#Golden Kamuy Pondering

[goldenkamuyhunting]

Like fire and powder kissing, or, basically, let’s talk about Usami Tokishige

I would like to say despite the “Romeo and Juliet” title this is not about romance but... well, considering it’s about Usami and Usami has a peculiar view on these matters it might as well be.

Bur let’s go in order and start with…

A PREMISE

This is another of my analysis about how Tsurumi used a ‘perverted version of love’ which is  Dante Alighieri’s way to refer to the capital vices, to manipulate men to serve him and kill for him, the previous ones dealing with Tsukishima Hajime and his main vice, Acedia and Nikaidō Kōhei and his main vice, Ira.

In the premise for that one you might find a more detailed explanation on how I came to wonder ‘can it be to depict how Tsurumi used love to manipulate his men, Noda also took inspiration by the capital vices?’ if you’re curious about it.

So, here ends the, this time very short premise and back to Usami we go, and to the vice that caused his downfall, a the violent passion that consumed him, Luxuria.

“These violent delights have violent ends And in their triumph die, like fire and powder, Which as they kiss consume. The sweetest honey Is loathsome in his own deliciousness And in the taste confounds the appetite. Therefore love moderately; long love doth so; Too swift arrives as tardy as too slow.”

What’s Luxuria, some of you might wonder?

Well, many of you probably know it by the name of ‘lust’ and yes, you would be, more or less, spot on.

LUXURIA

Derived from Latin lūxus, which means “luxury” or “excess”, Luxuria was originally used to imply “over abundance” or “excessive extravagance”, in short not something needed but an extra, a “luxury”. From this, the word evolved into meaning “eccentricity that seeks to satisfy a excessive need”, until it took the meaning of “complete abandonment to the pleasures of sex”, “obsessive and inordinate physical desire for another”.

In short the core of the vice is not that ‘having sex/a lot of sex is wrong’, but that completely losing yourself into an obsession/longing for someone else without regard for anything else included that someone else to the point you lose control of yourself is wrong.

Because again, the vices become as such only when loss of control is involved. Passion is not a vice, until it doesn’t blind your mind, it doesn’t control your thoughts, it doesn’t become selfish and make you lose control of yourself and your actions, when it enslaves you.

But to better get things into perspective let’s dig into Usami Tokishige or, how the fanbook calls him the ‘Henshitsuteki heishi’ (偏執的兵士  “Obsessed-type soldier”) and Noda’s portray of him.

“Even though that was all I had!! That you said I was number one!! That you acknowledged me!! That was everything to me!”

Hum, no wait, let’s go at this with order.

PART 1 INTRODUCTION: THE ROOKIE GUARD WHO’S NOT A ROOKIE GUARD

Usami was someone who was introduced later on in the story, in chap 117 from Vol 12 to be exact, not as Tsurumi’s minion but as a ‘Shinjin’ (新人 “Rookie”) among the guards of Abashiri prison. We see him in the guards’ white uniform, sweating as he looks at who he assumes to be ‘Nopperabō’, as if nervous or impressed by his look...

...only to tail after Kadokura who, as his senior and superior officer, advises him to keep away from Nopperabō.

But it doesn’t take long before Usami reveals his true colour. The next we see him, he’s slipping out of Abashiri to have a secret meeting with some soldiers of the 7th to report about how Nopperabō is moved around between cells in the Abashiri prison. In short, Usami is not just a random rookie guard, he’s actually a spy for Tsurumi. For reasons that will never be disclosed though, Usami is discovered short after he’s introduced to us.

The implication (also supported by the anime) seems to be it was Kadokura who reported this to Inudō, but we can’t be sure of what betrayed Usami as, differently from the anime, we have no scene in which Kadokura, after following him, he hears him reporting to people from the 7th. Anyway Inudō orders Kadokura to have some convicts expert in killing people murder Usami and then feed him to the pigs in the pig farm.

We might think it will be soon over for this young rookie guard who might have been playing a game too big for him by selling information to Tsurumi, that his end will prove how Inudō is as brutal as Tsurumi is, and we might feel sorry for him as he follows unsuspectingly Kadokura, obediently putting down his sabre as Kadokura says only to walk toward his wanna-be murderers.

We might feel sympathy for him when we see him sweat abundantly as he sees two convicts harmed with hammers encircling him while his sabre has disappeared and Kadokura is nowhere in sight and our ‘poor’ rookie calls him in apprehension and gets no answer as Kadokura is hiding while the convicts promise to kill him with a single blow if he doesn’t make a fuss…

...only to discover it’s actually our rookie who kills them both with a single blow…

...but that just to make sure he hits their heads with the hammer he stole them more than once and with a perfectly cold look that makes him seem even creepier.

Kadokura is freaked out and escapes. Later he’ll lied about Usami dying during the fight and him disposing of his body.

Usami instead has figured out he has been discovered and he’ll better disappear. He walks till the Abashiri door and claims since he slipped and fell over in the pig pens he needs to go change his clothes.

The guard merely comments on him being clumsy (ドジだなあ ‘Dojida nā’) and let him pass.

Usami instead takes note of their weapons, of how Abashiri is the only place with such heavily armed guards. This tells us he’s not just a random rookie who got corrupted by Tsurumi into passing information, he’s really one of Tsurumi’s minions… one of Tsurumi’s minion who didn’t manage to finish his work and has underestimated Kadokura, which hints at Usami’s overconfidence.

As I said though, Noda normally tends to hint at the vice of each of those characters pretty soon in their introduction.

He’ll does so here too as it shows Usami’s worry is how First Lieutenant Tsurumi is going to scold him. As he thinks so he sweats, but also smiles and flushes.

The parallel with Koito in chap 101 is pretty obvious.

Koito too, who had a very obvious crush on Tsurumi, was worried about Tsurumi’s reaction at hearing he messed up, but Koito was nervous, worried, afraid he’ll be sent away.

Usami instead… it’s subtle but we can begin to suspect he’s turned on. He’s not afraid Tsurumi will send him away, even if his rank is much lower than Koito, he is sure Tsurumi won’t do it. No, he’s flushing, sighing, a smile on his lips.

He’s anticipating the moment Tsurumi will scold him… because everything from Tsurumi delights him.

Like Koito, Usami’s concern is not the mission he failed, it’s Tsurumi but in an even more total way.

He would welcome everything from him, even a scolding.

Tsurumi is all Usami will care about, way more than Koito, who instead, despite his crush for Tsurumi, has other things he cares for, his family, Tsukishima, his honour.

As said before, the fanbook defined Usami as the ‘Henshitsuteki heishi’ (偏執的兵士  “Obsessed-type soldier” where 偏執 means “to stick on something” or “being monomanic” and 的 means “typical” or “-like” while 兵士 just means “soldier”) and we’re immediately introduced to what is his obsession, Tsurumi.

Koito and Usami will often parallel each other in very interesting ways for their obsession/crush for Tsurumi… but I’m running ahead.

Usami’s introduction depicts him as someone who’s apparently harmless but in truth is pretty dangerous, excessively dangerous as he hit with a hammer those convicts more than necessary.

Nikaidō is violent due to his Ira and, in the past, when he murdered his father, Tsukishima had be the same, but Usami can be violent even without Ira. Tsukishima now is violent only when Tsurumi demands him to be but Usami can be violent also on his own.

The way he murderers the convicts is an overkill, he didn’t just act in self defence, he went for an overkill as they dared to attack him and probably his only regret is Kadokura escaped him. We’ll see he’ll always long to kill him as payback for causing his mission to fail.

Among Tsurumi’s men he’s maybe, the most dangerous and scary because he mixes up those two personas, the smiling, friendly and apparently harmless one and the dangerous and violent murderer who uses violence in a way too casual manner, as a solution to problems.

But that’s just the surface of who Usami is, let’s dig in his character a little deeper.

PART 2 THE SMILING WEAPON: SUPERIOR PRIVATE USAMI

Next time we meet Usami is in chap 124.

Let’s face it, Usami isn’t a character who’s very present in the story. He’s introduced relatively late (only Kikuta and Ariko will be introduced after him), will be used for relatively few missions/roles and will be the first important character of the 7th to die (yes, Yōhei  also was killed really early on, but Yōhei isn’t meant to be an important character, Yōhei is more the like the cause of his brother’s trauma and descent into madness), in chap 256.

Still, despite is overall short arc in the manga, he manages to give us some interesting points to ponder, so let’s go back to chap 124 and see what we discover about Usami.

This is where we learn he’s “Superior Private Usami” as he reports what he has discovered to Tsurumi.

So he’s above in ranking compared to Nikaidō and Tanigaki, therefore, even if his rank is much lower than Koito, he’s someone who already managed to be promoted and he did so for his own merits as he clearly can’t count on the backing of his own family.

To be exact his rank is the same as Ogata, and Ogata, like Koito, will be someone else with whom to make interesting parallels with Usami.

Differently from Koito, Usami has no problems in talking in front of Tsurumi, he doesn’t get bashful or over-excited to the point he can’t express himself. Calmly, his eyes never leaving Tsurumi, he says all he has to say. Where Koito gets nervous, Usami enjoys talking with him.

But then Tsurumi points out how Usami let himself be discovered before he could discover the location of all the powerful weapons in Abashiri prisons and Tsurumi begins to sweat even if the corners of his mouth are turned up.

At first one might think he’s scared. As if to make matter worse Tsurumi orders Tsukishima to force him to sit down and Tsukishima does, grabbing his shoulder and pushing down his head.

Tsurumi, who’s holding a pen, grabs his face and asks him if he has an idea of how much trouble he went through to get him that undercover position as a guard.

People who remember what happened during the interrogation with Sugimoto, seeing the pen so close to Usami’s eye, might even expect him to stick it into Usami’s eye but no, while Usami is completely flushes and delighted Tsurumi is so close, Tsurumi starts drawing on his face, turning Usami’s moles into stick figures, while Usami pants, sweat and lean into his touch.

He doesn’t care what Tsurumi is doing is demeaning or that Nikaidō is laughing at him. Usami is clearly enjoying this in a very physical way. Having Tsurumi so close, being touched by him, that’s a turn on for Usami, one that leaves him completely dazed to the point at first he can’t answer Tsurumi’s question without Koito’s prompting.

As for Tsurumi… he has turned Usami’s moles into two running stick figures, pointing out no matter how hard they’ll turn, the distance between them will never grow shorter.

In itself the message in this can be that the distance between him and Usami will never grow shorter as well… but since both stick figures are running, it can also give Usami the impression Tsurumi too would like to reach him the way Usami would like to reach Tsurumi.

It’s fine manipulation and, of course, Usami will be delighted for the draws Tsurumi made on his face. As soon as Tsurumi is done with him, still blushing he’ll ask with delight for a mirror while Koito, who had caught the subtle sexual undertone and isn’t happy, demands he’ll wash his face.

Usami won’t wash his face. Koito will be forced to realize Usami’s ‘devotion’ to Tsurumi is way bigger than his own in chap 126 when, days later, he’ll see Usami still has those draws on his face and demands he’ll erase them only to be informed by a delighted and blushing Usami that he has turned those pictures into tattoos.

People who manage to hold hand with their favourite celebrity sometime say ‘I’ll never wash this hand again’ but Usami did something even more extreme; he made impossible for those draws to be washed away. He tattooed them into his face, as a way for everyone to see how he struggles after Tsurumi.

It’s worth to remember in Japan, among Wajin, face tattoo was often given to criminals. Yet Usami saw Tsurumi’s scribbles as a gift he wanted to preserve. Like some Japanese women who would tattoo on their body the name of their lover. This is already a huge hint to his level of obsession.

Even Koito is impressed even if he can’t really grasp for Usami is much, much more than just this.

This is Usami’s real problem, not that he has enjoyed Tsurumi’s touch but that he had obsessed over it so much he had made sure to perpetually preserve it. That’s what his vice of LUXURIA is, not the mere enjoyment of the touch, but the obsession for it to the point he loses himself.

For more Usami we’ll have to jump forward, to chap 130, which will inform us Usami is among the men who’re with Tsurumi as he invades Abashiri. His position is visually interesting. It might be casual, but he’s represented as the one closest to him and yet no part of him overlaps Tsurumi, as if to echo the two stick figures who can never get close.

Interesting enough, the one overlapping Tsurumi is Tsukishima, while Koito and Nikaidō are the ones who’re the most distant from him, Koito not even overlapping him but Usami, as if to hints they’re the two faces of a coin.

But whatever, let’s dig more into the Abashiri assault.

For a while, during it, Noda won’t really focus on Usami, Usami will be only one of the many minions taking part to it… but then Usami will notice Kadokura and, like how it happens when Nikaidō will notice Sugimoto, he’ll apparently forgot he’s on a mission there to go after him.

But in this parallel between Nikaidō and Usami, we can notice their differences. Nikaidō is yes, completely possessed by Ira toward Sugimoto who murdered his brother… but Usami isn’t so much motivated by Ira but by his passion/obsession for Tsurumi.

Kadokura made him look bad in front of Tsurumi’s eyes. That’s why Usami tails him and wants revenge on him. He’s angry? Yes, but he doesn’t lose himself in Ira like Nikaidō does, Ira isn’t his main vice.

When Kadokura turns tables and uses the device that causes all the doors of the prison to open at the same time, Usami is still in his mind enough he runs away to regroup with Tsurumi’s men while Nikaidō instead will continue to pursue Sugimoto.

Nikaidō’s Ira toward Sugimoto blinds him, but Usami’s anger toward Kadokura still leaves him with his eyes well open. It’s his Luxuria toward Tsurumi who temporally blinded him and pushed him to forget his mission to chase Kadokura. And since Kadokura’s sin toward him isn’t ‘that terrible’, he still manages to retain himself.

As a result, while Nikaidō will have a desperate fight with Sugimoto, Usami will lose his chance to have a fight with Kadokura, or discover he actually wasn’t killed but managed to fake his death and then escape. And it makes sense because, after all, Kadokura was never Usami’s focus, Tsurumi was.

We then jump at chap 148. Since Tsukishima has left for Karafuto, now it’s Usami the one in charge to keep an eye on Nikaidō.

In regard to Nikaidō I always got the feeling after his betrayal Tsurumi doesn’t truly trust him any longer and that’s part of why he almost never let him unsupervised (the only case being when they attacked Edogai’s house)... but it might be just me.

Anyway Usami reports how, after Nikaidō learnt Sugimoto died, he turned into an empty shell. Differently from Tsukishima, who was shown actively trying to keep Nikaidō away from morphine more than once, Usami just stands there and does nothing to help Nikaidō beyond reporting the situation to Tsurumi and then assisting Tsurumi, first reminding him Nikaidō’s hand was blown off, then retrieving a fork on his orders. While Tsukishima was shown smiling when Tsurumi said there was a guest to see Nikaidō because he hoped this would help Nikaidō, we don’t see Usami’s face when Arisaka comes.

As usual, in all the parallels Noda does, this hints at how Tsukishima had some measure of care for Nikaidō while Usami couldn’t care less. The next time Tsurumi will be shown visiting Nikaidō, he’ll talk of how he has prepared a trap for Kiro and Ogata’s group, but we won’t see Usami there, taking care of Nikaidō.

Even the anime won’t depict Usami there.

Usami is no caretaker like Tsukishima, if he was with Nikaidō in chap 148 that was only because Tsurumi asked him.

We’ll see Usami again in chap 171, and this time he’s with Tsurumi as the latter is trying to check the skins to see if he can find a solution, staring at Tsurumi, smiling and spontaneously volunteering to kidnap someone from the army who can help solving the code so as to bring him to Tsurumi.

It’s a small scene but it well expresses Usami’s obsessed devotion to Tsurumi. Tsurumi expresses a potential trouble and Usami immediately volunteers to do something to help him… and it’s something criminal like kidnapping someone from the army, likely a cryptanalyst. There’s no hesitation in him, he’ll just do everything for Tsurumi.

Usami is Tsurumi’s most loyal follower, not Tsukishima. Tsukishima believed he could have turned his back to Tsurumi had Tsurumi disappointed him, but Usami just wants to be used by Tsurumi, no matter what he’ll have to do, actually he makes clearly there’s no limit to what he’ll do to Tsurumi because it’s Usami himself who proposes breaking the law for Tsurumi… because Tsurumi is his law, his everything and he takes delight in doing things for him, no matter which they are.

Tsurumi is Usami’s world and Usami would do everything for him without discussions.

We’ll make another big jump and reach chap 191.

Usami and Nikaidō are at Noboribetsu, Nikaidō enjoying the waterfall, Usami having it torment his privates and, I might be wrong but he seems to be turned on by it, hinting again at potentially masochist tendencies.

After all, in his passion, Usami has been shown to enjoy when Tsurumi punishes him.

Noda had never cleared up why Usami and Nikaidō were sent there. Maybe it was just to help Nikaidō to heal. We don’t know.

However we know Tsurumi believed Ogata worked for Central (and he was right) and suspected of Kikuta (and it was right). Did he suspect of Nikaidō as well? Hard to say as Nikaidō will never betray him again and his rebellion with Ogata will never be discussed. Still, it can be though, that Tsurumi wants to see if placing Kikuta and Nikaidō together, one of the two will reveal something.

If that’s the case, sending there the extremely loyal Usami to make sure nothing will happen would make sense. After all Tsurumi used Usami to make Ogata escape from the hospital in hope he would join the other conspirators and it’ll be Usami again who’ll find proof Kikuta was a spy.

In Noboribetsu though, Usami can’t find proof Nikaidō is still harbouring traitorous intentions, or that Kikuta is a spy… but clearly both he and Nikaidō were warned not to give information to Kikuta as they both pretended the story about the escaping man with the clothes with a weird pattern didn’t make them think of the tattooed skins.

Actually, in front of Usami, Nikaidō dismisses the story even though he clearly thought of the tattoo, saying Kikuta and Ariko’s minds have gone soft and won’t say anything about the tattoos not even when he’s apparently alone with Kikuta.

But it’s clear Nikaidō isn’t trusted. It’s Usami who knows what Tsurumi has in mind and Nikaidō will have to question him to get info… but Usami will give him none. He won’t tell him where they’re supposed to meet Tsurumi, nor what will happen to Inkarmat or Ienaga.

Usami instead will secretly tail after Kikuta with Nikaidō when Kikuta will go face Toni Anji.

Understanding Kikuta might be useful to catch Toni Anji in all that fog, Usami will reveal himself to save him, and it’s clearly not happy when Ariko figures what he saw was a tattoo but plays it smooth even when Kikuta figured he lied to him. He winks and smiles and pretends it’s not a big deal.

It’s his cheerful and harmless persona, but it’s clear Kikuta isn’t buying it.

Usami gets wounded and, when Toni Anji escapes, he asks for Kikuta not to leave him behind. I’ve my doubts Usami is genuinely afraid of being left behind in the dark, my feeling is more he’s trying to make troubles for Kikuta. If he can’t be the one recovering the tattooed skin, no one will.

Chap 196 remarks again how Usami gets turned on at the thought of Tsurumi scolding him…

...in case you’ve missed it in chap 124… but also put Usami in parallel with Kikuta. Where Usami wanted to bring the tattoo to Tsurumi out of personal devotion, Kikuta wanted to do so out of personal interest… however, although Kikuta moves out of personal interest, he still shows he can care for others, he helped the wounded Usami, he searched for Ariko, where Usami didn’t care for anyone but Tsurumi. While Kikuta is searching for Ariko and while even Nikaidō has been showing a small interest for others (Inkarmat, Ienaga, Kikuta), Usami just lies there and says if Ariko didn’t come back then he’s probably dead in a completely disinterested tone and gets excited only when he thinks at Tsurumi.

And so we reach chap 207 and Noda is now getting more graphic in showing Usami’s obsession, Usami’s LUXURIA.

Chap 207 opens with Tsurumi looking at a skin and Usami behind him so very, very close to him, looking at him, no staring at him. If we look closely we can see a corner of his lip turned up. Usami is smiling and, if the situation were to be different, it wouldn’t seem off if Usami were to wrap his arms around Tsurumi’s waist.

Tsurumi doesn’t bother paying attention.

Later we see Usami again, peeking at Tsurumi as he enjoys Noboribetsu hot springs with Koito Senior, looking more like a stalker with no respect for the object of his obsession then someone who just has a crush on Tsurumi, the fact he peeks on Tsurumi’s nakedness with greed, clearly implying he also has sexual interests in Tsurumi.

Again Tsurumi isn’t even watching in his direction.

Yet Usami will be with Tsurumi when the latter will face Ariko, like a good faithful dog with whom he’ll be compared later in the story and, like a dog, he’ll bite Ariko’s hand in punishment, before raising up and punching him. This is how Tsurumi will use Usami in this scene, to beat Ariko up so that Ariko can pretend he had troubles escaping.

And Usami does, he beats Ariko mercilessly, in the same mad way in which he had beaten the convicts at Abashiri back then when he was introduced, without mercy or hesitation, not only because Ariko has tried to betray Tsurumi and Usami simply can’t stand this but also because Usami has no moral qualms to stop him.

Well no, not the same.

Back then Usami has been painted as brutal and violent but cold. Now instead he’s flushed, eyes open wide, panting, veins protuding, as if turned on by the whole thing.

Is Noda changing his characterization? Or is it just because Ariko betrayed Tsurumi? It can be.

It’s clear Usami’s thoughts are all on Tsurumi, Tsurumi is all he cares about, the sun around which Usami’s world revolves. There’s nothing else that matters but Tsurumi and this makes Usami extremely dangerous because he has no restrains whatsoever.

Tsukishima is a calm executor, he would commit any crime for Tsurumi at his command, but he doesn’t long for it nor relish in doing so, he just obeys.

Usami here brings things to the next level because instead he wants to do things for Tsurumi, he wants to be useful, he wants to anticipate all his wishes so it’s not like he enjoys beating people, he is delighted to do things FOR TSURUMI.

And it’s possible this is what makes the whole Ariko matter even more personal, Ariko tried to betray Tsurumi, Usami’s most important person. So, Usami have no qualms hitting him as hard as he can, using even his own head even if this hurts him too. Eyes wide open, Usami beats Ariko madly and makes this his way to show his passion, his obsession for Tsurumi. That’s how Usami loves him, like a rabid dog.

There’s no sympathy in Usami for Ariko’s situation, even if we’ll later find out he knows it was Tsurumi who indirectly caused Ariko’s father’s death. There’s no space for other people in Usami’s world, there’s just Tsurumi who’s filling everything.

Ariko is left free to escape and the next time we see Usami he’s on Karafuto with Tsurumi. It’s Usami who will ask Tsurumi what he’ll do with Asirpa once they’ve secured her and Tsurumi has no problems revealing him where he plans to hide her, for several years if necessary.

In a basement.

Tsurumi knows Usami will have no problems with this, Usami never have any problem with what Tsurumi does, he only wants to please him, to support him, not to judge him. And in a way Tsurumi revealing this secret to Usami shows he has faith in him… and shouldn’t. It’ll turn out Usami is not so good at keeping secrets… though he won’t have any chance to reveal this one.

It’s worth to mention that even Usami, who, we’ll discover later, likes to brag he’s the only one who truly understand Tsurumi, is surprised when Tsurumi loses it in front of Asirpa.

It’s a pity this doesn’t get explored because it means Tsurumi has never shown that side of himself not even to Usami… which might be a hint that not even with him Tsurumi talked about his wife and child… maybe with good reasons since Usami is so obsessed with him.

It’s worth to note though, when Asirpa shoots her arrows, Usami first moves in front of Tsurumi, pushing him behind himself as to shield him and, as Sugimoto declares they’re poisoned arrows which will kill who gets hit, Usami pushes Tsurumi on the ground, covering him with his body, making clear protecting Tsurumi being his main, no, his only worry, something for which he’s willing to give his life.

It would have been interesting to see Usami if he were to believe Tsurumi has died. In the story the only ones who has such a strong bond on the border of insanity with someone else are Sakamoto and O-gin and the Nikaidō brothers.

O-gin prefers to die with Sakamoto than risk surviving without him.

As for the Nikaidō’s brothers, Yōhei’s death definitely broke Kōhei.

But whatever, Tsurumi survives as the arrows weren’t even poisoned and Sugimoto and Asirpa escape.

Although Koito is Tsurumi’s fastest runner it’s Usami who finds Sugimoto first and he shows he’s a good match for him. He manages to hit him with his elbow and though Sugimoto sends him on the ground and stomp his face he still manages to get sit and stop Sugimoto by grabbing his feet as he attempts to pull out his bayonet.

He loses against Asirpa though, as she let 2 rice bales drop on him (because Asirpa always defeated rabbits right from vol 1).

Usami will be fast on his feet again though.

The flashback in chap 222 shows he’s with Tsurumi when the latter faces Tanigaki, who wants to drop the 7th division, likely ready to do to him the same he did to Ariko. Luckily for Tanigaki there will be no need for that.

Back to chap 214, we see Usami on the destroyer near Tsurumi, attempting to help him chase Sugimoto, even volunteering to go down onto the ice and chase after them, as Usami is always ready and willing to do things that might help Tsurumi.

Tsurumi turns his offer down as he thinks this might only lead Usami to be shoot down by Vasily and prefers not to waste away such a loyal follower. Since he can’t help Tsurumi by chasing Sugimoto, Usami tries to make himself useful by… suggesting to threaten Asirpa to kill her relatives.

From the way Kikuta scolds him, saying  they need to make threats BEFORE the target runs away if they want it to work, my feeling is that Kikuta believes Usami is suggesting to do with Asirpa the same they did with Ariko.

Usami though, suggests they’ll place an obituary in the newspaper. Kikuta believes this means Usami plans to kill Huci for real, as a warning, and strongly expresses against it. Usami doesn’t let himself to be deterred and suggests it could just be a false obituary to show her their intentions. Tsurumi will agree but this plot point will go nowhere (as Asirpa apparently will never read the obituary) so Noda should have put it here to merely show the contrast between Usami and Kikuta and tell us something about the two of them. Usami is willing to do everything for Tsurumi, he doesn’t even need Tsurumi’s prompting, he volunteers for it because, for him, the only thing that matters is Tsurumi. Kikuta instead draws lines, there are things he’s against doing so he tries to influence Tsurumi into not doing them by making clear he won’t support such idea.

Usami and Kikuta contrast because they’re actually the one who’ll do everything for Tsurumi and the one who’s actually not going to do anything for Tsurumi as, even if he were to do something for him, it would only be a mummery to gain his trust since Kikuta is there to do Central’s bidding and Central is Tsurumi’s enemy.

And Noda will continue explore this contrast till the demise of both of them… but I’m running ahead I guess, even though it’s clear by this point in the story Noda is about to lead us to know Usami even more.

EXTRA: THE PREMISE THAT NEEDS TO BE DONE

Now… before we’ll dig into the next two parts, I fear an unpleasant premise is necessary.

We’re about to deal with Usami’s back-story and, consequently, with the conclusion of his arc. To better lead us into the travel aimed at understanding Usami and his own evolution, Noda used the two last convicts, Ostrog and Ueji, to trace parallels with Usami, as well as the other Superior Private of the division, Ogata.

So far, so good.

However, in between the magazine transposition and the volume transposition, Noda decided to make important changes to the story and, consequently, to the characterization of the four of them (sadly those changes won’t manage to save Ostrog which will remain the WORST character, not person, CHARACTER, Noda ever created).

This generates two problems.

For mye meta usually I use the volume version when available.

Who’s not familiar with the volume version though, might feel a bit lost because not aware important things ended up being changed in the volume version. Due to the relevant changes, to compensate, this time I also mentioned what was going in the magazine version, comparing the two versions. I hope I’ll manage to still make things understandable but, if not, please forgive me.

The second is that we don’t really know when Noda decided for those changes, but they end up impacting retroactively on scenes that, originally, were planned so as to lead to different situations.

As a result, although I like to believe Noda managed to fundamentally preserve what I think is Usami’s core, his character now lay on shakier ground, making harder to correctly dig into his psyche because his beliefs were changed along the way.

All this to say… sorry, what follows isn’t as smooth as I wished it to be, nor sees me as being enthusiast of it since the plot piles up retcons over retcons for an arc, the Sapporo one, that doesn’t rank among my favourites (quite the contrary actually).

So yeah, if you just wanted a smooth narration combined with enthusiasm and praises for how Usami is handled, you might consider stopping here… or, at most, at the end of part 3, which was the point at which I put this meta on hold for quite a long while due to how the Sapporo arc felt unsatisfactory. In short it’s up to you to decide if to continue or not. Consider yourself warned.

And now back with the story, or better, with what readers call the ‘Sapporo arc’.

PART 3 THE KID WHO LOST HIMSELF TO HIS OBSESSION: TOKISHIGE

We’re at chap 225.

We are shown a weird scene of Usami oddly observing a dead horse, the scene implying he killed it.

We then jump back to Tsurumi.

While searching for Asirpa, Tsurumi discovers the news say there’s a serial killer in Sapporo. He doesn’t plan to stop searching Asirpa but, as he suspects the serial killer might be a tattooed convict, he decides to send Usami and Kikuta to investigate, so that, from a Doylist point of view Noda can continue to show us the contrast between Kikuta and Usami while conveniently keeping Tsurumi out of the way of the plot (nothing will come from Tsurumi remaining behind, except that Noda doesn’t have to focus on him) while, on a Watsonian point of view, Tsurumi can have his most loyal but not particularly bright man, Usami, check on the smartest but not particularly loyal one, Kikuta.

Predictably, neither Usami nor Kikuta are thrilled, as by now we saw them interacting more than once and it’s clear they just see the other as a thorn in their side.

The volume version also shows that Usami isn’t happy he’ll have to leave Tsurumi (even though this isn’t the first time it happened).

However he doesn’t throw a fuss like Koito, just kicks a stone in disappointment and, while Kikuta tries to advise him on being cautious so as to avoid Hijikata’s group, Usami just claims he’ll kill everyone and be done with it.

Now, remember my premises about changes and how this affect things?

I’ll give you a small example with this, which seems a minor change.

The volume version of this scene came out in September 18, 2020.

Not much time before, on June 11, 2020, in short 3 months before, in the magazine version of chap 243 Usami had made clear he didn’t absolutely want to be a piece for Tsurumi, never mentioning a cheap one. So this tiny change here can be read as meant to tie in with that bit, Usami being disappointed because Tsurumi is just using him to check on that info and Kikuta, and not holding him close as Usami’s back-story will make clear Usami longs to be.

However, in March 19, 2021, 6 months after, the volume version of chap 243 have Usami makes clear he views himself as Tsurumi’s piece, to use as he pleases, just not as the cheapest one but as his number one piece, and that he wants to be used by him.

This ends up giving a different reading to that scene because Usami should be happy Tsurumi is using him… but he still feel emotionally painful he’s being parted from him.

Was this Noda’s intended reading when he draw that tiny addition though? We don’t know if in September he had already decided to change the scene in chap 243 in such a radical way, so it’s up to speculation. The second interpretation works, but, as I said, doesn’t lay on solid foundation.

Of course this scene is minor and not a big deal however you interpret it, but as the changes will add up, everything will start to take a different way from the previously intended one, making hard to analyze things.

Anyway let’s move on something that remained more or less the same and wasn’t too deeply affected by the changes, the flashback of Usami’s past.

In the magazine version this flashback seemed tied to Tsurumi going back with his memory to that past, as, although the flashback is about Usami… it’s also very much about Tsurumi, his interactions with Usami becoming a ‘learning experience’ for him.

In the volume version the switching is more abrupt, it’s like a side-story suddenly inserted in the story, not someone’s memories of the past.

So let’s dig into this flashback which reveals to us who sits at the core of Usami, the young Tokishige.

We meet the young Tokishige in Shibata, in 1895, when he’s only 14 years old, just outside the dōjō which Tsurumi, who’s just back from the Sino-Japanese war, has just left after talking with Takeda, the dōjō master. Tsurumi and Tokishige are old acquaintances, Tsurumi immediately pointing out how Usami has gotten taller while we can see Usami is delighted he had met him.

We also notice something else, that Noda well shows to us giving us a close up of Usami’s face… and Usami’s face doesn’t look like usual, and I’m not merely talking of the fact it looks younger.

Here Usami’s eyes ARE COMPLETELY BLACK, where in the story we normally see them with white irises. There’s no light in them, unless you count a light some vague lines on the border which however give me more the feeling the light is swirling than staying still as a dot of light.

This is relevant because characters who’ve completely black eyes normally only get white irises when they’re beyond furious, possessed by mad rage or outright murderous, the most common example for this being Sugimoto. The fact that Tokishige is now shown with black eyes implies the Usami we know wasn’t born with clear eyes but is basically stuck into a mad rage state.

The lack of light in his eyes isn’t good either, as it often characterizes inner death, loss of hope or the character having ‘fallen from light’ as in having committed a crime.

The huge blush on Usami’s cheeks also tells us back then he was already interested in Tsurumi.

To the point of obsession?

Noda will lead us to discover it soon enough.

To prepare the ground for Usami’s story, Noda shows us something different, Asirpa giving Sugimoto a lesson about Ainu dogs, how they’re very brave and loyal to their owner but can become jealous to the point of becoming ‘bad tempered’… which really, will feel like an euphemism here. She then provides an example of how one of those dogs, because scolded by his master and left at home, murdered all the owner’s chickens. Shiraishi claims humans in love can be the same.

It doesn’t take much to understand that Usami is meant to parallel the dog, that his attachment, his obsession with Tsurumi, can lead to him becoming dangerous for others… and Noda is about to show us how much.

Tokishige isn’t near the dōjō for training, even if it takes two hours from his home to reach that place. He likes to come there because… that place is THEIR (his and Tsurumi’s) sacred ground (僕らの聖地 ‘Bokura no seichi’), though we’ll find out only later what this means.

And so we jump further back in time, a flashback inside a flashback that shows us a Tokishige of two years ago, therefore a 12 years old Tokishige, who has completely black eyes but WITH A DOT OF LIGHT INSIDE THEM.

This Tokishige seems to be a completely normal child, clearly not rich but with a loving family and three younger siblings. His parents ask him how things are going at the dōjō, showing interest in what he does, and pride when it turns out ‘Tokushirō-san’ (a.k.a. Tsurumi) told him he’s the most talented among all the kids attending to the dōjō lessons.

We also see Usami interacting with Tsurumi, Tsurumi talking with him and being generally kind, interested and appreciative, while Usami’s reactions to him paying him attention seem normal, he doesn’t get overexcited like Koito does, to the point he can only speak super fast Satsuma dialect when Tsurumi is around.

We also get to know Takagi Tomoharu (12 years old), the bubbly son of a high officer in the army and self elected best friend of Tokishige as well as another character that serves to offer a comparison to young Usami, to better understand the latter.

We see how Tomoharu also chats with Tsurumi and, same as Tokishige, wants Tsurumi to do Randori with him.

However there’s an interesting scene that helps to set the differences between the two.

At school Tomoharu insists for Tokishige to spend the night at his home so that they can go to school together the morning after. Then to get Tokishige interested, tells him Tsurumi is coming to the dōjō that day, which definitely catches Tokishige’s attention. The next panel shows Tokishige running AHEAD of Tomoharu, even if the latter encourages him to hurry, clearly showing Tokishige’s real interest lies in spending time with Tsurumi… while Tomoharu, although not disliking spending time with Tsurumi (he’ll ask him to do randori with him) really wanted to spend more time with Tokishige, in fact, all the times he interrupt Tokishige and Tsurumi, he runs there calling for Tokishige, asking Tokishige to spend time with him.

So we’ve Tomoharu really interested in Tokishige while Tokishige instead is a lot more interested in Tsurumi.

It’s difficult to say how Usami views Tomoharu, if to him he’s a friend or he’s just accepting his company at this point of Usami’s story. All of Tokishige’s attention is on Tsurumi, and it’s always Tomoharu the one who search Tokishige and never the other side around. I think it’s likely they used to be childhood friends… but then Tsurumi came into the picture and got the whole of Usami’s interest.

As for Tsurumi, he is nice with Tomoharu… but he seems more focused in how his father is doing (as his father is a high ranking officer) than in Tomoharu himself, while he seems to have a more personal interest in Tokishige, talking with him, encouraging him to cultivate his fighting talent.

Still, this seems to be a blissful and normal time for the normal kid that Tokishige seems to be… but Noda is letting us knows things are going to change and not for the better.

Many things are getting in the way of young Tokishige.

For start his family, differently from Tomoharu’s, is poor, so he won’t be allowed to go on with his studies and might not even be allowed to continue going to the dōjō at which Tsurumi attends, as he’ll have to help his father with field work. Tsurumi encourages and praises him when the second problem is about to hit Tokishige.

It doesn’t matter if he continues to go to the dōjō or not… because soon it’ll be Tsurumi who won’t manage to visit it, as troubles are coming up from outside Japan and he might be deployed to deal with them. Knowing his time with Tsurumi is running even shorter is a big deal for Tokishige. We see how down he looks hearing this, Noda tends to drawn Usami smiling but here he looks pretty depressed, Noda even shaded him.

Tomoharu seems oblivious of this as he comes upon them asking for Tokishige to go home together.

It’ll turn out Tomoharu’s time with Tokishige is also running short, Tomoharu is the son of a high officer so his family is well off and he’s expected to follow his father’s footsteps and continue to study in Tokyo, likely at attending at a 3-year courses at the military preparatory school (陸軍幼年学校 ‘Rikugun Yonen Gakkō’) since he too is expected to become an officer like his father.

It’s a bizarre game, a weird chase, in which Tomoharu yearns to spend his last days in the town with Tokishige, who instead only wants to spend time with Tsurumi before the latter will leave.

Tokishige however, is completely unaware of Tomoharu’s feelings, the same way Tomoharu is unaware of Tokishige’s.

They’re both young and their perception of the world is, fundamentally, egocentric. Although they’re friends, they don’t really bother with how the other feel, they only see how THEY feel.

Tomoharu assumes since he wants spent time with Tokishige, Tokishige also wants the same and can’t see that’s not the case, that Tokishige wants to be with Tsurumi.

Tokishige wants to be with Tsurumi and believes Tomoharu wants the same, that he’s getting in his way, that he’s stealing Tsurumi from him, and can’t realize that the latter only wants to be with him.

So we go back to Tomoharu, Tomoharu who will be forced to leave for Tokyo to join the military preparatory school, something for which he has no interest, and who’s scared about it and about the idea of leaving Tokishige. Tomoharu persuades himself if he were to beat Tokishige, he’ll manage to make it in Tokyo even if there, he’ll be without Tokishige, his best friend and, possibly, something more than a friend, at least from his perspective. Due to this Tomoharu insists in attempting to fight him in order to beat him.

How would Tokishige feel if Tomoharu were to beat him is of no concern to Tomoharu… because he’s a kid. He’s young, he’s scared and desperate and, in a way, he wants to ‘use’ Tokishige to overcome this, without worrying about the consequences this could have on Tokishige. He doesn’t even think there could be consequences for Tokishige, as if Tokishige was merely a stepping stool for him to advance in his path.

Mind you, it’s not that Tomoharu wants to hurt Tokishige, far from it, he just still has a selfish and egocentric perception of the world (what’s more, Tomoharu’s perception is deeply flawed as it’s not by beating Tokishige he’ll manage to be strong enough to handle living in Tokyo, this is just what he’s telling to himself. A copying mechanism to find courage within himself… or an excuse to accept his own failure. Tanigaki used something similar when he thought if he killed Retar he would be able to go back home).

The problem is that Tokishige is the same only, in his case, things gets worse because for Tokishige, Tomoharu isn’t a stepping stool… Tomoharu becomes an enemy, a threat, a danger. That’s because Tokishige too has an egocentric and selfish vision and sees only what he cares for… and what Tokishige desperately wants is Tsurumi… and, in his view, in order to get Tsurumi, he must be Tsurumi’s number one, Tsurumi’s favourite boy, which, he believes, he can archive by being the best fighter in the dōjō.

Tokishige was already feeling the pressure of risking to lose Tsurumi due to his poor family, due to Tsurumi leaving for the war, due to Tomoharu demanding Tsurumi’s attentions, due to Tomoharu interrupting his time with Tsurumi. Tokishige projects on Tomoharu his own feelings for Tsurumi, he believes Tomoharu too wants Tsurumi… and that he will steal Tsurumi from him because Tomoharu will get the chance to grow closer to him, since he’ll manage to continue his studies and therefore he will be allowed to join the army as an officer… but that’s not even the worst part, he reads Tomoharu’s insistence in wanting to beat him as an attempt to steal from him the only thing he possesses and that Tsurumi praised him for, his ability as a fighter, what makes him the number one in Tsurumi’s eyes…

This is clearly the ultimate betrayal in Tokishige’s eyes and, if this wasn’t bad enough, he hears Tsurumi encouraging Tomoharu to do so, telling him he can surpass Tokishige.

‘Kimochi no tsuyo esa wa Tokishige-kun ni makete ne. Son'na kimochi ga zutto a ndaba ze tte ni Tomoharu-kun no hō ga tsuyo e nagga na.’

気持ちの強えさは時重くんに負けてねそんな気持ちがずっとあんだばぜってに智春くんのほうが強えなっがな

“In strength of feelings you haven’t lost to Tokishige-kun. If those feelings are always within you, Tomoharu-kun, you will be stronger than him.”

And it’s deeply ironic how it’s Tsurumi who brings up ‘kimochi’ (気持ち) into the discussion. This little word has many meanings among which “feeling/mood/heart/character/temper” so, while Tsurumi might mean Tomoharu has a stronger character, Usami might have interpreted the sentence in relation to (romantic) feelings.

Whatever, no matter how you read it, the sentence implied Tomoharu could surpass Tokishige and so, if Tokishige ever felt friendship for Tomoharu, it dies in that moment, the moment in which he comes to believe Tomoharu plans to steal Tsurumi from him.

There’s a storm inside Tokishige, a violent and mad rage. He’s young and therefore prone to experience emotions in an intense way and less good at controlling them… but he tries.

He doesn’t jump on Tomoharu as soon as he gets out, he doesn’t attack him immediately. He even waits for Tomoharu to insist that day would be the last day they can do Randori together and, when Tomoharu does, although he agrees, he points out he doesn’t really wants to do it.

Tokishige’s choice of words is interesting.

‘Boku ni katte ikite ndaroga? Hontō ha yaritorendaro mo…’

僕に勝って行きてんだろが？本当はやりとれんだろも・・・

“You want to win over me before leaving, isn't it? I don't really want it...”

‘Katsu’ (勝つ) means “to win”, “to gain victory”... but it also has stronger meanings like “to annihilate”, “to destroy”, “to fall”, “to bully”, “to place oneself over”, “to coerce”, “to subjugate”.

Since for Tokishige being Tsurumi's number 1 WAS EVERYTHING, it can very well be he was using ‘katsu’ in a much more dramatic meaning than just “win”, it can be he’s telling him “You want to destroy me before leaving, isn’t it?”, which drives more at home how hard Tokishige is taking this competition.

As the two balloons are united it can be that the two sentences are connected. So it’s possible the second sentence refers not so much to the fight but to the intent of winning/destroying.

“You want to destroy me, don't you? (On the other side) I don't really want it...”

And it’s interesting how Tokishige’s sentence is vague so it might be he doesn’t want to beat/destroy Tomoharu but also that he doesn’t want Tomoharu to beat/destroy him.

And then, in the other page, Tokishige continues.

‘Datte, ki o yatte make tonēssu ke…’

だって、気を遣って負けとねえっすけ・・・

“Because I won’t lose so as not to hurt your feelings…”

And again Tokishige’s wording is interesting.

He chooses ‘ki’ (気 “feeling/mind/heart”) instead of ‘kimochi’ (気持ち “feelings”), then picked ‘yatte’ (遣って “hurt/injure/kill”) and ‘make’ (負け “lose/succumb/give in/surrender/yield/be inferior”).

His sentence can have a completely innocuous meaning… as ‘ki o yatte’ is used normally to say “hurt your feelings” but Noda for the magazine version deliberately switched from this ‘yatte’ (使って “use/manipulate”) to that one (遣って “hurt/injure/kill”).

And it’s interesting how they end up discussing feelings.

When Tokishige says he won’t lose on purpose because worried about Tomoharu’s feelings, Tomoharu agrees saying ‘no real friend would do that’, but what do those two children know about friendship and about how friends WORRY about each other feelings?

Friends worry about each other feelings, friends support each other, they don’t step on each other feelings. Tomoharu confuse friends being honest with each other because a lie can do more harm than good, with people uncaring about harming another feelings. Tomoharu’s perspective is selfish and convenient, because he doesn’t want to care about how Tokishige would feel if he were to lose either… but a friend isn’t something you exploit so you can gain confidence. But Tomoharu is too young to realize all this. Tomoharu is not a bad kid… he’s just a kid. A kid who’s scared and breaks down and cries as he thinks he’ll have to live without Tokishige from now on… but also knows he doesn’t have the option to stay so, even when he’s tossed on the ground, insists in having a rematch.

And Tokishige is a kid too, a kid that’s dead scared of losing Tsurumi, who’s all he cares for, and who just won but that’s not enough for Tomoharu, Tomoharu wants to fight again, which Tokishige reads as Tomoharu wanting to steal Tsurumi from him but his character is different than Tomoharu, he doesn’t react to obstacles by crying, no, he reacts to them with anger… and silences Tomoharu’s request for a rematch by stepping hard on his throat, crushing it.

Tsurumi’s reaction is to be surprised, try to stop him from doing further damage and telling him to call for help. Maybe, if they had managed to get a doctor to save Tomoharu, Usami would have turned out into a very different person. However Tsurumi stops attempting to care of Tomoharu when Usami speaks.

‘Boku wa ki ga susumane kattate gan ni, Tokuhirō-san ga... “Kotchi no hirore toko de yari nase” to itta suke’

僕は気が進まねかったてがんに、篤四郎さんが…「こっちの広れとこでやりなせ」と言ったすけ

“Although I didn’t want to do it, Tokuhirō-san said “Do it in this wide area,” that’s why (I did it)”

Usami pushes the blame of his own actions on Tsurumi, his words seems almost to say Tsurumi suggested him to kill Tomoharu there. His eyes are only a thick black line and there are lines on his forehead, which are usually used as signs of distress. All this implies Usami is aware he did something wrong and his ‘it’s not my fault, it’s yours’ is often typical of someone who’s trying to cope with shock or something traumatic by distancing himself from the deed he did by pushing the blame on someone else, a maladaptive copying system (which Tsurumi uses as well).

Tsurumi COMPLETELY forgets Tomoharu, who’s moaning next to them needs URGENT help and claim in a calm tone he had no idea Usami would do something like that to his “best friend” (親友 ‘Shinyū’).

Usami though, is affronted at the idea Tomoharu could be considered his best friend, when Tomoharu was constantly getting in the way of his ‘time with Tokuhirō-san’ and, fundamentally, understood nothing of Usami’s plight.

Usami then begins to list all the grievances he has against Tomoharu, claiming however he can forgive them and nodding quickly in such a way the visual almost makes him look as if he were to have two heads, as if Usami were split in two. He’s, in a way, losing control of himself.

Ultimately he admits the thing he couldn’t forgive Tomoharu for, the thing that caused him to snap was how Tsurumi encouraged Tomoharu to fight Usami, telling him he would be able to surpass him. As said before, for Usami all that mattered was being Tsurumi’s number 1.

He couldn’t accept the idea Tsurumi might consider another as such but, instead than taking it out on Tsurumi, during the fight, seeing Tomoharu insisting on trying to get up and steal Tokishige’s place in Tsurumi’s heart, Tokishige lost it and stepped on Tomoharu’s throat, silencing him, sending him back on the ground and squashing his trachea, which would cause him to start dying out of suffocation.

It wasn’t planned, it was clearly a sudden impulse, and maybe, if Tomoharu had gotten proper care and survived or, if Tsurumi had reacted differently, things would have gone differently for him.

Instead Tsurumi reacts by abandoning Tomoharu to his fate and comforting Tokishige, apologizing to him and reassuring him he’s still his number one, that he never thought Tomoharu could replace him, he just wanted to persuade him to go back home. It works somehow as Usami abruptly calms down while, at the same time, Tomoharu draws his final breath.

In theory, if Noda had been interested in pursuing the theme of guilt, this should be the moment Tokishige should face his sense of guilt and find a (maladaptive) copying mechanism to deal with it. Tokishige does by viewing Tomoharu as an object, calling him ‘sore’ (それ “It/that thing”). If Tomoharu is an object, not a person, he hasn’t killed anyone even though he’s asking if Tomoharu is dead. The visual is interesting as well, because it shows Tokishige pecking at Tomoharu while holding Tsurumi’s arm and almost hidden behind him as he claims they’re ‘Kyōhan’ (共犯 “partners in crime/accomplices”).

This remarks how, in Tokishige’s mind, it was Tsurumi who instigated his actions, it didn’t come from him… and Tsurumi encourages this belief by not denying Tokishige’s words and by offering him a cover story. It wasn’t Tokishige the one who killed Tomoharu, it was Tsurumi’s horse.

We can only wonder how things would have gone if Tsurumi hadn’t validated Tokishige’s actions, if he had helped him to realize what he did to Tomoharu was wrong. Maybe, if he had done so, Tokishige wouldn’t have derailed so much from normality. Maybe not.

Tomoharu’s father kills the horse who supposedly killed Tomoharu, Usami watching the dead horse with a strange expression, an expression that matches the one he used to watch the horse he supposedly killed in chap 225.

If Noda had been interested in carrying on the theme of ‘everyone feels guilty by killing a human being’, by watching the horse having been murdered, the horse being merely a scapegoat for him, Usami should have connected the fate of the horse with himself and start to believe, somewhere in his mind, that he deserved the horse’s fate and his killing of an horse earlier in chap 225 should have been tied to that.

But Noda with Usami doesn’t care anyone about the theme of guilt, possibly because he’ll give Ogata many traits Usami has, so he couldn’t make Usami subconsciously suicidal like Ogata is, therefore in the volume version we’re later hinted how the horse, in Usami’s mind, morphed somehow in Tomoharu and, when Usami kills  the horses, like Ostrog, is just recreating his ‘sacred ground’ same as Ostrog does (chap 249)...

...the sacred ground in which Tokishige claims he lost his ‘virginity’, tying somehow murder with a sexual act.

Usami will declare not to feel guilt (chap 243) and this will never be challenged, meaning Yūsaku was wrong, it’s not true everyone feels guilty over killing other human beings, it was just that Ogata will eventually feel guilty over killing Yūsaku, the whole thing leading him to commit suicide… but by then the theme of guilt which seemed so relevant for more than a half of “Golden Kamuy” will slowly be toned down and, eventually, dismissed, which might explain why the volume version decided to put Usami among the group of the remorseless insane guys in the story, completely forgetting the Tomoharu incident if not to draw a parallel between Usami and Ostrog.

PART 4 CONCLUSION: DAMNATION OR SALVATION?

Usami’s story continues and ends as we enters in the core of the Sapporo arc, in between scenes that get rewritten for the volume version and a characterization that doesn’t quite match with the one of the previous chapters.

In fact the Sapporo arc decides to give Usami a beyond pervert nature by paralleling him with Ostrog HARD, to the point Usami uses masturbation as a technique for tracking Ostrog, can even date the semen he finds on the crime scene as well as engaging in a semen battle against Ostrog… and then masturbating a lot as he reveals himself for one who tattles out information he would do better keeping for himself.

I’ve said the Sapporo arc parallels Usami with Ostrog but it actually works hard to parallel Usami with a character with whom we previously never see him interact, Ogata.

Due to this we get some more flashbacks, this time dealing about Usami and Ogata (chap 243).

Said flashbacks aren’t anymore to explain who Usami Tokishige is, more to trace a parallel behind him and Ogata, the two weird superior privates of the 7th division as well as give us some extra info about Ogata (although, in the volume version, Noda will add a fundamental info about Usami to justify how his death was good for him).

I’ll go through them briefly, for the sake of completeness… but they too were changed in between the magazine version and the volume version, which ended up affecting both Ogata and Usami’s characterization.

Anyway…

In chronological order we first finally see that Usami too was at the siege of Port Arthur (previously he never appeared in the flashbacks covering it, not even in the one about Tsukishima in Vol 15).

Usami is disappointed by how Tsurumi ordered sparing Yūsaku, acting all jealous and, apparently, sympathizing with Ogata for how, if Yūsaku had been out of the picture, Hanazawa would have loved Ogata. This will lead Ogata to decide to try to tempt Yūsaku into killing a prisoner of war, an attempt Usami supports. The whole thing will prompt a discussion about guilt out of the blue between the two (prior to the discussion with Yūsaku) in which COINCIDENTALLY Usami reassures Ogata everyone doesn’t feel guilty when killing people (a thing Yūsaku COINCIDENTALLY will deny in his discussion with Ogata short after).

Usami witnesses how Yūsaku refuses to kill and how Ogata reasons himself into killing Yūsaku, supporting such decision because Usami clearly fears Tsurumi’s interest for Yūsaku, even though Yūsaku was never shown being interested in Tsurumi… different from Koito who, however, doesn’t make Usami that jealous or murder prone.

According to the narrative we get this flashback because Usami felt the need to inform Kikuta of how Ogata killed his brother, revealing in the process that Usami KNEW Ogata would kill Yūsaku even though Tsurumi told him not to and did nothing to stop him.

We’re also informed of how Usami was the coach driver when Ogata killed his father, Tsurumi’s praises of Ogata making Usami dangerously jealous.

Tsurumi then leaves the two alone as if unaware Usami kills the ones he’s jealous of, but Ogata, I guess, gets lucky as the plot needs him to survive, because Usami doesn’t attack him. He just tests his intentions, asking him if he wants to become the leader of the 7th. Ogata won’t laugh and say Usami understands him like he’ll do in chap 304 but claims he murdered Hanazawa because he wanted a chance at having a last talk with him.

Usami will then suggest Ogata did it in order to get Tsurumi’s love, which Ogata will deny. In answer Usami will tattle out how Tsurumi had him kill Hanazawa because the latter was in Tsurumi’s way and not due to Ogata because Tsurumi doesn’t care about Ogata.

Lastly we’re informed Usami went to the hospital Ogata was recovered after having been injured by Sugimoto, decided by his reaction that Ogata was feeling miserable because Yūsaku died while innocent and accused him of having turned his overwhelming love for Tsurumi into overwhelming hate because he can’t accept Tsurumi doesn’t love him and he’s just a pawn for Tsurumi, same as Yūsaku or Koito.

At least in the magazine version.

In the volume version he includes himself among Tsurumi’s pieces...

...and includes a scene that seems to imply Usami was watching the exchange in Vol 15 between Tsurumi and Tsukishima (even though Vol 15 didn’t show him being present, not even when Tsurumi was wounded) and in which he claims he wants to be used as a piece by Tsurumi to manipulate his men’s morale.

Considering Usami was so jealous he murdered Tomoharu believing he wanted to steal Tsurumi from him when Tomoharu couldn’t care less about Tsurumi, we might have assumed Usami’s jealousy for Ogata was baseless but no, it’ll turn out Usmai is spot on and Ogata is really upset about Tsurumi not paying him attention… because somehow he and Usami are the same, two Ainu dogs who get murderous if neglected.

Whatever.

Anyway Ogata answers to this in the magazine accusing Usami of being Tsurumi’s cheapest piece, in the volume of being ‘the number one cheap piece’ due to his peasant origins.

These changes end up changing how we see Usami.

If in the magazine he doesn’t seem to see himself as a piece (he doesn’t include himself among the pieces and implies Yūsaku, Koito and Ogata are pieces because Tsurumi doesn’t love them) in the volume version he views himself as a piece and wants to be used by Tsurumi… which really doesn’t fit so well with Usami’s murderous jealousy and this newfound habit of his of tattling out information Tsurumi might not want to be shared.

If in the magazine he’s insulted by being defined as the cheapest piece, in the volume version the problems seems more tied to how Ogata jabbed at his peasant origins (in fact later Usami will counter Ogata is the cheapest piece because he’s the son of a whore).

Overall the whole thing also establish Usami as a tattler, when before he refused to give Nikaidō information on Inkarmat and Ienaga’s whereabouts and didn’t tattle info about the tattooed skins to Kikuta when they met.

But whatever, I guess Noda wanted Usami to be like Amano Misa from “Death Note” or Gasai Yuno from “Mirai Nikki” so Noda might have meant for him not to be inconsistent just that he’s actually selfish and an hypocrite in his great love and self sacrifice for Tsurumi.

Maybe.

Since the narrative kept changing between magazine and volume we’ll never know what he had in mind, giving the idea that the Sapporo arc was something he started planning in broad strokes after the Karafuto arc and then felt the need to adjust it constantly as the story went on.

To continue with the story, Usami, who previously could work in disguise as a spy for Tsurumi in Abashiri, will then attack Ishikawa merely because he’ll overheard the latter claiming he knows where Jack will kill next, instead than first trying to ask to the reporter for info (as far as we know, Usami only knows Ishikawa is a reporter, not that he works with Hijikata).

When Ishikawa exchanges him for an official on the crime scene and accuses him of wanting to take credits, he doesn’t try to correct him and win his cooperation but merely beats him further. As Ishikawa continues not wanting to talk but Usami believes the location is written on the map Ishikawa has, he attempts killing him with a gun that reveals he’s part of the 7th. He’s however distracted so Ishikawa manages to escape as, I guess, Ishikawa runs really fast and silently despite the beating.

This doesn’t really fit with how Usami instead managed to persuade Kikuta to share the info he knew in the Noboribetsu arc and even used him to track down the blind bandits… but whatever, that arc had an Usami who didn’t tattle out info easily differently from the one we have in this arc.

Still Usami manage to conveniently retrieve the map pointing out where Ostrog would kill next from Ishikawa (as the latter CONVENIENTLY merely ripped it and tossed on the ground the pieces instead of eating it as he previously attempted to do or hiding it) so that he and the other men of the 7th will all be at the Sapporo brewery when Ostrog will be there.

Usami recognizing Kadokura who was also there, will cause confusion among Hijikata’s group. Usami will prove to be a formidable fighter as although he wasn’t in Ushiyama’s league he’ll manage to evaluate him and Ushiyama will need some moments before sending him flying.

Due to how things will develop Usami will end up chasing Kadokura, stealing some (but not all, who knows why) of the tattooed skins he was carrying and discovering Kadokura’s tattoo (a discovery which won’t turn relevant at all), before fighting Ogata who COINCIDENTALLY gets there, Kadokura completely forgotten (and he’ll remain forgotten by the two later on as well as Ogata won’t notice the unconscious man around and steal from him the tattooed skins he carries, nor Kadokura will mention escaping after seeing Usami and Ogata figting).

Although Usami will beat Ogata up good, ultimately Ogata will manage to shoot Usami, forcing the latter to escape, deciding that wasn’t the time to fight Ogata but to tell Tsurumi what he has discovered.

It’s worth to mention that AGAIN there are differences between the magazine version and the manga version. In the magazine version Ogata seems to end up near the rifle when Usami tosses him on the ground out of sheer luck and hurries to get closer to it while Usami is about to kill him with his own bayonet after claiming Ogata hasn’t the right to call him a cheap piece since he’s the son of a whore. At that point Ogata shoots him.

In the volume version Ogata falls farther from the rifle but, as Ogata crawls toward it, Usami challenges him to attack him with his bayonet then keeps talking, then tosses him cartridges, then challenges Ogata to load his rifle before he’ll kill Ogata with Ogata’s bayonet, tells him he can’t call him a cheap piece since he’s the son of a whore then moves to retrieve Ogata’s bayonet. At that point Ogata shoots him.

As you can see in the volume version Usami lost a lot of time, wanted Ogata to fight back and acted overconfident, which ended up giving Ogata all the time he needed to shoot Usami... which is odd because previously Usami was someone quick in attacking and murdering his opponents (see the convicts at Abashiri) and who had no qualms hitting a man who couldn’t defend himself (see his fight with Ariko), and therefore the magazine version seemed more in tune with how he was previously but whatever, this is the Usami the volume gives us.

Anyway, as Usami escapes, he’s shoot again by Ogata yet, COINCIDENTALLY, manages to fall in Tsurumi’s arms.

Usmai will hand him the tattooed skins and tells him what he has discovered about Kadokura (not that it’ll be of some use to Tsuurmi)… and about how Kikuta is a spy (though we’ll discover this only later).

In the volume version Noda adds a scene in which Tsurumi clearly uses Usami by praising him to boost the troop’s morale as Usami wanted, before eating Usami’s pinkie, a fate he didn’t reserve to his wife and daughter’s pinkies, and claiming in this way Usami would live forever inside him as his number one person (in the magazine he said as his number one friend).

Usami dies happily after this, having had EXACTLY WHAT HE WANTED, at least according to the changes that were made in the volume version (since the idea of Usami wanting to be used as a pawn wasn’t included in the magazine version).

So, even if he didn’t survive we might argue, in a way, the retcon allowed him to be ‘saved’.

Sure, we don’t know if he genuinely mattered to Tsurumi or if he just used him. Tsurumi and Usami are depicted as a copy of the “Pietà” from Michelangelo but, afterward, Tsurumi’s face is darkened and he doesn’t hold against Ogata Usami’s murder (while instead he’ll hold against Wilk the death of his wife and child)… unless the whole thing will be retconned in the volume version.

But ultimately what Tsurumi felt is just something we, as readers, are curious about and, mostly, because Ogata said Usami would know if he was a cheap piece or not by watching Tsurumi’s expression at his funeral… and, ironically, once Usami is dead Noda shadows Tsurumi’s expression so we won’t see it and, therefore, we won’t know the truth.

Usami though, died swallowing all Tsurumi said so, for him, it was a ‘good’ death which proved he was Tsurumi’s number 1.

Overall I don’t know how to feel toward Usami’s narrative arc.

There really wasn’t an evolution, Usami was just a man obsessed with Tsurumi who served him and ultimately died happily serving him, believing in this way he was useful to him, became one with him and would remain his number one forever… which okay… it’s a… narrative choice… and I’m sad it’s not one I love (though I’m aware there are others who are delighted by it, it’s just a matter of tastes).

This series of meta had birth to shower Noda in praises about how cool his characters were but… their final developments ultimately left me unsatisfied and, I guess, it’s a lucky thing Tsukishima’s one was done before I were to see how his arc ended up, so that it remained enthusiast. I guess I wish I had ended the Usami one before seeing the Sapporo arc… but whatever, we can’t turn back. So that’s it.

Who managed to reach the end might realize now why I had problems finishing it and why I don’t know if I’ll manage to finish the others I started but who were left pending. Still thank you for reading so far and my apologies if it wasn’t the enthusiastic meta I wished it was when I started it.

[here-lies-golden-kamuy]

NSFW | The Ultimate Golden Kamuy Breast Guide

Yes. You read that right. This came to me in a fever dream.

AKA I was taking a bath and pondered how it was unfair that GK has an official penis and ass chart but not a breast chart…I decided right then and there that I needed to do something for my fellow women lovers

Basically, if the Golden Kamuy universe was genderbent, what would the breast chart look like? 

The only canon woman included in this boobie companion guide is Ienaga because her being a transwoman is important to me. But honestly, I don’t think her cis women self would be any different. ALSO! While some characters have been assigned by me personally, this chart also involved a randomizer. What can I say? Breast sizes are moderately based on genetics, and genetics is a game of probability. So if you’re unsatisfied, don’t blame me, blame probability! /lh 

All just putting it out there, all breasts are beautiful! They’re all gorgeous gorgeous gals, and I love them all <3 

Is your favorite not here? Reblog so I can add them here! 

LET’S START 

BREAST 101: BREAST MORPHOLOGY

For this guide, I’ve chosen three parts of breast morphology: breast shape, breast cup size, and nipple and areolae size and shape. 

ONE: BREAST SHAPE (check the link for reference illustrations on breast shape!)

Round Round breasts have a uniform appearance with roughly equal fullness on the top and bottom

GK GALS WITH ROUND BREASTS: Koito, Ienaga, Kikuta, Tsurumi

Bell-Shaped Bell shaped breasts typically occur in people with larger breasts. These breasts tend to be narrow at the top and full at the bottom

GK GALS WITH BELL-SHAPED BREASTS: Tsukishima, Ushiyama, Tanigaki, Kiroranke

Slender Slender breasts are narrow and long, with nipples pointing downwards

GK GALS WITH SLENDER BREASTS: Boutarou, Toni, Usami, Kantarou

Conical Conical breasts are cone-like in shape: the top of the breasts slope down toward the nipples, which point outward. This shape often occurs in people with smaller breasts 

GK GALS WITH CONICAL BREASTS: Sugimoto, Yuusaku, Kadokura, Nikadous

Relaxed Breasts with looser or thin breast tissue tend to have a relaxed or elongated shape. The nipples typically sit lower on relaxed breasts, and they may or may not point downward

GK GALS WITH RELAXED BREASTS: Shiraishi

East-West East-West breasts are full on the top and bottom, and the nipples point in opposite directions, away from the body’s midline

GK GALS WITH EAST-WEST BREASTS: Ogata, Vasily, Kirawus

Close-set Close-set breasts have little or no space between them. They sit in the center of the chest, which leaves a bigger area between the breasts and the shoulders

GK GALS WITH CLOSE-SET BREASTS: Ariko, Edogai, Nakagura, Hijikata

Asymmetrical Breasts Breast asymmetry occurs when one breast is a different shape or size to the other. Most people have slight breast asymmetry

GK GALS WITH BREAST ASYMMETRY: Ariko, Sugimoto, Edogai, Kantarou, Hijikata, Boutarou, Kiroranke, Yuusaku, Tsukishima, Ushiyama, Ogata, Vasily, Ienaga, Nakagura, Koito

GK GALS WITH NO BREAST ASYMMETRY: Shiraishi, Tanigaki, Nikadous, Toni, Usami, Kirawus, Tsurumi, Kadokura, Kikuta

TWO: BREAST CUP SIZE

There are two parts to breast size: the band size and the cup size. The band size is the number that refers to the circumference of a person’s ribcage (typically measured underneath the breasts). The cup size is the size of the actual bust. All-in-all, breast sizes (and shapes!) are influenced by different factors, such as age, lifestyle, weight, pregnancy or breastfeeding, genetics, etc. 

For this, I followed a Japanese guide for bra sizes (here’s a reference for international conversion of bra sizes) and opted to instead focus on the characters’ cup size rather than the band size (too difficult to think of, because we don’t exactly have their canon measurements). 

JAPANESE A TO B BRA SIZE: Sugimoto, Shiraishi, Kadokura, Ienaga, Tsurumi, Kantarou

JAPANESE C TO D BRA SIZE: Koito, Ogata, Toni, Nikaidous, Edogai, 

JAPANESE E TO F BRA SIZE: Nakagura, Hijikata, Vasily, Usami, Yuusaku

JAPANESE G TO H BRA SIZE: Ariko, Tsukshima, Kikuta, Boutarou

JAPANESE I BRA SIZE: Tanigaki, Ushiyama, Kiroranke

THREE: AREOLAE AND NIPPLE SHAPE AND SIZE

Last but certainly not the least: the areolae and nipples. The nipples are the nubs on each breast that is designed to be where an infant will latch its mouth during the breastfeeding age. On the other head, the areolae are the darker-colored skin surrounding the nipple. All areolae and nipples are unique, hence why I felt like this part also had to be included in this guide. 

A. AREOLAE 

GK GALS WITH LIGHTER COLORED AREOLAE: Nikaidous, Tsukishima, Shiraishi, Vasily, Usami, Kadokura, Edogai, Sugimoto, Kantarou, Ienaga, Ogata, Kirawus

GK GALS WITH DARKER COLORED AREOLAE: Yuusaku, Nakagura, Kiroranke, Hijikata, Kikuta, Toni, Tsurumi, Ushiyama, Ariko, Boutarou, Tanigaki, Koito

GK GALS WITH SMALLER AREOLAE: Kadokura, Boutarou, Ogata, Koito, Kiroranke, Tsukishima, Ariko, Shiraishi, Ushiyama, Usami, Kantarou, Nakagura

GK GALS WITH BIGGER AREOLAE: Tanigaki, Nikadous, Edogai, Vasily, Hijikata, Kirawus, Kikuta, Tsurumi, Yuusaku, Ienaga, Toni, Sugimoto

B. NIPPLES

GK GALS WITH BUMPY NIPPLES: Kiroranke, Kikuta, Nikadous, Toni, Hijikata, Sugimoto, Usami, Vasily

GK GALS WITH SUPERNUMERARY* NIPPLES (EXTRA NIPPLE/S): Ariko, Tanigaki, Ienaga, Ushiyama, Boutarou, Tsurumi

GK GALS WITH EVERTED (ERECT) NIPPLES: Kadokura, Koito, Tanigaki, Ushiyama, Kantarou, Tsukishima, Vasily, Usami

GK GALS WITH FLAT NIPPLES: Ienaga, Yuusaku, Kikuta, Ogata, Sugimoto, Nikaidous, Nakagura, Kirawus

GK GALS WITH PUFFY NIPPLES: Shiraishi, Kiroranke, Edogai, Ariko, Hijikata, Tsurumi, Toni, Boutarou

*It is totally normal to have an extra nipple or two! The extra nipple/s look more like moles than nipples. 

[miceysfandomcreations]

Meet Cute - Ogata Reader Insert, 1k words

Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Post-Canon, Ogata Hyakunosuke Being Ogata Hyakunosuke, Ogata Hyakunosuke Has Emotions, Reader-Insert, you get to bully him a bit, can be read as gen or ship, he's a mess, ogata's fallen from corrupting flagbearers to random nurses he has no relation to

“I killed my mother. Put poison in her nabe. She never noticed anything was wrong, even though she made it every day. First time I killed a human. I was young.”

There the patient went again. Next, he would talk of how he killed his brother, and then his father. Sometimes, he’d add anecdotes of his other crimes. He shot a bound and helpless Russian war prisoner. He tried to kill a young girl after killing her father. The details sometimes changed. He had to strew his father’s intestines across the floor. His father’s intestines spilled out by themselves. His brother marched forward a few steps after getting shot in the head. His brother stood still and looked back when he died.

Otherwise, even after his condition stabilized, he was unresponsive, lips chapped, body prone, one glassy eye blinking up at the hospital ceiling.

No matter how the story went, he was an injured man (the aconite poisoning, broken bones, bullet wound, periods of unconsciousness, and lingering fevers were not pretty), and you were supposed to help injured men. This was not your first time hearing a damning hospital bed confession, and your senior coworkers had heard even more. Every time you were assigned to his room, you kept your head down, did your duties as a nurse, sterilized his room, and spoon-fed him his meals (he refused to eat at first, was threatened with an enema infusion, and relented).

“You’re a nurse. Would setting a murderer out in the world help you sleep at night?” He spoke something other than his macabre confessions.

You stayed silent and prepared his meal, an action that had become a habit that didn’t require much pondering. You’ve gotten rather good at not reacting to anything he said. Maybe that’s why your coworkers tended to leave him, the only patient in his ward in the sparse hospital, to you. He was a solder. 7th Division. The Defenders of Hokkaido. A few members of his division were also in this hospital, scattered among the civilian patients. Soldiers of the 7th have been found scattered in hospitals all over Hokkaido. Rumors of conspiracy abound. Officials may have been bribed, but nothing stopped the curiosity of off-duty nurses. Something about a train and a bear and not being all together in the same place? None of that was your business. You had better things to worry about.

You thought of your grandmother when you fed the soldier soup. She had lost a tooth yesterday. She pulled on it lightly, and it came off. At her death, you would be alone in the world. Could you possibly move into a boarding house? Living in one should be cheaper in the long-term if you did your math right. You would miss your neighbors, but they were getting old. They would likely die right after your grandmother. Would saving up for fake teeth be a viable option? Were fake teeth reusable? You would have to double-check your nursing textbook after your shift.

The soldier grabbed your arm with surprising strength for a man whose entire rib cage poked out against his skin (he could use his arms the entire time? What were you doing spoon-feeding him, then?). “You want me to shut up, don’t you? Feel like grabbing your scissors, and cutting out my vocal cords?” His voice was in that same low, goading tone, but his eyes were lit by a manic glint.

You respond with an unshaken voice. “My responsibilities are to help people, not harm them. I would not do that to you.”

The private considered your words. “Responsibilities as a nurse. Let me ask you this. If I am released, and I kill more people, would you feel guilt that you followed your duties?” His lone eye stared up at you. Soup dribbled down the side of his mouth, threatening to stain the sheets you had spent so much effort changing.

Soldiers. They all thought their stories were unique. He must not know the hospital planned to turn him over to the police after he got better. Asking if you feel guilt, questioning if you feel emotions thanks to your frozen face, you were reminded of your childhood bullies, many of whom had joined the army. You wiped the soup from his face with a napkin and leaned down.

You open your mouth. “What I feel outside the hospital is not under a Private First Class’s purview, sir. I would have already done my duty to help you live. What you do after is your business.”

He frowned. “Superior Private.” He released your arm. His arm flopped back to his side and didn’t move.

“That’s not what your uniform said.” Everything the hospital knew about him was from his uniform. The soldier had kept tight-lipped about himself during the periods he was awake enough for questioning. “The nurses are taking bets on what your name is.”

The soldier stayed silent. You guessed that if you kept talking, he wouldn’t launch into his speech again.

“They have to call you something. There are soldiers downstairs too. Masao’s been a popular guess. So is Ichiro, Tadashi, Hajime–“

“Hajime?”

“It’s a common name.” You shrugged.

“You nurses are chatty.”

“Many of them had served in the Russo-Japanese war. I imagine to them, this hospital is a slow workplace.” You had great admiration for your senior coworkers, who talk of the most grotesque afflictions and conditions with the casualness of unimportant gossip. “Are you going to ask if they feel guilt for gossiping?” You adjusted your nurse’s cap. The fit felt good around your head.

“What about you?” He asked.

“Are you asking about my guess for your name?”

The soldier stared at you, eyebrows lowered. 

“I will answer as if you asked me for my guess about your name. I don’t know. I didn’t bother to speculate. But none of the guesses seem to fit you.” You studied his cold features, sharp from the hospital stay. You wondered what you would name a child if they had his aloof face. “If I had to guess, your name would be lofty, unwieldy, something that asks people to look away from you.”

Something that the people on the street could hear and receive the expectation that they could not be in the same realm as him. Perhaps you were being too cruel. Children could not choose their names. Perhaps his name was an anchor around his neck as he grew up. But what did you know. You had fake teeth to worry about.

The soldier stayed silent. You finish feeding him as well as the rest of your duties. While you updated his patient chart, the soldier muttered something. “My name…”

He paused. His eye wandered around the ceiling; mouth slightly open. “My name…it’s Yamanoue Yoshizo.”

That was obviously not his real name. You raised and eyebrow and made sure he saw it. Still, he gave you a manner of referral, and you would use it.

“Alright Yamanoue, sir. I’ll be seeing you at the same time tomorrow.” You looked forward to sharing the name with your coworkers.

You left the ward and continued with your day, rolling the fake name on your tongue.

[mdxyr3liz]

500 words reflective evaluation

I found this year's pre-production brief to be the most challenging to do. I assume it would be due to my film idea being quite abstract and how it kept shifting in its plot.

It used to be a story about a dream I had where I accompanied a light wanderer just to find out that they were my grandmother. Now it's about how you can slowly move on and live with your guilt. I like my current idea more because I could relate less with it but try to make people relate more with it. I did make a slight connection with my grandmother and my final year film which is in the title's language, Cantonese. I was pondering on whether or not I should use a different language for my film since I thought it would be perceived as weird but it felt right to do so.

One main problem I have with this brief is that even though my main inspiration is the use of negative space for intense scenes, I couldn't bring myself to build my visuals on it. My main three inspirations were Land of the Lustrous, Suicide Girl and Golden Kamuy because they all used negative space to convey the sense of loneliness and dread. I tried to exaggerate the sense of space in my 4th storyboard iteration, which was shown for the crit but it was still not perceived well. I need to improve on making my work feel more empty to fit its narrative.

The main positive point was my soundtrack for my animatic, I used Land of the Lustrous and GRIS for my placeholder tracks as both are inspirations for my storyline where the girl goes through the 5 stages of grief. I worked on my animatic first before the bible, so out of everything that was shown for the crit, the animatic was the most polished piece I had. This was because I was struggling with my storytelling during the pitch brief and I did my very first iteration of my animatic and storyboards back then, but now, I managed to condensed it even further to make it simpler but more impactful. I would like a sound producer to make the main track and possibly a sound effects specialist for my film. As I am a big fan of sound design, I would like my last film to have extraordinary sound design. My sound and music producer from last year is going to help out but I want him to only work on the track for the void room as I believe that his music style would fit that section of the film.

Another negative point would be that I needed more animation tests but I was struggling with that due to my inadequacy of determining a strong and clear mindset on its aesthetic.

Other than that, I think my character designs and I had strong research to back up what I wanted my film to look like aesthetically. I will continue to tune my production bible before the start date for our production period.

[mikazuki-juuichi]

October 2021 tv shows.

Television watched in October of the present year.

TV SHOWS

LIVE ACTION

- Midnight Mass. Mike Flanagan (show runner of  ‘The haunting of Hill house’ and ‘The haunting of Bly Manor’) now gives us an unconfessed adaptation of Stephen King’s ‘Salem’s Lot’ —oh, sorry: A tale about religion an vampirism in a sleepy small town —oh, sorry, Spoilers!

Ahem.

Midnight Mass is an horror tv show in what has now become Flanagan’s signature style, for both good and bad. Good in giving us a slow-paced, ponderous drama with supernatural punctuations, and long reflections on faith and mortality. But bad in that —first, it’s the kind of genre story that seems to think it’s inventing themes that are by now past self-parody, and in that the tone risks becoming pretentious more than once.

All in all, an uneven but not altogether uninteresting tv show.

- Explained, season 3. The very entertaining docu-series continues —short informative capsules about a variety of subjects. Like most of their kind, they can even be useful provided they are not taken as a be-all educative tool, but rather as springboards for longer conversations and researches. In that vein, recommended.

- Everybody hates Chris, season 1. I always find it hard to recap sit-coms, be they cartoonish, or (relatively) gritty, as is the case with this one. I think I can best sum it up as: Very interesting, but it feels stretched as a tv show, might have been much more interesting as a movie.

ANIMATED

- Golden Kamuy, season 1. Terrific adaptation of Satoru Noda’s manga, being an adventure yarn with plenty of action —and a healthy dose of homoerotism and sensuality. Somewhat toned down compared to the gritty original, still more than worth a look.

- Housamo: Lil’ Salomon’s Golden Week. Short and sweet snippets detailing the relationships between assorted minor characters. Charming and, for lack of a better word: Fluffy.

*

[chibivesicle]

Golden Kamuy: chapters 255 & 256 - chaos at the brewery, superior private vs superior private, the death of the first Tsurumisexual

I was hesitant to write a stand alone 255 summary and I am glad that I waited until 256 was out.  I also had a busier than expected work week which kept me busy.  The fire that Jack set at the brewery was large enough that the local fire department is alerted to fight it.

The next few pages show how late Meiji era firefighters worked with a horsedrawn steam pumper.

The chief calls for a bugle player to call in the rest of the firefighters and they start spraying while the main pump starts.

This the allows us to see where some of the cast are.  As usual Shiraishi is near the fire fighters, he always has a tendency to know where the person in charge is, Ushiyama, Hijikata and then we see Boutarou is somewhere outside.

My most hated convict is there watching that everyone has assembled to find Jack.   He then has a fixation with the ladder.

I have no patience for Ueji, I really hope he’s not around much longer.

The action shifts to Asirpa still beating our convict until her sutu physically breaks.  I have to admit this concerns me since it shows that Asirpa may not have just been acting in self-defense/’basic’ punishment.  It indicates that she’s bolder or losing control of her own actions towards him.

Jack reaches out to grab her fur cloak and he holds here there as he reveals his ‘tragic’ backstory.  He was supposed to be the child of a prostitute and a member of the British Royal family.  Wow - riveting . . . . honestly, I found his backstory to be lame and I was like ‘on with it already.’  Still doesn’t really explain why a man would become a murderer . . . .

Asirpa then becomes more desperate and she threatens to stab him with one of her arrows if he doesn’t release her, while he insists he’s the product of a virgin birth. Since he was taken in nuns and raised in some sort of catholic setting . . .

What is important is that once she looks into his face after threatening she finally shows signs of PTSD from shooting Ogata.

Here face is sweaty and flushed and her pupils are tiny and she remembers Ogata collapsing on the ice floe.  I have been waiting so long for this to happen.  Asirpa is good at burying and denying her feelings and finally in a pinch her fears come to the surface.

Honestly, I am so relieved to have this happen in the story.

Sugimoto then arrives and tells Asirpa that killing Jack is his job.  He looks dangerous as his scarf flies back and he’s got the bayonet on his rifle.

Asirpa meanwhile is in the foreground arrow in her hand.  There are then several pages of Sugimoto stabbing and disemboweling and stabbing our convict before he kicks him out a window.

With luck, he falls out near Ushiyama who finishes him off with a skull smashing step.  I’ve never been a huge fan of Ushiyama, but I do like his line about how prostitutes are divine beings to him, remaining on earth to help others.

This seemed a lot more fitting than Sugimoto telling him what you do with your life is important.  I’m also curious how damaged his tattoo is after being slashed open across the belly. 

Now it is unclear if Sugimoto and Asirpa will be reuniting with Hijikata or not, since the skin has been delivered to Ushiyama.  I’m curious to see if they rejoin his group of if they break off again.

The action finally returns to the events that I am most interested in; the fight between Ogata and Usami.  The english translation has Usami calling Ogata by his first name as he beats the crap out of him while he tries to hold him off with the rifle.  Usami is upset since previously Ogata called him a ‘cheap piece’ on a chessboard and he did not like it.

We get a close up of Ogata’s bloody nose as the rifle moves. The next page makes it clear that Usami has grabbed the rifle and he proceeds to empty the remaining bullets and even kicks them away on the floor.

Usami is making sure that Ogata has no chance to fire at him and knows that if Ogata tried to fight back with the rifle alone, he’d have no chance.  Of course, Ogata goes to grab another clip, but Usami judo rolls him onto the floor and Ogata turns over and begins to crawl back to the rifle.

It seems like Ogata has some sort of thought in the first panel as Usami stands over him and tells him that he’s essentially useless without a gun.  I’m under the indication that when it comes to fighting and combat that Usami finds him useless since both of them have done things non-combat related.

Usami then boldly pulls the bayonet off of Ogata’s belt.  Usami then falls into the trope of overconfident monologue individual.

Ogata doesn’t give a damn about Usami’s monologue to him, he’s got to beat him and we get a close up of Ogata picking up an individual bullet between his bloody lips.  He’s got something in mind.

Usami then insults Ogata as being a son of a prostitute he can’t call Usami a cheap piece.  We know that Usami was raised in a normal but poor samurai family with both parents and siblings.  He feels that since he comes from a more reputable (though poor) background he has more legitimacy than Ogata which we know is the common perception of Ogata in the 27th.  We will need to know who told everyone he was Hanazawa’s illegitimate son to know how long the bullying went on for.

Usami then has self-reflective moment about how badly he’d wanted to say this to Ogata for at least a year by this point.  This has given Usami a pause to his advance and Ogata uses his tongue to push the single bullet into the open rifle. He still looks back at Usami and knows he can do this since he’s not paying close attention to Ogata crawling across the floor.

As Usami prepares the bayonet, Ogata flips the now loaded rifle towards him and Usami seems surprised.

The final page of the chapter shows what a point blank rifle shot does to Usami.  He’s been shot at close range and there is a massive blood splatter behind him, bayonet still in hand.  The chapter ends with Ogata calmly looking over his shoulder and smoke floats away from the barrel.

What a way to end the chapter!  I had been waiting for something like this for sooo long.  Usami fell in to the trap of ‘oh look at me, I’m going to let my emotions allow me to monologue’ . . . Ogata used the fact that he’s bad at close combat to crawl across the floor to the rifle.  Usami thought it was good enough to empty the rifle but he completely underestimated the tenacity of Ogata and his plan to reload his rifle in the most horny way possible. 

If Usami and Ogata are indeed pieces on a chessboard for Tsurumi, this has shown that Ogata is a much more valuable piece.  Or perhaps are all of them of equal value and Ogata just said that to rile up Usami?

Something that really stood out for me was how Usami’s approach to stab Ogata with a bayonet was very similar to chapter 5 when Sugimoto was over him about to stab him and Asirpa stops him.  Ogata then has the pause to poke Sugimoto in the face facilitating his escape.  In that instance, it was the combination of Asirpa and then Ogata that allowed for him to escape. 

With Usami, the only person in charge of Ogata’s escape is Ogata.  It this telling us that Ogata has leveled up?  He’s now taking ownership for saving himself?  No one else came to his aid, he did it all on his own a change for him since when they were in Edogai’s house, Sugimoto had to save him from the random guy from the 27th. . . . Just something to ponder.

Either way lets get to 256 where the action continues!

The chapter stards with Usami falling back as Ogata on autopilot ejects the spent shell to ready the rifle to be loaded and fired.

Usami tumbles down the stairs and Ogata pulls out another clip to load the rifle. As wounded as Usami is, he moves quickly enough to get out of visual range of Ogata.  He holds on the the railing of the stairs as he bleeds out his back and realizes his spat with Ogata isn’t important.

He needs to tell something to Tsurumi.  Is it what he saw on Kadokura?

Meanwhile Ueji is messing around with the firefighters.  He’s pulled on some of the hoses and begins to climb up the ladder as people wonder what he’s trying to do and Usami exits at ground level.

Usami finds the horses for the fire engine around the same time that Sugimoto kicks Jack out the window.  This inadvertently catches Ogata’s attention.  Ogata then looks out the window to spot Usami on one of the horses below.

Usami is pretty rough, holding onto his chest where Ogata shot him.  Ogata takes his time to set up his shot, breaking the glass and resting his rifle on a crossbar in the frame.  Ogata then tells Usami that if he’s that worried about being a cheap piece .  . . he needs to know what Tsurumi’s face looks like at his funeral.

Ogata has made it clear that Usami is not making it to Tsurumi alive.  His goal is to stop him. 

I think that Ogata is drawing on his own personal experience and observations of Tsurumi.  He knows that his mother was a ‘cheap piece’ to his father since he never came to her funeral.  He also got to see Hanazawa’s dying facial expression which let him know what little he thought of him as the son he ignored.  Ogata also knows Tsurumi well enough that he’ll reveal how he feels about Usami in death, so really if Tsurumi cares about him, he’ll get what he wanted.  Ogata likely has mixed feelings on this; his own experience is that no one cares about others in death, and he likely wants Tsurumi to be cold and calculating not giving Usami what he wants. 

To snipe Usami, Ogata levels up, Usami is able to round the corner of the building, but thanks to Sugimoto kicking Jack out a window it is now open.

Sugimoto then is walking away from the open window and another window faces towards Usami.  Noda ramps up the tension of Ogata aiming at the open window where Sugimoto is. . . . but just as Sugimoto moves out of the line of fire Ogata takes aim and fires.

We get a unique bullet view of his shot!  Oh no? Has Ogata decided to snipe Sugimoto instead?  Pfffttt!  Of course not.  Ogata is the type of sniper who gets his mark.  His shot enters Usami’s back and exits his chest likely near his heart.

This tells us several things.  Ogata really doesn’t give a damn about Sugimoto.  He could have shot him, but really why?  There is no point, his target was Usami.  He’s off to rely information to Tsurumi. 

I also wonder if Sugimoto even heard the shot after he walked away from the windows?  There was no indication as such in 255.  All of these events highlight that Ogata’s goals have nothing directly to do with Sugimoto and his flawed reasoning that Ogata is out to get him really needs a reality check.

Back to the action, Usami falls off the horse and is dramatically caught in Tsurumi’s arms.  Usami looks at Tsurumi while Ogata thanks him.

He then removes his bandage to reveal a glass eye and he declares that he is now completed as a sniper.  This refers back to when he was retraining how to to use a rifle with Hijikata.  He stated he would only be a sniper, if he actually killed a person not more ducks.

For comedic effects, his glass eye pops out and he catches it.  It looks like Ogata now has historical overlap with the French Canadian sniper Leo Major.

The chapter returns to Usami dying before Tsurumi.  He hands over he copy of a skin that he got from Kadokura.  He then begins to speak about Kadokura, while Tsurumi looks down at him softly telling him he’s done well.

Usami reaches to touch Tsurumi’s face.  There is then a very uncomfortable scene where Tsurumi sucks on his pinky finger before he bites it off.  He tells Usami that this will allow them to live on together.  He tells him that he’ll be living inside him as his number one friend.

So, unlike saving Olga and Fina’s finger bones he took from Russia, he’ll just digest and absorb Usami instead. . . .

Usami than smiles as he dies, telling Usami that he’s so happy that he’s going to come from the feeling as he starts to call him by his first name before he dies in Tsurumi’s arms.  The next panel shows Tsurumi holding him in his arms.

As a nerd with a minor in art history, I immediately noticed that this was a reference to Michelangelo’s famous sculpture of Jesus laying in the arms of the Virgin Mary, the pieta. 

First, based on how Usami’s death impacts Tsurumi, he can rest assured that he wasn’t a cheap piece.  Second, Tsurumi has stood in for the Virgin Mary again in the context of scenes.  I’m honestly curious where Noda is going with this Tsurumi = Virgin Mary bit.

The chapter then ends with Ueji standing on the smokestack of the brewery looking for everyone’s attention.  I guess he wants everyone to try to attack him at once?  Or is he going to jump to his death and result in the destruction of his tattoo making things impossible?

Overall impressions for the events of these two chapters.

1.) Jack was a lame convict.  He did not interest me and his only importance was to get Asirpa to recognize her PTSD when she really tried to threaten him.

2.) Noda tried to tease the readers with Sugimoto-Ogata conflict but it shows that Ogata doesn’t look at Sugimoto the same way he looks at Ogata.   Sugimoto thinks Ogata is messing around, an agent of chaos, but this is anything but that fact.  It also shows again that Sugimoto thinks he’s more critical in the gold hunt than he is.  Asirpa is key, he’s just going along for the ride and Hijikata has tried to eliminate him, as has Ogata, Tanigaki and Tsurumi.

3.) Asirpa is showing finally that she was impacted by when she shot Ogata.  About time, then again, Asirpa and Ogata are very similar characters with strong internal compasses and repress their feelings.

4.) Ogata has returned to wild-type.  The past few chapters he has been on fire.  He out smarted Vasily, and was able to defeat Usami.  Many of us wondered if his sniping days were over - he has proven otherwise, but him sniping Usami was both defensive and a highly tactical decision.  It seems that Ogata has gained a new will to live, he fought his way out of very difficult situations and did everything alone (and with the help of his Yuusaku subconsciousness).  It appears that Tsurumi’s statement of not wanting to have him fighting against you holds up and his own name that he is a single man but equal to one hundred.  Ogata also shows even if he may have emotions and feelings about how others treat/perceive him, he doesn’t like it cloud his judgement or actions.

5.) Usami got the death he wanted.  I’m a little annoyed that Usami got the death he dreamed of, he gained praise from Tsurumi and was told how much he cared about him.  Usami died happy in his arms.  Perhaps, this indicates a sort of guilt/responsibility that Tsurumi felt towards young Tokishige back in Niigata?  If he didn’t have Usami judo fight his friend, maybe he wouldn’t have snapped and become a perfect and loyal solider.

That’s all I have for now.

[elenajohansenreads]

Tag Game

Tag some people you would like to know better/catch up with!

Thank you for tagging me @the-forest-library!

Last song: I haven’t listened to any music yet today, and I was grooving to Collective Soul yesterday while I was writing. The last song on rotation was “Smashing Young Man.”

Last movie: My answer for this hasn’t changed in a while, I watch a lot more tv than movies. So it’s still The Old Guard. Someday, I will probably watch another movie. I don’t know when.

Currently watching: [ponders how many seasonal anime to list] Akudama Drive, Jujutsu Kaisen, Moriarty the Patriot, Golden Kamuy, Adachi to Shimamura, and several others but I just listed my five favorites. Also, we’re rewatching the first season Director’s Cut of Re: Zero (to wrangle our brains around the reveals of the second season) and also I’m still just over halfway through A Discovery of Witches S1, NaNo pushed that off to the side and I haven’t gotten back to it.

Currently reading: You caught me in between books. I’m playing this tag game to procrastinate doing “real” work like NaNoWriMo and writing a book review. But I finished Fool’s Quest about twenty minutes ago, and though I haven’t been reading series back-to-back all that often, it ended on a pretty serious cliffhanger in both major character POVs, so I’m probably going to start Assassin’s Fate this afternoon. Probably.

Currently craving: emotional support and connection from someone I don’t already live with. I miss having friends. Adult friendship is so hard!

Tagging: literally anyone who wants to play, I’m low on spoons today to pick specific people

[yukiwrites]

The Pain of Distance

For Corrianderweek, Day 3: Thinking of Each Other, Even Apart

______________________________

The Rainbow Sage's words had been clear in guiding Kamui's path towards the Bottomless Canyon once and for all. The true battle would start once they all jumped towards the World Below.

In addition to the priceless information, the dragon princess' blade had received a new power -- once it conjoined with its sibling legendary weapons it would draw out the potential to slay an Old God.

There Kamui's ragtag army stood: at the borders of Notre Sagesse, stationed for the last night before they set out to fulfill their destiny. Needless to say, the princess was restless: sleep evaded her as did anxiety grasp her beating heart with its thin, unescapable claws. Sighing, Kamui sat under a far off tree, not wanting to let her allies see her look so disheartened -- they followed her for her enthusiasm, after all! She then did her own personal ritual to calm herself down; something that she's never failed on doing every single night since she left her rightful home, Nohr: She carefully took out the ring her beloved Xander had given her once upon a distant past -- so distant, in fact, it felt as though it all happened in a previous life.

Kamui closed her eyes, bringing the ring to her lips. But it hadn't been. She believed in Xander.

Memories of their rushed meeting at Cyrkensia flooded her mind, allowing her shoulders to sag visibly. Xander had believed in her then by simply looking in her eyes to see the love that still overflowed through them onto his own skin. He would believe in her again; she knew that.

She had faith in him. By believing in Xander, Kamui knew she could draw strength for her own self as well -- since she was only at her best while she had him by her side. She was only whole by having Xander with her, holding her hand, holding her diminutive body into his endless warmth... Ah, thinking of him truly did wonders to lighten Kamui's mood, though it brought an equally deep longing.

She wanted to see him! Oh, by the gods, she wanted to see him so very badly!

At her wits' end, Kamui barely fought back the tears, holding the ring so tightly inside her fist she felt her fingers growing numb.

The sensation of someone approaching snapped the princess out of her deviations, however, making her quickly stuff the necklace she hung ring onto, back under her armor. "Who's there?!" She got up, alarmed.

"Hush, do not make a fuss, child." A juvenile voice chided from the darkness of the forest, a small hand appearing out at the moonlight to call Kamui over. "C0me, and be quick about it!"

"Nyx?" Kamui tilted her head to the side. What could the young mage want, Kamui wondered? "Ah, are you feeling lonely? It IS your first night amongst so many strangers, isn't it? We can talk until-"

Nys groaned loudly, throwing her head back in disgust. "Would you please just come along quietly? And do not think me a helpless child! I am much, much older than you are." She lifted her hand before Kamui could even retort. "And no, I do not want to talk about it." She added, then sighed. "Just come with me, alright? I felt a very strange presence looming around camp and figured you, as the leader, should know about."

Kamui flinched, her hand instinctively reaching for her Yato. "Is it an enemy? Should we notify everyone?" She whispered, following Nyx's soundless steps closely. It was most interesting -- despite being shorter and supposedly a runaway, Nyx ported herself with the dignity and grace of a seasoned mage; the way her steps uttered no sound could only mean she was using magic to nullify it.

The mage took one finger to her lips, shushing calmly. "No... I do not think this is an evil presence per se, but it is most strange... Come, let us get closer so I can confirm it." Nyx led the way through tall and low vines, barely even touching the vegetation as she did so.

Once they've walked for a few minutes, Kamui herself started sensing something... odd in the air. It felt repugnant as only the Faceless did, though not in a dangerous way. It was most puzzling. "I think I know what you meant now, Nyx." She murmured, pulling a large leaf out of the way so she could cross from a tight tree trunk to another.

"Shh!" Nyx raised one hand. "There, see?" She pointed to an unsuspecting Faceless some good ten meters away from them, at the mouth of an extensive prairie.

Kamui squinted to be able to discern what was shadow and what was monster from the silhouette ahead of them, due to the poor moonlight shining down on them. Although one could not see its face due to the large steel mask, the Faceless seemed so at peace. It simply sat there over the grass, looking up at nowhere in particular, as though it was instructed to wait like a good boy.

There was something else, as well: the chains binding its hands and neck looked as though they were made out of gold -- they reflected the moonlight perfectly, as only very few artisans could aspire their golden crafts to.

"... That is no normal Faceless," Nyx stated the obvious, intent on adding, "those chains contain an astounding amount of magical power to bind it to obedience." Her voice was a bit above a whisper, but the moment the words left her lips, the Faceless made a sudden, sharp turn to look straight at them.

It then raised to its feet, walking towards the two in careful and slow steps, making Kamui dig her hand deep into Yato's handle, ready to strike at any suspicious movement. Well, more suspicious, anyway.

Nyx, however, stayed in place, observing the way the monster moved, her own magical power projecting itself towards the golden chains, tapping them to discern their origin.

However, as soon as hers and the monster's magic slightly touched, the Faceless started dissolving into dust. "Ah! Wait a moment-" Nyx gasped, running towards it.

As it dissolved, it simply knelt in front of them, extending both hands as though delivering something. Little by little did his body disappear, the hands the last ones to follow -- to their surprise, once they, too, disappeared, a letter with the seal of the Second Prince of Nohr took its place.

"LEO!" Kamui gasped loudly, accidentally bumping into Nyx as she ran past the mage to catch the letter before it was blown away by the wind. "What's this about- did Leo send this Faceless with a message?" She looked at both sides of the enveloppe before eagerly ripping it open.

"So it was like that..." Nyx pondered, placing one hand over her chin in thought. "This 'Leo' person must be a very skilled mage, to be able to rise a Faceless, bind it to obedience and make it travel this far out of the nohrian territory without alerting any other mages in the vicinity... Well, I was the exception, but that was to be expected. So that's what it was; I see." She finished her monologue, though it mostly fell to deaf ears as Kamui had started reading the contents of the letter. "So?" Nyx crossed her arms, trying and failing to peek over Kamui's shoulders. "What does it say?"

"T-there's-" Kamui's entire body trembled, her hands shaking so much she was barely able to discern what was written, "going to be an ambush at the Bottomless Canyon-" it took everything she had not to fall on her knees, her heart thumping so hard inside her chest she could barely hear her own voice. "B-but Leo says they'll arrive in time... Nohr is going to join us!" She laughed, not feeling the tears streaming down her face.

She was scared to read further -- the letter was almost at the end, but there was no mention of Xander anywhere... What if there was no word from him? Oh, Kamui couldn't bear-

As her thoughts spiralled in that direction, her own eyes focused on a dear, very much important word out of the blur that had become her sight: 'Xander'.

Xander! She thought eagerly, feeling her legs give out.

'PS: I can't make it very long because the length of the letter will influence the amount of magical power I'll need to use, but Xander was relentless in asking me to sign it as 'Altair'. Don't ask me why, though; I have no idea. Ask him once we meet, Sister. Yours, Leo.

- Altair'

"Ohh..." Kamui held the paper tightly into her chest, sobbing uncontrollably. Her body shook with hiccups as her mind swirled with countless memories of hers and Xander's love.

The Separated Lovers.

The constellation they saw for the first and last time on the very day Xander had given Kamui her ring in a most wonderful proposal. "It'll change..." she sobbed, "to 'The United Lovers' s-soon... w-wahh!" She cried, curling over herself, her entire body longing to hear her beloved's voice.

To feel his touch, to embrace his warmth, to welcome his hot breath... Ah, how it hurt to long for someone she loved so deeply! She could only cry to voice her pain and emotion, crumpling the letter in a hug she could not yet give to the one she wanted to hold the most.

Nyx's awkward but resolute pat in Kamui's back set the princess off even more, the tears she had been holding back for so many months flowing without restriction.

She wanted to see him! So very badly!

Her wallowing echoed in the wind, being muffled by the loud gusts of the prairie -- giving her a place to cry and as much time as the night lasted.

At what seemed to be the other corner of the world, the darkness veiled an obscure castle built into a canyon. A lone, golden haired prince looked up to the stormy sky, wishing for good weather. "My Vega... No, my Kamui. Soon, my love. Soon, we will be together." He clutched his chest, closing his eyes. "Never to part again."

[lostinlogicerror]

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: ゴールデンカムイ | Golden Kamuy (Manga) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences, Gen Warnings: Major Character Death Characters: Tsukishima Hajime, Koito Otonoshin, Minor mentions of other characters Additional Tags: canon compliant till chapter 198, reflection, angst, reaching inner peace, first fic Summary:

Tsukishima reacts to Koito's death.

By the time he catches up to the group, everyone's already in upheaval.

Between Asirpa's haunted looks, Sugimoto's fervorous muttering, and Private Tanigaki's disjointed explanations, he's trying to grasp the entirety of the situation. Ogata's escaped. But that's not the worst of it.

That’s not the worst of it.

The revelation doesn't quite sink in until Tanigaki hurriedly leads him inside the hospital and straight to the room, left in quite a disarray. Tsukishima finds his eyes inadvertently drawn to the pool of dark red blood staining the floor and-

Inhaling sharply he forces himself to close his eyes.

Anything to postpone having to confront the picture in front of him, confirming his worst fears.

He knew. Somehow he knew, he couldn't entrust this to- that everything's going to go downhill the moment he loses from his sight this ragtag team consisting of uncertain allegiances, conveniently heading off and leaving only him behind in Nivkh village. He's still surprised at how quickly it all unravels.

He's trying to imagine feverish Ogata - still coming down from his anesthesia, highly strung out on narcotic pain relievers no doubt - somehow getting better of and outwitting these experienced and trained adult men, making his grand escape through the harsh snowy terrain in unforgiving cold, soon to freeze to death if he hasn't already and for the first time in ever Tsukishima wonders whether he might be in fact dreaming.

Perhaps he's still stuck in trenches, bleeding out, living out his mind's last inexplicable delusions. Perhaps he's drawing his last breath in one of the numerous medical tents, in spite of medics' best efforts. That'd certainly explain the familiar unpleasant smells invading his nostrils.

Hesitant words coming from Tanigaki who's apparently still by his side almost startle him, bringing him back to present.

Whether Tanigaki's offering him words of sympathy or asking for further directions, it doesn't matter, he's only half-listening to what he has to say.

(is this what leading people truly is like? oh he doesn't envy it)

He knows he should get a move on and think of ramifications later but his body won't listen.

(were these two to seize this opportunity and make a run for it now, he wouldn't be able to stop them. still, if it comes to it, he figures sooner or later Asirpa's going to make her way back to them of her own volition, with or without Sugimoto's say so)

It occurs to him briefly, the unbidden thought at the back of his mind, he wouldn't be so helpless right now if he didn't throw himself bodily in front of that blast.

But who could have foreseen this? This mission should have been a confirmed success already, everyone heading safely back home once Tsukishima recovered enough to be able to travel. Perhaps some of Koito's optimism has rubbed off him after all.

Look where that got them. The lifeless limp body, vacant stare, a face contracted in a seemingly angry grimace.

Tsukishima's finally looking at him, properly, truly sees him, and - much to his own trepidation - he feels nothing.

He's worn out and numb and unable to muster anything beyond that.

Just mere hours ago this homesick kid (he should have been considered a kid no longer and yet) was cheerfully reminiscing about his parent, looking forward to receiving the fatherly approval for a job well done.

(something Tsukishima himself did not understand but didn't begrudge him that, however immature Koito’s motivations might have seemed sometimes. if anything, it was commendable in a way, that genuine desire for his father's attention, wanting to be recognized as his own person and not his brother's substitute, he supposed it was why he went along with his feigning of sea sickness)

But the next moment he was clumsily pushing food into Tsukishima's mouth - missing his mark - his eyes twinkling and cheeks blushing red from excitement; Tsukishima already forgotten, when young lad's mind was already too preoccupied with the prospect of reuniting with First Lieutenant and receiving his oh so highly sought out and earned praise.

Except it wasn't earned, now was it, not really - Tsukishima bitterly mused to himself. But it wasn’t his place to correct him and disabusing him from these notions would be counterproductive.

There would be still time for Koito to shed this youthful ignorance, surely...

Except by the time he was his age, Tsukishima has already participated in the war. He's already tainted his fists with his bastard of a father's blood. He's already been thrown in the prison, resigned to his fate, having learned the harsh realities of life the hard way.

Just another unremarkable and insignificant footsoldier, dealt a poor lot in life. Yet deemed worth saving by First Lieutenant Tsurumi based on his merit as a soldier and a person alone. Not his birthright, no bright future prospects, and no political nor tactical importance had any say in the matter.

Tsukishima feels like he himself has - at some point - bought into this notion everything would just line up for him neatly, allowing Koito to take all the credit, and if that wasn’t enough to let him realize his true potential, he’d be granted another chance, and then another, and another, the world ever so accommodating to people like him. People meant for great things.

Now he’s staring, almost transfixed, at all that squandered potential lying in a puddle of his own blood.

In spite of Tsukishima’s best efforts to prevent just that.

He thinks back on this whole Karafuto expedition, on Second Lieutenant’s over-reliance on him with just as troublesome refusal to follow his guidance during critical times, bringing discord in the group, putting his personal gratification over mission’s objective, lack of forethought, utter inability to inspire deference in anyone.

He thinks back to the moment right after the explosion took place, Koito’s retreating back, Tsukishima laying there gravely wounded, his screams falling on deaf ears.

Tsukishima!! Are you still alive?

Tsukishima exhales, feeling something akin to relief. For the first time, he fully understands Rear Admiral Koito's callous insistence on having his son grow into his own or die trying. He hates this realization.

He doesn’t ponder on what kind of commander would Koito Otonoshin make. He doesn’t have to.

One life might have been lost today, but in exchange, many more deaths in the future due to leadership's ineptitude might have been averted.

He chooses to derive comfort from that.

[goldenkamuyhunting]

Suicide by arson, or, basically, let’s talk about Nikaidō Kōhei

No, don’t worry, I’m not trying to guess which will be Nikaidō’s future…

But let’s go in order and start with…

A PREMISE

This is another of my analysis about how Tsurumi used a ‘perverted version of love’ which is Dante Alighieri’s way to refer to the capital vices, to manipulate men to serve him and kill for him, the first one dealing with Tsukishima Hajime and his main vice, Acedia.

In the premise for that one you might find a more detailed explanation on how I came to wonder ‘can it be to depict how Tsurumi used love to manipulate his men, Noda also took inspiration by the capital vices?’ if you’re curious about it.

So, here ends the, this time very short premise and back to Nikaidō we go, and to the vice that caused his downfall, a vice that can be compared to a consuming fire, Ira.

What’s Ira, some of you might wonder?

Well, many of you probably know it by the name of ‘wrath’ and yes, you would be, more or less, spot on.

IRA

The etymology is dubious, but Ira is fundamentally a state of uncontrolled anger, rage, and even hatred, which manifests itself in violent actions, in the wish to seek vengeance and which may persist long after the person who did another a grievous wrong is dead. So yeah, you can translate it as ‘wrath’ as the meaning is more or less the same.

Now, before we start we’ve to remember that there’s a huge difference between getting angry and indulging in the vice of Ira.

Sometimes we need to get angry, sometimes it’s even the right thing to do, we should get angry at certain things… but we shouldn’t let the anger take control of us, until it’s all we can feel.

And we should remember that what turns anger into the vice of Ira isn’t if it’s justified or not, it’s if we lose control of it or not, if we overindulge in it or not.

This point is often missed but it’s valid for all the capital vices.

Being proud, not spending money easily, feeling physical attraction, loving a special food, getting angry, thinking someone is unfairly favoured or deciding to not care about something, isn’t necessarily ALWAYS a despicable capital vice.

Those are all things one actually needs to do, things that are part of being humans, things that, if we don’t do, might produce more harm than good, but in moderate, controlled amounts, otherwise, if we lose control of it, if that’s all we can think and rules our actions… well, that’s us indulging in a capital vice and letting it consume us, and Ira is maybe the most consuming one of them all, it’s a killing thing that turns people into a beast, blind them and devours them, burns them alive and consumes everything until it’s too late.

But to better get things into perspective let’s dig into Nikaidō Kōhei, the ‘Fukushū no futago kataware’ (復讐の双子片割れ “Twin bent on revenge”) and how amazing Noda’s portray of him was.

“All I care about is killing that fucker Sugimoto Saichi as soon as humanly possible!” [Chap 45]

Whoa, calm down, let’s slow down and start from the beginning, okay?

PART 1 INTRODUCTION: THE TWIN MINIONS

The first time we see Nikaidō is in chap 15.

He’s a character who’s with us by long time, and he too, like Tsukishima, at first seems to start like a nameless minion, a mob character inserted in the story to do Tsurumi’s bidding, but with a peculiarity Tsukishima didn’t have, there’s two of him.

Nikaidō, the Nikaidō I will be talking about, is the older of a pair of twins, his name is Kōhei and his younger brother is named Yōhei, their names divided just by a kanji… but, since at the beginning the two siblings are seen as a single unit, I will talk a bit about them both.

Physically they look EXACTLY the same and, since they’re both wearing a military uniform, this makes even harder to distinguish them.

To a fan who asked how to recognize who is who among them Noda replied.

Q37: Please tell me how to distinguish between the Nikaidō twins.

Noda: At the cram school I went to there were two twin brothers as well and I couldn’t distinguish between them so I’d just ask, “hey, which one are you?”. Nikaidō twins got the same treatment by Tsurumi and Co. [Q&A section from the Golden Kamuy fanbook]

So basically, not even the people in the 7th could recognize them… which… is not nice really. After all each twin is a single person in his own rights, with his own identity, tastes and experiences. Those were other times though and maybe the twins had grown so used to be considered a single unit they didn’t even realize they’re two different people.

As long as Yōhei is alive, Noda usually will depict them together, often in the same panel, often making them also physically close, their expressions more or less mirroring each other.

They are two but, to a casual reader, they seem to be a single unit, a single body with two heads like a military version of a Dōmo-kōmo (どうもこうも), a two-headed Japanese creature with gray skin which originally was the ghost of two doctors fused together, something for which we can also blame the fact that Noda tends to depict one of the two lowered and the head of the other above him.

Yet, they’re not the same and, if we pay attention to their story we can find out a small difference in their look as they don’t dress in EXACTLY the same manner. One wears puttees (Yōhei), the other wears gaiters (Kōhei).

Which yes, at first isn’t exactly helpful because whoever look at their feet to try to recognize who’s who, especially since Noda mostly shows us their faces, not their feet, but it’s still a difference between them, something that tells us ‘hey, actually they aren’t the same person, they exist as different people even in a setting that would put on them an uniform that would make them look the same’.

This too is, in a way, a hint they are more than just mob characters and, in fact, they’ll stop being as such soon enough, Noda setting the shift from nameless minions to characters rather early in the story.

PART 2 WHEN A VILLAIN IS THE HERO IN HIS OWN STORY: KŌHEI AND YŌHEI

We are at chapter 17 and, one of the first things we’ve to notice is that, differently from many other characters, the Nikaidō brothers aren’t introduced by their surname first and only later we’ll learn their name… but we’ll learn their name first and only much later we’ll learn their surname.

Kōhei (浩平) and Yōhei (洋平).

As said before, their names differ only in a kanji, which makes sense as in Japan it seems it’s pretty common to give twins similar names.

According to Golden Kamuy Central their names ironically mean:

Kōhei (浩平): 浩 “Large, generous”, 平 “Peace, flat”

Yōhei (洋平): 洋 “Large ocean”, 平 “Peace, flat”

The twins though, are pretty far from being peaceful.

As soon as we know their names their identities become visible because it immediately turns out Yōhei is the one who hit Sugimoto’s face, so this means our Kōhei is the one who wanted to kill him right then right now.

So, if we go back and rewatch the scene with this knowledge in mind, we discover they’re also slightly different in character.

The first time they face Sugimoto, Kōhei is the first to stand after being sent on the ground, and the one who basically traps Sugimoto. What he’d like to do is just to shoot him and get it done… but he tells Sugimoto to bend down because if he’ll shoot him while standing the bullet might go through Sugimoto’s head and kill other people.

It’s a cold, yet murderous and practical type of violence, aimed SOLELY at who attacked them though. Kōhei didn’t mean to make unnecessary victims, nor cause Sugimoto unnecessary pain. What he wants to do is just to kill him and be done with him.

I think for the rest of his life Kōhei will regret not shooting Sugimoto in that moment.

Yōhei instead feels the need to vent on Sugimoto as soon as the latter is helpless. Where Kōhei would just shoot him and be done with him, Yōhei first hits Sugimoto’s legs, causing him to fall, then with the butt of his rifle hits Sugimoto’s face over and over. Where Kōhei’s anger is cold, Yōhei is burning hot. He doesn’t just want Sugimoto dead like Kōhei, he wants him to suffer first.

Overall the twins have in common the fact that, although in different ways, they’re both violent and prone to vengeance.

These traits will remain.

When they go see Sugimoto after he had been captured, Yōhei suggests cutting his guts to see if he would be healed the day after (ironic since he’ll be the one who’ll get his guts cut out) and then plans to cut his fingers to force him to talk. When they go into the room again, Yōhei is the one who wants to do the job of finishing off a tied Sugimoto. Yōhei is the younger, but he clearly wants to be the one to do those sorts of things.

Between the two he’s the most violent, the one who longs for violence.

Kōhei instead remains dismissive, colder and more rational. He doesn’t believe Sugimoto is ‘Sugimoto the immortal’, he tells his brother they can’t kill him or they won’t get info from him, and when they decide to kill him Kōhei is the one who realize they can’t use a gun or they’ll do too much noise… and have Yōhei hand him the gun because he likely doesn’t believe Yōhei would manage to control himself and not use it.

Kōhei had no idea that in this way he would let Yōhei defenceless against Sugimoto (since Sugimoto managed to steal Yōhei’s bayonet as they were talking) and this is probably another thing Kōhei will never forgive himself for.

It’s worth to note that, until now, we weren’t given a backstory for Nikaidō, we only have a bunch of extra info, like how he come from Shizuoka and how he was part of Ogata’s rebel group... and likely his brother was part of it as well.

We don’t know if they were always so violent or if war changed them the same way it changed so many soldiers.

What we know is Noda chose one of them to pose Sugimoto a question during the flashback in which Sugimoto pulls off the sledge Toraji and offers it for Tsukishima.

“Are you sure?”

I like to think the one asking it is Kōhei, who, prior to Yōhei’s death, proved not liking causing unnecessary deaths and who knows that Sugimoto’s actions mean the other soldier will die if they take his sledge.

So, overall, I don’t think Noda wanted to depict them as heartless from the start… but honestly I’m not sure we’ll get a backstory because it can be that this is all that is to Kōhei.

He was a soldier who has grown not to think too much of killing people but still didn’t relish in killing and hurting, a soldier who deeply cared for his little brother and then… he lost said little brother and his world shattered. And he changed.

So it can be there’s no flashback because we don’t need it. War might have damaged him, but Kōhei’s breaking point was Yōhei’s death, not something happening in his past. What will cause him to sink into the vice of Ira is just this. He lost his brother and went mad with grief and anger as a result. He changed and became another man, no more Kōhei but Nikaidō, a mix of himself and his brother.

But we’ll get there later.

For now let’s look at something else.

There’s something else worth mentioning in the introduction of Nikaidō and that Noda sets up well.

As soon as the twins appear on the door of the soba shop in which Sugimoto is in, asking where’s the guy looking for tattoos, Sugimoto attacks them, hitting them as hard as he can.

Both twins will get a bloody nose out of that attack.

Sugimoto will then proceed to attack another soldier, sending him on the ground and then slamming his foot on his face.

At a first glance this, for a reader, is no big deal since we were still in the mind setting they’re nameless minions of a bad guy and Sugimoto is the hero.

We’re supposed to cheer for Sugimoto and those are random minions, who cares if he maims them a little? In tales minions exist just for the hero to knock them down, it’s hard readers will stop thinking Sugimoto is doing something bad hitting them when they’re merely doing their job, after all the 7th division had previously attacked him, so why should he restrain himself?

And that’s the moment in which the Nikaidō twins start to slowly stop being minions and become characters.

Not only because, as said before, they start to show their differences in characters but also because they return what Sugimoto did to them and their companion by beating up his face in retaliation.

Normally, even when nameless minions get the upper hand for plot reasons, they don’t go for retaliation. No, that’s something characters do, because characters have characterizations, minions only have roles.

Those two retaliate and retaliate as hard as they got if not worse, setting violence as their main character trait.

They’re among the most violence prone characters of GK, longing to maim/kill their opponents.

What’s more, if we acknowledge them as characters, it’s Sugimoto who wronged them FIRST, who attacked them first (which really wasn’t a good move as it made him even more suspicious in Tsurumi’s eyes) when they merely asked where he was.

Many in the fandom normally see Nikaidō as a ‘villain’ but if “Every villain is the hero of his own story” this fist meeting set up as villain of Nikaidō’s story Sugimoto.

And what a villain Sugimoto will be for him, a villain way more terrible than Ogata for Vasily.

Noda really outdid himself in this one, escalating things so that his relationship with Sugimoto will keep on worsening till the breaking point.

In fact later, the twins will be in Tsurumi’s office, hearing Tsurumi speaking with Sugimoto. Again, they still seem nameless minions… but there’s a third man in the office and yet we don’t see his face and the characters don’t interact with him… but the same can’t be said for the twins.

They aren’t just shown laughing as Tsurumi cheerfully will confirm he’s missing a part of his brain, they will interact again with Sugimoto… and guess what? Sugimoto will remark his role as villain in their story.

Now, to Sugimoto’s credit, he has the tendency to act aggressive and confident when he’s cornered, so as not to look as such therefore he’s not really doing it for the evolz or pure sadism.

So, when Tsurumi recognizes him for ‘Sugimoto the immortal’, the one who caused Ogata to end up in a hospital and the twins stop him from leaving, punting at him their rifles and telling him to sit down again, Sugimoto attacks them verbally.

He complains about having been hit by them (completely overlooking he hit them first) and blaming them for looking the same he demands they put a mark on their forehead so he can recognize who’s who, shifting on them the blame of how people can’t recognize them.

It’s worth to mention Sugimoto didn’t say ‘assholes’ that’s added in the translation to better drive in Sugimoto’s tone. His ‘omae-ra’ is just a not polite but neither offensive “you” (plural).

‘Omae-ra sokkurida na? Jū de ore o nagutta no wa dotchida? Shirushi o tsuke toke yo o deko toka ni’

おまえらそっくりだな？銃で俺を殴ったのはどっちだ？印をつけとけよおでことかに

Lit: “You look exactly the same, right? Which one hit me with a gun? Make a mark on your forehead.”

Regardless, this is said to anger them, and it works as a charm as they swear to kill him again.

‘Koroshitayoru’

殺したよる

“I’ll kill you.”

If they didn’t like Sugimoto first, now they like him even less and from here it will only go worse. As they’re violent and vengeful, they make Sugimoto a visit as he’s held prisoner with the aim to hurt/kill him to get him to talk.

Of course, part of the visit might be because they’re in the rebel group. Maybe, like Tamai, they wanted information from him BEFORE Tsurumi would get them… and later decided it would be more convenient for their rebel group to kill him off. Maybe.

People often wonder why and how Ogata joined the rebel group but the truth is we don’t know the details about the Nikaidō brothers either, and often we don’t worry about them, so focused as we are on the main characters.

Anyway Sugimoto will manage to turn tables on them and break Yōhei’s tooth, making them now physically different and, obviously, also making them even more vengeful toward him. Honestly Sugimoto here acted in self defence, but prisoners at the time had no right to defend themselves and Sugimoto also taunt them, worsening things.

In the end Sugimoto will survive the meeting but, at this point Tsurumi himself will understand the twins must not be let near Sugimoto. Tsurumi can see where this is heading, it had gotten too personal with them, someone is going to get killed.

Can you notice the crescendo in the Ira, how they’re already showing the signs they’re into this vice?

Sugimoto hurt them, they retaliated beating him and wanting to kill him.

Sugimoto made fun of them, they went in his prison to hurt him even if their boss wouldn’t like it.

Sugimoto broke Yōhei’s tooth and made fun of them and they decide they’ll kill him even if Tsurumi forbids it.

Kōhei was, at the start, a bit colder than Yōhei, but it was Ira all along for both.

And Ira is what signs their downfall as, when attempting to murder Sugimoto, Yōhei get killed, while Kōhei is right out of the room, so close and yet unaware of what was going on until it was too late.

It’s the third thing Nikaidō probably can’t forgive himself and what, in his mind broken by the death of his brother, ultimately will cause him to see Sugimoto as THE GREATEST VILLAIN OF ALL.

Yōhei will die, Kōhei will survive and will later become the Nikaidō we know.

Of the two, we can say Yōhei had the better fate.

Still, the Nikaidō we know didn’t exactly have birth immediately after Kōhei’s death. Short after it we’ll see he’s still in Tsurumi’s army and, apparently, his mind works well enough as he faces Ushiyama.

People tend to think little of Nikaidō because he’s often used as a comic relief (it’s a bit like when people judge Shiraishi dumb when he can be rather smart) but it’s Nikaidō who manages to shoot Ushiyama’s shoulder and we’ll see this will incapacitate Ushiyama for a while.

But he’s still ‘just Kōhei’ to us, and we might not have realized Noda has set him up for more than just being a minion.

PART 3 WHAT REMAINS OF THE TWINS: PRIVATE FIRST CLASS NIKAIDŌ

We learn Kōhei’s surname, the name with whom we’ll learn to call him regularly, when Tsurumi, after having been told Ogata has disappeared from hospital, is informed that Private First Class Nikaidō Kōhei has been missing by quite a bunch of days (by the way, that flashback tells us that Kōhei, in his first apparition, was the one on top of his brother).

And then we see him, Nikaidō, with Ogata in Huci’s house. And maybe it’s Noda who forgot about it or maybe it’s deliberate, but, during the chase we’ll discover this time Nikaidō isn’t wearing anymore gaiters. He’s wearing puttees like his brother used to do.

I like to think it’s deliberate and it’s our first hint that Kōhei is somehow merging with Yōhei in his mind but honestly, I’ve no idea if that’s the case.

So let’s talk a bit about this Nikaidō.

He’s with Ogata, who’s a superior private and therefore higher in rank than him, and it’s clear Ogata is in charge and Nikaidō is taking orders from him.

We don’t know if it was Ogata’s idea for Nikaidō to give Huci a backrub, maybe, maybe not, we probably will never learn the truth.

Anyway the fact they belong to a rebel group start to take shape, that maybe it was just Ira what moved the twins actions toward Sugimoto, but maybe there was also something more.

It’s the second time Ogata leaves the division without permission, and we were told Nikaidō, who’s with him, did just the same for a bunch of days before. Although Tanigaki is clearly afraid they’re there for Sugimoto (and maybe they were), as soon as they see him their interest focus on Tamai, Noma and Okada and what had been of them. They both don’t think Tanigaki could have been saved by Sugimoto and both mistake his nervousness for him being responsible for Tamai and Co’s death and trying to cover it up.

The whole of the Ogata/Nikaidō cooperation serves to establish their characters through the contrast between their actions and reactions, as well as the reactions they get from Tanigaki despite their apparent common goal.

Tanigaki is overall submissive with Ogata, a superior officer, but doesn’t let himself be put down by Nikaidō.

Tanigaki and Nikaidō know each other, they’re of the same rank, but they clearly don’t seem to be on friendly terms.

Nikaidō shows, same as Ogata, he is capable to catch the problems in Tanigaki’s answers and don’t swallow them blindly.

Tanigaki should have delivered a message to explain the situation, the fact he didn’t do was suspicious. While Ogata acts calm and in control, Nikaidō’s remark is vaguely insulting, aimed at getting a reaction and, in a way, it gets one.

It’s also worth to note that, differently from the anime, Ogata is represented as serious though the initial part of the questioning, where Nikaidō is the one who is smiling.

Anyway Tanigaki feels danger is approaching and tells Osoma to bring Huci away, which makes things even more suspicious.

Maybe Ogata would have waited some more, seen if he could get more info from Tanigaki without compromising himself, but Nikaidō has already drawn his conclusions and he’s ready to act.

The panel shows him slipping in anger, in his vice of Ira, as he grabs painfully Huci’s shoulders and asks darkly ‘Corporal Tamai told you, didn’t he?’

Tanigaki won’t immediately connect the dots, he’ll just get angry because Nikaidō seems to be hurting Huci for no apparent reason.

Ogata takes back control, outright demanding if Tanigaki killed the others… but, differently from Nikaidō, without giving away WHY Tanigaki could have done that.

Nikaidō is set up to be smart enough to understand Tanigaki is hiding something, but Ogata is set up to be smarter than him and much more in control.

Of all the cast of Golden Kamuy, Ogata is the one who’s less prone to fall into the vice of Ira, remaining cold and collected, so it’s an interesting choice to pair him up with Nikaidō, because it generates contrast.

As Tanigaki looks at his rifle, Nikaidō aims his gun at Huci, taking advantage of his position behind her, basically threatening Tanigaki to use violence if he tries something… which is exactly what Nikaidō wants to do. In what is a call back to when he wanted to kill Sugimoto there and now in their first meeting, he’ll reveal, in some more panels, he would have liked to kill Tanigaki right there right now and not waste his time trying to do it later.

Nikaidō is changed though.

Previously Nikaidō worried not to involve others when he would shoot Sugimoto, now he doesn’t care if Huci and Osoma, an old woman and a little child, get involved.

It’s not because they’re Ainu, Nikaidō could be respectful with Inkarmat. It’s just that they’re in the way and this new Nikaidō doesn’t care about involving bystanders anymore.

After all, if he hadn’t worried and had immediately shot Sugimoto when he had met him, his brother would have still be alive.

Back to the plot, Ogata doesn’t bother aiming his rifle. He differentiates from Nikaidō as he doesn’t want to use violence right there, nor threaten Tanigaki into compliance. He has turned Tanigaki’s rifle useless by removing the stopper and wants to question Tanigaki further without compromising himself.

Although Tanigaki shows that he wants to protect Huci and Osoma by begging him not to hurt them, he doesn’t use them against him to extort information, no, he decides they’ll leave and take Nikaidō away, but first asks Tanigaki about Sugimoto. That’s ironically the only thing on which Tanigaki was ready to lie about, so, this time, he manages to do so.

When Ogata tells him to leave with him, Nikaidō obeys but it turns out from a discussion taking place short later, this wasn’t what Nikaidō wanted.

Nikaidō doesn’t care anymore about not killing innocents, like in the past he tells Ogata they should have just killed Tanigaki and be done with it, but this time didn’t care they would end up involving and having to kill Osoma and Huci.

Ogata decided against killing Tanigaki there exactly to spare them, setting up Nikaidō as someone who now is more murder prone and violent than Ogata is and that Kōhei was when they met Sugimoto.

Yes, this is the start of Nikaidō spiralling downward.

We saw Tanigaki looking down at Nikaidō, it’s possible Tanigaki never liked him or that he just didn’t like him due to the situation they were in, it’s hard to say. What we know is that Tanigaki thinks that even if he were to kill Ogata, Nikaidō wouldn’t escape.

Nikaidō is fearless. And stubborn. Two dangerous traits.

We discover also Nikaidō is in the rebel group with Ogata… but now his interest in the rebellion is fraying away. Now all he wants is to kill Sugimoto… or, in alternative, to go back home. He can’t stand Hokkaido any longer.

And even though he sounds angry as he says so, it’s clear his anger, which already was present in him, has also turned into a maladaptive copying mechanism to deal with his loss. He’s pushing all the blame for Yōhei’s death on Sugimoto. He’s probably thinking if he kills him he’ll feel better… he won’t feel guilty, he won’t feel that crushing pain for the missing Yōhei.

Killing Sugimoto is slowly becoming all he cares about.

Not the gold, not his companions.

Killing Sugimoto.

He’s still not completely lost though.

It’s Tsurumi who gives him the final push.

When Tsurumi captures him after he had been attacked by a bear, Nikaidō does not flinch as the latter cut his ear off, nor he falters as Tsurumi promises him torture.

No, what wins him over is Tsurumi’s promise he’ll be allowed to indulge in his vice of Ira and avenge his brother.

“How about I let you kill Sugimoto?”

This is all it takes to win Nikaidō’s loyalty. He immediately gives Tsurumi a name, Komiya, and goes back on being loyal to him.

Sugimoto Saichi’s death is all he wants, all he cares, it’s his obsession, his way to soothe the pain, to fill the void Yōhei’s death has caused.

As far as we know he doesn’t resent Tsurumi for what he did TO HIM or, if he does, as of now, he never tried to take revenge. No, all he cares is killing Sugimoto who murdered HIS BROTHER.

However all this also lead him into an unhealthy mindset.

Nikaidō will become more and more unhinged, carrying around the ear Tsurumi cut, claiming it’s Yōhei, talking to it as if the ear were Yōhei himself, for example saying to it he agrees that Ogata is an exceptional yet dangerous soldier but they never really liked him [Chap 58].

Later, he notices ‘Yōhei’s’ ear looks like Tsurumi’s so he asks Tsurumi to give him his ear, asking him if he doesn’t feel sorry for how Yōhei was left stuck with only one ear, causing Tsurumi to promise him he could have his ear once Tsurumi is dead (although unlikely I wonder if this originally was planned to foreshadow it).

Nikaidō is serious about this, about finding another ear for his brother, we can see him searching for one in Edogai’s house as well, although he’ll conclude only Tsurumi’s ear could match. Later Edogai will somehow sympathize with him enough he’ll make him an headgear in which Nikaidō can insert Yōhei’s ear right against his kin so that he can comfortably speak with it.

Nikaidō continues to think that killing people is the easiest way to deal with problems, in fact he suggests killing Edogai and search his house instead than just talk to him... but what’s really worth to point out though that, despite the previous betrayal and how Nikaidō now is unhinged, Tsurumi continues to use him.

However it’s not Noda involves Nikaidō in the plot just because he’s a face familiar to readers or to show Tsurumi is keeping him under control.

Nikaidō is good at close combat, in Yubari we’ll see him putting Hijikata in troubles (even though Hijikata is still more awesome than him) and in Abashiri we’ll see him putting up an impressive fight with Sugimoto, even though the latter will manage to prevail. He also cool headed enough he can direct the assault at Edogai’s house.

Nikaidō is more than a comic relief, he’s a seriously dangerous fighter with a stubborn streak.

But Nikaidō’s whole being is possessed by his wish of revenge, by the Ira he feels for Sugimoto.

We see it in chap 82, the chapter named ‘Nikaidō’ like he is.

Nikaidō was leading well that mission and, although Hijikata is amazing, Nikaidō was still managing to hold his ground, pushing him on the ground and getting above him even though Hijikata, despite being older, is somewhat stronger than him.

However, as soon as Nikaidō ears Sugimoto’s voice calling Hijikata, he loses it. Even the visual seems to represent him burning, his Ira and wish of revenge possessing him as he completely forget Hijikata and attempts to stand to go fight with Sugimoto.

And Noda shows us immediately what a huge mistake this is as it gives Hijikata the chance to attack from behind, cutting Nikaidō’s leg.

In a way it’s a cold shower for Nikaidō as this, despite the loss of his leg, allows him to focus back on Hijikata and hide before the latter could deal the finishing blow. Hijikata will be forced to retreat with Sugimoto and Ogata due to the place burning… and Nikaidō too will have to escape, leaving his leg behind.

The new mutilation harms Nikaidō’s psychological state.

Chap 94 delves in this and, although it does in a humorous way, Nikaidō’s situation is clearly serious. He begins to talk more with Yōhei’s ear and laments how YŌHEI’s leg got burned in Edogai’s house so he can’t go after Sugimoto and kill him with his leg missing.

We can see here that Nikaidō is starting to consider his own body as ‘Yōhei’s body’. He started with his own ear, which became Yōhei’s and now he’s moving to his own leg as well... but we can also see another side of Nikaidō’s Ira.

His Ira as well as his wish for revenge are copying devices to face the pain of his loss.

When he thinks he can’t kill Sugimoto anymore, is Ira turns against him. He begins to steal morphine and inject himself secretly, likely more than to cope with the physical pain, to cope with the pain of his loss.

There are bags under his eyes, a clear sign he’s not well, possibly that he has troubles sleeping.

He ‘recovers’ only when Arisaka brings him a prosthetic leg which can also shoot two bullets, giving him the idea he has again a decent chance against Sugimoto.

We see Nikaidō is again back into action in the Lighting Bandit arc, where he seems back to normal, calm, in control and ready to act (despite the slipper stairs)…

...only to lose it again in Abashiri, for the same reason as before, he hears Sugimoto’s voice. Tsukishima has to physically restrain him to stop him from going to fight Sugimoto, Nikaidō protesting that he was promised to kill him. And Nikaidō won’t let go.

As Tsurumi’s men will be attacked by the convicts Kadokura freed, Nikaidō ignores his companions and still searches for Sugimoto. He finds the passage the latter has used to escape and chases Sugimoto. Alone.

Nikaidō’s poor luck allows Sugimoto to realize he’s behind him before Nikaidō could kill him, so they fight again. Sugimoto manages to send him on the ground but Nikaidō thinks he’ll use his prosthetic leg to turn tables around. Out of sheer good luck, Sugimoto, who didn’t know the prosthetic hid weapons, moves Nikaidō’s leg away.

Nikaidō’s leg fires anyway, hitting Sugimoto’s leg, which causes Sugimoto to fall. Nikaidō rises and tries to use his leg to shoot at Sugimoto’s face but, before doing so, wastes time telling Yōhei how Sugimoto is on his way to join him.

Sugimoto catches his chance to turn Nikaidō’s leg against him, so that when it fires it blows away Nikaidō’s right hand. He then rips the prosthetic leg away and uses it to beat Nikaidō into unconsciousness.

Again, Nikaidō’s blind Ira toward Sugimoto caused him to lose a body part. The past time it was his right leg, now it’s his right hand.

PART 4 CONCLUSION: DAMNATION OR SALVATION?

At this point, Noda makes something interesting.

He has Tsurumi tell Nikaidō that Sugimoto died at Abashiri. Would, knowing Yōhei’s murderer is dead, heal Nikaidō? Would, knowing the target of his Ira doesn’t exist anymore, help him to go back live a normal life? Or would Nikaidō find another target on which to vent his Ira?

Neither.

Chap 148 shows us that, after he got the news, Nikaidō turned into an empty shell of himself who remains under the blanket and doesn’t eat anything, deep into depression and apathy.

It’s worse than before, when he lost his leg as, back then, he was at least trying to steal morphine to cope with the pain. Now he’s not even doing that, he has no purpose, he’s a void.

In order to persuade him to eat, Tsurumi tries to tempt him with morphine.

Although this get some vague attention from Nikaidō, ultimately the plan fails, as Nikaidō now is also mourning the loss of his right hand and he needs said hand to eat. Or, in Nikaidō’s mind, was it Yōhei’s hand?

This time Nikaidō doesn’t let us know to whom that hand belonged.

And all this remarks even more how Nikaidō was indulging in the vice of Ira because his Ira is what allows him to get through the day. Without it, the pain of his loss is so big he’s a shell of himself.

Still, Tsurumi has uses for him, he doesn’t want to just let him die of starvation. Again, he ropes in Arisaka, who’ll give Nikaidō a prosthetic hand.

Later we’ll find out Nikaidō is then sent with Usami at Noboribetsu to heal.

In Noboribetsu he seems more healthy than when he was in the hospital in Asahikawa and he’s still willing to be faithful to Tsurumi as he gives no info to Kikuta (though we don’t know if Nikaidō knew both Ogata and Kikuta worked for Central). He shows some interest in Inkarmat and Ienaga’s fate though, but it’s unclear if it’s out of curiosity or because they might have been connected with Ogata.

However Nikaidō’s better state is actually illusory.

In chap 223 it turns out that Arisaka has been experimenting the methamphetamine his friend Nagai invented on Nikaidō, who prior to take it was lacking in energy.

So that’s what Nikaidō has turned into when he doesn’t indulge in his vice of Ira. He copes with his pain through drugs, which is a rather modern take in a way.

Ira is a vice, but it’s also what allows Nikaidō to go on without drugs. Without it, left on his own, he’s an empty shell and to go on he needs drugs. And that’s a rather interesting message.

Like Tsukishima, Nikaidō indulges in his vice to cope with what life threw to him… but differently from Tsukishima, if he drops his vice, he just can’t march forward without the aid of drugs.

Nikaidō is trapped, with no one on his side, turned into a weapon and a guinea pig Tsurumi and Arisaka can use.

Koito doesn’t realize it’s the drugs that cause him to act in a certain way and makes fun of him by HIDING HIS PROSTHETIC HAND and then placing in it Yōkan in place of the chopsticks.

Nikaidō, differently from Tsukishima, is not a popular and beloved character, beyond loving his brother to the point of madness and being a dangerous foe he hadn’t shown characteristics that made him likable… and so fans of GK, like everyone else in the story, turn their gazes away from him.

He’s left alone, like many people who fall victims of addition and is used by others who take advantage of his addition.

It’s extremely unlikely Nikaidō could even be saved, could even drop his vice and return living like a normal person.

We see how he lapses back into his maddening Ira when he sees Sugimoto, to the point he understands nothing, that he would have even hit Asirpa, everything to kill him as killing Sugimoto is his only goal, he gets to the point not only he can’t listen to reason but Tsukishima has to restrain him.

Again Nikaidō won’t manage to carry out his revenge though, at least, this time he won’t lose any limb.

The discovery though, doesn’t help him to part ways with Tsurumi. He hands him Asirpa, though he complain he was lied at but ultimately let it slide because what Tsurumi says is true, it’s better if Sugimoto is alive for Nikaidō, the thought he might get a chance to kill him helps him to carry on.

So Nikaidō remains stuck.

Nothing can save him. Even if he were to kill Sugimoto he won’t manage to free himself from Tsurumi and the hold of drug.

His vices, Ira and drugs, are basically his extremely maladaptive copying methods, are doing nothing to solve the real problem he has to face and is refusing to deal with: his grief for his brother’s death, likely combined with his sense of guilt for not managing to protect Yōhei.

Nikaidō’s mind is, in a way, gone, desperate to keep Yōhei alive by mistaking his own body for Yōhei’s.

Being killed so that he could join again with his brother would probably feel like an act of mercy to him… and it’s terrible that Nikaidō’s destruction can yes, blamed to his vices… but also to how he lost a person he loved, wasn’t able to cope with it and ended up being used by others.

Sure, his fate has dealt to Nikaidō’s terrible cards, cards that will likely only lead him to his own self destruction.

On another note… I do wonder if Noda remembers how Nikaidō was interested in Tsurumi’s ear. There’s to wonder if, before the end of the story, Nikaidō might feel like taking it on his own. We’ll see.

[s-asuke]

SasuSaku Month 2017 - Day 3 - Chemistry

SasuSaku Month 2017 – Day 3 – Chemistry AU in which the Hyuuga were somehow infected / harmed by Kaguya and their Byakugan is weakened. Yuuno Hyuga is an OC. I think Bout this becoming a multi-chap story. If you would like it to become one, send me a request, PM or just simply reply to this post!! Feedback is love!! Warnings: mild nsfw (Sasu's thirsty ass is my thirsty ass ok) "Sometimes you just gotta relax, yeah? And we have so many missions lately, so just being at the onsen with you, Sai and Sakura-chan would be ideal, watcha think?" His favorite moron was waing four golden-lined cards at him, his Sharingan nearly wanting to shoot a few black flames at the annoying cards. Ah, destiny was so cruel. Naruto Uzumaki just told him that the Rokudaime has ordered Sasuke, and the rest of the Team 7, to go to hot springs and relax. Fucking impossible, Sasuke ponders, all the while staring at the jelly he was supposed to eat. "C'mooon, teme, it would be pretty good for us! We haven't had a vacation since the war!" Sasuke doesn't say anything to the comment that jabs his heart. "Naruto, don't be an idiot. We have a lot of work. And just because I healed Neji, and the main family does not mean we can lay back and relax!" Naruto's cheerful expression visibly falls, but gets back up quick, not minding Sasuke's stern demeanor. His strict, grayish eyes, color watered down by tiredness, stare at the blue, whose are nearly scared? Sasuke softens, recognizing the fear that Naruto's orbs held – the aftermath of war was almost as terrifying as the war itself. Kaguya cast a rather potent jutsu that manifested quickly – a month after the war. Only Byakugan users were in danger – and so it seemed only a Sharingan could heal them. Which made Sasuke get out of the prison pronto, since not even Tsunade could heal this one. Their discovery of his possibly life-saving kekkei genkai was made with a help of the most revolting person. Orochimaru edo-tenseied Madara Uchiha, the only Uchiha privy to all nooks and crannies of any doujutsu. The man had a few exausting, snarky and sarcastic sessions with Sasuke – having only heard of the issue in legends and myths of his clan. At last with much bitching (they just had to summon Hashirama so he'd calm the man down, he didn't hear the end of it) Sasuke was explained with much emotional pain from Madara's side how the only special ability he had ever seen to a Mangekyou Sharingan were the ones the user could develop aside the original three; ones like Kamui and his younger brother Izuna's Healing eye, which could heal and nurture any kind of disability and disease. The only irony laying in the predicament of him not being able to heal himself. Madara said that on a whim, it could cause people to even lose memory, and since those abilities were all passed down to Sasuke by blood. Madara was very well acquainted with what Sasuke could do (he seen it in war and he had a peek at the family tree). "Hmph." The rowdy haired man would note, Sharingan passing over the scrolls. "What," Sasuke became rather impatient as of now. "It says here, that you are related to Obito Uchiha." "And?" Sasuke hides his annoyance by the fact. "That means you are related to me, too." Dead serious, Madara waits for a reaction from the younger Uchiha. "His grandmother was my illegitimate daughter. I didn't know she existed until I met Obito. And that, Sasuke, means," he traces the line that intwines with other Uchiha, passes crossings and other details until it lands on Fugaku Uchiha, "that you are my great-great-great, many greats, grandchild. Did someone from the clan continue with a specific powerful Mangekyou Sharingan?" Sasuke answers quickly, leaving no room for any remark,"Father had a Mangekyou. He was hiding it, so the clan wouldn't force him to use it to control the Kyuubi." "Only a weak leader would allow his followers to dictate him. That's straight-out moronic." Ignoring Madara and his own clear bout of rage, Sasuke continues. "There was also Shisui of the Teleportation, he had an amazing Body Flicker Tehnique, and only Ita- my brother could match him in genjutsu. He also had a particular tehnique which he had done with his Mangekyou, Kotoamatsukami, he could manipulate a person's mind and make it seem as if the decisions he would implant in their brain were their own. My brother had a Mangekyou, and had extraordinary abilities even as a young boy. That's all." "Ooh. Would you look at that; Shisui was Kagami's boy. I bet that he inherited the Amatsukami from him. Or a variation thereof. It doesn't matter, even if the kid would be interesting to fight," Madara muses, fingers languidly passing the scrolls, ignoring Sasuke's questioning gaze. "Is your brother the one who slaughtered the entire clan with Obito's help and joined Akatsuki?"asks without raising his head from the scroll. "Aa." Sasuke's dry remark doesn't put Madara off, and Sasuke was prepared to talk about uncomfortable things. "Interesting." It's silent for a bit, and then he asks something very weird. "What about your mother? Mikoto Uchiha? Did she awaken her Mangekyou?" "Hn. I have no knowledge of such a thing." "I suspect that she has." "And how did you come to such a conclusion?" Sasuke is sceptic, but Madara mentions nothing of it. "This person, Naori Uchiha, is related to her through here, and she also has the blood of my mother's sister. My mother had a great fighting power, and I even suspect she has awakened her Mangekyou before me. Your mother had a healing prowess or something?" "Not that I know of." "Very well then. I am about to teach you a very taxing healing technique, assuming that Orochimaru has taken my eyes post-war." "How can you assume such a thing?" "It's too great of a power for him to possess, at this point. He has my Rinnegan, probably both. Since they have mutated and I am dead, I have no use for them. You will absorb them rather simply: like you do jutsu. Then come back here since we have no time to waste." "Sasuke. I am... grateful. You know I am. But..." "Ugh, fine! I will come!" "Yas! I knew you would admit defeat, 'ttebayo!" Naruto shouts triumphantly, pumping his fist in the air, shoving Sasuke sideways in the process. "HEY! NARUTO!" "Heh, heh, sorry, Sasuke..." "You will be!" = It's a lonely night, as always, in the small complex Sasuke lives in. He is plagued by thoughts – a thing far more terrifying than any jutsu. Breathes in. Out. In again. Numerous times just thinking about the action... and the house feels vastly big and lonely... Somebody's voice he wishes to hear, somebody's heartbeat he wants to sleep on... he despises himself for it, but his dreams just aren't safe when he doesn't sense another person breathing, fighting, yielding, relaxing, dreaming, sighing, saying, 'Sasuke-kun, did you put away the food? The bread will go stale if you don't...', voice like a ring, small and everpresent, orbiting around him like a navigated fireball, the kind his mother liked to show him and Itachi when they were kids. "Sasuke Uchiha-san." From his sofa in the living room, he can hear them: two ex-ANBU, now Jounin, looking to take him to the Hokage's. He doesn't expect himself to be so fast as he readied his clothes and his headband, a wave of nostalgia shooting through him as his chakra flares. They are there quickly – Kakashi's silent and tired silhouette welcoming them wearily, Sasuke finding the literal sunshine emanating off the people awaiting annoying. And, well, endearing. Sakura's pink, now slightly longer hair that is the lead role in his wildest dreams and nightmares is in a braid, the toned muscle she has covered by a thin summer dress, no trace of her headband. The summer dress was so light and tight, it made him want to sallivate. "Here he is, all ready for a mission. Didn't I tell you we might have some problems with him, Kakashi-sensei?" "Well you must have mentioned," the silver-haired Hatake smirks underneath the mask, favoring the presence of his former students plus Sai. Naruto's comments are only natural to Sasuke, so he gives no reaction. "Naruto, this is a mission, after all. A mission of you four relaxing!" Good-naturedly putting his hands on his hips as he stands up from his chair, Kakashi looks over each of them. "Sai doesn't even know what the word vacation means... Sasuke thinks it's a tropical animal probably. God knows you need one, Sakura... and as for you, Naruto..." trailing off, as if not knowing whether he is finding a good word or not, he coughs up a bile,"we all know you deserve one." "Hurrah!" Loud exclamating of the blonde moron positively burst Sasuke's eardrums, he wonders what did he do to deserve this. But, in a second, he doesn't like the answer to the question. "Sakura-chan, Sai, Sasuke! Let's go to the hot baths and have a vacation like never before!" = Somehow, Sasuke is content. The futons they sleep on in the beautifully furnished inn are warm and comfortable, and he only remembers that the comfort of his own bed could rival it. So why does he fucking avoid it like plague? Because he is already plagued. Shit got real the night he finally realized that Sakura's hair is the softest fucking thing, that she reads him like a book, knowing how he breathes, all the things he hates (there's too many), how he doesn't like to eat ramen if it isn't with Dobe, or her. How he can't tolerate his eyes being nearly boiled out of his skull while Hyuga fucking Yuuno is worried about her ponytail. The utmost respect and damn near adoration for her skill and passion for medical ninjutsu, loyalty to the quite annoying person who has taught it to her, and all the nights he would make his small patrols to find her under the light of a candle, reading yet another scroll on headaches and how to remedy those caused by Rinnegan of all things, and it's their little secret. There is the second type of plague. When he can't stop thinking about how warm her eyes are, and how aflame they would be if he just sucked on her most secret place, there, in the crook of her inner things, and he would sigh, because she'd be all warm and wet and- Crap. He earned himself a hard-on. He thought of her as a specific kind of medication one couldn't take a little more than just prescribed, because if they did – he would be addicted. Like the heady scent of chemicals – so inviting, but capable of doom. He would take not the prescribed amount – he would take so much his doctor would scream at him to stop. And he would like to make her scream soon.

[goldenkamuyhunting]

Worse than evil itself, or, basically, let’s talk about Tsukishima Hajime

So you’re probably wondering if I’ve finally lost my mind. How can Tsukishima, the ‘Dainanashidan no ryōshin’ (第七師団の良心 “Conscience of the 7th” or, more literally, “Good heart of the 7th”), by many considered a good person and by, I think, everyone, considered at least one of the less evil people in the 7th, be worse than evil?

Well, whoever said I was talking about him when I said ‘worse than evil’?

But let’s go in order and start with…

A PREMISE

In chap 227 Tsurumi explained to Takeda how he had found the motivating force that could push a man to bring out all his aggressiveness and murder people without any hesitation.

Said force, according to Tsurumi, is ‘love’ and, as he said so, behind him we can see the images of Ogata, Koito, Usami and Tsukishima with the implication Tsurumi used ‘love’ to turn them into killing machines.

Skipping how Tsurumi is overlooking tons of relevant issues at play in those 4 guys, how do you use something normally considered a positive emotion like ‘love’, to turn someone into something as terrible as a murderer?

Well, it’s clear you can’t use ‘pure, selfless love’ to get this result, you’ve to use some ‘corrupted version’ of it.

And this caused me to remember something.

According to Dante Alighieri ‘capital vices are perverse or corrupt versions of LOVE for something or for another person’.

In fact Luxuria (lust), Gula (gluttony), and Avaritia (greed) are all excessive or disordered love of good things; Acedia (sloth) is a deficiency of love; Ira (wrath), Invidia (envy), and Superbia (pride) are perverted love for oneself which ends up being directed toward other's harm.

This pushed me to think ‘can it be to depict how Tsurumi used love to manipulate his men, Noda also took inspiration by the capital vices?’

After all Noda joked on the idea Tsurumi represented the devil and, of course, a devil tempts you to sin through your vices.

While possible, there’s of course no proof, and it doesn’t help that the interpretation of what are capital vices has changed over the centuries, but still I had fun pairing each of them to a character in Golden Kamuy that was tempted by Tsurumi since, although they indulged in more than one vice (the most common one being ‘Ira’ [“wrath”]), it was always a different vice what caused their downfall.

But what are capital vices, some of you might ask?

You probably better know them with the name of ‘7 deadly sins’, although this is an improper name.

The capital vices (from the Latin ‘capitalis’, which is a derivate from ‘caput’= “head”/”top” and ‘vĭtĭum’= “lack”, “defect”, but also a “deviated or crooked habit, off the right path”) aren’t exactly deadly sins, they’re mostly wrong behaviours or habits which CAUSE people end up breaking the rules set by God and therefore committing sins… like murder for example.

In short Tsurumi, by tempting people to indulge into wrong behaviours or habits, could effectively lead them to commit murder.

Yeah, yeah, I know some of those ‘capital vices’ doesn’t seem to fit with GK characters, but the trick here is you’re probably thinking at the ‘7 deadly sins’ as portrayed in media. In truth they’re a lot more complex and underwent various transformations so they aren’t as clean cut as you might have been lead to believe.

It’s also worth to point out that no, Noda didn’t pick up 7 characters and made the personification of ‘capital vices’ as you see often in many media. He just made 7 human people, like you and me and, like any human in the world, and then had them indulge in one of the ‘capital vices’ in such a way this lead them to the worst outcome possible, their ‘fall from grace’. Or, if you prefer, to ruin their own lives.

If I’ll manage to, I’ll discuss all 7 of them in future posts but, for now, I’d like to focus on just one character and let you wonder about the other 6.

So, here ends the premise and back to Tsukishima we go, and to the vice that caused his downfall, a vice that by many (to name some Plato, Leonardo Da Vinci, Voltaire, Einstain, Martin Luther King, Jr) is defined with words that imply that’s ‘worse than evil itself’, Acedia.

What’s Acedia, some of you might wonder?

Well, many of you probably know it by the name of ‘sloth’ but sloth doesn’t quite do it justice as it seems to merely imply laziness when actually the vice of Acedia is much more.

ACEDIA

From Greek ἀκηδία, ἀ- “lack of” -κηδία “care”, Acedia is a state of not caring or not being concerned with one’s position or condition in the world, with what’s happening to you and/or to others… and because you ‘don’t care’ you can end up on ‘doing nothing’ and, from here, the idea that it’s connected to ‘sloth’, ‘laziness’…

It doesn’t seem really that big of a deal, does it? It doesn’t seem one would do harm by indulging in Acedia. After all one ‘would do nothing’ so how can a person who’s doing nothing, being doing something ‘worse than evil itself’?

Well, many people much better than me at discussing and explaining this, from Plato to Martin Luther King, had been doing their best to point out how if good people ‘don’t care’, if good people ‘do nothing’ against evil, they actually are empowering it, supporting it, strengthening it, allowing it to thrive, sometimes they even end up disguising it as something good because if good people don’t fight against something… well, that something has to be good, hasn’t it? It has to be normal, it has to be right for it to exist, isn’t that it? Shouldn’t we all indulge in it, after all?

But to better get things into perspective let’s dig into Tsukishima Hajime and how amazing Noda’s portray of him was.

“But well… that’s fine with me. Getting furious about the fact that I’m being used? My life never had that much value in the first place.” [Chap 210]

Now you might think I’m going to talk about chap 210, right? But no, I’m going to talk about something different, how we got to know Tsukishima and how Noda hinted that his worst vice was Acedia.

PART 1 INTRODUCTION: THE NAMELESS MINION

There’s a trend that’s common for almost all the victims of their own vices. Although they don’t immediately get their back story to be told, we, almost always, get a hint to what the vice that caused their downfall could be really early on, if not at their first apparition, short after it.

Acedia though, is a rather complicate vice (yeah, I HAD to start from something complicate… -_-) so Noda went with a really peculiar way to hint at how this is Tsukishima’s vice and why it’s such a human vice we all could end up committing it.

So now… do you remember how Noda introduced Tsukishima, whom he defined ‘the conscience of the 7th ’ (第七師団の良心 “Dainana shidan no ryōshin”) in the presentation of the characters included in Vol 9?

When he went with Tsurumi and Nikaidō to Yubari’s cemetery in Vol 8 chap 70?

No, Tsukishima appeared much, much earlier, in vol 2 and showed up more than once afterward. If you didn’t notice him, that’s because Noda presented him as if he were merely a nameless minion, the classical minion you can find in many stories, someone who blindly obeys him and murders for his boss without questions, in short ‘someone who doesn’t care’ and is just following orders because ultimately it’s just a mere ‘plot device’, not a person with his own personality, identity and will. A nameless minion doesn’t need a reason to do what he does and, therefore, doesn’t need to care if he does good or evil, a perfect personification of Acedia.

And what Noda wants us to be the first thing we see the nameless minion we’ll later know as Tsukishima doing?

Drawing his unsuspecting superior officer, Captain Wada, outside, in an isolated area, and then shoot him in the head as per Tsurumi’s orders [Chap 13].

Q22: Who shot Wada? This question keeps me awake at night.

Noda: It was Tsukishima. [Q&A section with Noda Satoru, translation courtesy of @piduai]

Not really how you would expect ‘good person’ to be introduced, as murder is definitely something no talking cricket, pardon, ‘conscience supposed to guide us’ would be expected to commit, don’t you agree?

Why that scene doesn’t really make an impression to the point we hardly associate it with Tsukishima?

After all we all remember how Ogata shoot in the head prisoner number 1 or how Vasily attempted to do the same with that poor Orok man.

Why this shooting in the head didn’t impress us much?

Well, for start we can blame the circumstances in which it takes place.

At the time Tsurumi seemed a rightful person defending the rights of the veterans and Wada an ugly jerk who was jumping against a man due to the disfiguring wound he received during the war… even though if we pay attention to Wada’s words, Wada was actually worrying for his men, demanding to know why 4 were missing and one was in critical conditions (as well as how Tsurumi was secretly stealing weapons and ammunitions from Asahikawa), men whose well being Tsurumi was responsible.

Noda plays with our feelings, tricks us into thinking that since Wada looks like a rude jerk and Tsurumi seems righteous, it was ‘okay’ to murder him in cool blood or, at least, not so wrong as it could be to kill… someone else.

I doubt there are fans who mourn Wada or do a consistent effort to remember him.

We can discuss if it was right or not to murder Kiro or even Mishima but Wada? Who will ever care about him?

Yet, in the GK world, Wada is a person, he might be a loving father with a precious family. For us, he’s just a minor, mean character who happens to get shot by… someone under Tsurumi.

Nothing really worth remembering, let’s move on as we don’t really care about this or about why that soldier pushed the trigger, for us he’s just a nameless minion just following orders.

We don’t expect him to care about his own actions, nor we really hold him accountable.

He’s a minion, minions do what they’re told to do without caring if it’s right or wrong, they aren’t supposed to stop and say ‘no, wait, this is bad’.

And, just to remark the concept that Tsukishima is merely a minion just following orders we see Tsukishima witnessing without blinking other questionable activities.

We meet Tsukishima again in Vol 4 chap 31.

According to Noda, THIS is the moment in which he decided to elevate Tsukishima from the random mob character that shoot Wada to regular character.

Q2: Initially, Tsukishima was a mob character. When did you decide to elevate him to regular status?

Noda: In volume 4, when they were negotiating with the English arms dealer. I realized that there is a need of a character who will do Tsurumi’s dirty work for him and serve as a right hand man. [Q&A corner from the DVD bundle of the 17th volume of Golden Kamuy, translation courtesy of @piduai]

He’s with Tsurumi as they’re buying weapons for their own rebellion, Noda subtly trying to tell us he’s not just a minion but a character, by placing him in the center of the first panel, by having him speak in place of Tsurumi, and speak in a quite clever manner. Tsukishima complains about the guns, a foreigner, Mister Thomas (likely GK version of Thomas Blake Glover, a Scottish trader who made a fortune selling Ships and Arms in Japan), is trying to sell them, pointing out how they’re old models and, when Thomas explains with what they’re paying him, this is all they can get from him, Tsukishima assures him once they’ll get what they’re after they’ll get money.

If you buy the narrative introduced by Tanigaki of Tsurumi being in a rebellion for the well being of his men, the one who looks like a jerk is again Thomas, the foreigner who thinks only at money and it’s okay in selling weapons and funding wars for it. But if you pay close attention Tsurumi too, despite personally knowing the horrors of war plans to profit by it, selling the weapons he’ll plan to produce to Thomas. They’re the same.

Tsurumi plans to use the Ainu gold and the weapons to rebel against Japan’s central government, conquer Hokkaido, establish a military dictatorship of which he’ll be the leader and then profit from a weapon factory they’ll build so they will profit from war. Yeah, you know, the thing they complain the government forced them to fight without rewarding them properly and for which they lost so much.

After discovering its horror they aren’t starting a ‘peace movement’, no, they want to profit from it, Tsurumi mimicking Hitler as he explains his plan to his men.

Noda could have let solely Tsurumi interact with Thomas (like the anime does), yet he shows Tsukishima being there, proving he’s actively involved in Tsurumi’s plan. Tsukishima too knows first-hand how war is terrible, yet he’s okay supporting a plan which is basically based on profiting from it.

And again, although Tsurumi’s goal is terrible and Noda clearly thinks so as well or he wouldn’t have Tsurumi move as Hitler, Noda tricks us into thinking that’s not so bad because Tsurumi is presented as someone righteous, someone who, differently from his superior officers, faced the horrors of war, someone who gets the approbation of Tanigaki, who claims Tsurumi’s quest is more morally acceptable than Sugimoto and even Sugimoto seems to consider helping him out.

And Tsukishima, who should know how terrible Tsurumi’s goal is, is there supporting it, speaking up in a manner that benefits Tsurumi’s interests. He’s not merely a doll, he’s an active participant. He doesn’t care what Tsurumi’s goal will cause, he’s supporting him.

Tsukishima has also a minor role in chap chap 34.

He’s with Tsurumi when the poor people of Otaru hope the 7th division will protect them from the commotion and Tsurumi’s first and foremost worry is to check if the guy they had killed is a tattooed criminal.

The division that’s supposed to defend people is actually there for their boss’ interests. Tsukishima sees this and… it doesn’t affect him (which is in stark contrast with how, much, much later, the fact Tsurumi didn’t care about Koito being hurt will affect Tsukishima… although he then won’t act on it).

And we go on.

In chap 46 vol 5 Tsukishima is there as Tsurumi cuts Nikaidō’s ear.

The scene is interesting because, as Tsurumi questions Nikaidō, we see some men of the 7th are uncomfortable with what’s going on, with witnessing someone who used to be among them being tortured in such a sick way… but Tsukishima isn’t shown among the men who look uncomfortable.

It was a good moment to show Tsukishima is not okay with what his boss is doing… after all it’s pretty gruesome and nowadays it would be clearly labelled as torture, as something horrible… but Tsukishima isn’t shown.

Noda wanted us to know he’s there… but not that he’s against what Tsurumi is doing.

The ‘conscience of the 7th’ is saying nothing, doing nothing about what’s being done. The ‘conscience of the 7th’ doesn’t care to stop Tsurumi.

And now the story is ready to introduce Tsukishima as a character, to move him from the role of random minion with no will of his own and who therefore is a perfect representation of ‘Acedia’ as a background character is not meant to care, to a fleshed out character, a fleshed out character who supposedly CARES.

As a move it’s brilliant, not only because it plays on the fact we, as readers, tend not to expect background minion characters to have feelings, but also because it’s often what you do in real life.

We know that soldiers are actually a huge number of PEOPLE, but not only they’re trained to blindly obey and not care but we also tend to see them as… a mass, a single entity of opponents, the enemy, not as people.

Sugimoto himself decides to see the whole of the Russian army as ‘soulless bad guys’.

And now Noda instead picks one of those apparently soulless creatures and… shows us he’s human.

He makes sure Tsukishima stops, in our eyes, to be the personification of ‘Acedia’ to become a full fleshed human who indulges in such vice and for his own specific reasons.

There’s always a reason why men do things in this story, they aren’t meant to be just stereotypes or personification.

So, without further ado let’s go meet…

PART 2 THE PERSON BEHIND THE MINION: SERGEANT TSUKISHIMA

It’s in chap 70 that Tsukishima makes the big jump from someone who existed apparently only as a nameless minion to a character with a name and a characterization.

Noda will develop him, his story, his character in a way that makes him likable, lovable. Tsukishima is a fan favourite after all, it’s no coincidence he got the 3rd place in the Golden Kamuy All-stars voting pool.

Noda clearly signals us in chap 70 how Tsukishima’s moment to shine has come.

In fact, in the first panel of that chapter that shows the 7th division’s actions, we’ve Tsurumi, a big presence in the panel, and then Tsukishima, a little smaller than him, still a background character but one that’s clearly transitioning from background character to a regular one and we can see that the first thing Tsurumi will say in that panel are Tsukishima’s name and ranking before giving him his orders.

Tsukishima is not the only soldier there, there’s also Nikaidō, who’s also meant to do the same Tsukishima will do, don’t take his eyes off the grave, yet, by having Tsurumi give his order specifically to Tsukishima, Noda introduces him to us, he subtly tells us it’s Tsukishima’s time to climb on the stage… even if all Tsukishima says at first is a “yes” (はい ‘Hai’), a mere word of obedience.

And yet it’s clear this guy is not just another random minion.

Tsukishima is not another “First Class Private” like Nikaidō, like Tanigaki, like Sugimoto. He’s not even a “Superior Private” like Ogata or a “Corporal” like Tamai.

Tsukishima is a “Sergeant”, as far as we know the only Sergeant under Tsurumi and, for a long time, Tsukishima will remain the known highest ranking soldier after Tsurumi in Tsurumi’s army.

Sure, in chap 98 Koito will show up, but Koito, despite his higher rank, is clearly not an authority in the 7th division, he’s just a boy fresh from academy who merely has a rank higher than Tsukishima just because he’s the son of a officer who sent him to the Army Academy.

(I’m not considering Kikuta because he shows up too much later on, in chap 191, when many of us weren’t expecting other soldiers from the 7th division would be introduced)

Anyway it’s Sergeant Tsukishima, who’s older, competent, trusted and, we learn in an extra page in Vol 9, is considered the ‘Dainanashidan no ryōshin’ (第七師団の良心 “Conscience of the 7th” or, more literally “Good heart of the 7th”) who’s the higher authority after Tsurumi in Tsurumi’s division, the one the soldiers look at.

For Tsukishima is basically a 180° turn, he moved in a blink from random minion many of us didn’t even care to remember existed, to basically Tsurumi’s second in command and most trusted man.

Noda hints at it immediately.

We can clearly see how, although Tsukishima is lower in rank compared to Tsurumi, they are good at working together. Tsukishima questions, Tsukishima warns Tsurumi something is happening, Tsukishima and Tsurumi react at the exactly same time and in the same way when Nikaidō makes a small noise.

And then Tsukishima takes charge.

Tsurumi tells Tsukishima (and Nikaidō) to go after Edogai and Tsukishima orders Nikaidō not to kill Edogai.

It’s a 4 pages scene, it’s apparently nothing big and yet, through small details, Noda has pushed Tsukishima on stage, from this moment on we won’t be able anymore to dismiss him as a mere minion, a background character, because Noda will flash him out more and more, to the point that many think it’s NOW Tsukishima entered in the story, and miss his previous introduction, thinking that one wasn’t Tsukishima, just a random guy, when they actually are one and the same.

Why those 4 pages are important as well as all the following Tsukishima-building?

Because Noda is not trying to create a personification of Acedia but a human indulging in it.

In order to do so Tsukishima can’t be a powerless pawn or someone who doesn’t realize he’s doing wrong as we could have assumed he was in the previous volumes. He has to realize that wrong is being done, he has to have the moral sense to acknowledge it as wrong, he has to have the power to stand up against it (not necessarily to defeat it) and decide he doesn’t care to stand up to it, that he won’t make the effort.

And Noda will paint Tsukishima exactly in this way.

Tsukishima is a person who can tell right from wrong, who has a moral sense, who could try to fight it… and yet he doesn’t.

Of course Noda gives him reasons, everyone in this story has reasons for what he does, which doesn’t mean reasons are necessarily good enough to right wrong actions, just that people didn’t merely act for the evulz or for great justice, but for more realistic, personal motives. We’ll talk of Tsukishima’s reasons later though, as it’s only later that Noda will introduce them to us.

For now let’s focus on how Noda will flesh Tsukishima in the Vol 8/14.

In fact, in order to flash out characters, Noda often shows us their struggle in pursuing their goal.

We’ve Sugimoto fighting hard to get the money to cure Umeko, Asirpa who’s travelling to discover the truth about her father, Hijikata who wants the gold to resurrect the republic of Ezo, Kiroranke who wants to help the Ainu, Tanigaki who busies himself in a quest to bring Asirpa back, Nikaidō who wants revenge and even in Ogata’s case, although we don’t know exactly what he wants, we see how he struggles to get it.

In Tsukishima’s case though, this doesn’t happen. Tsukishima seems to not have a personal goal, he’s just there obeying Tsurumi’s orders, but he doesn’t seem in adoration of Tsurumi like Koito or Usami, nor someone who long for an improvement in his position.

What Vol 1/7 established remains, Tsukishima is a mere executor of Tsurumi’s orders and, ironically, we’ll see him facing again situations similar to the ones he faced in the previous volumes.

So… what Noda shows us in this new group of volumes in regards to Tsukishima?

He actually shows us how Tsukishima relates with other characters.

Through it, he establishes that Tsukishima is not evil, that he can differentiate between right and wrong, that he can care for others… but also gives us many hints Tsukishima’s vice is Acedia.

Let’s start with the first relevant interaction, the one between Tsukishima and Ogata.

Although the start of vol 8 places Tsukishima with Tsurumi, Nikaidō and Edogai, the first interaction ‘s meant to make an impression in the portrayal of Tsukishima is the one with Ogata.

In fact, remember what Tsukishima does in chap 71?

As Tsurumi talks with Edogai, Tsukishima is hiding in a house, ready to snipe Edogai should things go wrong, Nikaidō playing the role of his spotter…

...the same way Nikaidō played the role of Ogata’s spotter when the latter wanted to shoot Tanigaki.

Tsukishima explains things to Nikaidō, same as Ogata, and Nikaidō, same as he had done with Ogata, suggests killing the target immediately (remember how Nikaidō said they should have killed Tanigaki in Huci’s house?).

All this is to subtly prepare us to the scene in which Tsukishima and Ogata will clash, to push us to compare them in our mind.

Through a not reliable narrator, Tanigaki, Noda has previously painted a negative view of Ogata and a positive view of Tsurumi and his goal.

Tsurumi, according to Tanigaki, is a noble man who’s pursuing his own goal to improve the life of the people in the 7th, who were mistreated by central.

Ogata, always according to Tanigaki, is a despicable person for betraying such a noble man and, from the way Tanigaki talks about him, Ogata’s betrayal doesn’t come to him as a surprise, implying Ogata lacked moral qualities (back then we didn’t know yet of the whole Yamaneko business so we could assume Tanigaki has something more valid to hold against Ogata than the fact the army assume Ogata’s mother was a swindler and he would merely inherit that trait from her).

So, when the narrative pushes us to compare Tsukishima and Ogata, they seem to act as foils of each other, with Ogata’s betrayal causing us to see in a better light Tsukishima, who instead is so very loyal to Tsurumi… and this comes out as even more marked when Ogata and Tsukishima clash.

Tsukishima is fast at painting Ogata as despicable for shooting Maeyama, a war buddy, and for betraying Tsurumi, claiming he’s doing it for personal gain, that he’s selling them to his master, the despicable central command, to rise through ranks.

(Actually the idea Ogata is doing this out of ambition is merely Tsukishima’s speculation but, as the story gave us no reason for Ogata’s betrayal and Tsukishima seems to know him, it’s easy for a reader to buy Tsukishima’s words.)

The fact that Tsukishima considers turning against companions and betraying them for personal ambition as despicable, tells us Tsukishima can differentiate right from wrong, he’s not someone who jut blindly do what he’s told with no opinion on what’s going on, he’s angry with Ogata because, according to him, Ogata is doing something morally wrong, not just because he’s ‘an enemy’ and the enemy is wrong a priori.

It’s through Tsukishima scolding Ogata for his behavior it’s easy for us to swallow what we’ll learn in vol 9, that Tsukishima is considered the ‘Dainanashidan no ryōshin’ (第七師団の良心 “Conscience of the 7th” or, more literally “Good heart of the 7th”).

So… where’s the vice of Acedia in all this, when Tsukishima is ‘fighting evil’?

It’s in the fact that Tsukishima is basically doing exactly the thing he’s blaming Ogata of doing.

Tsukishima serves a master, a master who’s fast to sacrifice people for his purposes and Tsukishima knows, Tsukishima has killed people for Tsurumi, including Wada, who probably also took part to war with them, including Hanazawa, who surely was in the war with them, and even plotted to kill Yuusaku, who was clearly not to blame for his father’s poor leadership, Tsukishima is aware they’re betraying central command for their own gain, to rise to the ranks of elite guards of Hokkaido’s new military dictator.

It would be actually very obvious how Tsukishima is in the wrong as well, if Noda didn’t use a narrative gimmick that’s actually rather common in mystery novels.

He uses the readers' expectations, that the reasoning coming from a supposedly unreliable character has to be wrong, to influence us.

Because it’s Ogata the one who points out how the 7th is also a group of rebels (and therefore of people who’re betraying the state to rise in power willing to go to those who previously were their companions) the whole accusation doesn’t seem valid. Like Tsukishima will say to Koito much, much later, many readers end up thinking Ogata is trying to confuse and mislead them, that the 7th is righteous and he’s just slandering them.

In order for Tsukishima not to indulge in Acedia, since he knows such behavior is wrong, he should oppose to Tsurumi, he shouldn’t support him or, at least, try to bring him to reason or, at the bare minimum, to tame his behavior.

Tsukishima doesn’t.

For his own reasons not only he turns a blind eye to the wrong things Tsurumi is doing but he supports him in them. Even though he knows they’re wrong and he feels no enjoyment in all that nor any personal gain.

Interesting enough the comparison with Ogata won’t end with vol 14 but will also be a recurring element later, as we’ll learn they both had a despicable father, a similar past of bullying, are in Tsurumi’s close entourage, are involved in Koito’s kidnapping and in a Tanigaki’s hunting... but for now this can suffice.

And now we move to the relations Tsukishima had with Edogai and Koito.

Those two are in a way pretty similar as persons as not only they share the same age but they’re very emotional and completely and utterly captivated by Tsurumi who’s actually only using them.

Tsukishima acts with them in a similar manner.

On the surface he keeps his distance from them, acting cold and emotionless (and even clapping his hands with both of them to encourage them to go faster (remember chap 176?)...

...probably thinking they’re a nuisance, but in truth he’s fond of them and would like to protect them. Tsukishima won’t shrug off Edogai’s death, even many chapters later it will still weight on him… so again, where’s the Acedia in all this?

In the fact he knows they’re young men with psychological troubles being manipulated for wrong purposes and placed into dangerous situation by someone who lies at them and yet he does nothing to stop him.

And to remark better how Tsukishima actually had a big part in the fate of those two young men Noda rests on Tsukishima’s shoulders the failure to protect Edogai, as if to foreshadow how much later Tsukishima will fail to protect Koito (who’ll be stabbed by Sugimoto, although he’ll manage to survive).

Let’s look a moment at how things went.

Tsurumi left Tsukishima (and Maeyama) there as a protection to Edogai. As Tsukishima is a sergeant, he’s probably in charge of deciding things and insure Edogai will be kept safe.

Tsukishima however decides to leave Maeyama alone to guard Edogai to have a bath… offering Ogata the perfect moment to attack because not only Maeyama is now alone and therefore easy to deal with but Ogata is AWARE TSUKISHIMA WOULD HAVE A LONG BATH EVEN IN SUCH A SITUATION and even manages to render unusable the rifle Tsukishima has left in Edogai’s house (remember the many times Ogata said rifles shouldn’t be left unguarded?).

And why Tsukishima took the habit to take long bath?

Q26: It was stated that Tsukishima takes long baths, but how long, exactly? Do you have any bath time trivia about him?

Noda: Bath time allowance was more lax when working with Tsurumi in Otaru than with the 7th Division in Asahikawa so he probably developed a habit of taking rather long baths, but there’s also the fact that Ogata hates soaking in the bath so for him, Tsukishima’s baths seemed to take forever. [Q & A section with Noda Satoru translation always courtesy of @piduai]

And it’s also worth to point out Ogata is merely the faster to track Edogai down.

Sugimoto’s group was also searching him and Ogata is there on Hijikata’s orders, meaning it’s not just Ogata who was after Edogai but Hijikata’s group.

And, although they won’t manage to be involved, it was also possible for other convicts to come and hunt Edogai, who kept in his home a tattooed skin so Edogai shouldn’t have been left unguarded.

Ogata is the fastest but he’s only the first of a list of people aiming to get his hands on Edogai… and Tsukishima left him guarded by only one man. And why?

Noda (because it’s Noda who’s creating the situation) has him leave Edogai for a bath and that’s not all, Noda establishes Tsukishima loves to have long baths.

Noda could have Tsukishima leave Edogai for whatever reason he wanted, he could have Tsurumi call him, he could have Tsukishima go check on something relevant in a rush but instead he has Tsukishima leave to indulge in a personal pleasure. It’s a carelessness Edogai will pay with his life and part of the reason why Tsukishima feels responsible for his death.

Sure it might seem Tsukishima manages to turn tables with Ogata, and in a way he did, as Tsukishima is capable and tenacious, but most of what plays in Tsukishima’s favor is mere luck. Because Tsukishima forgot his wallet, he came back earlier, catching Ogata completely on surprise, the man Tsukishima has ignored when coming back, actually gave him a hint on how to track Edogai, in the mines they manage to leave behind both Sugimoto and Ogata due to luck, and, due to luck, while Edogai will end up crushed by rocks, Tsukishima will remain perfectly safe and will even manage to find a way out of the mines.

Tsukishima’s failure in saving Edogai is important.

It’s not that Tsukishima didn’t want to save Edogai, it’s not that he was completely disinterested about him… it’s just he didn’t give to it his all, he didn’t care enough, and this contrast with the behavior of two other characters.

For start we’ve Edogai.

Edogai’s goal is to give the skins to Tsurumi. When he finds Maeyama dead and realizes he could be about to be the next, despite the fact he’s not a soldier, he doesn’t know how to defend himself and that he’s deadly scared, he FIRST OF ALL grabs the skins then hurriedly comes up with a successful plan to hide himself and, equally successfully escape from the house.

Later, when he and Tsukishima are on the cart, even though this exposes him to the possibility of being shoot, Edogai contributes by throwing coal to his chasers and, ultimately, when he finds himself trapped and with his legs crushed facing the realistic possibility to die burned alive (he’ll actually be killed by the gas), he doesn’t beg Tsukishima to try to save him but, in order to make sure Tsukishima too won’t end up trapped, passes the skins to him begging him to carry them to Tsurumi along with the way to recognize fake skins from real ones. Edogai did all he could, gave all he could for his goal, died with a smile for his goal...

…and Tsukishima will do as Edogai requested, not even giving a try to see if Edogai could be saved…

…while in that mine there’s another man who instead gives his all to save another person, Sugimoto.

Shiraishi isn’t trapped by rocks like Edogai, but unconscious, possibly due to gas inhalation and might not survive. Actually, as Sugimoto doesn’t even check if he’s still alive, he might as well be dead. There’s so much gas where Sugi is that, differently from Ogata and Tsukishima, Sugimoto himself can’t muster the strength to stand. There’s plenty of dead rats and, as Sugimoto keeps on crawling forward, there’s also plenty of dead men.

Saving Shiraishi in such a situation not only might be impossible but might cause Sugimoto’s downfall as well.

Yet Sugimoto had put Shiraishi on his shoulders and, crawling, drags him away. While part of Sugimoto’s actions are due to how ‘they’ll be all in troubles if Shiraishi dies’, Sugimoto does all that’s humanly possible to keep Shiraishi alive even at the risk of his own life and doesn’t give up, he even let Shiraishi breath fresh air prior to him doing that.

Sugimoto was also in a desperate situation yet he tried his hardest to make Shiraishi survive and he’s rewarded when Ushiyama saves them both.

Tsukishima decided not to even try to check and see if Edogai could be freed and therefore saved but the worst thing is that Edogai says Tsurumi is the only one who acknowledged him… Tsukishima didn’t even add he acknowledged him as well.

Now… Noda isn’t trying to portray Tsukishima as evil here.

He’s just showing us Tsukishima, differently from Sugimoto or Edogai, isn’t putting up his best efforts.

It’s another shape of Acedia, one we tend to excuse easily because it’s such a human thing to act like Tsukishima did, but it’s also a luxury someone in Tsukishima’s situation couldn’t indulge or the price will be the loss of a human life.

If you’re a decent person but, in face of someone manipulating someone else you decide to remain a passive spectator, if you let others feel alone, if in face of a possible danger, you don’t take all the measures to protect others, if you give up on people’s lives without really making sure there’s nothing else you can’t do, you’re gonna regret it.

And Tsukishima does… but still he doesn’t learn anything by what happened with Edogai, and therefore the same will repeat with Koito. Koito is clearly another youngster who’s completely manipulated by Tsurumi and is so infatuated of him he’ll do crazy things for him, same as Edogai, and can very easily end up meeting Edogai’s same fate as Tsukishima is unable to keep him safe.

The story though will dig more into the Tsukishima/Koito relation in the next arc so I prefer to discuss it in deep later. For now let’s just say this arc hints at how the Tsukishima/Koito relation is deeper than the Tsukishima/Edogai one and yet Tsukishima is still equally passive with Koito as he was with Edogai.

And, in a way, the same applies to his relationship with Nikaidō.

Tsukishima in chap 94 is fundamentally Nikaidō’s babysitter… and he clearly would want Nikaidō to get better…

...but there isn’t a single scene in which he faces Nikaidō and actively helps him to either overcome the pain for his loss or deal with the burning hate he feels for Sugimoto. He only tries to keep him from overdosing because the doctor said Nikaidō shouldn’t do it but it’s ultimately Tsurumi who distracts Nikaidō… by giving Nikaidō the means to pursue his toxic revenge so that Tsurumi can use him against Sugimoto.

There are three more relevant scenes in this part of the manga, scenes that basically prepare us to what we’ll learn about Tsukishima in the next part.

I won’t go in chronological order for them, sorry about it.

One is in chap 131, when the 7th attacks Abashiri.

Tsukishima should know what they’re doing is wrong. This time they aren’t trying to kill convicts, they’re attacking a prison and is guards. Some of them might have accepted bribes but they aren’t all spawns of evil. In a way this scene parallels the one in which Tsukishima killed Wada.

Tsukishima now questions Tsurumi on what he’ll tell to central command to cover up the incident, which is another scene that’s placed to remind us that Tsukishima can talk with Tsurumi, can ask for extra explanations and therefore could try to discuss things with him and influence him. Tsukishima probably realizes they’re going to do something big and his question might not be mere curiosity but a subtle way to hint there could be troubles if the go through it.

When Tsurumi explains his plan, which is basically to feed central command a huge lie, Tsukishima makes a logical yet naïve observation, that if a witness were to give testimony, Tsurumi’s report won’t hold. At this Tsurumi turns and asks “witnesses from the prison?” clearly hints there aren’t meant to be witnesses, which makes Tsukishima uncomfortable… but that’s all. He won’t discuss things.

Tsukishima is uncomfortable because he knows that they’ll have to slaughter everyone and this is wrong… but he doesn’t oppose in the slightest. He NEVER opposes to Tsurumi’s plans even if this means killing people who don’t deserve to be killed.

Do you think opposing to Tsurumi’s plans would be meaningless?

Think in comparison how Kikuta expressed disliking at the idea of murdering Asirpa’s grandmother. It’s up to debate if Tsurumi would have gone through with Usami’s plan but Kikuta voicing his disagreement surely helped Tsurumi to rule out that option and forced Usami to propose a tamer plan (chap 215).

And there’s also plenty of real life situations where attempting to influence someone positively could effectively push that person to ‘tame down’ the evil that person planned to do.

And so we move to the scene in chap 94, which mirrors the scene with Thomas as Tsukishima is dealing again with people profiting from war by selling weapons. This time though we get a piece of Tsukishima’s mind as, watching Tsurumi and Arisaka interact, Tsukishima reasons that ‘war means jobs for the people of Hokkaido so unless war keep happening they’ll lose their way of life’ and therefore he calls this ‘an addiction to war’.

This chapter is the chapter in which Nikaidō’s addition to morphine is brought up by the way, also drawing a parallel between his addition and the one Tsukishima is talking about, which is clearly also self destructive.

But the relevant part is that Tsukishima could realize what they’re doing is wrong, that, as Arisaka says, if they’ll start producing and selling weapons more people will die, that if they’ll start producing and selling opium more people will get addicted, his expression tell us he’s not enjoying this in the slightest. Yet he reasons this is okay because it’ll give jobs to the people of Hokkaido… which is probably also why he excuses the Abashiri attack, by telling them it’s a mean to get people to be better. Noda is subtly hinting and Tsukishima’s motive here… even if it will be better detailed later.

And there’s another thing Noda hints at here.

In chap 107 when they’re dealing with the son of O-gin and Sakamoto the idea their baby could grow up as a monster is tossed in randomly, that ballon superimposed with the image of Tsukishima…

...before Tsurumi suggests he could also grown up to become a hero.

This sentence is likely tied to Tsukishima’s past and to the fact Tsukishima sees the thing from the perspective of a son who grew up to be a ‘bad boy’ like his father... so, without further ado we move to the next part.

PART 3 THE CORE OF IT ALL: HAJIME

The trip to Karafuto is a splendid chance for Tsukishima to be removed by his usual environment and be in charge of his own life in the same way as he’s in charge of the expedition… in short it’s our chance to see Tsukishima be ‘free’ to be himself and, in fact, it’s during the trip to Karafuto that Noda presents us with ‘Hajime’ and why Tsukishima ended up becoming the person he’s now.

In fact one of Noda’s narrative tricks is he often tells us a character’s name when he reveals us that character’s core.

We learnt Tsurumi’s name when we were told his past as Hanazawa, we learnt Usami’s name when we were told about how his infatuation for Tsurumi caused him to become a murderer and we learn Tsukishima’s given name, Hajime, when we learn about his backstory and why he became the person he is.

But I’m running ahead.

At the start of the trip Tsukishima is still just the Tsukishima we know, only Noda gives his character an extra brush stroke.

We’ve learnt in the previous part Tsukishima is a sergeant, Tsurumi’s right hand man, basically the higher in rank after Tsurumi and Karafuto makes clear the fact Koito is actually higher in rank than him don’t count because Tsukishima is the one who’s meant to be in charge of all the decisions of the group and… and it’s a mess, the living proof Tsukishima might have been placed there as a ‘leader’ but fundamentally Tsukishima doesn’t really care about leading, be it organizing things, directing people or promoting group spirit to the point we realize Tsukishima is the one who’s meant to be in charge only when Tsukishima will tell us at the end of the stenka arc.

In fact, let’s look at what happens.

Tsukishima realizes only when they’re at Odomari about how Koito has carried with himself too much luggage (likely with the support of his father who had carried them there) and has to persuade him to leave it. It turns out in one of those trunks there are Cikapasi and Ryu. Tsukishima would like for them to be sent back home but, instead than setting his foot down, let Tanigaki (who’s another person who’s not suited for leadership) to handle the matter. Sugimoto sides on keeping Ryu and the result is that Cikapasi remains as well.

They start searching for info and Tsukishima realizes they’ve lost track of Koito, who, instead than searching Asirpa, is gone trying hurep wine. Tsukishima begs him not to wander. Koito will keep on wandering through most of the Karafuto arc.

Sugimoto, who couldn’t care less about Koito’s status as noble and higher in rank, tries starting a fight with him. The fight is interrupted only because a lady says she saw and Ainu girl and so Sugimoto runs after the girl, thinking she’s Asirpa. However when they try to ask info to a Russian the whole group discover Tsukishima is the only one who knows such language because they hadn’t worried about how some people could not talk Japanese and Tsukishima hadn’t informed them he could talk Russian. They resume chasing after the girl, lead by Tsukishima this time as he has learnt the Ainu girl might be in danger of being attacked by a bear of a dangerous animal.

Tsukishima seems more in his element when the bear appear… but then he can’t keep Koito away from the wolverine. Tsukishima is good enough at dealing with the wolverine to save Koito, but then SUGIMOTO orders Tanigaki to take care of the kids and Tsukishima decides to help the now wounded Koito leaving Sugimoto, whose ability to aim is nonexistent, to guard their backs from the wolverine. They escape on Enonoka’s grandfather’s sled and it’s Koito and Sugimoto who decide Tanigaki has to walk. Later it’ll be Koito who’ll decide they’ll hire Enonoka’s grandfather to take them around with his sled, which is the only reason why they will manage to reach Kiro’s group.

As they go in the village in which Kiro’s group went Tsukishima, despite knowing how to talk Russian, manages to get no info and Sugimoto argues with a Russian. This leads another Russian to steal one of their dog to force Sugimoto to take part to the stenka. Sugimoto would want the rest of the group to take part to it as well, they all disagree but then they let themselves to be roped in when the Russian call them weak.

Sugimoto notices Gansoku but says nothing to the others. Although Tsukishima notices something is up with Sugimoto and Gansoku, he asks nothing and does nothing.

The day after they argue with the Russian, Tsukishima only translates while Sugimoto and Koito threatens the man and ultimately it’s Sugimoto and not Tsukishima the one who will decide how they will behave even though no one, including Tsukishima, would want to agree with Sugi, who claims he has a brilliant plan he doesn’t share with anyone. When Sugimoto loses it while fighting with Gansoku, Tsukishima’s group chases Gansoku, save him from a wolverine and hide in a banya where Tsukishima loses completely control of the situation, in fact at a certain point he wonders ‘what the hell he’s doing’.

Gansoku and Sugimoto fight again, even Tanigaki realize they can’t let Sugimoto get more punches but Tsukishima does nothing and the day is saved by the ice breaking under them. Sugimoto says he doesn’t want to kill Gansoku and wants just a copy of his tattoo. At this point Tsukishima will agree with Sugimoto that Gansoku has to leave Karafuto and go to Russia.

The volume version adds a little extra.

When Gansoku will part ways with them, Tsukishima will tell him to study Russian like his life depended on it and that if he were to come back he would shoot him in the head.

After all this, in which the overall impression is that Sugimoto is the one in charge (and that their group is as disorganized and disunited as possible, with neither of them knowing or caring about what the other is capable to do), Koito questions Tsukishima about the decision to let Gansoku go… and it turns out it’s TSUKISHIMA who’s in charge of their group as Tsurumi has left all the decisions to Tsukishima, included the ones in regard to Sugimoto.

Through all the trip Tsukishima won’t be capable to make them work as an united group, nor will really lead them. Sugimoto will do all the ‘planning’ and they’ll merely follow him (even the idea to join the circus or to search for Svetlana are Sugimoto’s and he’s the one who carries the copy of Gansoku’s tattooed skin), Koito will keep on doing as he pleases and Tsukishima won’t know how to handle him (the only time he tries his plan backfires so bad it almost leads Sugimoto to be forced to do Harakiri) and Tsukishima clearly has no info on Karafuto in fact not only he didn’t know Yamada is a spy, but that Kiro’s most likely destination is Alexandrovskaya prison where Sofia is.

Tsurumi too should have been aware of this considering he knew who Kiro was and of his bond with Sofia and, honestly, considering Tsurumi had involved the Russian government to stop Kiro on the Russian border by shooting him and Ogata, I wonder if Tsurumi had put any faith in the Karafuto expedition or he merely wanted to get Koito and Sugimoto out of Hokkaido and if they were to get Asirpa in the process… well, that would be merely an added bonus.

But whatever, back to Tsukishima as a leader that doesn’t lead nor organize, it becomes obvious the problem isn’t just he doesn’t know how to lead but that he doesn’t care to do it. Tsukishima doesn’t try to organize things, to propose plans, to create a group spirit. He’s just there, asks people if they’ve seen Kiro or Asirpa, translates things from Russian and tries to keep Koito out of troubles.

Tsukishima clearly has no wish to lead… but he has a duty to do so, which he’s neglecting.

Acedia again.

It’s possible Noda is actually planning to put this side of Tsukishima in comparison with Koito’s leadership abilities. Koito at the moment is clearly inexperienced and unable to lead despite wishing to. By the time chap 231 will come around though, Koito will reveal himself much more capable to handle Tsukishima and leadership than Tsukishima, who’s older and more experienced than him, ever was. That’s because Koito will put all himself in this while Tsukishima is hardly making an attempt.

But anyway let’s go back to chap 149. After Tsukishima says Tsurumi left all the decisions to him, including what to do with Sugi himself, claiming he won’t show any mercy and kill him if Sugi were to lose control again… because if Sugimoto is unable to keep himself under control he’ll eventually will pass the point of no return.

Now… in this chapter Tsukishima seems aloof and cold toward both Gansoku and Sugimoto, promising them death if they misbehave. We might think/hope he’s just acting tsundere, but the problem is we’ll discover Tsukishima is completely prepared to go through with his threat if he has to.

In chap 212 Tsukishima will shoot Sugimoto, and much later he will show he’s okay with shooting at Tanigaki when the latter wants to call himself out of Tsurumi’s army. Note that I’m not saying Tsukishima likes this, I think he much preferred to let people go, but in truth we should have known he would have no hesitation in put in place his threat if he had to, Noda had shown us he had no hesitation in killing Wada or the guards at Abashiri.

I’ve said Noda made some subtle parallels between Tsurumi and Hitler. Tsukishima is clearly meant to parallel the soldier who, in WW2 (or in other wars if you prefer) did all that was ordered to him, not because he enjoyed it or because he didn’t knew the order was wrong, but because he got that order and he would carry it on without really stopping and saying ‘no, I can’t do this, it’s immoral’.

And Acedia is the vice you’ve to indulge in, if you want to be capable to do this. Otherwise a person with a sense of moral and who’s not enjoying this at all wouldn’t be capable to turn his eyes away from this and do it anyway.

Anyway, after this bit, Noda decides he will present us with Tsukishima’s backstory and, with it, we get back to the parallel with Ogata I mentioned previously, as Tsukishima too has also been born in a troublesome household where the father is suspected to be a murderer and this reflects on his son as well. Tsukishima is considered a ‘bad boy’ and mistreated by the people around him.

We don’t know what happened to Tsukishima’s mother, we’ve no idea if Tsukishima’s father is really guilty of something and which is his relationship with Tsukishima but we know something… the young Tsukishima, differently from the present one, used to have a personal goal, he wanted to marry Igogusa, a girl he loved and whom loved him back.

He wasn’t an emotionless and passive person, he used to beat up whoever were to make fun of Igogusa, he planned to leave the island with Igogusa once he were back from the war and then he would marry her.

Then things took a wrong turn and Igogusa disappeared 10 days before he were back, with only her shoes being found on the shore hinting she might have committed suicide and tossed herself in the sea, possibly due to someone spreading the rumour Tsukishima died in war.

For a while Tsukishima remains active and desperately searches for her then… he gives up on finding her and focus on who spread the rumour of him dying, who turns out to be his father.

In a way very similar to how Usami will end up killing Tomoharu, Tsukishima explodes as well and kills his own father.

It’s entirely possible the thing was staged by Tsurumi.

Tsukishima was shown to be in jail in 1896. He was conscripted short before the start of the Sino-Japanese war (1894) and, since conscription lasted two years, he likely wasn’t allowed to come back home immediately after the end of the war but had to wait to end his conscription time.

Tsurumi on the other side was back in Niigata in 1895, bragging with Takeda he had found a way to help people to overcome their resistance to take a life and create perfect soldiers who will be willing to do any job, no matter how dirty… like Tsukishima will be willing to do later on.

It might be that Tsurumi, who had learnt to appreciate Tsukishima during the war but might have also known Tsukishima planned to leave the army and settle down, staged things so that Tsukishima would first commit parricide (which in Japan is considered a crime even more serious than here in the west) and then, when Tsurumi would save him, Tsukishima would have no other way but devote himself to the man.

On the other side it might be Tsurumi just took advantage of the situation.

We don’t know… but what we know is that Tsukishima ended up in this mess again for a lack of care.

Note that his start into indulging in the vice of Acedia has a psychological explanation, because it becomes Tsukishima’s maladaptive defence mechanism.

Tsukishima had reached Sado already plagued with fear because Igogusa stopped replying to his letters. When he learns she might have killed herself believing him to be dead, in the beginning he searched for her frantically, feeling chills run down his spine each time he were to see egogusa washed up on the beach.

It’s clearly a situation of great tension and pain and you can last in such psychological situation only up to a certain point. Then you either stop or risk to go insane.

Tsukishima decides to stop thinking about finding Igogusa and focuses himself on punishing his father, whom he views as responsible of her death because this explosion of blind violence in which he didn’t care to find out why his father did so or the consequences of his own actions if he were to murder the man is a way to release the emotions that had been bubbling up inside him.

And then Tsukishima is trapped in this situation.

His own violent actions solved nothing and might have been not even aimed to the right target (as Tsukishima doesn’t know why his father did what he did and what truly happened to Igogusa it can even be he punished an ‘innocent’) but by keeping on ‘not thinking’, on ‘not caring’ and telling himself he’d done the right thing because he avenged her, he avoids feeling the emotional turmoil and pain he felt when he desperately searched Igogusa.

We see that although Tsukishima ends in jail and is sentenced to dead he believed he is in peace with himself. Without Igogusa he has nothing so not even dying seems bad to him.

And then Tsurumi comes ‘to rescue’.

We don’t know the truth about Igogusa and, what’s more, Noda showed us nothing that could confirm or deny Tsurumi’s theory. We see him wandering in the city, looking at a cliff, probably the same near which they found Igogusa’s shoes and then sniffling what I think is egoneri.

He’s not shown talking with anyone, nor he’s shown going to Tokyo where Igogusa and her parents supposedly were. But the fact we don’t know it’s not the problem, the problem is Tsukishima doesn’t know.

Tsurumi uses exactly the fact that Tsukishima didn’t care to find out the truth from his father to hand him a story, a story in which Igogusa is still alive, a story that makes Tsukishima regret he’s about to die. And then Tsurumi find a way to get him out of jail… and, even if Tsukishima doesn’t admit it, deep down he probably let himself be saved because deep down he hopes to see Igogusa again. It’s something he doesn’t admit but that he likely nursed in his heart along with Igogusa’s hair.

So Tsukishima doesn’t question things any further and learns Russian as Tsurumi wants and becomes basically his right-hand man, clearly letting Tsurumi lead his life without questioning things further. Without caring to question them.

We know because in another flashback we’ll learn he’ll do what Tsurumi says even if this means taking part to Koito’s kidnapping.

Tsukishima will be okay with kidnapping a young boy of 16, a Japanese boy son of a rear admiral, a boy who hadn’t committed any crime, so that Tsurumi will be able to make the admiral feel indebted to him and manipulate him into using the torpedo division for Tsurumi’s purposes, clearly hinting at how Tsurumi could have been planning already his rebellion.

And the thing is even more remarked when it’ll turn out among the kidnappers it’s Ogata and not Tsukishima as everyone seemed to expect, the one who was left in charge to take care of Koito and felt pity for him, offering him emotional support, rubbing his back when the boy is at the phone with his father… the story again placing a comparison between Ogata and Tsukishima who instead keep distance.

It’s probably not that he truly doesn’t care, it’s more than Tsukishima wills himself not to care.

The ‘death’ of Igogusa likely taught him the lesson if he keeps his distance and doesn’t care he doesn’t suffer and he doesn’t get himself in troubles. This is probably what he meant when he told Sugimoto to control himself, to do like him and remain cold and distant. Not care.

But there’s to wonder if something took a wrong turn because later, during the Russo-Japanese war, Tsurumi felt the need to, as Tsukishima put in, ‘tear open his old wounds and then pour affection into a place in Tsukishima that has already wilted away’.

Maybe Tsurumi has discovered Tsukishima plans to go in Tokyo to finally get a glimpse of Igogusa.

Or maybe it was merely because something else that’s tied to Acedia is depression. In the past forms of depression that caused a state of nor caring were mistaken for people indulging in the vice of Acedia. Noda might be playing a little with this.

All that ‘not caring’ and keeping distance might have ended up making Tsukishima too irresponsive. Tsurumi needs a man who’s willing to do any act but not one who’s just a doll that blindly obey. Hard to say.

It’s also possible once Tsurumi has told Tsukishima about the Ainu plan Tsukishima had called himself out. After all, even though he’s not visiting Igogusa, he can still tell him one day he can drop by. If Hokkaido becomes a military dictatorship Tsukishima will likely not be welcome in Tokyo.

Or maybe something happened we still don’t know yet. After all Tsukishima was in the infirmary when he was told the new story so something could have happened. Was he also in a bombed trench, same as Kikuta and Ariko and, although he survived, the thing shocked him? Who knows?

Anyway Tsurumi decides to fed Tsukishima a new tale… again taking advantage of how Tsukishima had never cared to discover the truth. At this point this isn’t just in regard to how he hadn’t asked the truth to his father but also to how he hadn’t checked on Igogusa through all the years.

She was taken away from her city and married with a trick to another man she barely knew taking advantage of her grief for Tsukishima’s death and Tsukishima… didn’t check on her. He’s not jailed anymore, I’m not saying he has to go there to sweep her away but… he could have made sure she was well cared for, that she wasn’t just drowning in depression for his death.

Instead he decided to just disappear from her life without even checking if her life was going well, merely assuming it was.

The new tale get quite a reaction from Tsukishima.

Igogusa is the wound Tsukishima will talk about, a wound that it’s actually far from closed. Tsukishima merely thinks it is because he seals it behind walls of rather insincere ‘I don’t care’ but, as soon as the new tale shatters the previous story Tsurumi told him, Tsukishima likely felt all the pain and the desperation he had felt in those days long ago, those rushing emotions feeling Tsukishima as soon as that soldier pokes at that unhealed wound and Tsukishima attempts to fix the problem the same as he has done in the past.

He attacks someone, namely Tsurumi.

I’m pretty sure Tsurumi expected this and, for him, it’s probably the ultimate test for Tsukishima. If even in such a situation Tsukishima can control himself and not murder him without making questions as he had done with his father… well, this is the proof Tsukishima would stay loyal to Tsurumi no matter what Tsurumi does.

And Tsukishima controls himself.

Tsukishima is furious but, although he punches Tsurumi, he then stops himself and asks for Tsurumi’s reasons.

And Tsurumi takes advantage of it to basks Tsukishima in his ‘love’. Tsukishima, who really got little love in his life, falls hook, line and sinker for Tsurumi’s act.

Now, to be honest I think that Tsurumi cared for him in some measure… but that he cared much more for the pawn Tsukishima could become or he wouldn’t have put him through this test.

Anyway Tsukishima breaks, torn between his love for Igogusa and the love Tsurumi gave him and even goes as far as to try to protect Tsurumi with his own body when they’re attacked.

In a way the wounds they receive are symbolic.

Tsurumi will have his face disfigured, so that when he wears his metal plate it resembles a skull. He’s death incarnate, a Shinigami in look as well, a punishment for sacrificing on the altar of his own goal Tsukishima too, a friend, a good man, someone than from life ad really little and who cared for him.

Tsukishima’s wound is on his torso, what’s coming out is probably blood and not intestines or he’ll die there but Japanese men did commit Harakiri by cutting their stomach to show their intestines were clean, sinless. Tsukishima, in that moment, metaphorically dies for and with Tsurumi, his master.

And yes, in a way Tsukishima dies, or better Hajime dies.

Because Tsukishima will discover the new story Tsurumi will feed him is all a lie, an elaborate act, so he knows he can’t even trust the previous, he can’t trust this man who DELIBERATELY sets up things so that e can tell him elaborate lies so that he can use him for his Ainu plan.

Still, despite knowing this, Tsukishima still keeps on following Tsurumi.

Tsurumi had made clear he needs men ready to do terrible things for his plan and yet Tsukishima sides with him. Tsukishima knows among the terrible things they’ll there will be to kill Hanazawa so that Central will turn against the 7th and Tsurumi will be able to use the discontentment which will follow for his rebellion.

Tsukishima still sides with him.

It’s meaningful how the volume version shows that Tsukishima, once back to Otaru, will drop Igogusa’s hair in the sea in another attempt to let her go, to stop caring, to stop feeling pain.

He doesn’t believe he can have her back and Tsurumi, despite tricking him, is the only other person who showed him love and care. It’s fake, a lie, Tsukishima knows it but he has nothing else.

To Koito who will later prod and prod, Tsukishima will say that there’s nothing wrong in following such plan if people following Tsurumi are saved along the way. Tsukishima dresses it up as a giant, noble thing, they’re saved.

It actually takes only a little of thinking to realize they’re not.

Tsukishima himself is far from being saved, he’s a broken man with no hope who wants to see what Tsurumi will do till the end as if hoping the result will justify his own actions, will turn right all he did wrong.

Remember?

Acedia is the vice that pushes you to not care about evil being done by you or by the others.

Tsukishima is not a cold jerk though so this is his excuse to ‘not care’, to indulge in such vice, that people is saved in the end, but it’s such an implausible lie Tsukishima is pushed ‘not to care’ further. Tsukishima turns his eyes away from understanding what the soldiers Tsurumi should supposedly save really need.

Ogata didn’t need to kill his father, he needed his father to show him some care.

Tanigaki doesn’t need to stay in a militaristic Hokkaido, he needs to work up his guts and go back home in Ani.

Nikaidō doesn’t need to pursue Sugimoto, he needs to let go of his rage and just mourn his brother properly before letting go of him.

Koito doesn’t need to worship a man who’s actually only using him and his father.

Usami doesn’t need to have his feelings used to turn him into a killer.

And Tsukishima himself doesn’t need to do horrible things for a person who’s using him through lies.

Lies save no one. But Tsukishima doesn’t want to see this and doesn’t want anyone else to see this either.

Instead than accepting that Tanigaki didn’t feel saved by staying with Tsurumi he tries to kill him when Tanigaki attempts to desert again.

Tsukishima doesn’t want to think, doesn’t want to care because caring hurt and so this turned him into a puppet. The fear of that terrible pain that pushes him to attempt to close his own soul behind walls so that he can not care and not feel pain.

And Tsukishima doesn’t care BIG TIME because actually he doesn’t even care for Tsurumi’s true target, going so far as saying Tsurumi might not even have one.

Tsukishima is not evil… but he’s letting evil be done, he’s excusing evil, he’s doing evil, telling himself something good will come out of it… merely because this keeps his pain away and keeps him together.

But now let’s go ahead a little and open a special parenthesis for Svetlana… as in a way she’s strongly tied to our Hajime.

Tsukishima was clearly impressed by the pain their parents felt because he likely associated it to the pain he felt when he had no idea what had happened to Igogusa… but despite this he didn’t want to get involved. He didn’t want to act or care. It’s Sugimoto who involves them with the Svetlana thing even if actually Sugimoto is not that deeply involved as Sugimoto too should have passed in front of Svetlana but, same as Koito and Tanigaki, he was so focused on his goal he didn’t notice her.

Tsukishima, who’s clearly the least interested in the mission and is taking part to it merely out of duty (Tanigaki wants to murder Kiro and Koito sees it as a way to prove himself in Tsurumi’s eyes and to get a fight with Ogata whom he dislikes) notices her instead but, although he recognized her, he wanted to adopt his usual stance of ‘not caring’. However the Svetlana issue taps subtly into the Igogusa issue. He can’t let it go so he decides she has to go back home, assuming she left for selfish reasons. As she refuses Tsukishima, or better Hajime, jumps on her claiming she’s being cruel to them. He’s clearly furious but in a way he’s not really talking to Svetlana about her parents but about what he felt when he had no idea if Igogusa was alive or dead.

And Svetlana turns the tables, showing him she’s actually not so far from him. She doesn’t want to go face them because she ended in jail… which is probably part of what’s holding Tsukishima back from going to Igogusa. And that’s not the only thing they had in common. Svetlana wants to leave Karafuto, same as Tsukishima who wanted to leave Sado. Svetlana is poorly developed, actually she might exist solely for Tsukishima’s benefit, but in a way she forces Tsukishima to face himself again, his desperation for not knowing what had been of Igogusa but also how he is acting, being afraid to face someone due to having been in jail. Igogusa could be in the same situation as Svetlana’s parents, wondering if Hajime is really dead or just mourning him and yet… he’s not going back nor contacting her with a letter.

Hajime knows he should, it’s what he tells Svetlana to do… but he doesn’t and merely keeps being Sergeant Tsukishima, Tsurumi’s right hand man.

So this is Hajime, the core of Tsukishima, a man who in the past cared but got broken and to mend that pain decided to not care.

But that’s obviously not the end of the analysis of this complex character and his story.

We’ve discussed what Tsukishima Hajime is.

The last thing I’m gonna dig in is if Tsukishima can find salvation by dropping the vice that damns him, or if ultimately he’ll end up being lost to it.

PART 4 CONCLUSION: DAMNATION OR SALVATION?

At this point Noda did something interesting with Tsukishima, he subtly intersected Tsukishima’s story with the lives of two other characters, Koito and Tanigaki.

Now yes, Koito and Tanigaki couldn’t be more different, but they both become relevant for Tsukishima’s story.

We know Tsukishima views himself as Koito’s babysitter. In the circus arc we see Tsukishima also tries to take care of Tanigaki. It’s easy to guess Tsukishima feels a sense of responsibility for the men under him.

Yet he fails them.

Let’s, for example, look at the circus arc.

Tanigaki first.

We start tame. When Chōkichi stole Sugimoto’s bag, Tsukishima could have shoot in the air to attract Tanigaki’s attention and also get his help instead it doesn’t occur Tsukishima to involve him.

When Tsukishima sees Tanigaki crying, his way to support him is just to tell him to bear it because if it leads them to find Asirpa it’s a good reason to go through with it. From Tsukishima’s point of view it makes sense, as he’s bearing everything Tsurumi put him through for a supposed noble cause.

Tsukishima tried to push on Tanigaki his ‘acedia’. He told him ‘not to care’ about the frustration he felt and just swallow it and do what he had to do, which is what Tsukishima normally does.

It’s ironic how panels are structured so that Tsukishima looks in the opposite way to the crying Tanigaki panel. Tsukishima in the story is looking at Tanigaki... but the same doesn’t happen in how this page is structured, and it makes sense, because he’s not really looking at Tanigaki.

He completely misses the point of Tanigaki’s desperation as he cries because he feels a burden, because Tanigaki is caring for the job and would like to do it better and can’t, not because he feels frustrated for what he has to do or because he’s been scolded. Ultimately it’s Beniko who motivates Tanigaki, not telling him not to care but by giving him trust, appreciation and importance, just by telling him she’s glad she’ll dance with him and implying she counts on him for their performance to be a success.

It’s subtle but this it itself points out the flaw of Tsukishima’s mind setting.

Just ‘not caring’ can’t really help motivating people and this is something Tsukishima will have to face as well.

Koito now.

When Chōkichi stole Sugimoto’s bag with the skin in, the best thing to do was doing the same Tsurumi did during the Lighting Bandit arc and entrust the chase to Koito. Tsukishima instead just propose they’ll separate, which doesn’t help at all but also hints at how Tsukishima wasn’t placing his trust in Koito’s ability to keep up with Chōkichi.

When they join the circus Tsukishima realizes Koito and Sugimoto are again arguing.

Koito clearly hadn’t understood the point of Sugimoto’s (rather terrible) plan, to get Sugimoto famous enough the newspaper will talk about him so that Asirpa will be able to read about him being in Karafuto. While the plan will predictably turn out to be a fail as not only there will be a typo in the newspaper but the newspaper will never end up being read by Asirpa who’s actually much farther from them, Tsukishima, who hadn’t opposed to Sugimoto’s plan, doesn’t immediately try to help Koito realize the point of it and cooperate with the plan.

(Actually the circus arc in chap 156 has an interesting panel that shows how everyone is sweating attempting to do his part… except Tsukishima, who’s apparently not putting effort in the whole thing.)

No, before acting, Tsukishima wait for the day of the big show, when the show is ongoing and Koito has already started impressing people.

Only then Tsukishima decides to act with a plan that was… terrible to put it mildly.

He decides to ‘get his hands dirty’ and agitate Koito by showing him a photo of Tsurumi, believing this would make him fail his performance.

As he said to Tanigaki, this would be a small price to pay to find Asirpa. What he doesn’t mention and Koito possibly doesn’t realize is that an agitated Koito who were to fail such a risky performance could end up hurting himself but whatever, same as with Tanigaki, Tsukishima’s plan proves he understood nothing of Koito who, not only despite being agitated remaining an amazing acrobat, but completely mistook who played him that trick and tried to get retaliation in the worst way, by tampering with Sugimoto’s show and risking to get Sugimoto killed.

Tsukishima could have decided instead to speak with Koito, to make him understand Sugimoto’s plan. Koito proved later on he’s not dumb, and anyway, since it was Tsukishima who was in charge of all the decision as per Tsurumi’s orders, Tsukishima could have used that card to make Koito play along, implying Tsurumi would scold him if Sugimoto’s plan were to fail, something Koito absolutely wants to avoid.

Instead he decides to go for ‘emotional manipulation’ so as not to confront Koito, basically following Tsurumi’s example.

All this remarks two things:

- first of all Tsukishima doesn’t really know Koito despite spending a lot of time with him. He doesn’t understand his strength nor he truly understands what moves him. That’s not because Tsukishima is dense but because he’s keeping at distance. He’s not really looking at Koito and seeing him for who he is.

- the second thing is that Tsukishima overall avoid confrontation. Acedia again, even when he’s supposed to care. Koito isn’t dumb and trust him. Tsukishima could have talked to him, but through the Karafuto arc Tsukishima hardly does. We can say he’s reserved but Koito is young and needs a guide and that role was entrusted to sergeant Tsukishima, who’s supposed to help Second Lieutenant Koito as he makes his way into the army (as said in chap 101). Tsukishima at most gives Koito curt instructions ‘don’t get far’, ‘let’s go’, ‘don’t go’, but doesn’t really explain him things and doesn’t really enforce his authority (as he actually has little since Koito is still superior in ranking).

So… how this develop and why whose two are important for Tsukishima’s ‘growth’?

Well, because ultimately, both do what Tsukishima is not capable of doing, they both rebel… and Tsukishima is forced to confront with them.

So let’s me flash forward a bit.

Tanigaki has been teetering on the fine line between loyalty and rebellion for a long time as, although Tanigaki swears to himself he’s loyal to Tsurumi’s cause, when he left to hunt Retar he deserted and kept on doing so.

Koito for a long time never meant to rebel, he just always prioritized doing what pleased him or acting on impulse.

When we reach the end of the Karafuto arc… ironically all the chickens come home to roost.

Koito and Tanigaki didn’t mean to get to this point, to be honest but the plot developed so that this is the most logical conclusion.

In chap 210 we see that Koito has pieced together the hints Ogata gave him and has figured out Tsurumi (and Tsukishima and Ogata) were involved in his kidnapping. Differently from Tsukishima Ogata had known perfectly what to give Koito to have him move the way Ogata wanted. He bet everything on Koito having brain enough to figure out the whole plot just by giving him a couple of hints and then let him free to deal with them.

It’s sad in more than one way, for start because it shows Tsukishima could have done the same, could have let Koito reason out things by talking with him and giving him just a few hints and yet he never did, he never tried to have Koito reason things over.

And it becomes even more sad because, even in this circumstance Tsukishima will try to get Koito to ‘not think’.

In fact, before tattling everything out to his father and confront Tsurumi, Koito wants to discuss things with Tsukishima, because although Koito is confident he came to the right conclusion he wants Tsukishima to prove him wrong… or at least to come clear with him and give him a VALID reason for what he did… because Koito views Tsukishima as an older brother and admires Tsurumi and doesn’t want his reasoning to be true.

Tsukishima instead tries to wave everything off. He doesn’t really confront with Koito, he doesn’t really try to understand from where all this come. He insists Koito just doesn’t have to listen to Ogata...

...when he’s actually not listening to Koito or he’ll understand Koito’s theory is KOITO’S and Ogata had no really contributed to it, he just gave him a couple of topics to think about ‘Mantetsu’ and ‘barchonok’. He’s not making logic counterarguments, Tsukishima’s argumentum ad nomine is a lazy rhetorical strategy for when you’ve nothing intelligent to say against your opponent’s theory so you divert the attention on something unrelated.

By continuing to avoid confrontation with Koito, Tsukishima loses… in more than one way.

‘Acedia’ is the vice in which Tsukishima indulges the most… but Tsukishima is not the personification of it. In all his indulging in ‘not caring’ Tsukishima can’t help but care for Koito. It’s not a choice, it’s just how people works.

And so Tsukishima is forced to confront Koito to save him from being ‘erased’ by Tsurumi and he does so by revealing Koito the pathetic truth about himself, how he persuaded himself ‘not to care’ for Tsurumi’s lies, how he told himself they were ‘salvation’.

It’s interesting how, when Tsukishima says ‘the two of you were saved’ we can hardly see his pupils as they’re so lowered only the sclera seems to remain.

In a way it’s as if to say Tsukishima is turning away his gaze, he’s not seeing the truth as he says ‘the two of you were saved’. He’s trying to blind himself to it, as Tsurumi’s lies don’t save anyone but Tsukishima doesn’t want to see this.

Tsukishima comes out as a broken man, who had likely partly sunk into depression and Tsurumi, the man who defined himself as Tsukishima’s friend, seems to be the cause of his downfall, isn’t that right?

“Free will. It's like butterfly wings: once touched, they never get off the ground. No, I only set the stage. You pull your own strings.” [The Devil’s Advocate]

Tsurumi undoubtedly set the stage.

Sadly it was Tsukishima who pulled his own strings and this was exactly due to his Acedia and continues to do so. Through the whole chapter he pushes himself to keep the status quo, he doesn’t want things to change, he wants Koito to validate his mind setting, his indulging into ‘Acedia’, if not by will, by force, by threatening him. This will save Koito.

Only it won’t because Koito ends up stabbed by Sugimoto and Tsurumi doesn’t even seem to care, and Tsukishima is left there to collect the pieces.

And then we move to Tanigaki, Tanigaki who, once left behind by Asirpa and Co who point out how he’s supposed to take care of Inkarmat, thinks he can decide to leave Tsurumi’s army and do as he pleases… and he’s forced to face that his desertion wouldn’t be tolerated any further, otherwise something bad might happen to Inkarmat and his unborn child. Tsukishima isn’t present here but he’ll be likely briefed later, because he and Koito ends up in the same hospital in which Inkarmat is, making Tsukishima acutely aware that, she and the baby could end up getting sacrificed should things go wrong with Tanigaki.

(On a sidenote Nikaidō is also here, forcing Tsukishima to see how Arisaka is experimenting his drugs on him. However, as it seems Nikaidō’s story arc is less tied to Tsukishima’s in terms of affecting him, I won’t dig on this too much… as Tsukishima, in Nikaidō’s case, has so far remained a silent spectator, unaffected by Nikaidō’s downfall...)

And so, the story goes on and Tanigaki’s arc and Koito’s arc converge with Tsukishima’s arc.

Tanigaki decides that he can’t escape responsibilities anymore and goes to save Inkarmat, which brings him into direct confrontation with Tsukishima. Tsukishima, adopting his mentality of ‘not caring’, tries his best to obey his orders and ignore the fact he’s about to sacrifice a family. Inkarmat placing in front of Tanigaki and telling him to shoot if THIS IS WHAT HIS SENSE OF JUSTICE TELLS HIM TO DO, symbolize just this.

This is not what Tsukishima’s sense of justice tells him to do, this is his Acedia speaking, his blind obedience at Tsurumi’s orders because it’s ‘easier’ not to care, not to think.

Things or better Ienaga happens and Koito is called to make the same choice Tsukishima had to do. There’s a personal risk for Koito here, as disobedience to Tsurumi’s orders could be taken as betrayal and he has been threatened by Tsukishima. Yet Koito decides to care and let them go.

Tanigaki continues to escape, Tsukishima could give up but instead pursue him. It seems a countersense that Tsukishima cares to capture Tanigaki when his vice is ‘not caring’ but actually he cares about capturing him so he could shut down the truth, so he doesn’t have to face one could rebel, that blindly following Tsurumi isn’t the right choice.

As I said, Tsukishima is not a personification, he’s a human, indulging in a vice to cope with trauma because this vice is a maladaptive behaviour which, he believes, will help him.

And in all this Koito arc intersects again with Tsukishima.

And while Tsukishima tries again not to talk things thought, Koito forces him to talk. To face that ‘not caring’, that just believing in lies will not save anyone. To face that he’s in pain, that it’s not too late.

Tsukishima crumbles… and to help him to stand up again Koito will also be there to give him strength when Tsukishima had none.

It’s what Beniko did to Tanigaki, what Tsukishima wasn’t able to make.

He forces Tsukishima to think at which could be Tsurumi’s goal… but Tsukishima isn’t really ready to ponder over this, he considers it could be all a huge lie and Tsurumi just… ‘doesn’t care’...

...then realizes that Tsurumi could actually care about something, the finger bones, but dismisses it.

Koito is curious but doesn’t push. He instead tries to motivate Tsukishima, to make him care.

He reminds him of the goal they should have ‘put their lives on the line and fight for the sake of their comrades’, but this time isn’t anymore by being blind, Koito wants to know if the cause they’re pursuing is right. Koito will care. He points out what Tsukishima was doing wasn’t healthy but accept Tsukshima might not be up for more so he offers to be Tsukishima’s strength, he tells Tsukishima he can just follow him…

...which is nice really… but is not a fix it all because it can end up in moving from following Tsurumi blindly to moving to follow Koito blindly so it can cause Tsukishima to slip in acedia again.

Koito is young, he’s absolutely not up to support another man out of this.

Yet, maybe because Tsukishima’s relation with Koito is different, maybe because Koito is honest with him or maybe because Tsukishima cares for Koito more than he has grown to care for Tsurumi, Tsukishima ends up on doing the most important thing needed to recover.

He starts to care on his own, not merely by relying on Koito.

Koito is the helping hand that pulled him up, but then it’s Tsukishima who made the steps.

We see it when, instead than blindly obeying to orders he let go of Asirpa and goes to save Koito. Because Koito, and not blindly obeying to his duty is priority now, simply because he cares more about Koito than to his mindless obedience.

And we see it again when he goes peeping Tsurumi’s conversation with Sofia and Asirpa.

He has thought Koito isn’t as strong as he painted himself to be when he heard him talking in a normal tone in front of Tsurumi. He thinks this means Koito is lacking faith in Tsurumi. Again his pupils are hardly visible, this time too high, and he’s clearly angry. Hard to say if his anger is moved by disappointment or by thinking Koito has lied to him.

The scene hadn’t been printed on the volume yet so it could end up changed in the final version. But still, this is Tsukishima evolving, Tsukishima caring, caring to discover Tsurumi’s motive, caring to discover if someone has lied to him or has failed his expectations.

This is no more the Tsukishima that ‘didn’t care’, that just would mindless doing his duty.

This is a Tsukishima who’s not constantly falling prey to his vice.

Tsukishima has evolved.

And maybe he can be saved, maybe his vice can be turned in the opposite virtue, ‘industria’ (“diligence”) and, instead than just passively follow, be the main character in his own life.

Or he can slip again because it’s so very difficult to escape from a vice that’s also a copying mechanism.

We can only wait and see if he’ll manage to continue through a positive path or he will fall. For now though, we can hope.

After Acedia, next in the 7 vices series we've IRA.

[goldenkamuyhunting]

Ogata’s iconic gesture

We’re all familiar with the way Ogata’s caresses his hair...

...to the point it had become his iconic gesture so that even the first time he shows up on a cover he’s shown doing it...

...and he’s also shown doing it in a colour illustration which was used as cover for chap 79

...and in one of the summaries for the skin count.

It’s clear he doesn’t do it just to comb his hair as he had been shown doing it even when he wears a hat so, more than fixing his hair, it’s clear he’s sort of caressing himself, making that gesture a self comfort gesure he might perform in an unconscious manner.

The movement is likely based on how cats groom their fur...

...a not so indirect reference to Ogata’s nickname, ‘Yamaneko’ (“Wildcat”).

While cats groom themselves for practical reasons, they also groom if they feel embarrassed, anxious, or to calm themselve, which would tie well with this being Ogata’s self comfort gesture.

But let’s look at when he does it through the manga.

Note that there are instances in which it’s actually unclear if he’s doing it so I will leave them for last.

The first time is in chap 43.

Ogata thinks Tanigaki might have killed Tamai, Noma and Okada and he’s obviously not pleased. Later, he will hunt Tanigaki in retaliation even though it’s completely useless as, as we’ll discover in chap 243, he’s aware Tsurumi already knows of their rebellion and is hunting them, meaning remaining there to hunt Tanigaki is a mere waste of time, a hint Ogata in that moment felt a deep grudge toward Tanigaki if he decided to spend his time so uselessly. As he pats his hair Ogata’s face is shadowed. It’s clear he’s not in a happy mood.

So the grooming can be a soothing gesture for him. He has to keep calm and not shoot Tanigaki right then or he’ll involve Huci too, whom, he’ll reveal, he wanted to spare.

We continue with chap 46.

In it Ogata does it before praparing himself to face the soldiers Tsurumi is sending against him. As the situation is clearly risky, it makes sense he’s soothing himself with a quick ‘hair grooming’ before facing his enemies.

We move to chap 70.

For who doesn’t remember it the scene happens prior to Ushiyama listing all the skins they got, pointing out the last one was recovered by Ogata...

...but prior to Ogata casually questioning Hijikata.

It’s hard to say why exactly he’s grooming himself, it can be he’s calming himself a bit before having to question someone like Hijikata, who basically doesn’t trust anyone. Of course it can also be tied to the memories Ogata had of how he got the skin in Barato, where another ‘father’ tried to kill his own son, something which clearly reminded Ogata of his own father.

We continue with chap 78.

Ogata, who’s cornered behind a table and some stuffed corpses, pats his head when Tsukishima attacks him, saying he’s betraying them to surpass his father. Again his face is shadowed and his expression somewhat pained. If the purpose is to calm himself down it works as he then smiles, dismisses Tsukishima’s words as Tsurumi using stupid cliches and shoots in Tsukishima’s direction although this is one of the rare times in which Ogata completely misses his target.

So to chap 80 we go.

The situation is clearly unpleasant. Although Ogata survives he claims to have no other choice but to bring Sugimoto’s group along and that’s not even the worst part. He knows Edogai died and Tsukishima might be bringing some fake skins to Tsurumi as they speak. One might need some self confort in such a situation... and if it helps fixing his hair which is likely a mess after his experience in the mine, well, that’s a plus.

And now chap 83.

The image in its own doesn’t tell us much.

For the context Ogata was about to shoot at the woodcooks when Asirpa stopped him saying even if he were to manage to hit 1 the others would fly away and anyway it’s hard to hit them with the rounds Ogata uses, hence they should use an Ainu method to get them.

While Sugimoto is amused by Asirpa’s lack of faith in Ogata’s ability, it makes sense Ogata wouldn’t be pleased. Even the sound he makes seems to point at it.

There’s another scene in chap 83 though where he pets himself.

This time is after he got praised for getting three of them. It’s hard to think at discomfort, unless Ogata is so not used to praises they too make him nervous, so he needed it to later manage to assume a confident pose. Honestly I would say it’s more a self praising move but it’s hard to read Ogata.

Fast forward to chap 88.

Same as the above this is hard to read. Is he praising himself for guessing right or having the confirmation they’re in the hideout of some Yakuza pretending to be Ainu makes their situation worrysome?

At the list I’ll include a cut scene in chap 101.

In the volume version this scene isn’t present, but in the magazine version Ogata grooms his hair when he realizes they’re encircled by bears, a definitively worrying situation.

Then we move to chap 108.

It’s another scene that’s not clear. Is he proud of himself because he figured out why Sugimoto is searching the gold or the thing makes him uncomfortable because he has realized Asirpa has a crush on him and the whole situation reminded him of his own mother?

And then we’ve chap 109.

Is he proud because he was the first to find him? Or it’s just the situation is troublesome because Ogata would still be of the idea of killing Tanigaki for what happened to Tamai and Co (which he will mention later on to Asirpa and Sugimoto), but killing him would be troublesome because Tanigaki is friend with Asirpa and Sugimoto, whcih are part of the group Ogata is in currently.

And then we get the infamous chap 113.

Ogata is teaching Asirpa why Anehata just wouldn’t think to consequences before violating animals. While the scene seems funny, his father was also one of the men who didn’t think to consequences before having sex with Ogata’s mother.

On another side I’ve been told Ogata’s words are losely translated as the sentence was pretty unclear in Japanese so...

‘Otoko tte no wa dasu mon dasu to sōnan no yo’

男ってのは出すもん出すとそうなんのよ

“That’s how a man is when he put it out."

And then we’ve chap 128.

Again Ogata’s parentage is used against him, as Hijikata says due to it is hard to think Ogata might be in this for some gold. And again it makes sense the situation makes him uncomfortable.

So we move to the infamous chap 137.

Is he praising himself because he got Wilk and Sugimoto? Or is he troubled because, although he got Sugimoto, he knows the bullet might not be fatal which is why he has to remain there and try to shoot Sugimoto some more?

To Karafuto we go and to chap 159.

And here it’s pretty clear Ogata is uncomfortable at the idea of having to go and apologize.

Chap 170 then.

We’ve Ogata grooming his hat... because he got praised by Asirpa. Again if he’s uncomfortable (he’s not even meeting her gaze) or if he’s praising himself for his own shoot is up to speculation.

And then chap 180.

More hat grooming. It was interpreted as a stab at Kiro, who also had to move from Russia because chased... but he’s not even looking at him and Ogata was the one sure Tsurumi would chase him so it might be just a jab at himself.

Hard to say.

We continue with chap 187.

And this time Ogata don’t content himself with hat grooming, he moved his hat away that’s much that’s needed to confort himself after Asirpa (legittimately I might add) told him to stay away and that he is untrustworthy.

A big fast forward to chap 222.

And again Ogata is in a clearly discomforting situation as he has to explain Abashiri keeping hidden the role he had in it considering he’s a horrible liar.

And finally chap 257.

Ogata crossed paths with Kikuta but Kikuta let him go, pretending he never saw him. Either something happened between the two, something we weren’t shown, or still this meeting managed to make him uncomfortable, a clear hint they aren’t on the same side, even if they aren’t at war with each other.

And that’s all, or better, those are all the scenes in which we can be confident Ogata is grooming himself.

There are then some unclear scenes.

Chap 5 for example.

It might be a ‘proto grooming’ scene. Ogata is clearly not petting himself, he’s scratching the back of his head, which usually is done to imply the character is puzzled but the scene might have inspired Noda into giving him the habit to groom himself.

Then chap 115.

Some think this is a grooming scene but as Ogata says his head is spinning it makes sense he would touch it (it’s a pretty standard movement), especially since his hand isn’t in the usual grooming position. On the other side having your head spin is clearly uncomfortable so a grooming scene would make sense too but really, I think he’s only touching his spinning head.

And lastly chap 159.

It could be a grooming scene... but it could also be Ogata pulling down his hood as first he had it raised and then he had it lowered.

Hard to say anyway, if it’s a grooming scene it would again fit in the list of scenes of Ogata doing it after hitting something.

And that’s the end.

As you can notice there isn’t a single grooming scene placed prior to Ogata’s hair growing.

Some assumed he groomed himself when he met his father.

Truth is it’s hard to say as it can be he was merely covering his eyes, as when Ogata grooms himself, Noda usually draw his hand in a higher position and with the fingers touching each other.

It’s hard to say but it’s still interesting.

Of course his possible Ogata merely started doing so because his fur... ehm... I mean hair, got longer... I mean... the short hair he had previously might not have been the most pleasant thing to pet... but maybe there was a starting factor. I don’t know, we’ll see.

Well, and that’s all for GK resident kitty. We’ll see if the future will gift us with more grooming moments.

[goldenkamuyhunting]

Tsurumi’s time machine

So I bet no one noticed...

...and I was about to miss it too but in the official timeline there’s this bit:

1902: Seven Ainu who were transferring gold are killed by someone in Tomakomai. Among the victims there was Ariko Rikimatsu’s father

- A fleeing Wilk is arrested at Lake Shikotsu. When imprisoned in Abashiri Prison, he carved the gold code into the prisoners on the death penalty row

1902: Koito Otonoshin is kidnapped by suspected Russian criminals. The case reaches a positive resolution thanks to Tsurumi’s cooperation. After this, Koito Otonoshin entered the Army Military Academy.

1903 January: Hakkōda Mountains incident. Ariko Rikimatsu joins the search team for distress cases.

Now... the manga has confirmed the current flashback is taking place in 1902.

We might speculate, considering that we’ll see Tsurumi’s uniform being sleeveless,

...something that happened after he rescued Koito...

...that, although the timeline list first the incident with the Ainu and after Koito’s kidnapping, the whole thing actually happened first.

Koito was kidnapped first and then we had the incident with the Ainu.

It’s not big deal, the year remains right.

The problems come later... when Tsurumi talks about Ariko’s dad helping to recover the bodies on Hakkoda mountains along with Ariko...

...something that it’s meant to happen in 1903... a year later, when Siromakur will be already dead.

I get the feeling this sentence will be cut in the volume because really, not only in 1902 Tsurumi couldn’t mention something that will happen in 1903 but also because in 1903 Siromakur is dead and can’t go save anyone.

Now... to be fair in real life the incident took place in January 1902 and if the manga is real history compliant, this would mean Ariko’s dad could be alive to take part to it and it would place the burden of the mistake on the official timeline which therefore would need to be corrected...

But whatever, due to thehumanpaczki now I’ve a mental image of Tsurumi suddently playing Riff Raff role and signing “Time Warp” so I’m having a lot of fun with this! :P

[goldenkamuyhunting]

So let’s again theorize on how to solve Wilk’s riddle...

When coming up with or rejecting theories a fundamental pre-requisite is to have enough RELIABLE information (Umineko readers might know this as part of the ‘Later Queen problem’).

In an action story we generally tend to assume if nothing comes up fast, it’s because nothing was meant to come up, which is what pushed me to dismiss the idea there could be more in the Wakayama arc than what we knew and that Wakayama had been an overall reliable narrator.

Just to give you some data, the Wakayama arc covered chap 63/69, which appeared on the magazine in a period that went from January 21, 2016 to March 3, 2016 and were collected in Vol 7 printed on April 19, 2016.

From those info Wakayama was depicted as someone who was focused in handling his business, not in searching tattooed skin and who merely sent his men to Barato to help a guy who, in the past made him a favor and might not have the slightest idea there’s a skin in Barato.

As for the Barato arc it was printed even earlier.

The whole thing goes from chap 55 to 59, which appeared on the magazine in a period that went from November 5, 2015 to December 3, 2015 and were collected in Vol 6 printed on March 19, 2016.

And now, in chap 236, printed in April 9, 2020, in short 4 YEARS AFTER those two arcs were printed on a volume, it turns out that the mystery of how the Barato skin ended in Barato wasn’t meant to stay a mystery forever and originally Wakayama was interested in collecting the tattooed skins and that HE is the one to blame for the skin in Barato or so he claims.

Long story short this made me think that no, just because we got an info back in the past and then it was never be touched upon again, it doesn’t necessarily means it’s a ‘case closed’.

So I’m re-reading old theories that were ‘dropped’ or not touched upon again just because no more evidence came up and so you could assume they were ‘case closed’.

Among them I found a post dated October 2018 from @chibivesicle​.

In this post @chibivesicle​ wondered if there was a reason why we were never shown Hijikata’s tattoo, just a tiny scrap at his collar (I’ve coloured it in red for better view)

when normally, when a convict was introduced, Noda would hurry show him naked... hem... I mean, he would hurry to show us his tattoo so that I ended up having a collection of images of naked men... I mean of convicts’ tattoos for reference.

My reply at the time was that we actually were shown a copy of Hijikata’s tattoo when Hijikata showed the copy at Ushiyama really early on.

Now, showing Ushiyama a fake copy was risky, since Ushiyama could have had in the future the chance to see Hijikata’s tattoo and, while he might have not memorized the lines, he might have remembered the kanji on it (雨 仮) so, at least, the kanji had to be genuine.

Time went by and now we know that what Asirpa was meant to remember was Wilk’s Ainu name, Horkew Oskoni (ホロケウ オシコニ Horokeu oshikoni) and that Asirpa assumed there was a connection between Wilk’s name and the kanji written on the convicts’ backs.

In short, if Asirpa’s theory were to be correct, we wouldn’t need to collect 24 skins, just 8, the ones in which one of the kanji written on them could be read as one of the katakana used to write Wilk’s name.

Following this theory Golden Kamuy central compiled this useful list:

ホ＝Ho　？

ロ＝Ro　呂 (on Tsuyama)

ケ＝Ke　記 (on Nihei)

ウ＝u　迂 (on the convict shot by Ogata in book 1)

オ＝O　？

シ＝Shi　歯、仕 (on Gotou)

コ＝Ko　？

ニ＝Ni　弐 (on Shiraishi)

Interesting enough, the two kanji we were shown on Hijikata’s copy do not seem to be useful, however there could be other kanji we didn’t see and anyway, as we saw the copy of Hijikata’s skin in chap 12, a chapter printed on a magazine on November, 06 2014 and collected on volume 2 on February 19, 2015 and, in-story MORE THAN A WHOLE YEAR has gone by without Ushiyama claiming the copy he was shown was fake, I ended up thinking that the copy was the real deal.

Now, as Wilk wanted an allegiance between Hijikata and Asirpa which is why Hijikata is the only one who knows Asirpa’s Japanese name and search for her, it would have made a whole lot of sense for Wilk to give a ‘right kanji’ to Hijikata as well so I assumed that yes, Hijikata should have a right kanji, only we merely hadn’t been shown it yet because we hadn’t seen the whole of Hijikata’s tattooed skin.

So yes, I was more or less on the same page as everyone else.

Wilk sent out 24 tattooed convicts, the ones who’re relevant to find are only 8 and the rest are mere disturbance.

Now in the past I remember Tumblr used @scyllua​ raising the problem of how Wilk was playing a huge hazard sending the map to find the gold tattooed in 24 convict skins as everything could happen to those convicts so there was no way to be sure that the map could be reconstructed (I apologize for any inaccuracy in reporting @scyllua​’s point but I failed to track down that post so I’m going by my poor memory. Any correction or help into tracking it down is hugely appreciated).

At the time for me it didn’t feel like a big deal because, right in the first chapter, we were made aware of how hard it would have been to pass that info outside of Abashiri. So yes, Wilk played a huge gambling in an absurdly high-stakes game, making the whole thing a gambit roulette but he had no better options and, as in many stories, ultimately Wilk’s plan would wear a plot armor because otherwise the story would end way too soon, with the cast simply accepting (Like Wakayama and Boutarou did) that it was impossible to track all the skin and we’ll do better to apply for more concrete jobs and less dangerous live choices.

We also have discussed many times on Discord on how cruel and absurd it was from Wilk to ask Asirpa (or anyone for the matter) to track 24 dangerous convicts… convicts that might require getting killed and skinned before they would ‘spontaneously’ let her check their tattoos… but this seemed to be the basis of the story so be it.

I remember wondering, really early on, if it could be that actually all the tattoo were fake and the convicts were merely a disturbance, a way to distract Tsurumi from pursuing Asirpa and using her as a hostage to blackmail Wilk into revealing him where the gold was. Yes, it’s not a theory I wrote down because I wasn’t really confident in it.

Now though, I try to piece all that past thinking together and come up with something inspired by all that… which again, might be completely wrong and just another guess as we don’t know if we’ve all the info we need.

So let’s go on with this new theory.

The first premise is that the copy Hijikata showed us of his tattooed skin was fake, and @chibivesicle​ was right in saying there was a reason why Noda, in around 24 volumes, never showed us Hijikata’s real skin, because we would have realized it.

The reasoning between this is:

1) As mentioned previously, since Noda wanted Asirpa and Hijikata to be in an alliance it would make sense if Hijikata’s tattoo were relevant.

2) In chap 208 Tsurumi gave Kikuta a speech about how copies aren’t reliable. Of course in the context it makes sense, as Kikuta asked him why they didn’t give Ariko a written copy, unaware that Tsurumi had fake copies of the skins.

3) When Hijikata showed to Ushiyama that copy, they weren’t allied yet. Ushiyama could have grabbed it and try to run for it. Hijikata likes risky gambles but he’s also a careful bastard willing to sacrifice allies and he’s aware Ushiyama is a dangerous foe. In Ushiyama were to escape with a copy, thinking it was the real deal, he would remain with nothing in his hands. So, Hijikata is similar to Tsurumi, who wears one of the skins to make sure no one will get it. He wears his own tattooed skin and let everyone believed they can still get it through a copy that’s actually fake… which is more or less what Tsurumi did as he handed out fake skins.

4) We usually get to see a relevant piece of the tattooed convict either when he shows up, or when he’s acknowledged as a convict (we see Heita’s tattoo only when we discover he’s a convict) the only cases so far being Hijikata and Sekiya and, for Sekiya, we didn’t get to see his tattoo merely because so we could be tricked into thinking the one Ariko bought to Tsurumi was Toni and that he wasn’t in an alliance with Hijikata (on a sidenote it’s possible the candy peddler is also a tattooed convict and we don’t see his tattoo because, as Wakayama hinted, he has ruined it).

5) Current developments showed that just because it’s years we don’t talk anymore about something it doesn’t mean something new about it can’t be discovered. If we believed the mystery of who carried that skin in Barato would remain a mystery… well, we were wrong. Who knows, we might even learn more about its owner in the future, or finally see Tsuyama’s face. For the same reason so maybe it’s premature to write off the copy Hijikata’s showed to Ushiyama as true, just because the idea it was fake never came up before.

So okay, LET’S ASSUME THE COPY IS FAKE AND HIJIKATA’S TATTOO IS DIFFERENT.

Why would this be relevant? Are we going to assume someone will steal it and think he has collected all the tattoos only to be disappointed later on because he has a copy? Possible but that’s not where I want to go.

The following part of the theory is that actually the kanji written on Hijikata’s skin share the reading of all the 8 Katakana syllables of Wilk’s name, meaning  THE ONLY TATTOOED SKIN NEEDED TO FIND THE GOLD IS HIJIKATA’S.

The reasoning between this is:

1) As Asirpa reminded us in the new pages included in Vol 21 and many other times along the story, her father wanted her and Hijikata to join forces, meaning it would be good if he were to give Hijikata a useful tattoo.

2) If Asirpa had immediately remembered the code and Hijikata had the only tattoo needed they could have found the gold as soon as they got together.

3) It’s clear Wilk didn’t blindly trust Hijikata to care and prioritize Ainu interests (in fact Hijikata’s goal is to protect Japan and he doesn’t hesitate to put Ariko in troubles), so not telling him his tattoo is the only one needed insure he’ll have to go search Asirpa’s allegiance and until he doesn’t show her full cooperation and hands her his tattoo the code can’t be solved.

4) It’s also likely that Wilk knew Tsurumi was aiming at the gold. Sending him on a wild chase for 23 dangerous convicts would provide Wilk, Asirpa and Hijikata time.

5) Wilk likely assumed Asirpa won’t manage to do things on her own, she needed allies and Hijikata could be a solid ally. If Hijikata were to fall in Tsurumi’s hands before the gold was found it was game over anyway as Asirpa would lose his help and Wilk might have assumed without someone with the connection and experience Hijikata had she wouldn’t manage to handle the situation as young as she is.

6) Being cunning, motivate and dangerous Hijikata is the less likely convict that would fall easily in Tsurumi’s hands. As Tsurumi doesn’t know he would have to go solely for him he would likely leave him for last, possibly thinking if he were to collect the 23 tattooed skins he could still crack the code on his own.

7) We know that kanji that could fit the reading of Wilk’s name were placed on convicts. It’s possible that actually there are more so as to complete Wilk's Ainu name. If Tsurumi were to get the skin from 23 convicts but not Hijikata and learn the code from Asirpa, he could assume he already owns all the pieces of the map only to be sent again on a wild chase because his map is wrong.

8) Boutarou pointed out how sometimes you might have something really close to yourself and yet be unable to find it. It might be an ironic way to point out how Hijikata always had the tattooed skin he needed right under his hands and yet, persuaded more were needed, he couldn’t even realize his tattoo would have been enough.

9) Wilk too might have realized something could happen to the convicts that could cause their tattoos to never be retrieved. In this sense sending the only relevant tattooed skin to Asirpa by means of Hijikata searching for her reduces greatly the chances the relevant tattooed skin won’t reach Asirpa’s hands.

Also, but this is just something I’d like

10) This would make Wilk a less jerk of a dad as he didn’t ask his daughter to chase dangerous convicts and kill and skin them but just to make a copy of the tattoo of his ally to solve the riddle while, at the same time, providing her all the time to act while Tsurumi is busy elsewhere. In short although he pushed on her a huge burden, he still tried to help her, not to give her more troubles than needed. Also his plan becomes less of a gambit roulette and more of a Xanatos Gambit where the winning condition is that Tsurumi will never get the gold.

Of course, this is just a theory that suffer of a huge lack of information as there’s probably still a lot we don’t know and therefore I might be completely off track and, of course, if this were Wilk’s plan, he failed to take into calculation external interferences like Sugimoto joining forces with Asirpa and beginning to collect tattooed skins, Tsurumi not really devoting himself much to the work thinking he could let Sugimoto do the work and then steal them from him, Asirpa not remembering the code, Hijikata failing to find Asirpa and get her trust and give them his own so that he too starts chasing tattoos and Asirpa has no idea he has the right tattoo.

Long story short, Wilk’s Xanatos Gambit was hugely complicated by misfortune… though since I think it will be unlikely Tsurumi will get the gold for himself, its Xanatos Gambit nature will probably live till the end.

At least… this is my speculation. We’ll see how it’ll go.

Still I’ll be waiting for the moment in which Noda will show us Hijikata’s tattooed skin as it’s tattooed on his skin.

Come on Noda! We wanna see Hijikata naked! Or at least shirtless! We’re sure he still conserve his manly charm! Give him to us! ^_-

[goldenkamuyhunting]

Asirpa’s family...

While rereading vol 2 I’ve been wondering about Asirpa’s family.

When in her village, Asirpa lives with her grandmother.

In chap 10/11 we learn that Asirpa’s late grandfather was the most important man in the village.

Now… this seems to hint Asirpa’s grandfather could have been the village leader as the people really important in an Ainu village are the chief (a man who should have outstanding abilities in hunting and/or fighting), the council of elders and the shaman (who often was a woman).

The chief is often elected but it can also be an inherited position.

What else we learn?

Her grandfather died 6 years ago of illness, while her mother died not much after giving birth to her, always of illness.

It’s worth to mention it wasn’t exactly immediately after as we see Asirpa’s mom managed to be filmed with her baby daughter and she looked just fine there.

We also learn only Huci and Asirpa live in Huci’s house as her aunt and uncle (Makanakkuru) live in another home with their daughter, Osoma.

Makanakkuru will then say Asirpa’s mom was is “older sister” (‘ane’  姉) .

We’ll meet Osoma’s mom much, much later and not much will be said about her apart that she can confortably order around three soldiers without the slighest fear despite Tsukishima having just attempted to murder Tanigaki and Inkarmat.

Now… why all this is worth pondering?

Asirpa is living with Huci.

Apparently, when an Ainu would get married, he would move outside of his parents’ home. This would mean Wilk should have built a home for himself and his wife and this home should be Asirpa’s home. Since Asirpa has no problems going to the mountains alone from when her father died, it seems unlikely she would have problem to live in her home in the village alone... and we see that Cikapasi also lives on his own.

However, as Wilk was an outsider, I wondered if it could be he didn’t manage to build his own home but was welcomed in Huci’s home, hence his home and therefore Asirpa’s home was the same as Huci’s.

It seemed to make sense only, reading about Ainu, I stumbled into a problem.

Not all the children would get their own home when they married.

The eldest male son would inherit his parents’ home and therefore he wouldn’t move out of it but live with them.

This means if Huci had 2 kids, Asirpa’s mom and Makanakkuru, Makanakkuru, being the male between the two, regardless of Asirpa’s mom being the older, would inherit Huci’s house and therefore wouldn’t move out of it to leave it to Wilk.

This opens up two possibilities.

1) When Wilk married Asirpa’s mom he was adopted in the family and allowed to steal Makanakkuru’s place as ‘eldest son’. This is actually not so common. Ainu would adopt children and they would have the same status as their legitimate children but they would adopt the husbands of their daughters and give him the status of heir only if they lacked male sons. If they had Makanakkuru there would be no reason to replace him with Wilk unless Makanakkuru were considered lacking somehow and therefore unworthy of inheriting.

2) Makanakkuru is actually not Huci’s child but Huci’s child’s husband. Although there’s a Japanese word for “sister-in-law”, you can call her just “sister”. As he was the husband of the younger sister he wouldn’t inherit the house which would go to the husband of the eldest sister, therefore to Asirpa’s mom and Wilk.

Now…

If Makanakkuru was replaced by Wilk as the eldest son this could be a tad more serious than it looks like. Sure, Wilk was apparently an outstanding hunter but Makanakkuru doesn’t seem such an unworthy son you’ll want to replace it as soon as possible… unless we’re seriously missing information on him.

If Makanakkuru is not Huci’s son this could explain why he looks so different from her and Asirpa’s mom while his wife seems at least to have Huci’s nose and square face.

It’s true though we hadn’t been shown Asirpa’s grandfather yet (Golden Kamuy depicts children similar to their parents so as long as we don’t know how he looks we can’t really say who took from who) who, interesting enough, might have been the last old person who knew where the gold was, might have passed the information to Wilk and conveniently died around the time the Nopperabou incident took place (in vol 1 it’s said the incident took place 5 years before, so Asirpa’s grandfather was dead by one year but later we’ll learn Nopperabou was in jail by 7 years so, unless Asirpa’s grandfather’s death get retconned as well, he died a year after it).

Sure, all this might not mean much in the story’s plot but I still thought it was worth to share it.

 Hopefully Noda will tell us more about Asirpa’s family, and maybe also tell us how Asirpa’s mom and Osoma’s mom are called (it kind of feels bad we don’t have a name for them...).