English Dub Review: Golden Kamuy “Stenka”

Overview (Spoilers Below):

Sugimoto approaches a man named Maiharu Gansoku who comments on their excellent stenka match as the others catch up to him. After interrogating the Russian to get their dog back they hit upon news of a tattooed man who later turns out to be Maiharu Gansoku as he reveals himself in the stenka match. During the stenka match Sugimoto says that he has a plan however, he takes too many hits to the head to the point where he attacks friend and foe. Maiharu runs off when Sugimoto gets his hands on tools as the other after the puncher in the snow half naked.

Maiharu gets attacked by a wolverine and Sugimoto’s group pulls it off him and they run to a shack which turns out to be a Russian banya. Meanwhile the kids get the dog from the chatty Russian by setting a trap on him and while riding they spot Sugimoto and then the wolverine notices that Chikapasi fell off the sled. After shooting the wolverine Sugimoto and Maiharu continue their slugfest and after settling that match Maiharu gives them info on Asirpa in a flashback. The scene transitions to Asirpa hunting seals with her group.

Our Take:

This episode was a good continuation of the stenka fight with the introduction of Maiharu, another tattooed Abashiri convict who even lends a clue to Asirpa. The animation for the brawls was good as well.

Maiharu like the rest of the Golden Kamuy cast is a unique character that thrives in violence and has that mentality of fighting worthy opponents like Sugimoto. He can also tell what his opponent’s emotions are during a fight like with Sugimoto and his feelings of rage against himself. Maiharu’s a pretty funny character especially with how he smacked Sugimoto’s group in banya the voice acting in that scene really sold off his eccentric personality.

Golden Kamuy does well to balance conflict and comedy in this episode. The external conflict with Maiharu who assumes that they’ll kill him for his tattooed skin and then there’s Sugimoto’s internal conflict with himself along with the head injury that causes him to go on a rampage after taking Maiharu’s punches in the head. Sugimoto’s internal conflict of feeling useless with his friend’s widow and Asirpa during the last episodes of the second season was great at showing how much a good guy he is at heart. In between these two conflicts we get hilarious moments like when Maiharu was smacking the group with a venik and Tanigaki with the boner comment after shooting the wolverine.

There’s also the kids who cleverly lay out a trap for the chatty Russian. It was a nice scene to show that kids shouldn’t be underestimated because of their age. When Chikapasi shoots with his eyes closed was a good detail of showing that despite him being able to pull the trigger his eyes were closed, and that his innocence is still present. There’s also Asirpa with her faith in Sugimoto and his immortality which goes to show that despite being separated their bond s partners won’t fade that easily.

This was a good second episode for the third season. Now with that last scene it looks like we’ll get to see what Asirpa’s group is doing in their time in the north. I hope we get a seal fact in the next episode like we did with the banya.