It’s back and as messed up as ever! How Evil is the 14th episode of Golden Kamuy?

Golden Kamuy
Studio: Geno Studio
Genre: Action, Adventure, Historical, Seinen

After what seemed like an eternity, Golden Kamuy is back. And it wastes no time getting us right back into its weird and dangerous world.  Lieutenant Tsurumi hired someone to make fake tattoed skins, last episode, after bonding with the guy in a whole new kind of weird sort of way. To the point that the guy is now in love with Lieutenant Tsurumi. The thing is Lieutenant Tsurumi has made a good amount of enemies lately and they all want a piece of the action.

While Lieutenant Tsurumi is away, Ogata – one of his former soldiers – comes to call on the taxidermist. This prompts the skin sculptor to don a bear’s skin and flee into the town as fast as he can, carrying the skins with him. And this is when our heroes, Shiraishi and Sugimoto, arrive. Just in time to get involved in a free-for-all chase around the town.

The chase plays out like you might expect from this show. Unfortunately, there was a significant lack of Asirpa in this part. She and her uncle were off doing something else. But I think the chase scene would’ve been a perfect time to bring them back into things. As the chase raged on, things took a more hilarious turn.

Shiraishi and Sugimoto end up chasing the target into a mine. And they somehow got into a mine cart and had a little run-in with their target in the process. But that’s not even what made it great or funny to me. This entire mine cart section reminded me of Donkey Kong Country from back in the Super Nintendo days. Just look! Their faces even appear to be more apelike.

Of course, something goes wrong, trapping everyone involved in the cave with a dwindling air supply. Things get even more complicated when the miners seal the entrances to stop more gas pockets from exploding. Sugimoto manages to drag Shiraishi back to the entrance but it’s already sealed off. As his life begins to fade, Sugimoto manages to break one of the boards just enough to get a little air in Shiraishi’s lungs, then a certain sensei makes a grand appearance and saves them both.

Hijikata’s group ends up running into Sugimoto’s and they have a chat about possibly working together or trying to kill each other. It was a tense talk. Because the skins weren’t recovered, the talk mostly revolved around trying to figure out how to determine if they find a fake. And then we have Lieutenant Tsurumi receiving the skins. It’s through him that we learn the fake skins will change color if they are wet and touch iron. So far he’s the only one that knows about it so the chaos he causes could lead to some pretty interesting moments ahead. 

Overall, I’d say this episode is about as Evil as a Villian (9). I don’t think I’ll ever be totally comfortable with this show. I’m okay with that now. The show itself is awesome. Make sure to check out what Voyager is covering too. Well, that’s all I have for you today. Thanks for letting me waste your time, people.

Golden Kamuy’s second season is on Crunchyroll.

Keep It Classy,
Evil Bob