Golden Kamuy Episode 16 Review: The Great Plan to Infiltrate the Asahikawa 7th Division!!

Great episode in terms of progress and story and some pretty awesome laughs all around. I honestly believe this show should be pure comedy.

Japanese Original Episode Title: 旭川第七師団潜入大作戦!!

Plot

The episode picks up where the previous one left off: Shiraishi is being hunted down by some army troops that found him on his way to escape out of fear that Sugimoto would discover that he betrayed them and kill him. He is eventually captured and Hijikata with Kiroranke set off to save him. On their way there, Hijikata tells Kiroranke that he knows he’s not Ainu but a Russian rebel. Hijikata disguises himself as a candy seller (easily aware of the fact that this will be attracting Shiraishi’s attention) and passes a not to him, saying they will attempt to rescue him at the Kamuy Kotan – a river known for being possessed by evil spirits and whatnot. They confront his captors there, but even though Hijikata goes through all the trouble of cutting down the bridge, Shiraishi decides to stick with this decision to flee and swims back to the army’s hands. Kiroranke notices that.

Later, Sugimoto & Co. are discussing whether they should try saving him again. Nobody is really keen, but Sugimoto encourages them to do so. Hijikata finds a master of disguise guy, and he dresses up as the warden of Abashiri prison to infiltrate the army’s headquarters. Before the end of the episode, Sugimoto finally remembers that he’s met Hijikata before; and he now is very aware of the fact that Shiraishi has betrayed them.

Episode Highlights

Enough is enough: Comic relief character or not, I think I have had more than enough of Shiraishi. His petty behavior and personality and his two-faced alliance with everyone in order to stay alive is now exhausting. Him being the funny idiot does not make up for him being a prick.

Cikapasi: I don’t like kids. Subsequently, I do not particularly like kid characters. Asirpa is an exception – she is smart, funny, and behaves like an adult. Cikapasi’s character on the other hand is limited to him being a gross little outcast whose only line is ‘boobs’. For the love of god.

Keeps getting better: Hijikata is developing into a better character with each passing episode. He is stern, motivated and disciplined as he is elegantly lighthearted, and does not hesitate to take up any task to achieve his goal. Seeing him act like a candy seller literally cracked me up.

Themes & Trivia

Asahikawa: A city in Kamikawa Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan. It is the capital of the subprefecture, and the second-largest city in Hokkaido, after Sapporo. The Ainu called the Asahi River Chiu Pet meaning ‘River of Waves’, but it was misunderstood as Chup Pet, meaning ‘Sun River’, and so it came to be called Asahi River in Japanese (‘asahi’ meaning ‘morning sun’).

Tokachi: A subprefecture of Hokkaido Prefecture, Japan corresponding to the old province of Tokachi.

Amur River: The world’s tenth longest river, forming the border between the Russian Far East and Northeastern China. The river is home to a variety of other large predatory fish. The name ‘Amur’ may have evolved from a root word for water, coupled with a size modifier for ‘Big Water’. The Amur River is an important symbol of, and geopolitical factor in, Chinese–Russian relations. The Amur was especially important in the period following the Sino–Soviet political split in the 1960s.

Kamuykotan: A picturesque location in the southwestern Asahikawa city, and the Asahikawa city keeps former Kamuikotan Station. A good place to go leaf-viewing. Kotan Festival is held on the fall equinox there. Originally this place was famous as a sacred place for the Ainu people, and the Kamuikotan means ‘God lives’ in the Ainu language. Kamuikotan Ninne Kamui (the violent and resistant god) was supposed to live there in Ainu period and wanted to destroy the Ainu people.

Loved it

I’m starting to notice that this show has a bit of a tone problem – it is very funny (actually, it is ludicrous) but at the same time it doesn’t transition between its bright and dark parts smoothly. To be fair, this second season seems to be more on the funny side. That said, I enjoy watching it a lot, so I don’t care as much as I should.

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!