English Dub Review: Golden Kamuy Season Three

Overview (Spoilers Below):

After the events of Abashiri Prison Asirpa separates from Sugimoto and goes with Kiroranke to the north. Kiroranke leads Asirpa on a journey to jog her memories to find the key to the tattooed skins. Meanwhile, Sugimoto’s group chases after them while leaving hints that Sugimoto is alive for Asirpa to find. Along the way, both groups encounter a variety of people and learn more about Wilk and minorities like the Nivkh.

When Asirpa’s group crosses the border they get into a fight with the Russians. They find out that Kiroranke is a wanted man in the country for assassinating the Russian emperor. Kiroranke leads Asirpa to Ako Prison to meet Sophia, the leader of the revolutionary group against the Russian emperor and a friend of Wilk’s. After breaking Sofia and the prisoners out Sofia tells stories of Wilk. Those stories jog Asirpa’s memory about the key to the tattooed skins. Ogata realizes that she remembers the key and he pulls her aside to get her to tell him. However, she figures out that he’s been lying to her and that’s when he snaps at her. That’s when Sugimoto catches up to them and reunites with Asirpa while the others are fighting Kiroranke. After that, they head back to Hokkaido to continue the hunt for the skins.

 

Our Take:

Golden Kamuy lays out another season of food, action, and dick jokes. However, that’s not to say the season was a complete waste of time. At the end of the journey, Asirpa remembers the key to the code which is a vital part of the hunt for the gold.

The season has a standard format with a mixture of history and culture to the action and downtime for the groups. The screen time between the two groups switches often. Admittedly at some point, the show felt slow in the pacing. However, it builds up to the finale which was satisfying with the groups finally crossing paths.

The cultures of the minorities Kiroranke and Wilk were fighting for adds depth to the quest for the Ainu gold. I enjoyed learning about their customs. Admittedly all the food scenes made me hungry like the traditional Nivkh dish, mosu. Then there are the fights that worked in keeping me interested to watch the next episode. Ogata’s sniper fight with the Russian patrol officer was a favorite. The two snipers attempting to outwit the other sniper was an interesting fight.

Now Asirpa learning more about her father through the journey was nice. The stories we get from Kiroranke and later Sofia about Wilk in his younger days fleshed out his character. In the end, she remembers the key to the skins as one of Wilk’s names. He got the name from his wife after hearing about the origin of his name. She linked it to when she asked Sugimoto about the characters on the tattoos. Asirpa connecting the dots was good to set up the tension with Ogata’s observation of her reaction. Even though she doesn’t participate much in the action like Shiraishi her role is valuable to the group’s journey.

Sugimoto’s group following after Asirpa’s group to get Asirpa back and settle the score with Kiroranke and Ogata was good. We get a lot of funny moments with their group like with the circus episode. Even though they were enemies they’re still able to work together to overcome dangerous situations. Sugimoto’s reunion with Asirpa and Shiraishi was nice. Sugimoto explains to the two that Kiroranke and Ogata are responsible for Wilk’s death. Sugimoto preventing Asirpa from becoming a killer with his arrival was great to add to the tension of their confrontation.  At the core of it, he’s just trying to make sure that Asirpa ends up like the rest of them.

Through the season we get more of the characters’ past like Ogata’s and Hajime’s. The reason why Ogata hates untainted people made sense with his cold sniper personality and past as a prostitute’s son. His memories of his brother and his virginity in the army become a trigger for Ogata. Then Asirpa with her no-killing rule adds tension to the conflict when he confronts Asirpa about the key. His manipulation of the narrative of the event of the Abashiri prison nudges Asirpa to trust him. However, it fails when he slips up on Sugimoto’s option of his last meal. It was a smart way for Asirpa to figure out that he was lying.

His confession about killing Wilk to get Asirpa to shoot him was chilling. His way of trying to taint people to lower themselves to his level speaks volumes on his philosophy. In the last episode, he even has one more surprise with his ability to speak Russian. Even though Ogata escapes in the last episode the effects of his actions certainly remain with the group.

Kiroranke’s scheme to jog Asirpa’s memory for the key to tattooed skins with the journey worked out in the end. However, he won’t be able to see the result as he dies of blood loss in the struggle with Sugimoto’s group. He did truly care for Asirpa telling her to run in his dying breaths. However, whatever conflict happened between him and Wilk remains unanswered. Admittedly I’ll miss how his skills as a bomb maker added diversity to the group’s arsenal.

There are also minor characters like Sofia, the badass revolutionary leader who doesn’t run when her followers are in danger. She’s definitely an interesting character that helps Asirpa with her story about Wilk and his fascination with wolves. Hopefully, she’ll be around for the next season. Even Lieutenant Tsurumi surprisingly gets a backstory in this season. He taught Wilk, Sofia, and Kiroranke Japanese while he was working undercover as a photographer. His past was an unexpected surprise, but it explains how he knows about the gold. There’s also Hajime and his bitter past and having to learn Russian to survive. All of their stories were great at fleshing out the world of Golden Kamuy.

Overall it was a good season even it was a bit slow in its pacing in the plot. Hopefully with the key finally revealed the hunt for the Ainu gold will restart in the next season.