English Dub Review: Golden Kamuy “Sin and Impurity”
Overview (Spoilers Below):
Sugimoto saves Shiraishi and he tells him that it was Ogata who shot him and Wilk and that Kiroranke told him to kill them. Ogata observes Asirpa’s reaction and pulls her aside to look for firewood as Kiroranke and Sophia set up camp. He questions her and attempts to persuade her to give up the key to the coded tattoos and let Kiroranke handle the danger. However, when he brings up Sugimoto’s last request on food as monkfish soup Asirpa refuses to believe him because she knows what Suginmoto’s last food would be. She points an arrow at him as Ogata’s telling her that he hates people like her who refuse to kill. Sugimoto’s shout then startles Asirpa who releases her arrow into Ogata’s eye. Sugimoto sucks the poison from the arrow out of his eye.
Meanwhile, in the ice floes, Hajime meets Svetlana as the other two men push on ahead. He talks to her about her parents and how she should let them know that she’s alive. Koito and Tanigaki are attacked by two escaped prisoners. Tanigaki then gets assaulted by Kiroranke and he stabs Kiroranke with the blade from Abashiri prison. Koito and Hajime reach him as Kiroranke flees leaving a blood trail. Koito goes after Kiroranke after Hajime protects him from a trap that Kiroranke set up.
Our Take:
Golden Kamuy finally puts the two groups together and the issues that come from season two fuel the fights in this episode. There are Ogata and Sugimoto and then Kiroranke and the other guys. The episode starts off with the reunion between Sugimoto and Shiraishi which serves to fill Shiraishi in on the truth as they hurry to Asirpa.
Ogata’s manipulation around the narrative of Wilk’s murder and Sugimoto’s last words were great. His attempt at using Sugimoto to get her to reveal the key to the tattoo code is what got him caught. Surprisingly it’s Sugimoto’s mention of dried persimmons in the early days that tipped Asirpa off that Ogata was lying. The narrative that Ogata created crumbles with that distrust and causes him to reveal his darker thoughts to her. Ogata’s hatred of those pure people like his brother drove him to get Asirpa to kill him after revealing that he shot her father. His words get her to point her poisoned arrow at him, but she doesn’t release the arrow until Sugimoto startles her.
Sugimoto making sure that Ogata stays alive so that Asirpa wouldn’t feel the burden of his death is great. It works in emphasizing Asirapa’s no-killing rule on the quest for the gold. Sugimoto and Asirpa’s reunion was nice with the hug and Sugimoto catching Asirpa before she floats away. Then the reunion turns into a comedy scene with Asirpa’s eyelid stuck on Sugimoto’s metal button.
Then there’s Hajime’s meeting with Svetlana as Koito and Tanigaki go on ahead to catch up to Sugimoto. The look in his eyes when he tells her to let her parents know that she is alive. She confesses that she was a robber and she’s unable to face them. It strikes home for Hajime and he’s unable to say anything. This serves to tie up a story thread with the couple at the lighthouse.
Tanigaki’s fight with Kiroranke was short but great. The moment of silence where they lay eyes on each other as the bullet drops speak volumes at the tension at that moment. They throw their punches at each other and Tanigaki sticks the same knife that Kiroranke used on him in the second season as payback. It was well executed with the lack of words between the two until the end about the knife.
Overall the episode was great with the reunions and the action. Hopefully, Ogata survives the arrow to the eye so Asirpa doesn’t turn out to be like him.
"There are also other characters that come and go (also owned by the Warner Bros. Discovery conglomerate media company)."
Huh. Is that just referring to other characters from the show itself, or is this implying that the new season is going to have cameos from other WBD IPs