Golden Kamuy Final Season

Episode 56

While episode seven of Golden Kamuy's final season definitely feels like mostly set up as the show transitions into its dramatic finish, there's still enough fun and intrigue to keep me engaged. I think a big part of this episode's struggles lie in Ariko Rikimatsu, the Ainu tracker allied with Lieutenant Tsurumi as a double agent, being the emotional anchor for this episode. While his strained relationship to his culture and his familial connection to the Ainu gold at the center of this story are interesting, he hasn't gotten as much depth or character exploration as characters introduced earlier in the series. Especially with him playing less of an active role in the events of this season, this episode ends up feeling like a send off for a character who just got here.

That being said, the time this episode of Golden Kamuy dedicates to its main cast of characters is enticing, fun, and thought provoking. I'm champing at the bit to see these characters solve the prisoner tattoo code, and Wilk's Ainu name being key to solving this mystery ties into Golden Kamuy's broader themes of heritage super well. Golden Kamuy is also far from what I would call a “subtle” piece of media, but the way it's built up its central mystery and woven it into the lives of much of its main cast is an impressive act of world building that I'm eager to see resolved.

It's also a delight to see Tsurumi act like an absolute lunatic and completely shut out the world around him as he works to decode his prisoner skins now that he's finally forced the last critical piece of information out of Asirpa. This isn't necessarily an impressive bit of animation, but I appreciated Tsurumi's eyes constantly scanning back and forth like a man possessed as he's analyzing his skins, even as a gunfight breaks out around him and a church pew lands on his head. If the previous episode confirmed that Tsurumi's obsession with getting revenge against Wilk and Asirpa has been his underlying motivation for much of the series, this episode is the first in which he's been able to fully drop his veneer of leadership and dedicate himself fully to this purpose.

Though, speaking of Tsurumi's veneer slipping away, it was great seeing Tsukishima and Koito's reaction to Tsurumi's speech play out in this episode. Seeing Tsukishima's single minded dedication and Koito's childlike enthusiasm for Tsurumi return, only for the latter to be undermined with the information that Tsurumi may have been aware of their presence in the church is also a marvelous bit of writing. As the end draws near, it's never been less certain where some of Golden Kamuy's characters stand, and there's no telling quite how this powder keg will blow!

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Golden Kamuy Final Season is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.