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#49

Not a conventional way to end a quarter. The open threads from previous episodes remain as-is, instead we get an episode that is surprisingly heavy in its exposition and character development. Considering the franchise has earned a full adaptation, it is no surprise the announcement to finish the final chapter was made at the end of the episode. Leaving it in the lurch here would be a huge disservice to viewers and to the production members who have invested a lot into its work.

Although we see Usami doing his usual thing at murder sites, what he says next about Ogata reveals less about his mindset (which viewers saw plenty of in the previous weeks) and a little more about Ogata himself. Unfortunately for the enigmatic sniper, there's little clarity into his character despite the flashback. It's no secret he's been occupied with his abandonment as a child by his influential father, so working with Tsurumi as a way of getting even with him was one hypothesis. Yet Usami is dead wrong when he claims Ogata is doing this for influence in the division, since later events prove that Usami is seeing Ogata through his own twisted perceptions and Ogata himself never cared about Tsurumi enough not to betray him. One thing I can confirm: Ogata has first and foremost always served himself, and anyone and anything which can help him in one way or another is to be used and discarded when its utility has run its course. Ogata can now shoot, so his showdown with Vasily next quarter is back on. How that showdown will take place given the distance between the respective factions is a mystery for now.

The other big reveal is about Sugimoto himself. Revealing to Asirpa why he's been looking for the gold and what he'll do if their faction ever finds and secures it first is huge for the pair, and it's also telling that Sugimoto will keep his word and stay by Asirpa's side until she's achieved her desired outcome. Way back in episode one when the agreement was made, he would not have agreed to that had he known the quest would take them this far and experience so much. Asirpa cares for Sugimoto in her own way, but she'll have to live with his decision and hope he remains immortal until their journey reaches its end. Even Shiraishi is briefly given the spotlight as he contemplates how much he means to the main pairing, and despite his shortcomings Sugimoto trusts him enough to let him stay with them despite knowing full well he would run given the opportunity.

As for Boutarou, he has figured out in a short time what the main pair took several seasons to confirm. He has a point: there may be a lack of trust but information shared is the closest possible substitute to motivate new members into giving their all for the cause. Shiraishi realised this, and confirmed what he's suspected in return for Boutarou revealing the coin. This in turn gives Asirpa a new raison d'etre, which viewers will need to watch further for an official declaration.

At this juncture, the remaining plot points (Sapporo's Jack the Ripper and the tattooed child abductor) will be settled in the final season. Fair enough, the animators have deserved their break and the material remaining is more than enough for a quarter. Hopefully the next season won't have the unfortunate delays which hit this one, as the entertainment value has not diminished despite the broadcast gap.

I think that I have fallen out of love with this series. It feels like it has taken so long mulching around, that I have kind of lost interest in most of the characters. And I totally did not need non-consensual cum fights.

My rating for what is the 4th season will be So-so (5/10), hopefully a final season will redeem itself that I won't feel like I would be just watching it out of obligation.

#50

The final season has aired faster than I expected, especially given the circumstances of the 4th season. Fingers crossed no further mishaps this time round, with everyone who gave up on last season staying away given the level of competition this quarter to keep bored eyeballs engaged.

Straight into the story from where it last left off, this week gives definite proof regarding the identity of the child kidnapper and the motive behind his abominable crimes. It's not a surprise the tattooed prisoners are all broken one way or another, and he's just the latest example. I won't be sorry to see him skinned, but someone needs to catch him and do the deed. The 7th Division hold the cards as far as the skims are concerned, but they're only just ahead because the fake skins prepared by Tsurumi have done just enough to throw off Asirpa's conviction on the code underpinning them. Once she has a larger sample size or the full picture, Tsurumi will have lost the advantage of his ruse.

The other story thread left hanging from last season is the Jack the Ripper copycat murders. I doubt the adaptation is telling the truth about the similarities behind Sapporo and Whitechapel, but it makes a very good excuse to get the main highlight of this arc into the picture, namely the Sapporo beer factory (the products Hijikata's faction and Sugimoto's group are enjoying plenty this episode).

Hijikata's reveal of what he intended to do with Hokkaido and Asirpa in particular is the other big revelation this week. As stated, it's not great for Asirpa and the Ainu if their homeland is reduced to an industrial wasteland even with Asirpa the head of a multicultural self governing republic. Temporary alliance notwithstanding, even more reason for Sugimoto's group to win the race one way or another if they're to keep Hokkaido the way it is.

A good start to the new quarter, albeit overdue given what has transpired. Still a must watch for me, as this franchise deserves to see a full adaptation given the success of the live action movies.

#51

The great battle royale at the Sapporo beer factory is now underway. It's another set piece where all three factions have converged on the same location for a common cause, although in this instance there are subplots with Ogata playing a lone hand and being hunted by the Russian sniper he bested previously in Karafuto. A lot of moving parts, and it'll take time for the episodes to sort them all out before we can move on.

Although the Hijikata and Sugimoto factions are working together as an alliance of convenience, they'd be doing the city of Sapporo a huge boon by getting rid of the creator's interpretation of Jack the Ripper. Alias and all, he's still out to kill his preferred prey and is one of the tattooed prisoners needed to move everyone one step closer to the hidden gold. The bad news is Asirpa is in his strike zone and she's been separated from the main group of guardians. If she wants to keep her hands clean from murder, a drunk Sugimoto will need to get to her quickly before Jack does.

While the advance force of 7th Division soldiers tangles with Hijikata's band, the fireworks mean Tsurumi and the main 7th Division force is enroute to the factory. If they get there and Hijikata's group don't finish the job and the skinning, it's a loss for them and Sugimoto's trio as they cannot overcome the 7th's numbers and force advantage. All factions are more than happy to finish off Ogata given the chance, so he's got his hands full dealing with the Russian sniper Vasily and making good his escape before anyone else discovers him.

The new OP visuals really emphasize the"gold" in this adaptation, as well as a lot of shots featuring the Ainu people in their traditional setting. The song isn't half bad either, also leaning heavily into the gold theme. Not a fan of the ED visuals (last season's offering of the wanted posters had more taste than this season's surreal Sugimoto only mime mosh performance) and the song isn't memorable.

I'm expecting one or two more episodes at most before the beer factory arc concludes. Then we'll see what else the journey through Meiji Hokkaido will feature next.

#52

We're almost at the end of this arc, and this is a significant episode for a number of reasons. Not only do the factions now know what they need to unlock the code of the skins, they also know that the key essentially lies with Asirpa as no one else but her has figured out how to decode the skins, copies or not. Whoever has her has the bargaining chip everyone wants, and they'll stop at nothing to seize her whatever it takes. Ueji Keiji didn't even get to see the other disappointed faces because he failed to fall into the chimney; seeing his own disappointed face before he landed in a mess out in the open means his skin is up for grabs. Kadokura's secret is known only to Asirpa, Sugimoto and himself; hopefully with what little her father did Asirpa has enough conviction to follow through with her theory in defiance of the fake skins.

This adaptation's Jack the Ripper is just as demented as so many of the prisoners featured to date, and with Sugimoto doing the job and getting the corpse close enough for Hijikata's faction to reclaim him he's done his part in the temporary alliance. He could have done without gutting him the same way Jack did his victims, since it makes the skin decoding that much harder with a huge gash across the abdomen. It shouldn't be too big a deal though, since Asirpa has seen enough of the skins to figure out what she's looking at eventually.

Usami vs. Ogata should have been a win for the former, since the latter is only good with a rifle in his hand and is the complete opposite of Sugimoto who's a garbage shot except at point blank range. Turns out Ogata really is addicted to a rifle, and loading the bullet with his tongue really was unexpected. The final shot against Usami means Ogata is back to his best despite losing his eye, so if he and Vasily are to duel once more it will be on more or less even terms for accuracy.

That final shot between the dying Usami and Tsurumi is very close to the Pieta statues which adorn specific churches in Europe, and it's not too far-fetched to say Tsurumi didn't care for Usami as more than just a useful pawn. He even did his finger eating custom from previous seasons to prove a point not just to Usami but to the watching 7th Division soldiers. I don't think it was all a performance, since Tsurumi does not command the fanatical loyalty of nearly all of his men if he didn't have some semblance of genuine care for them as people rather than assets. When he says Usami is his number one, it would be hard to find evidence to the contrary.

Plot armour should keep Asirpa and Sugimoto alive (not sure about warden Kadokura and his bad luck, but if his devil's luck stays active he'll make it out somehow). Boutarou with his fantastic lung capacity is charging in to save them, but will he choose this opportunity to get Asirpa for himself and leave Sugimoto and Kadokura to die in the smoke?

#53

The arc which never stops providing the entertainment is amazingly still on, and next week will see its formal conclusion and the start of the next one. Plenty of action and plot to keep viewers entertained.

It's not surprising Boutarou chose to betray Sugimoto and the others right when they were most vulnerable, but he chose the wrong person to betray and the wrong environment to do it. To be fair to him, the episode uses a flashback to explain why he's so driven to create a home for himself unlike the other prisoners who are accustomed to living alone. Although the betrayal ended up backfiring in the worst way possible, he does go for the consolation prize in ensuring Shiraishi doesn't forget who he is (debatable) and goes away with the knowledge he alone has regarding the location of the gold before it was hidden.

Asirpa is once again in the clutches of the 7th Division, and she's somewhat the worse for wear from carbon monoxide poisoning but will survive. Tsurumi is very confident he has enough of the map for Asirpa to decide, but does he? For the time being, she has to play along and hope Sugimoto and Shiraishi can catch up with her. The other factions need Asirpa, so most likely Hijikata's group and the reinforcements from Russia will pursue the 7th together with Sugimoto.

Another twist in this long running tale is Sugimoto finding an old acquaintance of his in the 7th, and his old acquaintance doesn't realize who Sugimoto is until they fight each other on the fire engine. That's going to be an interesting story to tell, since Sugimoto's past from his enlistment in the army has not yet been told. The warrant officer Kikuta might yet have his part to play in the story for the gold.

#54

The beer factory arc is officially over, but the intermission before the next arc is where the big exposition revelations are going to hit one after another. For once, the spotlight is firmly on Tsurumi, Asirpa and the captured Sofia as they fill in the gaps behind Wilk's past, his eventual imprisonment in Abashiri and the truth behind the murder of the Ainu conspirators who knew where the gold was.

Sofia suffered a concussion yet didn't seem the worst for wear after a short time out cold. Given the circumstances behind her concussion, it's fair to conclude she really cares for Asirpa and will die for her if need be. However, she now has to face the ghosts of her past as the man she once knew as Hasegawa is revealed to be an imperial Japanese officer and the deaths of his wife and child she was indirectly responsible for.

For lieutenant Koito and especially sergeant Tsukishima, the confession is a reckoning for the two NCOs who have followed Tsurumi through war and an ongoing rebellion and have learnt enough to have their unshakable faith in their commander completely undermined. The wordless expression on the sergeant's face when he heard what Tsurumi said spoke volumes about his anger. However, like Tsurumi said about Wilk's motives in changing the revolutionary plan, the same applies equally to Tsurumi himself. He has been a master manipulator of his men for so long it might be he has genuinely come to believe that he can have his cake and eat it without revealing his weaknesses to those who might scupper his ambitions.

Kiroranke's shadow from the previous Karafuto arc looms large here. Unlike Wilk who changed his plans for the sake of his daughter, Kiroranke never gave up on the original plan. Although Wilk subdued him during the confrontation and kept him alive, this might have been a misjudgment as he could still act if he was free of his bonds. If Wilk did not kill the other Ainu after they learnt of the location from the surprise survivor of the negotiations the only other person who could have done the deed is Kiroranke himself. That would obviously be a weight off Asirpa's shoulders knowing her father did not kill fellow Ainu, but it would still sting knowing Kiroranke was the revealed murderer.

This will continue for at another episode while Sugimoto and Shiraishi find Hijikata's faction to storm the church. The 7th Division soldiers will raise the alarm when confronted, but there should be enough time for the confessional to complete before Tsurumi evacuates with his hostages.

#55

Absolutely no action in this episode whatsoever except from flashbacks of the past. Yet this is the quintessential crossroads episode. Tsurumi has kept his word and filled in the blanks which Asirpa has been searching for since she started the journey in Russian territory. Asirpa now has to choose: does she stay true to the goal she set for herself when the hunt for the gold began, or does Tsurumi's vision of a Hokkaido under foreign occupation sway her to his side for the sake of protecting her people and their future?

Tsurumi hasn't given up of course. Just about everything he says is true, with one particular facet which is controversial. Obviously this is the bullet he claims killed his infant daughter. Sofia clearly believes the ballistics report he has given, but it is his word that the bullet he kept to that point was the one which killed his daughter. It might well be true, but his pitch hinges on the guilt that it fosters in Asirpa that her father was responsible for Tsurumi's daughter's death. Above all else, he needs her to believe that and for it to play a significant role in getting her onto his side.

Everything else about the death of the Ainu who were Wilk's companions is likely true, since Kikuta himself admitted Tsurumi had planned for the Ainu conspirators to tear themselves apart. All he needed to do was to amplify the existing tensions to the point where even Wilk could not keep them together through his intelligence and charisma alone. It worked up to a point, although even Tsurumi did not anticipate the lengths to which his nemesis would go to fake his death and continue with his quest even as a prisoner.

There are a few revelations in this episode which tie back to previous seasons. Notably the boy who stuck around with Kiroranke's group in their northward trek is an orphan from the infighting which Wilk survived. Ipopte's father (the one Sugimoto is betting on) was the catalyst used to ignite the massacre. Kiroranke aware of who Nopperabo really was and having a hand in his eventual death.

Probably the most important scene is right at the end. Nothing like a bit of drama to showcase the franchise title name drop. Of all the people to be behind the series title, it is Tsurumi who describes the nature of the gold which has been the driving force behind so many forces that have culminated in the church confession. And with that revelation as well as Ipopte having a clear run for the church, the scene is set for Asirpa's reply to Tsurumi's pitch and what Sugimoto and the others will do if they cannot secure Asirpa and Sofia before the 7th Division makes another move.

#56

The main storyline is dragged out a bit, but the pacing picks up now that the few remaining revelations are out in the open. Ipopte being acquainted with Kikuta is another unexpected connection, in addition to learning Kikuta and Sugimoto are somehow acquainted despite being in separate divisions. The latter is likely to be explained in the next episode, while the former is the reason why Ipopte still has a part to play in this tale even if he's out of commission for the time being.

Besides the interpersonal connections, the big mover is Tsurumi learning the keyword behind the skins and Asirpa in turn discovering how to differentiate between the real and fake skins which have confused her virtually since they were first retrieved by Sugimoto and company. Both need time, but for now Asirpa has the advantage and she has help from Sugimoto and the others if she gets stuck. Sugimoto for his part only suspected but never quite figured out the key, but his additional information from Shiraishi and the emotional support he provides to a visibly stricken Asirpa are a clear reminder that this partner intends to see his agreement through to the bitter end.

Although Ipopte's unexpected intervention helped save Sofia from a painful death by strangulation, she is not working together with her for the gold hunt. Sofia and her men are not giving up on Asirpa just yet, but their role for now is away from the gold hunters.

Since this coming episode is a flashback into Sugimoto's past before he enlisted, I expect the remaining airtime to pick up the chase with the end goal closer at hand for all of the pursuers.

#57

It is a flashback episode, but one with much more than it first appears. Not only do viewers learn about how Kikuta and Sugimoto are acquainted with each other, it turns out Sugimoto has met the key members of the first division long before they were formally introduced during the gold hunt (although none of them appear to have remembered their first meeting).

Set after Sugimoto left his village to avoid infecting his fiancée with tuberculosis, he ended up in Tokyo and is roped in by then sergeant Kikuta to be Hanazawa Yuusaku's body double (the same Yuusaku who is Oogata's half brother and is the embodiment of the latter's ongoing hallucinations). Tsurumi has just been roped in by central command to hunt for the rumoured Ainu gold, and at this point he's sick of the internal armed forces politics and is determined to go it alone. Oogata not having met his brother yet is important later on as I expect he'd realise Sugimoto in disguise was not his brother later on. I'm also certain commander Hanazawa is still alive at this point since Tsurumi hasn't completely worked him over yet.

It's a running gag the author is really fond of drawing naked muscular men and rarely draws women to be beautiful unless they are important to the plot or have a significant connection to the primary cast. This episode is no different; I cannot believe Sugimoto thought the match found by Yuusaku's mother could be considered good looking. She certainly has the poisonous personality to match, just like her servant. Too bad status doesn't work against the threat of violence.

Considering this is a flashback episode, Sugimoto does indeed join the 7th Division after this and fights in the same battle as Tsurumi's first at Port Arthur. How he gets there from his current situation is going to be interesting, since Tsurumi does not trust Kikuta to the same extent as his other men and this incident might illustrate why.

#58

The franchise does use its flashback sequences both to throw up surprising connections between seemingly unrelated events, and to kill off characters soon afterwards when they have had the limelight for a short time.

As expected, neither Sugimoto nor the 7th Division key members remembered meeting each other before when the gold hunt began. Kikuta for his part did not make his formal debut in the series until events had progressed significantly. Despite orders to keep tabs on Tsurumi together with Ogata, it was the latter who got closer yet had little interest in staying aligned to anyone except himself. Kikuta getting caught out with the intercepted dead drop ultimately cost him, but it does mean Sugimoto does not need to face the possibility of fighting and possibly killing the man who got him into the army to begin with. Kikuta for his part is certain Sugimoto will be the one to take down Tsurumi, so we'll have to see how prescient his prediction turns out to be.

To think the Russian consulate in Hakodate was where the gold temporarily was. During the lieutenant Koito childhood kidnapping flashback his father used it as a secret hideout to formulate his own plans. Clearly the Ainu led by Wilk did the move after the ruckus had died down and the 7th Division had moved on.

At long last, they've identified where the gold is buried. Of all places the star fort Gouryoukaku where the historical Hijikata Toshizou met his death in battle and now the required school trip visit for generations of Japanese schoolchildren, and a former army training base now abandoned and isolated. Unfortunately despite getting there first Hijikata and Sugimoto's motley crew have little time to search as Tsurumi has also cracked the code and is converging all of his manpower onto the site. Like the Abashiri prison standoff, Sugimoto and Asirpa once again have to overcome impossible numbers and armaments to find what they've spent years looking for. They may even have to do it while under siege from the 7th Division. Even if they do find it, Asirpa's question on how they can carry it away remains unanswered, since they don't have the manpower to do it and the 7th do if they find the burial location.

It all comes down to the remaining episodes for the long running adaptation to see its conclusion. One final grand action spectacle for a finale, and depending on who survives what happens to the gold will determine the futures of the survivors.

#59

It's been a VERY long journey for both the cast and the audience, and at long last they have finally pinpointed the exact location of the long sought Ainu gold. However, there's a twist in this tale which threatens to derail everything Asirpa and the others have sacrificed so much for. Despite the successful search, the hard part is just beginning as there is the matter of the 7th Division and the upcoming siege of Gouryoukaku to contend with.

The author does address one controversy of the Russo-japanese war, namely how it was funded and its unintended contribution to the later Japanese invasion of Nationalist China. In this adaptation the Ainu gold helped plug the budget deficit since there was discontent in the population that the Russian empire wasn't squeezed enough during the peace settlement to compensate for the blood and treasure expended to claim Port Arthur. The treaty witnessed by the ambassadors does enough to win the Ainu legitimacy to manage the land deeds as their custodians, although the lack of a single owner made it vulnerable to appropriation by Hijikata and the 7th Division if Asirpa doesn't hold on to the future of her people.

Nagakura Shinpachi surrendering to the 7th Division was a surprise, and another surprise being Tsurumi actually hearing him out and stopping the naval bombardment to avoid destroying the title deed by accident. Tsurumi is cautious and intends to verify the information, which at the very least bought the fort defenders more time to prepare for the siege. There's still four very valuable fighting men outside the encirclement, so what does Nagakura intend to do if they're not fighting their way back in?

Even with Sofia and her men filling the ranks, the defenders are badly outnumbered and barely have the minimum required to properly man the fortifications against the 7th Division. If the bombardment resumes, the odds are even more heavily stacked against them. At least they have the gold as a morale boost to keep them from simply surrendering.

Kadokura has the worst luck, but it triggers plot armour. The skin he dismissed as superfluous just last week turns out to be the final piece of the puzzle. It's tough being old like the fictional Hijikata Toshizou and not remembering about his brief sojourn in the fort, especially after decades in prison after the battle of Hakodate.

With the literal golden shower on the Asirpa trio, that's the watershed moment for the series. There's more than enough for the prisoners and Asirpa's group should they survive, but they have to survive the siege and can return to the location once the ruckus dies down. Besides the blind masseur, everyone near the hole knows where it is and the 7th Division won't find it as they didn't have Hijikata's stroke of inspiration.

Just the siege and its aftermath to go. Abashiri prison once again, but the 7th Division don't have Okada to put another hole in Sugimoto's head and Asirpa has more allies now compared to then. It's still a desperate situation, but they've made it this far. If they survive and Tsurumi is taken out only Hijikata remains as his goals do not align with Asirpa's. That's for later, since all of the defenders have to survive or escape the encirclement first.

#60

The climatic battle for Goryoukaku begins. What might surprise viewers is just how long it takes before the order to charge is given. About half of the episode is devoted to softening up the defences, with the commentary behind this being one of the best to date at giving an easy to understand account of siege warfare in the pre-WW1 era taking into account lessons learnt from the American Civil War.

There's also the small matter of Hijikata Toshizou himself, and what he had forgotten in his long detention at Abashiri. Turns out he had met one of the Ainu who had smuggled the gold, but through various circumstances never learnt about its existence and the significance of the man who saved his life until he had silver hair. It is not surprising he never expected the gold to be kept in the old well for the horses, but he DID remember the debt he owed the Ainu for saving his life and through a long and arduous journey has partially repaid it by helping Asirpa with her quest.

Really not keen on Tsurumi's aim to turn Hokkaido and Manchuria into the Meiji equivalent of modern-day Afghanistan, but his plan made sense as opium was still the main silver drain on Qing China and the proximity and fertility of the targeted lands would have undercut foreign imports of the drug and made the 7th Division rich enough to do whatever it liked independent of central command. It would also permanently destroy Hokkaido from what it was (and to a large extent still is). All the more reason for Tsurumi to be stopped, but he still holds all the cards and someone from the opposing faction has to kill him personally past all of his soldiers to accomplish this.

As expected, the 7th Division have an overwhelming advantage with men and firepower. Koito's admiral father having been under Tsurumi's thumb since his son was saved has deployed his entire flotilla to assist, so it falls to Nagakura and his men to stop the naval bombardment before it grinds the defenders down from sheer attrition. That they are able to do so is thanks to the Shinsengumi's hidden legacy as well as the expertise of Sofia's handpicked gunnery master. Firing a cannonball from that distance at a moving destroyer and scoring a direct hit is absurd, given how many practice shots they had to get their bearings. Koito's father has to go down with his ship, since even if Tsurumi had won he would have been court-martialled for deploying and losing his flotilla in an unauthorized operation not sanctioned by naval command.

Despite the good work of Nagakura and the others, they didn't destroy the ships fast enough to prevent the 7th Division from partially infiltrating the fortress. With the lack of defenders to man all three angles, the situation is still grim for the defenders as they are outnumbered and facing fanatical 7th Division soldiers. Even with Sugimoto forgoing his awful aim with a rifle and getting to grips with the opponent in his favoured melee range, the defenders need a lot more than just him and Hijikata's best fighters to turn the tide. Sooner or later they'll need to escape Goryoukaku and all three bridges linking the fort to the outside world have been secured by the 7th Division.

The battle continues, but how many episodes more will the defence hold before Asirpa and the others have to contemplate escape, or worse surrender?

#61

What an episode. Plenty of action, and some climatic showdowns thrown in. As expected, the defenders are slowly being overrun but Sugimoto's core group are still alive and in a position to escape the encirclement. A few revelations thrown in as well, but the battle is almost over and the only way for Asirpa to keep the deed book in peace is for Tsurumi to die. The gold is now off the 7th Division's minds for now, and if Tsurumi does army command will ensure they'll be too busy avoiding court martial to think about digging Gouryoukaku up for the Ainu gold.

It's taken long enough, but Sugimoto is finally rid of the Nikaidou twins. A running theme from season one, Sugimoto once again has to survive fairly gruesome wounds to overcome his opponent. In doing so he inadvertently gets revenge for Toni Anji, who in turn kept Hijikata alive for that much longer.

There's also the duel between Koito and Nagakura Shinpachi. More symbolic than anything else since neither of them really interacted with the other prior to this encounter. For an old man Nagakura can still mix it with the 7th Division elite, but will he make it to the inside in time to figure alongside Hijikata to the end? At least his compatriots who helped with the sinking of the fleet survived the direct hit on their cannon, albeit with varying degrees of injuries. They'll survive the battle as none of the 7th Division soldiers will think of making the trip up the hill to finish them off.

If Sofia is still alive, the the north gate remains contested and Sugimoto and company have a chance to escape the siege. It's a small chance, and they can't escape and try to assassinate Tsurumi at the same time. They'll likely try to make a break for it with the horses, while Sofia and what remains of Hijikata's forces hold off pursuit. Still anyone's guess how this will pan out.

Hijikata is an interesting enigma. Despite his stated aims to re-establish the Ezo republic, he eventually came around to assisting Asirpa after they teamed up sometime last season. The personal debt he owed the Ainu at Gouryoukaku as well as Wilk explains why he could pursue seemingly contradictory objectives simultaneously, but he and Nagakura are the idealistic portrayals of the last samurai who fought honourably for their ideals. Even if his dream dies with his death, if it means Asirpa fulfils hers it would be the cause worth dying for. He's close to earning the battlefield death his historical personage won at the first battle of Gouryoukaku, so the remaining airtime will see just what end this fictional Hijikata will attain.

#62

Urgh, the animators have run out of airtime and there's one final arc to go before the story is finished. At least it's announced and there's not too long to wait to see the conclusion. It's a cliffhanger to end the season on, and plenty of conclusions to ongoing conflicts to see resolved.

Sofia Vs Tsurumi was only ever going one way, and unfortunately it's come to pass. Had Sofia chosen to leave with Shiraishi and the others she might have survived, but as the last survivor of her platoon she was only ever going down with the rest of them. Tsurumi being the one to finish her off was expected, and no I do not believe he ever forgave her for the death of his Vladivostok family. The cinematography leaves room for debate, but I'm going for the interpretation that he wanted the revenge he craves for decades.

As for Ogata Vs Vasili, it looks like the former has won that duel. One more mind game between snipers and Ogata has once again outfoxed his opponent. The real winner is Asirpa's group, since Ogata cannot take out Vasili and keep his attention on Asirpa at the same time. Interestingly there's no shot of Vasili dying, just blood on his rifle as it falls. This duel might not yet have reached an end just yet.

Just as Asirpa's group think they've caught a break, they end up on one of the special requisitioned trains carrying 7th Division reinforcements. This is where Ushiyama shines, as he's not great in a gunfight and an enclosed carriage with no room for soldiers to use their firearms effectively is his time to shine. He can't get out of this unscathed, but he's doing his bit to get Asirpa and the deed off the train safely. Despite his injuries, Hijikata is also doing his best to slaughter the unprepared reinforcements as quickly as possible. Unfortunately for them both, the commotion means each carriage in front of the one they're attacking has time to prepare for the onslaught and with the command group catching up with the train it's only a matter of time before Asirpa's group are ground down by sheer numbers.

To top it off, Ogata has removed the locomotive drivers and there's no one to stop the train at the station. A literal train wreck looms and once again Asirpa and company are under siege. How they get out of this alive and get to the gold will be for the next arc, and I'm looking forward to the end of this year for this.

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Forum - View topicGolden Kamuy (TV).

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Golden Kamuy (TV).