Golden Kamuy Episode 24 (Final) Review: Callout

Golden Kamuy Season 2 ends with a boom and a pow-wow. Brace yourselves!

Japanese Original Episode Title: 呼応

Plot

Sugimoto has finally found Nopperabo. Not just that; thanks to his distinct eye color, he has recognized in his face Asirpa’s father, Wilk. Torn, he realizes that Asirpa will be devastated to know that her father is the man who killed the Ainu and stole their gold. Inkaramat stares at them having climbed a roof from a distance, and they stare back. Asirpa joins her and she and Wilk exchange brief moments of seeing each other through binoculars; it is as emotional as it sounds, and well… it kind of gives away what happens next; while Wilk is telling Sugimoto that he was not the one to steal the Ainu gold, and that Asirpa must absolutely know that, he gets shot in the head by no other that Ogata (of course) who has been signaled by Kiroranke.

Wilk dies as everyone is watching, and Sugimoto also gets shot in the head, but not in a mortal way. As Inkaramat and Shiraishi take Asirpa to safety, Tanigaki runs off to rescue Sugimoto. He manages to drag him out, but then finds Inkaramat bleeding right outside the prison walls; she’s been kind-of-accidentally-stabbed by Kiroranke. Tanigaki, Inkaramat and Sugimoto join with Lt. Tsurumi and the 7th, while Shiraishi, Ogata, Kiroranke and Asirpa go off on their own. Hijikata also gets separated from them, planning his next move with Ushiyama and Ienaga.

By the end of the episode, Sugimoto sets off with some members of the 7th to retrieve Asirpa.

Episode Highlights

Almost dead: Both Inkaramat and Sugimoto get pretty serious wounds in this episode. However, neither dies, and I highly doubt Inkaramat will actually die; she is the main story love interest and, to be fair, if she was supposed to be killed now she would… you know. Have been killed already. She just needed to stay behind for plot reasons so she got stabbed. Sugimoto needed to be delayed so he could be separated from Asirpa. And because he is Sugimoto, of course – he needs to survive a fatal wound once in a while.

Politics: Did y’all catch that political drama playing in the background? You know, that part when Inoudo started yelling at Hijikata for being a rebel instead of collaborating with the Japanese government? Golden Kamuy is always good for a quick political fun-fact plug.

Asirpa: Key point – the moment where Sugimoto starts going on about how Asirpa will be devastated to find out that her father was the person who stole the Ainu gold and how he wants to protect her from becoming a killer, as well as Wilk’s reaction to that. Not only do we get a clue on the fact that Sugimoto has strong feelings for Asirpa (even though this has been mentioned several times without emphasizing on the nature of these feelings), but we also get reminded that she is probably the most important character in the show.

Hannibal: Yeah, Ienaga probably had a taste of Sugimoto’s brain while they were trying to heal him. No big deal, it’s casual. I mean, the brains were spilling out already anyway. Uhhh.

Ogata, you: Well stupid as this may sound I did not expect him to be a traitor. I am well aware that he had his own strange motivations but I thought that the twist he would be bringing at the last episode would have been a positive one – like, he would probably be saving someone’s life rather than trying to kill key characters. OH YOU!

SEASON 3?

Yes, of course. OF COURSE there is a Season 3. Let me mention here that I don’t follow news on releases for new seasons as I consider them to be a type of spoiler – you know, I I knew there was going to be a season 3 before watching this episode, Sugimoto’s death would have seemed (even) less real to me. Knowing the timeline of an ending is, in itself, a spoiler.

So yeah, there is a Season 3 coming up, how very exciting. There’s also another OVA coming out in March so look out for that… See you next season!

What did you think of the final 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!