English Dub Review: Golden Kamuy “The Border”

Overview (Spoilers Below):

Asirpa’s group is now low on money thanks to their long journey to Shizuka, a town near the Russian border. They discuss options on how to get more money by selling pelts from animals in the forest. Once in the forest, Ogata accidentally shoots one of the reindeer belonging to the Uilta tribe. Therefore in exchange, he has to hunt one of the wild ones and Asirpa goes along to jog her memory. After hunting a wild herd of reindeer Kiroranke asks for the Uilta tribe’s help in crossing the border. In Otaru, Tsurumi talks about how he leaked information that one of the men responsible for Czar Alexander II’s death would be crossing the Russian border soon.

The Russian border patrol then shoots the Uilta carrying Ogata’s gun. Kiroranke goes to save the man while Ogata gets the Russian’s position. Ogata shoots one of them in the stomach to buy the group time to run. Once they’ve escaped to the forest, Asirpa’s group finds out that the old Uilta survived. They make preparations to find out why the Russians decided to shoot them. Meanwhile, the Russians are more motivated to hunt Asirpa’s group down and their sniper searches for Ogata. The Russian sniper positions himself to see his team members, and they get hurt by Kiroranke’s trap. When the Russian sniper sees what looks like to be Ogata in position, he notices the lack of movement and grows suspicious.

Our Take:

In this week’s episode, we’re sticking with Asirpa’s group on their journey. This episode has the food, the action, and that funny moment with Shiraishi and the reindeer stick. We get facts about the indigenous groups, more specifically the Uilta and their reindeer while the plot advances with Kiroranke’s plan.

Now Kiroranke’s plan to gain Asirpa’s trust is working at the moment. Asirpa remembers a childhood memory about her father talking about reindeers and using them to hunt. Then there’s the feast after the hunt with Asirpa giving the brains to Ogata and Shiraishi. Kiroranke gives the Uilta woman needles for the pelts before asking for their help. Kiroranke’s plan involves the Uilta in order to cross the border since obtaining passports is difficult. Indigenous tribes are able to cross through the border more easily than their group since they stand out.

The second half of the episode with the group crossing the border is thrilling for two reasons. We’ve seen time and time again that Ogata is a very excellent sniper. For example, when he sniped the entire reindeer herd earlier with the two rifles. His comments on the herd being similar to humans and his thoughts on how the other sniper would react to the screams of his comrades cement his cold perspective as a great sniper. In addition, his remark on this situation is like another round to the war speaks volumes on how enjoyable the challenge against the other sniper is to him.

Ogata facing a sniper who is also as good as he is after the war sets up an expectation for a calculated plan from him to outsmart the other sniper. To top it off we get the Russian sniper’s perspective as he uses his teammates as bait to see where Ogata will shoot from in order to take him out. Both snipers are cautious in making the first strike and cunning in their methods. It makes the scene suspenseful to me since their duel is a contest of their skills as snipers.

Meanwhile, the rest of the group finds the injured Russian and they get the reason for the sudden assault with a picture of a younger Kiroranke and the Russian’s words that Russia hasn’t forgotten him. It leaves no questions on why the Russians are after them now. It’s up to the group to decide how to proceed from there now that they’ll be hunted because of Kiroranke. There’s also Kiroranke’s action in saving the Uilta which even Asirpa questions and we get flashes of what’s presumed to be his younger days with the bomb, Czar Alexander II, and a baby. Perhaps those images tie into his reasons for being apart of Wilk’s plan. Now I’m interested in what he has to say for himself in the next episode to Asirpa and Shiraishi.

Overall this episode is great at keeping me interested especially with the sniper battle in progress towards the end of the episode.