English Dub Review: Golden Kamuy “Fellow Traveler”

One last shot.

Overview:

Tanigaki is chased into the mountains, with Ogata and Nikaido on his trail. Elsewhere, Sugimoto meets a possible new ally.

Our Take:

Ogata and Nikaido trail Tanigaki into the mountains, but they don’t know that he’s armed. With only one bullet, Tanigaki isn’t in the best position. He’s still suffering from his injury, so he can only move slowly, and there is both a sniper and a tracker after him. He has to use his knowledge of the mountains to keep himself alive and wait for the optimal time.

This was a pressured fight, but it works– Tanigaki comes out victorious. The Seventh Division is also hot on his tail, chasing after the traitors. While Tanigaki isn’t a traitor, he decides to willingly turn his back on the Seventh Division. After all, he’s become very attached to Huci and Osoma, and seems to view the village as a second home. It’s more than just wanting to repay them- he feels for hem, and isn’t willing to turn his back on them.

They also meet a new ally along the way- Kiroranke. He’s a fellow Ainu, but what puts him apart from the rest is his past. He isn’t from Hokkaido, same with Asirpa’s father, and the two of them used to be comrades in the past. He also drops the painful truth– that Asirpa’s father Aca is Noppera-bo. This shocks Asirpa to the core, as she can’t fathom why her father would not only steal the gold, but kill his own people to do so. She refuses to believe it, and wants proof. Words won’t cut it for something as dramatic as that- she needs to see Noppera-bo face to face.

There’s also the realization that the Japanese woman that Hijikata was looking for was actually Asirpa. Since Sugimoto never asked her Japanese name, we didn’t know it. Apparently, Noppera-bo is planning on giving the gold to Asirpa, but we’re still not sure why he stole the gold in the first place. Asirpa has no need for the gold, and wants it returned to her homeland, but if that’s what Noppera-bo wanted, then he wouldn’t have stolen the gold. There are so many mysteries.

Altogether, I don’t trust Kiroranke. He has a lot of valuable information, but he’s definitely hiding something. It’s too early to say what, but the concern that Sugimoto has doesn’t seem to be entirely unwarranted. We shall see.

Score
8/10