometimes Usami decides to go to bed at 3 a.m. still full of energy, other days he crawls under the blanket at 6 p.m. exhausted to the point of collapsing. He never complains about sleep, sees almost acid-trippy dreams a few times a month, and not even once had to take a pill to fall asleep.

Sleeps like a dead man with limbs entwined around his loved one. His lips break into a sweet smile as Usami throws a leg over their body and presses himself closer. He looks so peaceful you’d never think this man can bite your hand and throw you out of the window uwu.

[chibivesicle]

Golden Kamuy chapters 269-270.  The cliff notes meta edition.

This will be a less detailed meta as I’ve just been spread too thin recently and the current events of the manga have been underwhelming to me, making it harder to engage with the content.

Having an online presence has been a double-edged sword for me and as we mark 1 year of pandemic life, it is hard for me to invest as much time in it since I have to do so many more things online for work.  Sitting down to write meta isn’t as fun and relaxing as it once was when you have 7 zoom meetings over the course of several days. Add on the fact that I have not left the county were I live since February 2020 nor I have a seen any of my family or friends . . . yeah writing meta isn’t a much of a priority.  As an aside, I think more people need to be stating that being ‘productive’ and ‘leveling up’ during these times is either unrealistic and even more damaging by creating completely unrealistic expectations of how we should respond to things.

[steps off of soapbox]

Chapter 269, quickly shows us how the chaos that Tsurumi unleashed on the divided Ainu resulted in a tragedy and Wilk is the only one who managed to survive the massacre.

Tsurumi is able to sort out that there were eight Ainu, and that Wilk staged his own death by working quickly to conceal the identity of the dead partially by removing the eyes. 

Kikuta is the first one to find the man who dies soon after discovery and Tsurumi seems to be in awe of Wilk’s escape plan.

KIkuta also shows he’s a more empathetic individual worried about how they contributed to the death of Ariko’s father.  Did Tsurumi push Kikuta away after the war since he knew Kikuta would feel bad about doing the ‘things’ needed to be done for the gold?

It further highlights that Usami and Kikuta were never on the same page.  I do like how the following page shows both Kikuta and Ariko continuing to tie the narrative that Kikuta feels a connection with the younger man.  Shiraishi and Sugimoto spot Ariko, calling him Ariko Ipopte, which is an interesting choice to use a hybrid name for him.  Kikuta uses his full Japanese name, while these men use a mix.

The final panel showing a reflective looking Kikuta walking alone in the rain really emotional connects with the grief surrounding all of this unnecessary death.  Tsurumi sought to be a leader of men by giving them love and being the stand in father for them.  I think that Kikuta is the character who is the natural and honest father figure - we know he has a deep relationship with Ariko and we also know he has some sort of connection to Sugimoto.

Tsurumi continues his ‘discussion’ of events with Asirpa and Sofia.  Tsurumi has such a complicated relationship with Wilk.  He’s both in awe of the man’s determination to survive but at the same time he wanted him destroyed at such a great cost.

Tsurumi really lays on the guilt to Asirpa that Wilk did everything to protect her - under the assumption that she’d be unfairly treated if her father had killed all of those men.  Perhaps that is the case, perhaps not.  It seems contradictory to his own actions where he gave Ogin and the Lighting Bandit’s child to Huci to care for it.  He has this weird approach to the impact of the ‘sins of the parents’ on the child  . . .

Tsurumi doggedly pursues Wilk and they immediately recognize each other and he flees onto the lake with his canoe.  By shooting at Wilk, he forces him to capsize the canoe and items sink down into the lake.  Honestly, I’m not sure what Tsurumi was hoping to achieve by this - make him swim so that he could capture him more easily.  We don’t know how skilled Tsurumi is with a rifle and I’d be more concerned about killing Wilk and loosing the information.  It seems reckless in my opinion since the ultimate outcome was Wilk appealing to Inudou thus achieving protection from the 7th.

I think Tsurumi was fueled and blinded by his emotions which only made things more complicated and drew the hunt for the gold out even longer (to the present time).

The rest of the chapter explains how Kiro felt.  First, the grief at the loss of Wilk, trying to move on my having a family, but ultimately coming back to realize that Wilk was still alive after the war.  Really, Wilk underestimated Kiro’s intelligence since he figured out that Kimuspu was the seventh man, not Wilk.  As a Kiro fan, I of course favor him, but he really showed he’s a good leader and actually willing to take risks.  What is most important is that having a family only lead him to want to fight for them - even more.

Kiro sees the flaw in Wilk’s plan of Hokkaido as an independent unit as a place for various native peoples, while ignoring all of the logistical issues that Kiro already pointed out to him previously.  The Far Eastern Federation has the flaw that it is connected by land to Russia, but would me much harder to lay siege to.  But Hokkaido as an island could easily be cut off - and with not much industry within itself, you still can’t do a whole lot with all of those raw materials if you can get industrial technologies from elsewhere.  If it were blockaded they’d be screwed.  Sure, you wouldn’t starve, but you wouldn’t be able to advance quickly.  All that gold and nowhere to spend it.

Thus, Kiro believed he was acting in regard to their original goals and had no choice but to remove Wilk from the equation.  As Wilk had become the very wolf that he had observed as a child and played with its pelt.  That is some next level foreshadowing by Noda, if I do say so.

In the end, Kiro remained much more committed to their fight as partisans than Wilk did.  You have to give it to him, he stuck to his original plans and he died believing he did the right thing.  Now, looking back at how upset Sofia was when she first saw Kiro, we know why she slapped him in the first place.  I’ll take it to mean that she was upset by Kiro’s actions but at the same time understood what he did.  But then Sofia let it go, as she would soon go on to also speak fondly of Wilk and his desire to be like the wolves.  Therefore, I don’t think Sofia was completely angry with Kiro, instead she knew the decision that was made and perhaps, she too, would have understood that there were divided in their goals once they moved on with their lives.

The next chapter starts off with the bottle mobile boys and Ariko on horseback as they determine what to do next.  Sugimoto is amazingly still not rushing in like a maniac which is out of character for him.  Are you okay Sugimoto?  Or have your encounters with Kikuta and Boutarou begun to have an impact on you without being aware of it?

The settle on letting Ariko go ahead, even though he doesn’t answer their question.  I’d say he doesn’t have a clue what side he is on.  He likely cares about Kikuta.  But he wants to see Asirpa succeed since he feels ashamed by his own approach towards life in Hokkaido as an Ainu.

Off he goes alone to figure out how to rescue Asirpa.  Really, a terrible idea since sure he’s a tough guy, but we don’t know what his fighting skills are like in the first place. . . . At least he isn’t a hothead, so sending him in alone will be less of a disaster than Sugimoto.

The action returns to Tsurumi trying to turn up the heat on Asirpa.  She asks him about Kiro’s fingerprints at the crime scene - a lie that Tsurumi fed to Inkarmat to get her to help him.  He writes it off as him doing a good thing for her - she closed a chapter of her life - then again - he doesn’t know that Koito let Tanigaki and Inkarmat escape.  The next several pages are a slow psychological technique that builds up to Tsurumi reveling that the bullet that killed Fina and Olga had been from Wilk’s pistol.  Dum da duuum!

So, according to Tsurumi it is Wilk’s fault all those Ainu died.  That he should have never left Russia for Japan.  That even his time in Russia resulted in Fina and Olga’s deaths.  Everything is Wilk’s fault!

This page ends with how Tsukishima let go of the woman he had loved and his memory of her - yet Tsurumi kept the bullet and the finger bones of his family!  We can see that Tsukishima is barely holding it together, so upset by this knowledge!

As a master manipulator of people, Tsurumi thanks Sofia for what she has contributed to the story - he can help her feel better by telling her that she did not kill his wife and child. . . .  on no, he only uses it as a way to add even more pressure on Asirpa!

To Tsurumi, Asirpa is no child, she is the direct tie to all of his anger and pain and his twisted soul.  

I mean, he kept Wilk’s skinned face and he’s using it to get her to break! What is more interesting is after the initial shock, Sofia quickly regains her calm while Asirpa - well she’s clearly buying into Tsurumi’s explanation of things.

She is thinking about how her father ‘turned’ Tsurumi into the person he is before her . . . . I’d be willing to say that Wilk influenced Tsurumi - as much as Tsurumi influenced Wilk.  Yet, Tsurumi as a human being is responsible for his decisions and he alone can respond to them in a constructive or destructive way.  It is clear Tsurumi went for the latter.

Sofia’s calm in this pressure situation is clear as she asks him if it was for revenge.  She’s a smart woman and has lived long enough to see these types of things through.

Tsukishima is ready to kill Tsurumi - it would make him a hypocritical leader - having him let go of his own earthly attachments only to serve a man bent on revenge.  Koito is listening closely as well, unsure of how he’s going to respond.

Tsurumi makes it clear he could have killed Asirpa any number of times.  I think this is another case of Tsurumi playing a verbal slight of hand.  He’s asked if he’s doing this out of revenge, and his answer is - I haven’t killed her yet.  Gee, based on how messed up you are Tsurumi, we both know that there is more than one way to take revenge. Killing someone in retribution is one way to take revenge or the worse way - make their life a living hell.  It is clear that Tsurumi is going for the second one to break Asirpa.

There is a dramatic two page spread as he explains that he is doing this for Japan - and the implied increasing militaristic activities of the late Meiji government to expand their domain.

If feels - like a performance to me as a reader.  The pages are remarkably light in tone giving it an optimistic and feeling of purity.  Yet, Tsurumi is a broken and corrupt man . . . cruel in his intentions.  He only says this as a way to combat anyone who were to contradict him . . . .

It is too perfect - too convenient - too good for Koito and Tsukishima to believe in my own opinion. As both of the men seem relived to have heard these very words as a type of closing statement.

Tsukishima looks relived that Tsurumi is continuing on the behalf of all of their fallen comrades and families.  Again, this sounds too perfect like Tsurumi’s speech isn’t for Asirpa nor Sofia, it is for Koito and Tsukishima who are eavesdropping.  Since Tsurumi is a next level planner/manipulator he likely came up with this well rehearsed speech to placate all issues around his inability to move on from his family’s death.  It makes him look mature and that he’d moved on from his more basic human needs.

Koito looks like he’s trying really hard to believe Tsurumi and how Tsurumi’s words would comfort Tsukishima.  But is that how you really feel Koito?  That face looks - so - fake.  Like Koito is overdoing it again and is actually unsure how to react.  So, he he looks elated, Tsukishima will feel better - or something.

What I really want to know is why they are just there hiding and watching Tsurumi?  If they are wanting to think independently and beyond Tsurumi why do it while hiding?  It seems no matter what either man may think, they are still under Tsurumi’s thumb as far as how they react to his behavior and the current events.

And I’m gonna have to hold things here while I find a way to read the  more recent chapters with non-shady software to decompress the files since I’ve been using Mangadex the entire time I’ve been reading GK (in addition to the english versions of previous chapters).

[goldenkamuyhunting]

1) I think/hope that, in the following chapters, once Trurumi and Sophia have hashed out all the backstory details they each possess about the gold and the aniu massacre, Trurumi will go on a little rant/appeal to aspirta, asking her to cooperate with him in finding the gold, but only after she tells him what her own ‘selfish’ goal is, so they can each deal with the other honestly. I sorta have this image of Trurumi explaining that the reason he’s ahead of everybody else, out of all the other

To be honest I fear our vision of Tsurumi greatly differ so feel free to skip my reply.

Anyway I don’t see Tsurumi as someone who compromises, more as someone who manipulates.

A compromise is an agreement or settlement of a dispute that is reached by each side making concessions.

Manipulation is instead the act of controlling or influencing a person or situation cleverly or unscrupulously.

Let’s consider the present situation.

Tsurumi had Sofia talking by using her sense of guilt toward his own family as well as dressing it up as an act done for Asirpa’s benefit. This is manipulation, not a compromise. It’s Tsurumi who WANTS to know what Sofia knows, he’s not giving up any information he doesn’t want to give up, he’s fully in control of the situation and of what he says. Sofia instead is tied to a bench. If he’s not beating her up to get her to talk is only because it’s clear she’s a too tough nut to crack.

If we go back this has always been Tsurumi’s Modus operandi.

He won Ariko’s cooperation by tricking to expose himself as Hijikata’s ally, then he blackmailed him by threatening his family and promising all would be forgiven if he were to play spy for him.

He won Koito Otonoshin and Heiji’s cooperation by tricking them into thinking he saved Koito when, in fact, he staged the kidnapping.

He won Tsukishima’s loyalty building up a castle of lies so intricate we don’t even know which is the truth on Igogusa anymore.

He won Sugimoto’s cooperating by letting him believe he was a choice better than Hijikata in entrusting Asirpa to him (he wasn’t as we know he planned to jail her underground indefinitely) and by promising to pay Sugimoto (which he might not have done once everything has ended).

He won Tanigaki’s loyalty by listening to his story and, instead than acting like Nihei, scolding him and telling him to go back home as Tanigaki needed to do, he told him pretty words to keep him in Hokkaido to serve his purposes. Later he tried to win his cooperation agan, by blackmailing him saying if he weren’t to cooperate he would hurt Inkarmat and Tanigaki’s child.

He won Edogai’s loyalty by giving him the exact type of attention he needed for one day.

He won Inkarmat���s cooperation by telling her he was sure Wilk was dead (which was a lie as he believed Wilk to be alive) and the one in jail to be one of Kiroranke’s companions (and he might have lied on the fingerprints belonging to Kiro).

He pinned Ogata against his brother in the same way as Usami was pinned against Tomoharu, ultimately leading to Ogata killing him... later he used Ogata to kill Hanazawa himself.

He won Yodogawa’s cooperation by blackmailing him.

He won Nikaido’s cooperation by promising him he would let him kill Sugimoto so that Nikaidou would give him the names of the other rebels.

And so on and on.

Now... manipulating requires effort and you might give something to the person you’re manipulating, still this isn't considered the same as reaching a compromise.

In Tsurumi’s interactions with others he gets much more than what he loses while the others gain little or next to nothing as their problems are often caused by Tsurumi himself.

Also, let’s remember Tsurumi's goal and Asirpa’s are mostly mutually exclusive.

Tsurumi needs all the gold to make his military state which is mainly for the benefit of the Wajin soldiers under him. Protecting the Ainu and their customs wouldn’t benefit his state, on the contrary it might come as a burden as Tsurumi wants to such Hokkaido’s resources dry with his army factories and opium factories and the Ainu instead need those resources to survive.

If Asirpa gives Tsurumi something, he’ll use it against her.

Tsurumi’s greater goal and his personal goal instead, aren’t in conflict and he won’t have to give up on something to fulfil it, actually he’ll gain to become a ruler.

He doesn’t give up on his deeper personal desires for the sake of someone else and, each time he seems to give up on something, which is mostly when he spares people, it’s actually because those people are more useful alive.

While Tsurumi might also be doing all this for his men’s benefits... we don’t know if he would still be doing that hadn’t his own personal goal be present... and we were shown how a personal goal might end up becoming PRIORITARY to the point one discharge the other goal.

Honestly I believes his personal goal was ALWAYS in Tsurumi's mind, I don’t believe he realized it only after he met Asirpa, and his personal goal is HIS GREATER REASON for his action. His public goal is his other reason, but a reason that’s comparatively minor, which is why he can use, manipulate and sacrifice his men easily.

Hijikata is behind Tsurumi due to a huge difference in their situation that has little to do with the late start and a lot to do with the respective positions.

Both are very charismatic and can win over people but Tsurumi is an intelligence officer in the army, who starts this game with already 100 men trained to fight under himself, weapons he can steal from Asahikawa, information at his disposal about officers that he can use to manipulate them when he interact with them.

Hijikata is a wanted criminal who just escaped from prison.

He had no loyal men below him, not Tsurumi’s information network, nor chances to meet officers in order to manipulate them. Hijikata does wonderfully, winning people over, stealing money, managing to use Nagakura’s small connections and a bit of his past connections but this is nothing compared to what Tsurumi could have even if he hadn’t started preparations early.

What Hijikata does is to hire people to his cause (Ushiyama, Toni)... sometimes using the same techniques as Tsurumi (for example Shiraishi was blackmailed into cooperating while Ariko was manipulated). The only time in which he had to compromise is when he joined forces with Sugimoto... but we saw his compromise was there because he actually planned to use and betray Sugimoto.

On the other side Hijikata is an intelligent, charismatic and capable leader. Kantarou admires him, he doesn’t follow him merely because he was promised money.

While yes, Sugimoto isn’t good at compromising, his own problem is he had nothing at his advantage beyond the luck the AInu who was helping him was Asirpa, daughter of Nopperabou.

Sugimoto has no friends in Hokkaido, nor men under him, nor money with whom he can hire people. He can be charismatic but he’s not a good leader and he’s no good at judging people or knowing how to take them. He also places little value in other people’s goals (he didn’t think Shiraishi should get money nor he cares that Boutarou would get his kingdoom and think Asirpa should get her goal to protect the Ainu to someone else because it’s dangerous for her) and not everyone might like how he acts.

He lost Boutarou because he didn’t bother to put himself in Boutarou’s shoes.

But still, even if Sugimoto were to be THE BEST at compromises, it would be unrealistic he would top Tsurumi or come closer to Hijikata.

He’s just a common person with no connection with people holding useful positions and no money. Sugimoto has to struggle way more than Tsurumi or Hijikata to keep up with the gold hunt.

Your imaginery of what Tsurumi can say is beautiful, but the problem is again that I don’t really see Tsurumi as willing to cooperate to save the Ainu because, as said before, this is a goal that clashes with his own.

As for Asirpa’s private goal, which first pushed her to want to protect the Ainu, well that one is actually quite obvious and doesn’t need to be revealed because it’s the same for everyone.

She has a large family among the Ainu, plenty of people she loves and she also love the Ainu culture, which is her own.

Protecting the Ainu means to protect Huci, Osoma, Makanakkuru and all her other relatives and friends. It’s not secret... and not even that selfish, just normal.

It’s actually the norm, what has always been for many, many soldiers behind the rethoric of the war.

Going to war to protect your country is something abstract, people mostly go to war to protect their family and friends, the people they love.

Very, very few are so idealistic they mean to protect everyone equally, or that would want to protect people who have no connections.

We saw that Koito Heiji should have sacrificed his son for the well being of Japan, yet he ran to save him.

Asirpa’s greater cause and her own personal one to protect her beloved people overlap as her beloved people are part of the Hokkaido Ainu she wants to protect and she’s likely aware of it. They might come to clash though, only if she’ll be asked to sacrifice her family for the well being of the other Ainu.

So, when Asirpa wants to find the gold for the Ainu, she’s actually finding it for herself, to protect her own beloved people as well as her beloved lifestile.

What doesn’t really overlap her puclic wish, is her wish to also protect Sugimoto, who’s a beloved person but not an Hokkaido Ainu, and her wish to build a family with him. Asirpa is aware of wishing this, as well as of the fact Sugimoto might refuse to build a family with her, as he loves Umeko and no amount of gold can change his mind.

And note how her own wish to be happy with Sugimoto actually went against her greater cause as she considered never finding the gold, just to stay with Sugimoto, which actually would be a terrible idea because it won’t cause Sugimoto to magically love her.

Anyway, long story short, I don’t expect Tsurumi to try to do compromises, I expect him to try to do manipulation.

I might be wrong, of course, so you’re free to disagree.

Thank you for your ask and for sharing your thoughts with me. I might not agree with them but I love to hear other people’s ideas.

[jjr1971]

Finally sat down to binge Ep.1-8 of the English dub of Bloom Into You, which is all the currently available English dub episodes for now.  I really enjoyed this story and big props to Luci Christian as Touko Nanami (七海 燈子 Nanami Tōko) and Tia Ballard as Yuu Koito (小糸 侑 Koito Yū) in the lead roles.  Honorable mention goes to Shanae’a Moore voicing Student Council Vice President Sayaka Saeki (佐伯 沙弥香 Saeki Sayaka), pictured below the main couple above.

***Mild spoilers follow***.

The series is gorgeously animated.  The story is a bit of a slow burn, but it kept me engaged such that I always wanted to see what happened next. Brief Summary: Timid Yuu Koito is a first year student who has a few friends but has never been in love.  A boy asked her out the last day of Middle School but she never felt any reciprocal feelings for him and she declined him by phone later.  She is pressured by her friends to join some sort of club or maybe even Student Council.  On her way to the Student Council clubhouse she runs into Student Council member Touko Nanami, who has just gently rejected a boy wanting to date her.  Touko explains it’s not him, it’s just she has no intention of dating anyone until after high school.  Touko is ambitious and academically at the top of her class.  She is the favored front-runner for becoming the next Student Council President.  Her best friend and academic rival, the equally popular Sayaka Saeki is strongly expected to become the next Student Council Vice President. Yuu just wants to help out behind the scenes with the Student Council, getting their paperwork in order, etc.  But Touko can see Yuu is emotionally troubled.  Yuu explains about the boy who asked her out the last day of Middle School and how she hasn’t given him an answer but that she’s never been in love...all the manga and novels she’s read have lead her to believe she will feel something akin to fireworks when the love is real.  And she just doesn’t feel that way about this boy, or anyone.  Touko gives Yuu the courage to accept the boy’s phone call and politely reject him, reminding her that her feelings are valid and matter also.  The more Touko interacts with Yuu, the more her own emotions begin to stir.  Touko admits that she also has never been in love, never felt fireworks either....but as she takes Yuu’s hand in hers, her heart starts racing.  For Touko at least, this is love at first sight.  Yuu doesn’t know how to respond, the moment passes, and Touko regains her composure. Later, walking home together, Yuu casually brings up the incident and inquires as to its meaning.  She intends to give Touko a socially acceptable “out”, that perhaps she was just being impulsive, etc.  Touko is having none of it.  WIth the train rushing by, Touko affirms her feelings are real and she knew what she was doing.  Touko kisses Yuu firmly on the lips.  Yuu is surprised but doesn’t feel upset at Touko for “stealing” her first kiss. Unfortunately for them both, Yuu is still listless and in limbo.  She doesn’t feel “fireworks” for Touko either.  She doesn’t feel anything.  She likes Touko well enough, but she’s not madly head over heels for her the way Touko so obviously is about her. Touko taps Yuu to become her campaign manager for her Presidential run, drawing the ire of Sayaka Saeki, her best friend, who just assumed she would be campaign manager.  She’s annoyed at the upstart first year student and upset at Touko for not valuing their friendship enough.  It’s unclear in the beginning (or at least it was to me) if Sayaka is merely a straight platonic friend or if her feelings for Touko run deeper than that, though her jealously toward Yuu seems particularly strong. We learn via flashback that Sayaka is indeed a lesbian and had a girlfriend in Middle School who dumped her once they got to High School. My favorite scene so far (2nd pic above) is when Sayaka runs into her Middle School Ex at the train station.  The Ex awkwardly apologies to Sayaka for “corrupting” her and hopes she’s gone back to being a “normal” (read: straight) girl.  Making casual chit chat, Sayaka’s Ex asks if she’s waiting for someone, which Sayaka affirms.  Touko arrives and Sayaka rushes over and grabs her by the arm in a romantically suggestive way.  “Here she is”, Sayaka says, with a broad shit eating grin that totally communicates a middle finger and effectively saying without words:  “Yep, I’m still GAY, Bitch!”; and even though I support Yuu in this rivalry, this was Sayaka’s moment and I’m glad she got it.  Touko is clueless as to what just happened and is a little surprised by Sayaka’s forwardness but doesn’t seem to mind it, either.  Sayaka deeply loves Touko but that love goes unrecognized and unrequited.  She values their friendship and doesn’t want to potentially lose it by confessing her real feelings to Touko, which is a universal risk and fear for all friendships that transition to the romantic track...it’s a point of no return and there’s usually no way back. The central conflict revolves (as I see it) around Touko’s troubled past, having lost an elder sister at a very young age 8 years ago...Touko is now the same age as her deceased sister when she died in a tragic auto accident her senior year.  Touko has striven to emulate (and probably surpass) her sister in every respect.  Yuu tries to convince her she doesn’t need to do that, that she has nothing to prove, but Touko says flatly she would rather die than hear Yuu repeat those things ever again.  Touko comes to appreciate the lopsided stasis that her relationship with Yuu is currently in.  Touko loves Yuu, even says it out loud.  Yuu lets her be affectionate and admits to herself “I don’t hate it.”; Touko want to hold hands, steal a kiss every now and then, etc.  Yuu is warm and kind and Touko feels able to drop her “little miss perfect facade” around Yuu and be vulnerable in her presence.  But Yuu herself remains indecisive, unsure of her real feelings.  Indeed, Touko begins to want Yuu to just stay how she is; she fears Yuu changing and begins to say to herself (and communicate indirectly to Yuu) that she doesn’t want Yuu to fall in love with her....which to my ears is just heartbreaking.  I think Yuu is (slowly) falling for Touko.  And Touko blushes when Yuu (at Touko’s request) calls her pet names and uses little terms of endearment.  Yuu rather enjoys provoking Touko in this way. These pull at Touko’s heart strings and she chides Yuu be more respectful of her feelings and not to tease her so.  The secondary conflict is of course the unspoken love triangle between Touko, Yuu and Sayaka.  Sayaka is very passive-aggressive in her dealings with Yuu and treats her with frosty contempt.  She doesn’t see what Touko sees in her.  But the heart wants what it wants, and Touko wants Yuu and doesn’t even recognize that Sayaka is into girls, much less that she has feelings for HER.  Sayaka “outs” one of her teachers, confronting her cafe owner girlfriend who, far from being secretive or taken aback is actually very open about their relationship.  The older woman picks up that Sayaka must also be gay and offers up her wisdom in romantic matters.  Sayaka admits out loud to this mentor figure her honest feelings for Touko, probably the only time she’s ever admitted them out loud to another person.  The cafe owner sympathizes and assures Sayaka that her feelings are valid, too, and offers up words of encouragement. There are other interesting supporting characters, and I probably most identify with Clint Bickham’s character Maki, one who is often more an observer of other people’s romances than an active participant in one myself.  He happens to catch sight of Yuu and Touko kissing and cautions Yuu to be more discrete, but swears himself to secrecy.  Yuu is terrified by the revelation but fears more for how Touko’s reputation might suffer if word got out about their relationship.  Maki points out how Yuu always thinks about Touko first and this must mean she cares deeply about her.  Yuu is skeptical but listens. I’ve really enjoyed everything about Bloom into You and it is for me on par with Aoi Hana and Sakura Trick which are also favorites of mine...the former a romance drama and the latter a slapstick romantic comedy.  Whereas Citrus is more intentionally melodramatic and trashy, Bloom into You feels more sincere, more down to earth and wholesome.  Bloom into You doesn’t have nearly as many problems with consent, etc, that Citrus suffers from.  Apart from her initial hand holding and kiss that Touko forces on Yuu against her will, all of Touko’s subsequent acts of affection with Yuu are always with Yuu’s affirmative consent.  She asks Yuu for kisses, she asks to hold Yuu’s hand, etc. I look forward to continuing this series once the next English language dub episodes are made public this season.

[chibivesicle]

Golden Kamuy chapters 265 & 266. The reunion we’ve been waiting for.

After the flashback told by Kiro on their way to break Sofia out of prison in Russia, we learned about Tsurumi’s past as a spy in Vladivostok and his family who died in his encounter with the Russian secret police.

It has been a long time coming for that flashback to be connected to present day (well in the manga timeline) Tsurumi and Sofia.

The cover page has an image of Tsurumi with Olga and Fina seen through a keyhole.  I want to know - who is the person looking through the keyhole at them?

Is this supposed to be symbolic of Tsukishima and Koito listening to him?

The chapter starts off with Kikuta meeting up with Koito and Tsukishima as they realized not everyone made it to the rendezvous point.  Of course they then quickly decide to separate, but tell Koito to stay behind.

Kikuta and Tsukishima separate and we learn that Ariko and Kantaro catch up to Hijikata as he states they are going to rescue Asirpa.  Sofia’s men also state they are going to rescue Sofia.  Everyone is still converging on the same point.

Koito carefully decides to go back and investigate because he was concerned by Tsurumi’s facial expression upon meeting Sofia.  He knows there is more to the story and he’s not just going to blindly follow Tsurumi’s orders.

Of course, he catches Tsukishima doing the same thing!  I love how he tries to pull rank on Tsukishima but not really.

Their argument is kind of adorable in a way - both men are trying to understand what is going on in a pot calling the kettle black sort of way.

Tsukishima may have sunk low when he tried to stop Tanigaki and Inkarmat, but the time on Karafuto changed both of them.  He revealed to Koito how he had been manipulated by Tsurumi and tried his best to keep on keeping on, but Koito had stopped him from that direction.

What is more interesting is to learn that Koito didn’t even realize that when he spoke to Tsurumi normally at the brewery!  As a reader I had made a poor assumption where I thought he had realized he spoke normally, but it seems to have been lost in the heat of the moment and only Tsukishima picked up on it.

Tsukishima points out the obvious to Koito and I love how he finally realizes this with a little sweat.  Koito had been so into well just doing things, that he needed to be reminded of what he had done.

Tsurumi then sends Nikaido out to allow him to talk to Sofia and Asirpa undisturbed and even double checks that the church is empty!  Which they had already done when Tsukishima and Koito were with him!  Tsurumi does one more check of the rooms as the two men hide under a desk or table of some sort.

Tsukishima wonders if Tsurumi is going to discuss something that he doesn’t want any of his subordinates to hear.  Tsukishima looks upset and angry about this while Koito seems more concerned.  Sofia and Asirpa are tied up and tied to a pew in the church.

There is a flashback where Sofia noticed the photos in the stove of Hasegawa’s photo studio and she grabbed the one of her with Kiro and Wilk. Tsurumi then sites down in a chair across from them in a relaxed posture.

Sofia comes to and realizes that she’s tied up and then notices Asirpa next to her.  Tsurumi finally removes the gag from Asirpa and comments that wearing her headband suits her as the special child of the ainu.

She’s unsure how to reply to the comment and Tsurumi states he’s glad to talk to her.  He then mentions Sofia Golden Hand and talks about meeting again.

Sofia of course wants to know who he is and he controls the conversation by discussing that it has been 18 years since they last met.  He then holds up the photo and refers to her by her fake name she used when they were in Vladivostok.  Only then can she put the pieces together slowly (I mean she took quite a beating before being brought to the church).

Tsurumi then presents the finger bones of Fina and Olga to Sofia while we see the view of the door keyhole.

Of course Tsukishima is the one watching while Koito listens through the door.  We get Tsukishima’s flashback to when he saw Tsurumi with the finger bones alone with bare feet.

Tsukishima now has the names of the people the bones belonged to.  Sofia bewildered asks him if he is Mr. Hasegawa.

She has figured out who this mysterious Japanese man is and what her relationship to him is.  Tsurumi calmly thanks her for recognizing and remembering as his weird brain fluid leaks.  Sofia is speechless as Asirpa begins to apply what she knows - asking if the photo is of Wilk and Kiro - and if it was taken in Russia as she recalls Kiro’s story that first introduced Sofia to her.

Koito is concerned to learn that Tsurumi was married with a family and he then turns to look at Tsukishima who is clearly upset.  He is very pissed off at Tsurumi.

It is clear that Tsukishima likely knows more that is making him this angry about the situation.

The chapter ends with a confident looking Tsurumi.  He reveals that they recovered letters from Kiro’s possessions which included the ones sent back and forth with Sofia.  He then suggests that they talk to Asirpa together. . . .

so that they can explain what happened to the Ainu.  It begins to rain harder, likely reflecting the tears around everyone in this situation and the quest for the gold.

Being an intelligence officer, I’m going to think that Tsukishima likely handed over the letters to Tsurumi not knowing about the milk ink, and was left in the dark as Tsurumi kept this information to himself. 

We know Kiro wouldn’t have been dumb enough to use actual ink.  Though, I wonder why Kiro kept the letters from Sofia.  Either he thought no one else would crack them or he did it for nostalgic reasons and his unrequited love of her.

I honestly expected more from this chapter.  For a long awaited ‘reunion’ of sorts it falls flat for me.  I wanted more from Tsurumi.  I wanted more from Sofia.  The character development and decisions from Tsukishima and Koito are predictable as they continue to think for themselves in the hunt for the gold. 

And where is Kikuta off to?  Find Ogata who is currently preoccupied with Vasily?  I had high hopes for things and it fell short.

So with that, let’s slide into 266 - pinky finger bones that has Tsurumi and Tsukishima wearing civilian clothes in Vladivostok.

Tsurumi quizzes Tsukishima on the meaning of the name of Vladivostok and Tsurumi explains the strategic importance of such a location.

A random Russian man then approaches Tsukishima.  He is curious if they are Japanese as he wants to talk about a random Japanese man.

Tsukishima frantically flips through a book (likely a dictionary for translation) as he asks the man to slow down so he can look up some things.  He then realizes after the man approached them that Tsurumi walked away quickly.

There is a burn out building and Tsurumi is standing outside of it, the brim of his hat shading his eyes as Tsukishima is breathing heavily implying he ran after him.  Tsukishima slowly reads the sign which reads ‘Hasegawa Photograph’ and he immediately comments that it was the name the Russian man had mentioned.  And that he had a wife and daughter, but the fate of them was not stated.  Quickly, Tsukishima asks if Hasegawa was someone Tsurumi knew.

Tsurumi says no but with a pause, there are lots of Japanese people living there and he must have been odd.  This clearly tells us that Tsukishima knows that Tsurumi lived in Vladivostok before!  He does his best to avoid looking at Tsukishima in his reply.

Tsukishima keeps thinking about the name as Tsurumi walks away from the remains of the studio.  It is then that Tsukishima mentions that Tsurumi’s mother’s maiden name was also Hasegawa, since they traveled to pay respects to his mother in Niigata.

Tsurumi remarks that Tsukishima remembers well and then tries to state it is a common last name in the area. 

The action returns to the resent where Tsukishima confirms that the Hasegawa he was asked about was indeed Tsurumi.

He begins to discuss what he knows about the Ainu gold, were about 50 years ago, 1860s, a more radical element of the Ainu were trying to rebel against the shogunate.  They sought to purchase munitions and arms from the Russian Imperial Navy - but the ship sank and they were left with the gold and nothing to purchase.  Tsurumi skips ahead to the fact that Wilk was in search of the gold, and Asirpa realizes that the man who taught Sofia, Kiro and Wilk Japanese had to have been Tsurumi.

Sofia, clearly in shock hangs her head as she recalls meeting Olga and Fina and enjoying their time together.  Tsurumi catches her attention by holding the finger bones in his hand before her. It is clear he’s trying to manipulate her to reveal as much information as possible by guilt tripping her.  Tsurumi looks totally creepy as he holds his head at an odd angle looking down at her.

He reveals that he was the only wanted man that day.  He knows that she found the wanted poster about Wilk and returned to warn him.

Because the three of them approached him and his studio, it is possible that Fina and Olga would have lived.  Sofia is barely holding things together.  She’s sweating, her eyes are stressed and it seems she’s moments away from losing it.  Kiro explained that Sofia felt guilty about what happened to Fina and Olga, even though it was unclear what happened that day.

Tsukishima and Koito are thinking about what Tsurumi has told them and others in the 27th previously.  That controlling the land where their comrades feel should remain in Japanese hands so that they can rest in peace. 

But a full page spread where both men’s veins are bulging as they wonder if Tsurumi’s true goal -

is related to morning his dead wife and daughter by making Vladivostok a part of Japan so he could honor them.  All in all a very ‘petty’ goal for a man asking others to fight and die for him.  That isn’t what Koito or Tsukishima want to do in the army for obvious reasons.

Tsurumi continues to interrogate Sofia.  He wants her to validate the deaths of Fina and Olga.  Talk about really putting on the psychological pressure!  Tsurumi wants to know what Kiro told her.  He makes it clear by referring to Kiro as Yulbars and frames it as the sacrifice of his wife and child.

Tsukishima is wondering why he’s questioning her about something that happened 18 years ago.  It seems like this line of interrogation is out of revenge and doesn’t serve a functional purpose.

Sofia weeps and finally speaks.  Yulbars told her that Wilk changed because Asirpa was born.  This goes back to what Kiro told Inkarmat at Abashiri - Inkarmat wanted to know how Kiro could kill Wilk, and he replied that he had changed.

So, really, Tsurumi already knew this.  Inkarmat told them that he said ‘Wilk had changed’.  Why confirming this from Sofia makes sense is beyond me at the moment as a reader.  Kiro stated this clearly - it wasn’t like he was hiding the info. . . . maybe Noda realizes that Abashiri was a long time ago in the context of the manga?  Or that Tsurumi wants to have confirmation from another source about Wilk changing.  Does he need an irrational amount of evidence?  Or does he want to torture Sofia as much as possible by dragging up the past?

The chapter ends with Shiraishi and Sugimoto watching Koito sneak back into the church.  They conclude that Asirpa must be there and that they should do something.  Sugimoto begrudgingly states they need Hijikata’s assistance as Shiraishi is surprised at his restraint.

Their attempt to drive forth and find others results in them crashing into a likely telegraph pole and they fly out of the beer bottle car. 

I guess Noda wanted to end the chapter with a joke but it seems to fall short.  I hope they don’t do anything stupid that complicates the rescue of Asirpa.

These two chapters have brought the reunion of Tsurumi and Sofia about, but I’m unsure if it has been effective as I would have expected for such a huge reader ‘payoff’.  Sofia is shocked to learn that Hasegawa is alive and clearly wants some sort of revenge on her for her actions.  Tsukishima and Koito know too much about his possible highly personal goals.  Neither of them serve under Tsurumi so that the bodies of his family can be on Japanese soil.  It seems like such a petty reason to try to use the gold to establish a military state on Hokkaido.

I am glad that Tsukishima and Koito are thinking about their actions and may finally consider their blind faith in Tsurumi.

As I previously stated, I’m still unsure what confirmation that Kiro concluding that ‘Wilk changed’ from both Inkarmat and Sofia does to help Tsurumi out.

I’m personally disappointed that Kiro didn’t destroy the letters that Sofia sent him.  I’d say it is obvious that when Tsurumi got them, he knew exactly what to do with the letters as a former spy.  I wonder if Tsukishima feels left out since he likely read the letters and didn’t know what to make of the nonsense that Kiro and Sofia exchanged?

I hope that Sugimoto and Shiraishi don’t mess things up even worse.  What ever Tsurumi discusses with her - I feel that it is something that she alone needs to hear and decide how to respond as the figure at the center of the quest for the gold.

I can’t write a meta without wondering what Ogata is up to?  Having him distracted with a sniper battle with Vasily seems to be a waste of his effort and attention, unless Kikuta is going to get mixed up with them?

Well that’s all I’ve got for now.  I’m behind and need to catch up on the next chapter!

[chibivesicle]

Golden Kamuy chapter 261 - called it.

As the break surrounding American Thanksgiving comes to an end, I have a little more time to write this week’s meta.  Overall, I’m feeling pleased that I was able to predict the major plot point in this chapter, but it was pretty obvious.

The chapter starts off with Meiji era firefighters doing their things and Kikuta wanders back into the plot.  The fire crew fights the fire sending a crew to the rear of the brewery.

Kikuta is wandering through the building in a less smoky area.  Seeing that he’s cool and collected, I’d guess his strategy was to try to slowly cover the ground to find Asirpa. 

Usami raced off to chase Kadokura since his obsession with him seems to overpower his ability to follow Tsurumi’s orders.  Kikuta is met with the barrel of a rifle as he turns a corner to bump into the regrouped 27th.

He looks a little awkward since someone pointing a gun at you isn’t exactly a relaxing situation but the unnamed private apologizes as everyone looks at him.  Tsurumi seems pretty relaxed, Tsukishima seems resigned as he holds Asirpa and Koitio and Nikaido just blankly look at him. I like how Kikuta is able to remain calm as he greets Tsurumi, he is truly a classy man.  He simply listens to Tsurumi’s update about avoiding Hijikata or Sugimoto and that there is also a sniper on the loose.  It is then that Kikata shows some nervousness knowing that the body is that of Usami.  I think he does a great job of either acting surprised or maybe he’s honestly surprised since Usami was a great fighter, but he also knew he rushed into situations while he has always been methodical.

It looks to me that Koito and Tsukishima are both looking down towards Usami and not actually looking at Kikuta.  I think if Koito were looking at Kikuta, his gaze would be more to the left but it isn’t.  I wonder if both of them are thinking, Usami was a bit crazy thank goodness . .

The action then shifts to Ogata wondering where Vasily is as he thinks what his plan would be.  He states he’ll try to move upwind of the smoke for better visibility.  Is Ogata continuing the sniper battle?  I’m not sure, he may be just trying to avoid him.  He’s had a long evening and he’s smart enough to know when to retreat.  The fact that there is smoke, I would expect him to use his previous experience with Tanigaki and how he knew he retreated too late when Tanigaki escaped from Huci’s home.  It seems that Ogata evolves as a sniper and strategic thinker, but Vasily is just doing what he’s always done. 

We get some rare Vasily thoughts as he is looking for Ogata at the ground level.  It seems he finally figured out Ogata’s name so now we get the thought of his name.  He predicts Ogata trying to outflank him using the smoke to conceal his movement.

I dunno Vasily, Ogata already dealt with this situation with Tanigaki so I think he’ll do something unpredictable to pursue Tsurumi and the 27th from the shadows.  Face it, you are out classed.

The action returns to Sugimoto charging at Boutarou who whips his hair into his face blocking his vision.  He easily dodges his strike and grabs his rifle.  More importantly he asks Sugimoto if this will only be settled if one of them dies.

Which is a logical statement before he kicks Sugimoto in the face.  But Sugimoto can’t be stopped as he hits him in the face with the butt of his rifle and he falls to the ground as he draws his rifle ready to kill Boutarou since he’s immortal so it means that he won’t be the one to die when this is settled.

Very unusual for the manga, Boutarou decides to surrender.  He holds up his hands and smiles that he’s been beaten, but Sugimoto isn’t having any of that.  But then just as he fires Shiraishi deflects his shot (I think he was close enough that he wouldn’t miss.)  Oh YES!  Shiraishi indeed comes to the rescue of Boutarou.  I knew there is something between these two.

Shiraishi points out the obvious fact that Sugimoto needs to calm down and that they won’t find where Asirpa is if he’s dead.  Shiraishi, the underrated guy who is pretty intelligent!

Boutarou points out they will have to team up and Sugimoto is already walking away once he hears it was the 27th and assumes Tsukishima is the one who got her (incorrect) and he’s ready to just leave with Shiraishi.  Boutarou got some skins from Kadokura and he’s got the insider Ainu information, he thinks it is more than enough.  I love how Sugimoto thinks that because Boutarou hit him with a shovel he can’t trust him and thinks Hijikata is better (you know the man who has tried to kill you more than once) and he orders Shiraishi to come with him.  He the also assumes that Vasily will somehow protect Asirpa and that the 27th can’t escape.  

God, his logic is so flawed.  We know that Vasily is after Ogata, and Ogata only.  He doesn’t care about Asirpa and he never has for all we can tell and his inner dialogue in this chapter indicates as much.  Plus, Tsurumi always finds ways to escape so thinking a Russian sniper who doesn’t understand Japanese is going to snipe the entire 27th to protect Asirpa is - well insane.  Perhaps, the hit to the head with the shovel was too much.  Aaannnnnd the next page proves my point.

Look it is Vasily now up on a roof again asking for Ogata to come out of his hiding position.  But Ogata is no fool, he’s instead inside at a higher level with his rifle ready as he scans for Vasily.  He’s likely looking for him so that he can just move to avoid him and he’s not running outside.

Sugimoto then runs into a random guy with really weird round eyebrows, tied up.  Of course it is the fire crew that went around the back and they were tied up by the 27th who are escaping under the guise they are the fire crew!

Tsurumi drives the fire engine and Tsukishima walks off close to the viewer.

I wonder if Ogata is looking at them to determine that they are the 27th and if they have Asirpa?  It would be great if Vasily thinks he is continuing his sniper game and Ogata just follows the 27th and he’s left sitting on the roof of some building into the dawn.

Sugimoto unties the firefighters and asks were the 27th went. They don’t have any horses for obvious reasons, since the 27th stole them, but Boutarou has a solution.  Shiraishi is supporting him!  This means he ignored Sugimoto’s call to leave him behind and he’s even helping him move more quickly.  I want to know more about their relationship as characters!

And boom! Boutarou has found a Sapporo beer promotional car!  Which he can drive.  Sugimoto is of course impressed as his ability to drive a motor vehicle and there was a Sapporo Beer car, though this one is a lot fancier.

We learn that he learned to drive with Eddie Dun while hanging out with Wakayama.  The flashbash shows him wearing some cut off shorts, his arm around Dun while Wakayama holds his shoulder.  Does this confirm bisexual/pansexual Boutarou?  Considering how he acts around Shiraishi as well, perhaps.  There is also the fact that the other flashback had him in the nude when Wakayama told him to give up on the gold.  We also know Dun was running around nearly naked with the Ainu woman’s garment from Asirpa’s relative’s daughter. 

With that the chapter ends as Boutarou drives off in the direction that the 27th is headed in the beer car!  Which oddly makes me think of the Oscar Meyer Wienermobile and all the jokes that go along with that.

Conclusions from this chapter are pretty simple.

1.) Tsurumi has found an easy way to leave and is heading north with Asirpa.  Koito and Tsukishima seem distant and reflective and Kikuta is playing it calm like the 007 that he is.

2.) Vasily is continuing the sniper battle.  Does he care about Asirpa? Fuck no.  Does he care about Tsurumi? Nope.  Does he care about Ogata?  Too much.

3.) Ogata is avoiding Vasily.  But if he’s continuing the sniper battle is questionable at best.  I predict he’ll use something from his battle with Tanigaki to evade Vasily.  Either he’ll pass by in the open while Vasily thinks he behaves in a predictable fashion.  Which Vasily should know that Ogata already doesn’t act like a typical sniper so he should stop thinking that way.  Ogata doesn’t waste his effort or actions, he sniped Usami because it was the right thing to do.  It doesn’t mean he’s in the mood for more of this waste of his time as Tsurumi escapes with Asirpa.

4.) Shiraishi is the hero of the day!  He’s on a roll. He saved Sugimoto from the fire and now he saved Boutarou from Sugimoto.  He knows that Boutarou is a smart guy and as I’ve stated before, he’s there to make Sugimoto uncomfortable.  It is because of Boutarou that they are able to steal the beer car to pursue the 27th, but I predict something will prevent them.  Like they run out of gas or end up in a ditch and have to retreat and rest up before attempting to rescue Asirpa. Does this mean that ShiraBou is real?  Or are you just trolling us Noda?  Eh? Eeehhh?????? Boutarou clearly wasn’t worried wearing shorts with other men, flaunting his sexy figure.

5.) Hijikata’s group has fully retreated.  We didn’t see them in this chapter, but they are smart enough to have withdrawn versus trying to pursue the 27th or Sugimoto.

Well that is all for now. I think the 27th will successfully escape since it will have to make other groups consider how to rescue her.  I’d love for Ogata to stalk the 27th and sneak her out from Tsurumi’s grasp leaving everyone else to clash.

[chibivesicle]

Golden Kamy 211 - Shiraishi shines as a friend of Asirpa and Kiro.

Work has been busy and I’ve had to put a lot of effort into things, so I apologize in advance if this isn’t quite as through as usual.  I’m currently at a point where I have to write my own performance review, that I will then give to someone else to write a formal performance review of me.  Yes, it is totally inefficient, but it takes up a lot of time to try to make it clear enough for that person to write a review.

I loved this chapter for the most part.  I have always liked Shiraishi’s character since he’s one of the few adults who isn’t traumatized from the war and does not see violence as the easy solution to problems and he’s grown so much as a character.  I’m so glad that Noda, decided to keep him around and really give him depth!

The title page does a great job of establishing the setting and timing.

It is clear that Shiraishi is returning to their inn after a night out on the town as a random woman has brought his very intoxicated self back.  Sugimoto is standing outside as the birds begin to chirp and Shiraishi is clearly functioning under drunken honesty.  He immediately comments that since Sugimoto is up so early that he’s been unable to sleep the night before meeting Tsurumi. 

This chapter sets up Shiraishi having what one would call “liquid courage” where an individual is intoxicated enough to say and do things that they would normally keep repressed.  He flat out tells Sugimoto that he’s just a pet of Tsurumi and he’s handing Asirpa over to him.  Sugimoto immediately gets incredibly flustered by this comment and lashes out at Shiraishi who doesn’t even listen him but keeps going.

Shiraishi even brings up the first time Sugimoto was captured by Tsurumi in Otaru (when he helped rescue him with Asirpa at poison arrow point) that he should have just started working for him then.  What was the entire point of fighting Tsurumi when he’s working for him anyways?

Shiraishi continues to lay into Sugimoto.  He tells the random woman that Sugimoto used to be a lone wolf and the random woman implies that Sugimoto was unable to pick a side in anything.  This further upsets Sugimoto as he tries to explain that things are different now.  He argues that he doesn’t care what Tsurumi does to Hokkaido!  He thinks that it is a better option for Asirpa to give Tsurumi the code b/c he won’t make Asirpa be the “Ainu Joan of Arc” with Hijikata.  He says if one thinks about it, it is the best option for Asirpa.

Shiraishi just shakes his head mocking Sugimoto by saying Asirpa - Asirpa.  He then asks Sugimoto what about the widow he needed the gold for?  He’s implying what about Sugimoto’s original reason to join the gold hunt - what happened to this woman he cared so much about that he was willing to do all of the crazy things up until this point.

This puts Sugimoto on the spot, he nervously replies that he “made a deal to get the money”  but he asked only for enough to help Umeko.  And then Shiraishi replies that Sugimoto may be happy with that “small” amount of money but, what about what happens for Shiraishi?  Does he get any of the money?  Keep in mind that Shiraishi joined with Sugimoto and Asirpa for a small sum of the money.  He’s risked his life for them to help them in the quest.  He should not be forgotten as a valuable team member!

Shiraishi is so angry that he lashes out at Sugimoto slapping him asking about his share.  Of course Sugimoto fights back that Shiraishi is making this all about money and slaps him back.  Sugimoto is cornered and he wants to devalue Shiraishi’s argument that he’s only in it for the money. 

After vomiting, Shiraishi keeps fighting back with words that Sugimoto is leading Asirpa on the right path?  That she’s not a family member or lover so what is their connection?  The random woman adds additional commentary that she dislikes people who old others down and Sugimoto snaps back at her to stay out of their argument. Shiraishi then presses on that Sugimoto has become so hung up on “protecting” Asirpa that he’s lost his focus on everything else.

This leads to the next page that I just adore!  Shiraishi summarizes what I have a reader have felt ever since they reunited.

Shiraishi was there to witness Asirpa on their journey in Karafuto.  He saw with his own eyes how she learned many things on the island and that she’s matured.  She is not the Asirpa that Sugimoto was separated from.

The then tells Sugimoto that Sugimoto may have reunited [physically] with Asirpa on Karafuto but they are still apart as they were before!  I melted at this line - this is a perfect summary of the shift in their friendship.  Sugimoto wanted things to stay the same between them but they are out of sync.  Sugimoto’s facial expression says it all - he’s sweating, he looks stressed, his lips are twisted a bit, an expression we don’t normally see from him! 

Shiraishi then goes on to say that Kiro taught her things that were real facts, not lies - he calls him an overly serious bastard who went to all the effort to get her to Karafuto so she could learn about the plight of her people.  She needed to see these things for herself. 

This all reaches a climax as Shiraishi grabs a shocked and pensive looking Sugimoto telling him that if she wants to carry the burden of the Ainu, she is allowed to carry that burden.

Ah, I love this so much!!!! Shiraishi flat out tells Sugimoto that Asirpa can make her own decisions and that it is her right to make her own decisions.  Since their relationship is not based on family, he’s implying that he doesn’t have the right to tell her what to do.  She can do whatever she wants to do.  Even though he said they were now equals when they reunited, Sugimoto has never actually followed through in that here in 192 - Contract Renewed.

Sugimoto has been saying one thing, but behaving another way.  It took a drunken Shiraishi to blurt all of this out and he’s right.  The last page of Shiraishi’s rant, is that if he saw her as a partner and equal that he’d gain back his own independence and not be a pet to Tsurumi.  Shiraishi vomits, collapses and then almost passes out as the woman casually strolls off.

The next day Tsurumi arrives on a naval vessel likely due to Koito Sr.’s permission with some basic facts about the ship and crew capacity.  It is clear that Tsurumi can only bring 16 men with him, not his entire group of loyal men of the 27th.

The group nervously waits for their arrival.  Shiraishi is hung over, Koito is in the foreground, and nervously states that “he’s here!”.  He’s got stress lines under his eyes, he’s sweating and he’s not sure how to react to Tsurumi.  Tanigaki is stiff in the back with Asirpa while Sugimoto looks quite deadpan.  Tsukishima is right behind Koito looking displeased and unhappy to ready with his rifle just like Sugimoto.

Tanigaki then speaks to Asirpa.

Tanigaki then tells her that when they return to Hokkaido, she should ask to see her Huci in Otaru with Tsurumi’s permission.  She doesn’t directly reply to his comment, instead she states she’ll know what type of man he is when she sees him.

So let’s take a pause - Tanigaki’s entire reason for questing for Asirpa has been for him to “return her to Huci.”.  All of a sudden he’s passed this onto Tsurumi!!!  What the hell Tanigaki?  You got involved in this to bring Asirpa back to Huci, you told Tsurumi you went to Karafuto to bring her back to Huci and now, now you are changing your side quest er I mean goal.  Really?  Really?  Reaaaaallllly?  Tanigaki are you that ready to trust her to Tsurumi?  Has he always been loyal to Tsurumi?  When he was severely injured and saved by Asirpa and nursed back to health by Huci, he said how Tsurumi took on the burden of the 27th.  It is clear that a part of him is still 100% okay with that even though he told Ogata that he left the 27th before their sniper battle and then in the swamp near Kushiro when Ogata saves him from the Ainu punishment.  Does this mean those statements were lies or was he just aligning with Tsurumi when it helped him?  What does Tanigaki want from all of this?  Has he found he prefers to be ordered around by Tsurumi b/c it is safer than thinking for himself?

Anyways, back to the chapter.  Tsurumi and his group that includes Kikuta and Usami approaches them.  He praises their performance as they have safely brought Asipra to him.  He tells Koito and Tsukishima along with Tanigaki and Sugimoto that they were the right men for the job.

Koito, blushes a little and has a bit of a smile and maybe a bit of a gasp.  Tsukishima looks unemotional.  Tanigaki frowns while Sugimoto is silent with his eyes covered and he also frowns.

As Tsurumi removes his cap, he asks if the young girl is Asirpa. Asirpa simply stares back at him as he remembers Wilk and Kiro from when he was in Russia, and also that he inspected Wilk’s body and eyes after he died at Abashiri.

Tsurumi then looks down upon her as he tells her that she certainly has his eyes.  She looks up him with determination ask her hair blows around her face.  Everyone is then distracted by Shiraishi vomiting as Tsurumi then notices him in the group.  Koito seems a bit surprised as he vomits and Usami looks over.  The panel ends with Sugimoto noticing something as Asirpa’s eyes are completely shaded black at the bottom of the panel!

As Asirpa’s eyes are shaded it implies she is about to do something and her intention is not completely clear.  With a deadpan expression of determination Asirpa draws forth several arrows at once from her quiver.  Her facial expression is similar to when she threatened Shiraishi back in Otaru to help her rescue Shiraishi!  Sugimoto is shocked!  He’s sweating, his eyes are white in suprise and shock and his heart is beating nervously.

She then ends the panel by getting Sugimoto’s attention by calling his name.

She then in with her normal eyes and facial expression tell hims that she will decide what happens to her, is a decision that she will make. She continues to draw the arrows back on the bow.  Tsurumi then notices and starts to try to talk to her as it moves to a panel of Tsukishima panicking as he yells at her in regards to what she’s doing.

Sugimoto pauses to look at her and in the final panel he nods at her in answer to her statement of self-determination.

The next page is a two page panel spread of her releasing her arrows into the air above them as other random members of the 27th look up at them.

Sugimoto then yells as the arrows start to fall back down that they are poison arrows.  Tsurumi’s men look on with shock at them.  Interestingly, Koito is close to Tsurumi but not as close to the other men, visually separating him from them.  Most of the men drop their rifles except for Usami, and Koito looks panicked at the arrows and NOT at Tsurumi!

As the arrows fall towards them, Tsukishima yells out to dodge them as Usami and jumps on Tsurumi to protect him.  Tanigaki just looks up in shock and fear!  As the arrows fall back to the ground it shows the men avoiding them.  Koito demonstrates his athletic skills as he slides down into a split to avoid being hit by an arrow.

Kikuta then asks if anyone is alright as Tsurumi is trapped under Usami and tries to wiggle out.

They then run off as Tsurumi yells that they are escaping.  As they are fleeing, Sugimoto asks Asirpa if the arrows are actually poisoned as he noticed they were simple arrowheads without the poison inserted in the cavity of the arrowhead.  He concluded that she was going to flee then.  She responds with a grin to confirm.  She then tells him that if they are partners (implying real partners) that he can’t tell her to not do things. This shows that she sees an equal partnership is based on supporting each other equally not by telling one to do something else.

She then tells him that she wants Sugimoto to be positive and optimistic, that they should “do this together!” implying communication between their partnership.

Oh yes!  Asirpa has learned how to not only express what she wants but that she wants Sugimoto to be equal in their partnership and that she wants him to approach it positively not negatively.

They then escape with a final page that in my opinion falls a bit flat and does a disservice to Shiraishi!  Sugimoto grins as he tells Asirpa that they should find the gold themselves.  And the final small panel shows Shiraishi with an arrowhead lodged in his head.

Why?  Shiraishi just gave Sugimoto the literal and metaphorical slap to the face to snap him to understand the situation and he’s used as a crass joke at the end of the chapter!  Does this mean Shiraishi will have to catch up to them?  Did they ditch him expecting him to catch up to him in their quest for the gold?  He may be hung over but that was a dick move.  He helped Sugimoto find perspective and Sugimoto and Asirpa ditched him with Tsurumi! I know many fans like to have a “golden trio” of Asirpa, Sugimoto and Shiraishi, but this implies that really isn’t a real trio as they would have brought Shiraishi along with them!

This makes me so angry!  It doesn’t come off as funny at all to me, just sad and pathetic.  I like Shiraishi, some of the jokes involving him are funny but some are just uncalled for.

Summary and random observations.

1.) Tsurumi has given away that he knows more about Wilk’s past.

By telling Asirpa that she has “his eyes” Tsurumi is subtly admitting he knows more about Wilk’s past.  Yes, he looked at his eyes on his dead body at Abashiri but that was for him to confirm that he was dead.  Saying that he recognizes his eyes in her implies that he knows more than he’s told most of his men.  I wonder who in the group present noticed this little comment?  Koito?  Tsukishima?  Kikuta?  Asirpa? etc.

2.) Koito’s worship of Tsurumi is over.

Koito looked nervous when Tsurumi approached.  His entire response to him was very calm and understated.  When Tsurumi praised him, he blushed a little.  That’s it.  Obviously, he’s still processing the information he found out from Tsukishima and Ogata.  Anyone would still like to be praised for a job well done and he may even be blushing b/c he now doesn’t know how to respond to Tsurumi and he’s just flustered.   Koito doesn’t hide his emotions well, this may be him awkwardly trying to stay calm.

What is more important is when the arrows fall back to the earth.  I personally would have expected Koito to try to protect Tsurumi with his own life.  Instead, he dodges them protecting only himself.  He’s also not upset at Usami protecting him.  Recall, that what Usami got the tattoos he was livid.  Now he’s just reacting to what happened and not even paying attention to Tsurumi!

Koito’s illusion surrounding Tsurumi has been destroyed.  It will be interesting to see how Tsurumi responds to him now that he’s back in the 27th.  Kiro took Asirpa to Karafuto to mature her.  Koito’s father sent him to Karafuto to mature him.  i wonder if Tsurumi will see a calmer Koito as a more mature Koito or if he’ll figure out something changed during his time there?

I really hope Koito breaks away from Tsurumi, he’ll make it much more interesting!  It has taken him awhile, but Koito is showing character growth and I hope it continues to keep things exciting!

3.) Shiraishi knocks some sense into Sugimoto.

I loved how brutally honest Shiraishi was with Sugimoto this chapter.  He was right to act the way he did.  Asirpa couldn’t have said those things to Sugimoto directly, he would have just ignored it b/c he would see it a part of him protecting her and her purity.  Shiraishi has become much more invested in things including the situation the Ainu are in!  He didn’t understand why Kiro had to die when he did.  He was in shock as he buried Kiro.  He’s had time to think about things as they traveled south and as he mourned.  This shows through his reunion with Sugimoto and Asirpa as it fell short - he had in his own way taken on the burden that Kiro was fighting.  Yes, he wants to bet on Asirpa and Sugimoto to get the gold but he learned along with Asirpa and Ogata as Kiro took them north to Akou.  He willingly helped Sofia escape and was on the path to going to Russia and become a partisan even if he didn’t actively seek it out.

Since Shiraishi has a different role in the quest - his words carry more weight than say, Tanigaki.  He emotionally connects with others and has gained an outsider’s perspective.  He as a previously selfish person was able to point out Sugimoto’s own selfishness that he was using to rationalize his behavior with Tsurumi.  Most of all, Shiraishi points out how cheap he was to sell out to Tsurumi.  He could have asked for more money and valued his friends more but instead he only thought of himself - not even Asirpa!

4.) Did Asirpa overhear their argument? 

Or did Shiraishi tell her about it?  Either way, Asirpa was confident enough to tell Sugimoto to trust her.

Asirpa is amazing in this chapter.  She sticks to her own moral code and compass and finds a clever way to escape. 

Her importance in looking into Tsurumi’s eyes is key - it indicates that she can read an individual and his or her intentions by this act.  What is it that she exactly saw?  Unclear at this point in time.  Hopefully, this will be explained or elaborated on later.

I’m still guessing if Asirpa has told Sugimoto the key yet.  He states that they will find the key themselves but without the skins they are stuck.  I really wish we knew more about how their argument ended after the film!

5.) Who is the random woman?

I can’t help but feel like she will play a role in this.  I wonder if she will pass information along to others - like Ogata, or Vasily?

Where has Vasya gone off to?  He can’t be far away and I can’t help but seeing him fall under the sway of Tsurumi.  We know he tells men what they want with his “sweet lies”.  He speaks Russian and he could promise Vasily the chance to face Ogata again.  . ..

That is all I have for now.  I’m a bit too busy to go into my usual depth but I’m hoping that these new events are the start of a new arc.  Hopefully, once I’m done dealing with my performance review I’ll be less distracted.

[chibivesicle]

into the Ogata fray

Hello Golden Kamuy peeps on tumblr, I’m toeing into the fray in regards to the most talked about character (in my humble opinion) Ogata. Apologies this is a bit long but whatever.

As work is about to get a lot busier in about a week, I figured I gotta do this now or never so here goes nothing.  Also, I’d love to thank the peeps who have been having a great dialogue on this already I’m looking at #hundredogatas and #goldenkamuyhunting for some great analyses.

I already posted some of my comments over on Mangadex in regards to chapter 165, Flag Bearer, trying to wrap my head around Ogata’s motivations and his role in the series.

I’ve really taken to the idea that Ogata is a fundamentally hurt character who has been hurting for so long that he doesn’t even know it anymore.  He had normalized his “abnormal” feelings.  As a result of his normalization to this he became in a ways “dead” to a lot of things, I agree with many others that he does have feelings but he keeps them buried deep down for the most part and the occasionally bubble to the surface.

The first instance of his feelings/humanity bubbling up are quite early on.  Others have already highlighted he did not kill Huci or Osoma when going after Tanigaki.  He is quite clear that he does not believe in unnecessary violence or actions.  The second time this pops up is in the showdown in Barato.  He saves Shinpei the gangster son and even though he calls him a weakling he is the one who allows him to be free of his meddling parents and move off on his home.  Yes, he’s drawn as a tough character but you see no malice or meanness in his expression, just a straight up explanation that he doesn’t like people who lack action or volition.  I felt he was just making a very firm point.

Throughout the series, I’ve always read Ogata as an individual who views himself as a self made man.  He rose to his position as a Superior Private through skill and hard work and in part by not making too many waves.  He highly values individuals who take control of their lives and their actions and have some sort of purpose; the people he dislikes the most are those who rose by family/title/rank which is obviously due to his horrible childhood/father issues that left him realizing that the concept of noble blood is pointless, especially given the fact that his own father made terrible military decisions. 

I feel that Noda-sensei likes to have his humanity bubble up occasionally and Asirpa will be the character who pulls it back to the surface due to her parallels with his brother.

As he is an astute observer of his surroundings and what we know of Lt. Tsurumi’s ability to manipulate people for his best outcomes I hypothesize that he recognized the “deadness” in Ogata and wanted to groom him to be the elite dirty deeds man of his select group from the 7th.  Tsurumi just keep pushing him further, first trying to get at him through his brother and then to assassinate his father.  Tsurumi thought he had groomed the ultimate stealth man for his future jobs.  These two parts of pages from ch. 165 just really highlight how “checked out” he was as a sniper in the trenches.  You could almost hear Ogata’s internal dialogue as “another day, another kill, another paycheck”.

This entire scene is so sterile, he takes his sniping very seriously but he’s so distant that he’s in his no emotion zone.

When ch. 165 gives the flashback with him and his brother discussing their roles on the battlefield and how he can’t get his hands dirty for the sake of his honor and their own father’s crazy ideas, I still feel torn on the situation.  I agree that Ogata’s brother loved and valued him as a human being and as he observed his brother closely (in the revised ch. 103) he did see that his brother had qualities that he lacked.  But I’d be as pissed as I’m guessing Ogata was at how hypocritical this point was to him.  It was almost as though it was egging him on to “go ahead and shoot” just to beat his brother in a philosophical argument to get back at their father. 

While trying to put things in chronological order, I feel that Ogata reached his breaking point with Tsurumi’s manipulation of him after he killed his father.

Here we have him thinking maybe shooting my brother might be a bad idea but i’m still hesitating just sooooo slightly with that just slightly less dead look . . .

to his oh you smooth talking bastard fake smile.  Granted this is from the original ch. 103, but I think it really gets the point across that he knows he’s been played and he’s hyper aware of the power Tsurumi wields over others.

I take it from this point on his goals began to differ and lead to him deserting.  I think it took a long time for him to feel confident that he could leave.  It was clear he at one point did feel intimidated by the power Tsurumi had over him based on how awkward his body language with Tsurumi was in ch. 164.  He’s totally informal when he’s sitting 99.9% of the time, yet he sits in seiza and buttons up his uniform. 

Here is his more informal, I’m totally hogging the heater while observing everyone around me/listening to Tanigaki’s story.

After he leaves the hospital he is now in his “liberated” form which is shown by his longer hair.  According to Noda-sensei in questions from readers in Young Jump that were translated by the peeps over at Kamuy Central, Ogata grew his hair out as he had become liberated.  What he was liberated from was unclear but it was a physical sign that he had changed somehow.  It is clear that his character has a beef with the military hierarchy and how many men died to poor decisions - which we later learn were his father’s to an extent.  This is early on when he’s discussing the type 30 rifle while sniping Tanigaki and how he continues to disagree with the whole “noble blood” line repeated by Tsurumi and backed by Koito to an extent.  With his new hairstyle he definitely expresses himself more to the other characters while he maintains his distance.

His immediate interaction with Hijikata is both pay attention to me and praise me (shooting the watchtower bell/skin on his head) but also, I’m gonna push you and sass you with my confidence b/c I know things.  Plus, he immediately makes a cutting remark about “what happens to your subordinates?”  If he were totally dead on the inside or missing his humanity he wouldn’t ask about the little guys being lead by Hijikata.  Again, I think this hints at his dislike of unnecessary violence.

We know he has issues with crappy fathers/poor leaders of people.  The angry screentones not only when Hijikata cuts off Asirpa from speaking but how he’s like she was about to say my father . . .

As a keen observer of people, he’s looking out for leadership qualities either actively or maybe even passively.  I’d like to make a really big leap for a minute and point out the cover to ch. 71

This cover has a quote from Matthew and features Tsurumi as the false prophet with Tsukishima and Nikaido.  Note that in the “Last Supper” scene here (ch. 81)

Ogata is in the place of Matthew.  If we go with the Asirpa is Jesus hypothesis, saving men with dark pasts to redeem themselves than I don’t think Noda-sensei just picked a quote from Matthew at random. Keep in mind Kiro is Judas, Sugimoto is Peter and Shirashi is John. Also remember that Matthew was a tax collector and not trusted or accepted by others but Asirpa clearly cares about him through the series. This leaves Ogata as the only person to argue against Tsurumi based on his shootout with Tsukishima in the taxidermists place as shown here

He is clearly telling Tsukishima that Tsurumi used these sentimental things to get men to follow him and dedicate themselves to his cause.  We learn much later that there is no way his motivations are based on surpassing his father - that was always a line Tsurumi told others but he does admit the he never knew what Ogata was thinking.

Anyhoo that was my really far reach, but getting back to his idea to keep his distance from people but ultimately wants to be loved aspect.  I’d state that Ogata hides some of his feelings towards others through is constant jests or teasing, despite having a hard time accepting that Tanigaki didn’t kill his comrades (who he def cared about a lot, which seems out of character at first) he gave Tanigaki the nickname “bear cub” and it stuck with others calling him that.  He also snarked at Tanigaki that if he wanted his nose cut off so badly he could do it for him.  I don’t think he meant this but it is clear he hides behind is sassy/sarcastic remarks.  As Tanigaki is the most innocent (and most similar to his brother) i’d say this spills over into his first harsh sadistic attitude towards him “beg for my help!” to “the dog did more than you.” to the harsh but in some ways likely true/protective “go back home”.  He says one thing but his actions speak otherwise just like the gangster son back in Barato.

Despite bitching about Sugimoto slowing them down while fleeing the 7th, he lets Asirpa treat him here

He’s being a bit pissy and I love the arms crossed body posture but you can tell he’s just being pushy to make sure they don’t get caught.

My absolute fav scenes of how he keeps his distance are the beach ones here where everyone holds hands and jumps while he watches over them.

Which then highlights him in the background several panels later while Asirpa and Sugimoto talk about beach kamuy etc.

He frequently is shown with his back towards many other group members, which would imply trust to an extent, he expects them not to stab him in the back so to speak.  When he shoots the herd of reindeer he states that they are just like people with one on the lookout - in the groups that he has been a part of he’s the lookout.

He may be alone and isolated but he’s always playing an important protective role towards others.  I’m not sure to what extent he realizes that he does this but he’s almost always drawn looking back while others are looking forward or looking the opposite direction of the rest observing everything.  He def is a protector of others, especially those who cannot fully protect themselves.

Ever since the beginning of the series we’ve know most character’s motivations for the gold but his remains a complete mystery.  Another tumblr post mentioned it could be the geisha debt that his mom had that he inherited, which makes sense to me, but really we still don’t know why he even joined the military. Being a solider wasn’t going to be enough at the rank of a superior private to pay off that debt . . . . I want that question answered for me - yes, it was clear he was a sharpshooter from a young age but he clearly could have been a successful hunter instead of a solider.  I hope we get answers to this in the manga.

As others have stated, since he was the only character to really respect Asirpa from the get go other than Sugimoto and that they are clear foils of how different people deal with PTSD, our current story arc will hopefully work in how Asirpa will save him by treating him like a real human being and in return he will protect her from older men/the establishment from using her.  For most of the series Ogata and Kiro were separated and we know that he knows more about Kiro than Kiro likely realizes.  The benefit of being a quiet introvert means a lot of the characters don’t notice him or read him as well as they could.

These recent panels highlight how he actually gets Shirashi and Asirpa to realize something is off and it likely has to do with Kiro.  I love how he gets Asirpa to realize they were being targeted for a reason and that stressed out look on Kiro’s face is so perfect.

Ogata knew that both Tsurumi and Hijikata knew of the links to the partisans in the far east and that Wilk and Kiro were linked.  He just needed to clue in the nicer party members to this fact.  He had to betry Sugimoto to get close to Kiro for him to play his hand.  He’ll protect Asirpa b/c that’s what he does.

I could go onto some other points but I should stop here.  Phew.  I think I could leave those for later posts.  Like how he shows affection through teasing ALL the TIME.