Hello and welcome to Project Nitsuj. So, does anybody want to talk about Golden Kamuy? Golden Kamuy was definitely the surprise hit for a lot of people 2018. Most people who watched it didn’t know about the manga, but after the first season the fandom grew. The story was good, the characters were enjoyable, it was funny, had decent action, and was educational with its talks about the Ainu culture. After the season ended it was announced that a second season was coming out later that same year and in the fall of 2018 the season dropped. Done once again by Geno Studio the hype for this season was up there as a lot of people had high expectations for what was to come. Did the series live up to the hype and meet expectations of fans? Let’s return to this treacherous lonely road and take a look at Golden Kamuy S2.
Opening and Ending Theme
The opening for this season is “Reimei (Dawn)” by Sayuri and My First Story. This song was good and one I always liked listening to whenever the anime came on. Sayuri sounds great here. I’m unfamiliar with her songs, but apparently this opening really propelled her popularity from what I’ve heard. Is this song better than the first opening, debatable? For me I personally liked the first opening better because it set the mood and tone for the serious perfectly. It was sober and matched up well with each episode and what was going on. This opening is more light-hearted and oozes excitement for what’s to come. However, there were a couple of times where the opening felt out of place as the anime progressed. Still a good song though.
The ending is “The Clock Tower’s Bell” by eastern youth. Oh~ I’m gonna get a lot of hate for this, but I never really got into this song. I feel bad too because from what I’ve heard eastern youth is a pretty awesome band but. . . I just couldn’t get into this song. It’s not even a bad song, the drums are great and the song gives off early Naruto vibes. I still think Hibana was the better ending and I think because I liked it so much I was expecting something along the same lines as it.
Episodes 1-4
The first episode of the new season starts off slow but is filled with plenty of laughs and doesn’t disappoint. It’s now springtime and Sugimoto’s group is enjoying the scenery and the taste of spring (my God a green landscape. I forgot how beautiful nature could be. Scene here: https://youtu.be/_tFSrjOH-HA). We get our what the hell moment when Tsurumi goes to visit a taxidermist named Edogai who is. . .crazy (and yet I feel like he fits perfectly within this anime. What with all the human skinning). I mean it, this guy has created suits out of people’s skin and even talks to his human mannequins that he keeps in the back, yet, Tsurumi somehow befriends him and sets him free by helping him kill the mannequin of his mother (scene here: https://youtu.be/FojgVQzpNBA. This is so creepy, messed up and funny at the same time). Tsurumi wants Edogai to create fake prisoner skins that only he can identify to throw everyone off. A good idea except Edogai doesn’t have the right black ink (an ink that you can only get off a living human) so he can’t make a perfect fake copy. After that level of craziness, we return to Otaru where Tanigaki and Asirpa’s uncle kill a deer on their way back to the village. As they collect their spoils, they invite a kid over named Chikapasi which means “to get an erection” or “boner” (*laughs uncontrollably*, okay, this author knows his dirty humor). He lost his parents and friends sometime ago and barely interacts with anyone in the village, but he seems interested in hunting (scene here: https://youtu.be/1S8H7O–kJs). After skinning the deer, they return to the village where Inkarmat is there (Corbin: Woah, there goes a lady that’ll give you a chikapasi). She’s looking for Asirpa to warn her that one of the three men she’s traveling with is going to betray them and put her life in danger (you’re gonna need to be a bit more specific). Worried about Asirpa’s safety, Tanigaki decides to go after them and protect Asirpa with Inkarmat joining him as she likes guys with scars on their faces (Corbin it’s not worth it. (Corbin): Yes it is. *Corbin goes down stares and slaps the butt of Yin-Yang. Enraged by this, Yin-Yang turns around and slashes his face with her wolf claws* Ahhhhhh~). Also, she seems to be working with Tsurumi.
Episode 2 is an action-packed episode. Sugimoto and the others are near Edogai’s location following the rumors of a tattooed-skin in the area. Edogai manages to get the right black ink using the skin off his mannequins (you are a crazy man you know that?) and creates 6 fake skins for Tsurumi. Ogata shows up where he tries to figure out what Tsurumi is up to. He takes out one soldier, but another soldier comes in to distract Ogata long enough for Edogai to escape wearing a polar bear costume (and nobody bats an eye at this strange spectacle. Not sure if this is an everyday occurrence for them or if they developed Stockholm syndrome and are giving in to the author’s madness). Sugimoto and Yoshitake investigate Edogai’s shop (welcome to the crazy shop) where Ogata tells Yoshitake to find Edogai and he relays this information to Sugimoto (lets go catch a crazy man). Edogai makes his way to the mining mountains where he gets cornered by Ogata but saved by the soldier in a cart. Ogata chases after them with Sugimoto and Yoshitake right on their tail where they have a chase in the mines and an explosion occurs due to natural gas (scene here: https://youtu.be/R_-UQInTvXU). They all get caught in the blast with Edogai getting crushed by rumble slowly dying (too bad, despite the craziness he was an okay guy). Ogata manages to escape before the mine gets closed off in order to stop the flow of natural gas from causing another explosion. With gas filling up the mine and Sugimoto starting to get lightheaded it seems to be the end for him and Yoshitake until they get saved by Ushiyama (scene here: https://youtu.be/Ck3Djv36-hA). They make it back to Edogai’s shop where Toshizo comes in with Ogata and the two sides come face to face with each other. Toshizo calls for a truce so they can figure out how to tell the fakes from the originals and Sugimoto wants answers to questions from Toshizo. Before either side can give an answer, Asirpa’s stomach growls (way to ruin all the tense air Asirpa) and they all decide to eat together (paying homage to the Last Supper. Scene here: https://youtu.be/PDD9Oyt_P-Y). The soldier serving Tsurumi manages to deliver the fake skins to Tsurumi and we find out that the secret to discerning the fakes from the originals is iron. Edogai used tannin (a way of tanning that takes a lot of effort) on his fake skins which when absorbed in water reacts to iron by leaving a black mark which the originals don’t do.
In episode 3 Sugimoto and Toshizo’s side agree to team up with each other and begin looking for clues on how to tell the fakes from the original as well as look for the soldier to see if he’s possibly dead. While Toshizo, Inagram, and Ogata are searching Edogai’s workshop, the soldiers show up to destroy all evidence of the fakes. They set the place on fire and surround it before deciding to go inside and take them out where Toshizo chops off the foot Nikaidou (first he lost his brother, then his ear, and now his foot. How much more can you take from this guy?). With the help of Sugimoto they managed to escape (scene here: https://youtu.be/GBt96w4Ucdg) and split up into two teams to throw off their pursuers. In one group is Sugimoto, Asirpa, Ogata, and Ushiyama where we get some good laughs as Asirpa and Ogata can’t get along with each other (scenes here: https://youtu.be/7CKOaUkd8Lk and https://youtu.be/iREP6PA3-zs). For Toshizo’s group, we have the always funny Yoshitake who has a nightmare about Sugimoto discovery his betrayal and killing him (no escaping that). Yoshitake is now scared shitless (his words, not mine) and tries to flee for his life only to run into some soldiers (scene here: https://youtu.be/ZLotCCl0zSU).
So in episode 4 Yoshitake gets captured by the 7th division and taken to their headquarters. Sugimoto and the others decide they have to rescue him but first they have to find his location. In order to get in, they meet with another tattooed prisoner who is friends with Toshizo and a master of disguise. They disguise him as Inudou, the warden of Abashiri (who’s cruelty is only matched by his obsession with making Toshizo suffer). When Sugimoto finds out Yoshitake has been working for Toshizo this whole time he’s not entirely sure what he wants to do (does he want to kill Yoshitake slowly or quickly?). Our laughs this episode comes from Tsurumi and his friend who is an inventor of guns for the military. He gives Nikaidou a new leg that has a hidden buckshot (scenes here: https://youtu.be/ZLotCCl0zSU and https://youtu.be/MP4zryHHUy4. No, decommission this guy. He’s suffered enough).
Episodes 5-8
In episode 5 Toshizo’s friend and Sugimoto are only inches away from safely getting Yoshitake and escaping but Koito, Tsurumi’s favorite messenger boy comes in and exposes the fakes. He kills Toshizo’s friend and shoots Sugimoto in the shoulder. Just before the Lt. colonel can shoot Yoshitake, Sugimoto managed to get back up and take a bullet for him in the chest (he really is immortal). Sugimoto than grabs Yoshitake and jumps out the window where they escape with Ogata on the military’s prototype hot-air balloon (yeah, Japan were ahead of their time) but Koito hops on the balloon with them and begins to fight an injured Sugimoto until Yoshitake kicks him off the balloon (scenes here: https://youtu.be/y-OMa3ZOJsM and https://youtu.be/yTUBwbMkFfI. Wow, Yoshitake saved the day. Miracles never cease). Asirpa joins them just as the balloon crashes and they have to escape into the mountains in order to escape the 7th division (this is where things get really scary). As they’re escaping through the mountains a storm begins to move in and they have to find shelter or risk dying from hyperthermia. Yoshitake already succumbs to hyperthermia and begins prancing around naked (that’s the Yoshitake I know). In order to escape the cold they kill three deer and hide in their stomachs (way to ripoff Empire Strikes Back) but Yoshitake runs off and Asirpa chases after him. Yoshitake somehow came back and Sugimoto goes after Asirpa where they get lost and take shelter in another deer (https://youtu.be/WCSiFIHtpGM?t=9). While in the belly of the deer we see Sugimoto and Asirpa get real with each other as Sugimoto talks about his time in the army and how he had to become somebody else in order to survive. Asirpa asks if he was unable to return to the person he once was in which he has no answer for her as not even he’s sure if he returned to person he used to be (or even if it’s possible at this point. Scene here: https://youtu.be/BWKvFlQlrZA).
Episode 6 gives us the feels as we focus on Tanigaki’s past. In the past a man named Kenkichi married his sister Fumi only to kill her later on and burn down his home with her inside (that was. . .one interesting honeymoon). Tanigaki sworn revenge and left his village against the wishes of his parents to find Kenkichi and make him pay. Through the great vine, he heard Kenkichi joined the army so Tanigaki joined the army as well in the hopes of finding Kenkichi and he did on the frontlines where Kenkichi sacrificed himself to stop a Russian suicide bomber. Kenkichi managed to survive long enough and unknowingly tells Tanigaki what really went down between him and Fumi (nothing dirty I hope). It turns out Fumi caught the smallpox and had to be quarantined to her home. Fumi didn’t want word of it to reach the village otherwise everyone would turn on her family, wouldn’t go hunting with them at the risk of catching smallpox themselves, and the family would starve. Kenkichi didn’t get infected and following the wishes of Fumi, he killed her (in the most painless way he possibly could) and then burned the house down to cover up the smallpox and save the village from getting infected. Kenkichi regretted everything he did to her so he decided to spend the rest of his life finding a purpose to live (and he found it. Although I doubt this is what he had in mind). After Kenkichi tells Tanigaki what happened he passes away and since then Tanigaki has spent his life finding a purpose as well. At the end of the episode Tanigaki, Chikapasi, and Inkarmat find Asirpa, Sugimoto, and the others in the plains who are making their way down the mountain (scene here: https://youtu.be/YNT6gheQWxA).
In episode 7 the whole group goes to an Ainu festival where we discover exactly what kamuys are (well it took them 19 episodes but they finally explain the title). Kamuys are basically names given to things that we as humans can’t do or have no control over (things like knives, fire, and nature in general are considered kamuy. Scenes here: https://youtu.be/EsNgcCH6DZ4 and https://youtu.be/5k-3K5P9uXg). After the festival, Tanigaki and the others agree to accompany Sugimoto and the others on their journey (scene here: https://youtu.be/MBJXCzSpV4M, the more the merrier). In the second half of the episode, we get to Ogata’s past which is pretty messed up. Ogata’s father was the original leader of the 7th division and Ogata was his illegitimate child that he abandoned along with his mistress. Ogata’s mom went insane believing that the man she loved would come back to see her so everyday she would make his favorite dish monkfish (and when I say everyday I mean everyday). Ogata finally poisoned his mom to end her suffering and then years later he would kill his half-brother in the war and then his father (that is one messed up child). In a separate part of the episode Koito meets with Tsurumi and we get this craziness (scene here: https://youtu.be/K1NKigggYG8).
In episode 8 the group arrives in Kushiro where we get a silly (and somewhat hot episode). It starts with a swarm of locusts attacking the area (scene here: https://youtu.be/4kimmA3t9Hg). The men manage to get inside where they cook up some otter meat but they get drunk off the smell and begin to fall for one another (Isis: That’s hot. I mean. . .no, that’s hot). Asirpa and Inkarmat wait it out in the ocean where Asirpa wants Inkarmat to tell her everything she knows about her father. Inkarmat gives in and tells Asirpa that she met her father around her age. She also reveals that Nopperabo is not her father. Her real father is a man named Wilk who’s half polish half Sakhalin (another Ainu tribe). He lived in an area that was being oppressed by the czar and fought with other ethnic groups to liberate themselves. He managed to escape and made it to Otaru where he met Inkarmat who taught him everything about the Ainu culture and even developed a crush on him (he did have a cool scar on his face). Asirpa doesn’t fully believe her story as Wilk never mentioned Inkarmat to her (for obviously reasons I’m sure) but Inkarmat assures her it’s true and Wilk was murdered by the hands of Kiroroanke. Back with the guys, Kiroroanke arrives and gets drunk off the meat as well. No longer able to contain their sexual heat for each other the guys strip and begin to sumo wrestle each other (scene here: https://youtu.be/6Z9aZ2cDcpc, what the hell am I watching?). Tanigaki however does get lucky and has some fun with Inkarmat after the locusts and the other guys leave as well (Corbin: Alright, new anime hero right there). Asirpa confronts Kiroroanke and just asks him if he’s the one who killed Wilk and this leads to Inkarmat getting revealed as Tsurumi’s spy (it’s best to get everything out in the open) and everybody is unsure of who to trust. With no other option they all decide that their best course of action is to go to Abarashi and meet Nopperabo themselves to find out the truth. Speaking, of Nopperabo, we see that the 7th has infiltrated the prison as new guards and trying to catch Nopperabo themselves (scene here: https://youtu.be/pR-ynNbLuSg).
Episodes 9-12
Episode 9 is a fanservice episode (I don’t know how they did it, but they managed to give us one). While traveling through some mountains, the group finds out one of the tattooed prisoners named Toni is acting as a bandit and attacking Ainu villages. Toni is blind thanks to Inudou who had him and other prisoners work in the sulfur mines for money and as time went on he and the other prisoners went blind from all the sulfur (the working conditions of the past weren’t really all that safe). While the men are relaxing in the hotsprings, Toni and his men attack them and force them into the dark forest where they’re all naked and being hunted down (scene here: https://youtu.be/3psUwhcom_8. So, if any of you girls out there like muscular men and love seeing them run around naked, this episode is for you). One of the things I do like about this episode is how Toni and the blind bandits communicate with each other by clicking their tongues (it’s very similar to bats). They’re blind so their other senses are stronger now. Asirpa finds Sugimoto a little beaten but still ready to fight, Tanigaki gets shot in the ass (maybe you can get Inkarmat to kiss it for you. Scene here: https://youtu.be/vWnnsw_DvT4), and Yoshitake gets knocked out by a tree branch. Sugimoto and the others manage to hold out until sunrise where the fight turns in their favor as Toni and the others retreat to their shack. Sugimoto enters the shack with Asirpa to fight where he and Toni get into a deadlock with each other until Hijikata shows up to stop the fight (scene here: https://youtu.be/H_kVOgCmh7Y). After all this fighting, they go to get their pictures taken, and we find out that Inudou has been making powerful weapons in the prison.
Episode 10 is build up for the season finale. The group has finally reached Abashiri prison and have set a plan in motion to get inside with a corrupted officer working for Hijikata. They manage to dig a tunnel to the corrupt officer’s sleeping quarters who tells them where Nopperabo is being held. Under the cover of a new moon, Sugimoto, Asirpa, Yoshitake, and Toni enter the prison to meet Nopperabo. It starts off bad with them having to knock out two guards who discover them (if this were a game that be an automatic game over) and things really go south when they finally reach the cell and discover that the Nopperabo in there is a fake and that they’ve been set up with Hijikata (scene here: https://youtu.be/CwqAIiDq1l0, so he was the traitor all along. Good show, good show). Toni captures Asirpa saying that he’s going to take her to the real Nopperabo and leaves Sugimoto and Yoshitake behind to fend off the guards. As if that wasn’t bad, Inkarmat tells Tsurumi about their plan and he arrives with destroyers to capture Nopperabo and Asirpa while Inudou prepares his men for battle.
In the final two episodes they go out strong delivering on the action, story, comedy, and suspense (it’s honestly one of the best endings to a season I’ve seen). Under the disguise of a prison riot, the 7th attack the prison and begin killing the guards (no one gets out alive). They corner Sugimoto and Yoshitake in the fake Nopperabo’s cell (who actually gives us the best laugh in this climax before his death). The prisoners get released and it becomes a three-way battle between the guards, prisoners, and 7th with Sugimoto and the others trying to survive. Toni and Hijikata take Asirpa to a chapel where Inudou is keeping Nopperabo, but saving Sugimoto means more to her then seeing her dad (wow, that’s noble). Sugimoto and Yoshitake manage to escape by pulling the planks and sneaking out from underneath the cell. Sugimoto starts to look for Asirpa but instead runs into Nikaido and the two fight with Sugimoto winning (and hopefully killing him to end his misery. Scene here: https://youtu.be/3v7H1HNaOdU). Meanwhile back at the chapel, Hijikata and Inudou fight each other where Hijikata is able to win and kill Inudou. During the fight, Nopperabo sneaks out and runs into Sugimoto where it gets confirmed that this is the real Nopperabo (or Wilk) because of his blue eyes. He refuses to tell Sugimoto the location of the gold and will only tell Asirpa in person. Nopperabo reveals that his true goal was to raise Asirpa to be the guerilla leader of the Ainu to fight back against the people who were driving them to extinction. Sugimoto calls him out on this saying that he doesn’t want Asirpa to become a murderer like him and that he never considered her personal feelings in all of this. As Nopperabo goes on to say that he didn’t kill the Ainu to acquire their gold, he and Sugimoto get shot in the head by Ogata killing them both. Asirpa, Tanigaki, and Inkarmat see all of this and Tanigaki drags them away so they don’t get shot as well, but Asirpa refuses to leave without Sugimoto (he’s a dead man, just like us if we don’t get out of here). Tanigaki goes back for the body while Asirpa also tries to go as well escaping from Inkarmat. Tanigaki is able to retrieve Sugimoto’s body and return to Inkarmat where she was stabbed by Kiroranke who has betrayed them (scene here: https://youtu.be/oErnsm4-STQ). Asirpa escapes with Yoshitake and Kiroranke who meet up with Ogata and Hijikata. A few days go by and we see that Sugimoto is still alive (he really is immortal). Inkarmat is also alive as well but is still recovery from her stab wound. Sugimoto and Tanigaki find themselves in the presence of Tsurumi who believes that Kiroranke is taking Asirpa to his associates in Karafuto. In order to save Asirpa, Sugimoto and Tanigaki form an uneasy alliance with Tsurumi who sends Koito and Tsukishima with them. In the final scene of the season we see Asirpa talking to Yoshitake where she believes that Sugimoto is still alive because (say it with me now) he’s immortal.
Final Thoughts
This season definitely delivered and lived up to the hype that fans were expecting it to be. Everything the first season and this season was building up to gets a satisfying payoff at the end and keeps you excited on what’s going to happen next as the season ends on a cliffhanger will now change the dynamic of the show moving forward. The only point where I think they dropped the ball was with Sugimoto’s talk with Asirpa about his past. It never gets bought up again throughout the season and I really felt they missed out on a great opportunity to expand on his character. Hopefully, they do something in the next season. The comedy was also great this season. There were a lot more funnier moments in this season then in the last season with a lot of crazy people and scenarios that were timed perfectly. Animation wise I say this season was an improvement mostly because we were finally able to escape the winter season and move into spring which allowed the animators to use more colors and flesh out their environments more.
Final Thoughts
Golden Kamuy S2 gets a final score of 7.5/10. Even though it’s getting the same score as the previous season I still think this season was better and a good follow up to the first season. The third season is set to come out this fall but with everything going in the world there might be a chance it’ll get delayed. Hopefully not as I really want to see what happens next. Thanks for reading and I’ll see you next time on Project Nitsuj.
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