English Dub Review: Golden Kamuy “Kamuy Hopunire”

Life of a cat.

Overview:

Ogata’s pretty messed up.

Our Take:

Leaving off on what happened the last episode, Asirpa makes her decision about whether she should go forward or not. Even though Huci very strongly believes in dreams coming true, Asirpa believes that she needs to forge forward. She isn’t a child anymore, and she’s wanted these answers for years. To turn back now would be to go against possibly finding out the truth, and she can’t risk that for herself. Even if the journey is hard, she has to forge on.

Instead of pushing her to turn back, Tanigaki agrees to come along so that if Asirpa can’t return, he’ll make sure she at least survives the journey. Sugimoto also agrees with her, which enforces that he’s really just following Asirpa around. He will do what Asirpa does, and will follow her everywhere. The gold might have been his primary motivator, but it is no longer- now he is fully devoted to Asirpa’s cause.

We also learn a little about Ogata, and how his ties run deep with the Seventh Division. As it turns out, Ogata’s father is actually the former head of the division, but that doesn’t inspire confidence or loyalty in Ogata at all. Ogata resents his father, even if he claims that he doesn’t, for abandoning his mother and forcing his childhood into one that was ruled by his unstable mother’s whims. Even as a kid, Ogata always seemed to have something wrong with him, as he isn’t able to process emotions properly, and is filled more with cold action rather than anything warm. The happenings of his childhood left such an impression on him that he made his way into the military, and used that to get revenge on his father.

Ogata also encountered his younger brother while in action, and most stories would have used that as an amending point, or for Ogata to form an attachment to his younger half-brother. Instead, Ogata remains cold and merciless and decides to kill his brother on the battlefield, to see how his father reacts. All of Ogata’s actions, as detached from human emotion as they are, all are done with the explicit purpose of seeing his father’s reaction to things. Once he is dissatisfied with his father’s answers, he kills him and washes his hands of the incident. Knowing this, his confusion and bitterness about Tanigaki and Asirpa caring so much about Huci aren’t just because he’s analytical- but because he has never experienced anything like a loving family before, and can’t comprehend it.