Golden Kamuy Episode 14 Review: Fakes

New season, new intro, new music, same kick-ass characters, the better animation, the new episode is just about right.

Japanese Original Episode Title: まがいもの

Plot

Edogai gets ambushed by Ogata. Trying to escape he puts on a polar bear costume and leaves behind samples of his work. Ogata discovers the fake tattooed skins and is not impressed. Tsukishima, the other soldier set to be keeping an eye on Edogai, runs to his rescue. Sugimoto and Shiraishi also jump in by following Edogai as he was shopping for groceries in Yuubari. Eventually they all find themselves in three coalmine carts, trying to stop Edogai before he hands over the fake skins to Lt Tsurumi. After a gas leak explosion, Edogai dies, but everyone else escapes, and Tsukishima takes the skins and delivers them to Tsurumi.

Later, Sugimoto, Asirpa, Kiroranke, Shiraishi, Ogata, Ushiyama, Hijikata, Shinpachi and Ienaga all meet in Edogai’s empty house and have dinner together, discussing whether they should kill each other or work together to stop Tsurumi’s plans.

In the end of the episode, Tsurumi deciphers Edogai’s last words: ‘iron’. The fake tattooed skins get oxidized if touching iron when wet, and that is how he can be able to tell them apart.

Episode Highlights

One-hit wonder: I am not sure if Edogai is dead or alive. He’s probably dead, but unless you see someone’s head chopped off, you can never know. Either way, he was quite the character. I don’t suppose you get lots of anime characters creating fashionable couture out of human skin… and still manage to keep your food down. That’s one great thing about this show – the humor it utilizes tones down the violence.

New intro: Basically food porn, swords and guns. In that very order. Then again, that’s what the majority of the show is like, I suppose…

Great characters: I love the Golden Kamuy gang. They are all so relatable, and none of them is ultimately good, or evil, or funny. They all seem to be a mixture of each other and all possess a fair share of darkness in their otherwise cheerful personas. Even Shiraishi, who is otherwise there for comic relief, plays the role of the traitor.

Animation improved!: Remember me moaning about the animation quality last season? I was actually quite worried that it wasn’t gonna improve at all – the first episode didn’t give me much to work with. However, this one is significantly better; even the OP is pretty damn good.

Themes & Trivia

Ogata: You sexy motherfucker you. It took me a while to decide (and I still find the majority of the male characters in the show rather attractive) but I think Ogata is now my favorite one. There’s something about him, and I think it’s his stoic behavior and his voice actor, Kenjiro Tsuda (also plays Hannes on Attack on Titan). And these weird ass eyebrows. Also, did you know that Ogata’s fighting stance is inspired by Carlos Norman Hathcock II, a United States Marine Corps sniper with a service record of 93 confirmed kills. Hathcock’s record and the extraordinary details of the missions he undertook made him a legend in the U.S. Marine Corps. He had a rifle named after him, the Springfield Armory M25 White Feather, for his nickname ‘White Feather’ by the North Vietnamese army. More here.

Coal mining in Japan: Hokkaido and Kyushu have 45 and 40 percent of the country’s coal deposits. In Hokkaido, the coal seams are wider and can be worked mechanically, and the quality of the coal is good. Unfortunately, these mines are located well inland, making transportation difficult. In most Japanese coal mines, inclined galleries, were used instead of pits.

Most obvious reference of all time: Da Vinci’s Last Supper, Golden Kamuy Edition. To be honest, you can’t really hope for more efficient fan service than this in any anime ever. I’m hungry.

Yay

Golden Kamuy is off to a really good start. Can’t wait to see what happens next; it’s really great that characters are coming together in larger groups, makes the plot easier to follow.

What did you think of this Golden Kamuy episode? Let us know in the comment section! And don’t forget to check the rest of the Fall 2018 anime reviews on MANGA.TOKYO!

Episode 14 Preview