English Dub Review: Golden Kamuy “Meko Oyasi”

Overview (Spoilers Below):

Sugimoto’s group runs into a blizzard and they race to find some shelter. However, Sugimoto and Tanigaki separate from Hajime and Koito’s sled. They use the sled for fire and quickly buried and have the dogs surround them to keep warm. Hajime and Koito find shelter and cows and start a fire to warm up. They come across an old Russian man who leads them to a large metal light. On the other side, Sugimoto and Tanigaki talk about their experience in the war and they see a flickering light. They race towards it and reunite with Hajime and Koito at a lighthouse. The group quickly warms up above the pechka, and then make preparations to head out with a new sled.

Afterward, during dinner they have borscht and the old Russian couple explains that their daughter, Svetlana ran off with a soldier years ago. They stay in hopes of seeing their daughter return to them. Sugimoto takes their daughter’s photo with an offer to ask around. Sugimoto’s group travel to a Karafuto Ainu village as Sugimoto asks about Asirpa and Svetlana. Later the kids tell the story of a meko oyasi as the adults discuss Ogata. Meanwhile, Asirpa’s group head to the Ako prison to meet the woman behind the rebellion, Sophia an old friend of Wilk and Kiroranke.

Our Take:

This week’s episode was a good Golden Kamuy episode with bits of humor and a few facts as the characters moving up to the Ako prison.

For starters, we get a blizzard impending Sugimoto’s group which separates the group. Tanigaki and Sugimoto had to survive in a small hole since the ground froze. During that Tanigaki feeds them his special mochi which Sugimoto remarks that he’s had it before which Tanigaki comments as impossible. However, if you remember Tanigaki’s backstory on hunting for his sister’s killer, it’s possible that Sugimoto did eat it back then. This little tidbit could be explored later on, but the mochi does its job of keeping these guys alive until they see the light of the lighthouse.

Then there’s the old Russian couple and the lighthouse which save their group from being frozen to death in the blizzard. Sugimoto repays them by offering to find their daughter, Svetlana. It’s a very human moment from Sugimoto as his picture replaces their daughter’s in the frame while he asks around for her and Asirpa at the Karafuto Ainu village. It also looks like that his search won’t take him too far from Asirpa thankfully. Svetlana at the end of the episode is with Sofia Goldenhand, an old friend of Asirpa’s father in prison.

For this episode’s fact, we get the meko oyasi, a cat monster from the stories of the Karafuto Ainu that Enonoka tells Cikapasi. The meko oyasi is a monster that steals everything from people and eats it. Meanwhile, the adults discuss the slang term “mountain cat” for geisha to Ogata’s origins as a joke among the soldiers back in the war. Another meaning to mountain cat is a person that deceives someone. Ogata fits that meaning really well as Koito is all for making sure that the lying sniper is dead.

The transition between Sugimoto’s group to Asirpa’s group using the meko oyasi was smooth. Asirpa’s group sees large cat tracks on the way to their destination. It launches Kiroranke into a tidbit about her father and Sofia Goldenhand. Furthermore, that transition from Ogata to the mountain cat emphasizes the parallel. The mountain cat tracks disappear midway as Ogata joins the others ahead of him.

Overall this episode was simple with a snag because of the blizzard but that’s it in terms of conflict. It also looks like we’ll be meeting a formidable woman, Sofia Goldenhand who funded the revolution with her crimes. Are we going to get another prison break in the series? If so, we’ll have to find out next week to see if they have to break her out of there.