#Gotou Takechiyo

[goldenkamuyhunting]

FULL LIST OF THE KNOWN TATTOOED PRISONERS (23 OF 23)

1. Gotō Takechiyo (後藤 竹千代): Status: Deceased (Killed by a bear) - Crime: He murdered his wife and son while he was drunk.

2. Kasahara Kanjirō (笠原勘次郎) Sugimoto-tachi o Bikō Shite Ita Shūjin (杉元達を尾行していた囚人 “Prisoner who was tailing Sugimoto’s group”): Status: Deceased (Killed by Ogata) - Crime: Unknown.

3. Hijikata Toshizō (土方 歳三) aka Oni no Fukuchō (鬼 の 副長 “Demonic vice-commander”), Bakumatsu no Baragaki (幕末 の バラ餓鬼 “Lingering ghoul of the Bakumatsu”), Baragaki (バラガキ “Brat with a thorny personality”): Status: Alive - Crime: He was on the enemy side in the battle of Hakodata and therefore is considered a political prisoner.

4. Shiraishi Yoshitake (白石 由竹) aka Datsugoku-ō (脱獄王 “Escape king”): Status: Alive - Crime: Robbery was what put him in juvenile prison but due to his many escaping from prison to prison he ended up in Abashiri.

5. Tsuyama Mutsuo (津山 睦雄): Status: Deceased (Killed by Tsurumi Tokushirō) - Crime: He killed 33 people.

6. Ushiyama Tatsuma (牛山 辰馬) aka Fuhai no Ushiyama (不敗 の 牛山 “Ushiyama the Undefeated”): Status: Alive - Crime: He killed his master, wounded several of his master’s students causing one to remain bedridden for the rest of his life.

7. Nihei Tetsuzō (二瓶 鉄造) aka Kumauchi (熊撃ち “Bear hunter”) and Tōmin-chū no higuma mo unasareru akumu no kumauchi (冬眠中 の 羆 も 魘される 悪夢 の 熊撃ち “The bear hunter who gives hibernating bears nightmares”): Status: Deceased (Killed by Retar’s mate) - Crime: Murdered three thieves who stole prey from hunters and also killed them when they threatened to do the same with him.

8. Henmi Kazuo (辺見 和雄): Status: Deceased (Killed by Sugimoto Saichi) - Crime: Murdering over a hundred of people around the country.

9. Ienaga Chikanobu (家永 親宣) aka Ienaga Kano (家永 カノ): Status: Deceased (Killed by Tsukishima Hajime) - Crime: Killing a bunch of patients in order to get their blood and, from it, their youth.

10. Takara Tetsuo (宝井 哲夫) previously just known as Barato de irezumi ninpi nomi torihikiki sa rete ita shūjin (茨戸 で 刺青 人皮 のみ 取引き さ れて いた 囚人 “Prisoner whose tattooed skin was traded in Barato”): Status: Deceased (Killed by Wakayama Kiichirō) - Crime: Unknown.

11. Wakayama Kiichirō (若山 輝一郎) aka Oyabun (親分 “Boss”) and Wakayama no Oyabun (若山の親分 “Boss Wakayama”): Status: Deceased (Killed by a bear) - Crime: He’s a Yakuza boss who makes his living with gambling and clearly has killed other people… though we don’t exactly know why he ended in the jail.

12. Funabashi Sōroku (船橋 荘六) previously just known as Yūbari no tankō jiko de shibō shita shūjin (夕張 の 炭鉱 事故 で 死亡 した 囚人 “Prisoner who died in an accident in the coal mine in Yubari”): Status: Deceased (Killed by a mining incident) – Crime: Unknown.

13. Suzukawa Kiyohiro (鈴川 聖弘): Status: Deceased (Killed by Koito) - Crime: Being a con artist.

14. Sakamoto Keiichirō (坂本 慶一郎) aka Inazuma Gōtō (稲妻 強盗 “Lightning Bandit”): Status: Deceased (Killed by Tsurumi Tokushirō) - Crime: Thief sentenced to life prison in Kabato. He escaped and was captured and sent to Abashiri.

15. Anehata Shiton (姉畑 支遁) aka Anehata Sensei (姉畑 先生 “Professor Anehata”): Status: Deceased (Died of heart attack while having sex with a bear) - Crime: Animal rape and animal slaughter.

16. Toni Anji (都丹 庵士) aka Mōmoku no tōzoku-dan no oyadama (盲目 の 盗賊団 の 親玉 “Leader of the Blind bandits”): Status: Alive - Crime: Unknown.

17. Gansoku Maiharu (岩息 舞治): Status: Alive - Crime: He was initially imprisoned for dojoyaburi (t/n: challenging dojo masters and bringing them to ruin) and his crimes got heavier while in prison because he kept causing mayhem.

18. Doi Shinzō (土井 新蔵) aka Hitokori Yōichirō (人斬り 用一郎 “Yōichirō the Manslayer”): Status: Deceased (Killed by Hijikata Toshizō) - Crime: We know he was a hided assassin who killed countless people for a samurai who served the emperor but what caused him to end up in prison was merely the fact 8 years ago he murdered a man to get his wife back.

19. Sekiya Waichirō (関谷 輪一郎): Status: Deceased (Killed by Hijikata Toshizō) - Crime: He killed 30 people with strychnine.

20. Matsuda Heita (松田 平太) aka Dōtō no higuma otoko (道東 の ヒグマ 男 “The Bear Man of East Hokkaido”) and Heita Shishō (平太 師匠 “Master Heita”): Status: Deceased (Suicide) - Crime: He was discovered while murdering and eating a man while wearing a bear pelt… but actually he had killed way more than just one man.

21. Ōsawa Fusatarō (大沢 房太郎) aka Kanbō no kaizoku (監房 の 海賊 “Pirate of the prison”) and Kaizoku Bōtarō (海賊 房太郎 “Pirate Bōtarō”): Status: Deceased (Killed by Tsurumi Tokushirō and Kikuta Mokutarō) - Crime: 55 known cases of robbery, murders, injury, arson, theft plus many more still unknown.

22. Michael Ostrog (マイケル・オストログ) aka Jack the Ripper (ジャック ザ リッパー): Status: Deceased (Killed by Sugimoto Saichi) - Crime: around 10 years ago he stabbed multiple times a prostitute in Yokohama. He’s also responsible for murdering prostitutes in London.

23. Ueji Keiji (上エ地 圭二): Status: Deceased (He slipped from a high chimney) –Crime: he’s a murderer who abducted tons of kids and buried them in his garden.

24. NOT A CONVICT: It turned out that the 24 tattooed convict is actually not a convict but Kadokura Toshiyuki (門倉 利運) former Abashiri head jailer, currently Hijikata Toshizō’s loyal ally, whose tattoo is however incomplete. The image above doesn’t include him because this was meant to be a list of convicts and Kadokura isn’t.

THIS LIST DOESN’T INCLUDE THE SITUATION BETWEEN THE THREE MAIN GROUPS CHASING THE TATTOOED SKINS UPDATED TO CHAP 263

That’s because:

- Tsurumi handed Hijikata some real skins among the fake ones, but we don’t know which they are.

- the tattooed skins entrusted to Kadokura has partly ended in Tsurumi’s hands and partly in Sugimoto’s hands.

Long story short, we don’t know anymore which skins has Tsurumi, which skins has Sugimoto and which skins has Hijikata.

[ayuuria]

Yashahime Translation: Episode 14 Summary

The Mastermind Who Burned the Forest

Short Summary:

The evil mountain god, Homura, attempts to monopolize the beautiful Tamano for himself. Towa and co. are tasked with exterminating him but Homura was involved in the forest fire that separated sisters, Towa and Setsuna.

Expanded Summary:

The beautiful girl, Tamano, is kidnapped and taken to a mansion in a snowy mountain by the evil mountain god, Homura. Over time he reveals his true jealous nature and kills servants and merchants that try to even talk to her, one after another. Tamano, who was confined in a Zashikirou (translator’s note: a room for confining criminals and lunatics according to the dictionary), barely escapes and is saved by Riku after she collapses in the snowy mountain. Towa and co. head to the snowy mountain after being tasked with exterminating Homura but Homura, who wields fire, sees sisters Towa and Setsuna and is surprised. You see, Homura was involved in the forest fire that separated the two.

Cast List:

Higurashi Towa: Matsumoto Sara

Setsuna: Komatsu Mikako

Moroha: Tadokoro Azusa

Riku: Fukuyama Jun

Shikabaneya Jyuubei: Koyama Tsuyoshi

Takechiyo: Fairouz Ai

Tamano: Minase Inori

Homura: Gotou Kousuke

Kokoro (?? Not positive on this translation. Even native Japanese speakers are unsure how to read this name): Sakamoto Maaya

Source: https://www.ntv.co.jp/program/detail/?programid=20213D80

[0zrockbitway]

So in the GO games the characters have their years by their names and other info and I find that pretty interesting?? I don’t think the games prior to the GO ones had the years on the character mini profile. I tend to forget who is in what year sometimes and the ina11 wiki doesn’t have their years listed (I think). Anyway, if you’re curious about who is in what year/grade here’s a (long) list of inazuma characters. It mostly contains GO characters but since you can recruit some characters from the original series I added them on here to.

Not every character has a year, some are labeled ??? or ADULT (Akizora Challengers/Golden Oldies team). Most of the aliea characters are under ??? and Toramaru is to (but we all know he’s younger so-). Also, these are only from Light/Shadow. I haven’t played CS yet so none of those characters are on here.

Inazuma Eleven GO teams

Raimon (GO)

Sangoku Taichi - 3rd year Kurumada Gouichi - 3rd year Kirino Ranmaru - 2nd year Amagi Daichi - 3rd year Nishizono Shinsuke - 1st year Hamano Kaiji - 2nd year Hayami Tsurumasa - 2nd year Matsukaze Tenma - 1st year Shindou Takuto - 2nd year Tsurugi Kyousuke - 1st year Kurama Norihito - 2nd year Aoyama Shunsuke - 2nd year Ichino Nanasuke - 2nd year Nishiki Ryouma - 2nd year Kariya Masaki - 1st year Kageyama Hikaru - 1st year

Seto Midori - 2nd year Sorano Aoi - 1st year Yamana Akane - 2nd year

Raimon Reserves - all 2nd years

Eito Gakuen/Prodigy Grammer

Kageura Touji - 2nd year Mienai Kouta - 2nd year Honda Taizou - 3rd year Akutagawa Fusanosuke - 1st year Kakizaki Hagumi - 2nd year Hitofude Hayato - 1st year Fukuro Tetsuya - 2nd year Yomiya Satoshi - 1st year Yukiji Keiichi - 1st year Saewatari Yuuichirou - 2nd year Kindaichi Gaku - 3rd year Kaoka Utanori - 1st year Kouyou Hifumi - 1st year Natsume Kinsuke - 2nd year Kuniki Tetsuo - 1st year Tanizaki Jung - 3rd year

Tengawara/Milky Way Charter

Minami Juuji - 2nd year Kawasaki Ginta - 3rd year Itokawa Yoshinobu - 2nd year Kashio Seigo - 1st year Higashi Kinya - 1st year Hayabusa Hideki - 1st year Harei Mizunari - 1st year Nishinosora Yoichi - 2nd year Kita Ichiban - 2nd year Andou Tsuneyuki - 3rd year Hoshifuru Kaguya - 2nd year Orio Mihoshi - 1st year Oushida Kazuhiro - 1st year Yuge Noboru - 2nd year Ankoku Masayuki - 3rd year Harusawa Hikaru - 1st year

Mannouzaka/Almighty Faith

Shinoyama Mitsuru- 1st year Gamaishi Tsuneoki - 3rd year Oosawada Kotetsu - 2nd year Nagahisa Douji - 1st year Kuranoin Sanosuke - 1st year Ushio Kenjirou - 2nd year Busujima Kanezane - 2nd year Sakazaki Mugen - 1st year Shirato Kiyoshirou - 2nd year Mitsuyoshi Yozakura - 2nd year Isozaki Kenma - 1st year Chita Tsuyoshi - 3rd year Basato Toushi - 1st year Kiwami Seishin - 2nd year Okano Shunpei - 1st year Kamihira Gizou - 2nd year

Teikoku Gakuen/Royal Academy (GO)

Miyabino Reiichi - 1st year Ootaki Tonoo - 2nd year Kabata Taruhiko - 3rd year Narita Kenya - 1st year Ryuuzaki Ouji - 2nd year Asukaji Sakuya - 2nd year Horasawa Shuuji - 1st year Itsuki Katsumasa - 3rd year Sasaki Iwao - 2nd year Itsumi Kunihiko - 1st year Mikado Haruma - 3rd year Mashira Kadoteru - 2nd year Nakamura Michiru - 1st year Kasumino Jinta - 1st year Hanamura Kaoru - 2nd year Oosugi Futoshi - 2nd year

Kaiou Gakuen/Pirates Cove

Fukami Dandou - 2nd year Ide Norikazu - 3rd year Saruga Souma - 2nd year Funaki Yuuto - 1st year Nagisawa Nagisa - 1st year Touga Tooru - 2nd year Kaizu Kouichirou - 1st year Murakami Gunki - 1st year Wanda Naoto - 2nd year Namikawa Rensuke - 2nd year Yoshimine Misaki - 1st year Houki Ryuuhei - 3rd year Isaribi Tairamaru - 1st year Fujita Sumitomo - 2nd year Kurofune Izou - 2nd year Umigashi Entarou - 3rd year

Gassan Kunimitsu/Lunar Sea Military Academy

Hyoudou Tsukasa - 2nd year Kanehira Tessai - 3rd year Osafune Tenzen - 2nd year Hachisuka Tadatora - 1st year Kobayakawa Soukichi - 2nd year Tsukishima Kagehide - 1st year Masamune Gorou - 1st year Kai Nobutake - 1st year Shibata Kachidoki - 2nd year Minamisawa Atsushi - 3rd year Ichimonji Kirito - 1st year Yamamoto Kanta - 2nd year Takenaka Hanzou - 2nd year Sanada Rokurou - 1st year Shima Samonji - 3rd year Karasuma Takechiyo - 1st year

Hakuren/Alpine (GO)

Shirosaki Katsuya - 2nd year Hokugen Takeyuki - 3rd year Itou Torata - 2nd year Otaru Koutarou - 2nd year Makari Ginjirou - 1st year Kitaki Tsuneo - 1st year Touya Kunihiro - 2nd year Koori Itsuki - 2nd year Rumoi Korohiko - 1st year Yukimura Hyouga - 2nd year Itetsuki Touma - 1st year Mozaki Itaru - 1st year Oujika Kaku - 2nd year Yamane Minori - 1st year Hidaka Takeshi - 3rd year Seki Ganjirou- 3rd year

Kidokawa Seishuu/Kirkwood (GO)

Katayama Tsuyoshi - 3rd year Ooisokawa Tarou - 2nd year Ishikawa Kanpei - 2nd year Yamazaki Kotarou - 1st year Konuma Waku - 1st year Shimizu Ryuuto - 2nd year Izumi Kanaaki - 2nd year Tobisawa Mana - 2nd year Kishibe Taiga - 2nd year Taki Sousuke - 2nd year Kamiya Kouta - 1st year Kinugawa Waganuki - 3rd year Taki Yoshihiko - 1st year Yukai Mizuho - 2nd year Goshiki Jun - 1st year Sendai Hiroaki - 1st year

Genei Gakuen/Mirage

Hakono Zuiichi - 3rd year Kurenai Ouma - 2nd year Ozuno Yaku - 1st year Michiie Kanjurou - 3rd year Araki Akira - 2nd year Douhara Teito - 1st year Fudano Kirimasa - 2nd year Kobato Hiroo- 1st year Mahoro Tadashi - 3rd year Shiranui Genichi - 2nd year Shiranui Eiji - 1st year Utsurogi Sanemi - 1st year Iryuu Jouji - 2nd year Machi Shiiya - 2nd year Toriyuki Asaya - 1st year Ooki Tamanori - 3rd year

Arakumo Gakuen/Universal

Sata Tosamaru - 2nd year Urano Tenshou - 1st year Mukumo Tsukiya - 3rd year Yasumori Chiharu - 1st year Makisato Mizuki - 2nd year Furuto Meiji - 1st year Hinano Kinsuke - 2nd year Kida Mokuren - 2nd year Mazumi Hiroshi - 1st year Nebuchi Umitomo - 2nd year Amemiya Taiyou - 1st year Serei Kazutoyo - 1st year Chihara Eichi - 1st year Iri Koushichirou - 1st year Higa Takeyasu - 3rd year Uesuda Shirou - 3rd year

Seidouzan/Mt. Olympus

Masaki Teiya - 1st year Munemori Hidetoshi - 3rd year Kurei Yudai - 3rd year Iyabe Satoshi - 2nd year Hozumi Shinpei - 2nd year Amase -Reia  1st year Hyuuga Rron - 1st year Okegawa Yukimori - 1st year Kurosaki Makoto - 2nd year Koizaki Io - 2nd year Tsutsumi  Tomo - 2nd year Temizu Kenji - 1st year Furou Akisada - 1st year Arino Omi - 2nd year Atou Ran - 3rd year Asou Kurehito - 1st year

Dragonlink

Senguuji Yamato- 2nd year Gomaki Tetsurou - 2nd year Gouishi Senma - 1st year Gomi Seiei - 2nd year Kamiyama Gounoshin - 1st year Ikari Gouriki - 3rd year Seijou Shougo - 1st year Mito Shou - 2nd year Aikawa Masaru - 1st year Godai Shingo - 1st year Gotou Yukai - 2nd year Gotenba Tooru - 2nd year Gonokami Eiji - 1st year Gousaki Haeru - 2nd year Gozuma Takeyuki - 3rd year Hoshii Tsuyoshi - 1st year

Ancient Dark

Ashiya Noboru - 1st year Motono Tsuyoshi - 3rd year Michino Susumu - 3rd year Edaki Saki - 2nd year Kiya Kouji - 2nd year Rinne Makoto - 1st year Hisakumo Jinta - 1st year Noya Keiichirou - 3rd year Yuuki You - 2nd year Kai - 1st year Shuu - 1st year

Unlimited Shining

Hebino Makito - 3rd year Saki Yukio - 2nd year Ejima Kazuya - 3rd year Onizuka Heita - 1st year Fujiki Tatsuhiko - 2nd year Nitta Miru - 1st year Seidou Dan - 2nd year Ginzamiya Akira - 1st year Sasayama Taki - 1st year Hodo Mitsuhiro - 2nd year Hakuryuu - 1st year

Original/First Series Players

Zeus

Posei Donichi/Poseidon - 3rd year Aporo Hikaru/Apollo - 2nd year Hepai En/Hephestus - 3rd year Aresu Ran/Ares - 2nd year Deio Geki/Dionysus - 1st year Arute Saneki/Artemis - 2nd year Herumi Matsuaki/Hermes - 2nd year Atena Tomo/Athena - 1st year Demete Yutaka/Demeter - 2nd year Afuro Terumi/Aphrodi - 2nd year Hera Tadashi/Hera - 3rd year

FFI

Demonio Strada - 2nd year Fideo Ardena - 2nd year Gigi Blasi - 3rd year Choi Chang Soo - 3rd year Nice Dolphin - 3rd year Angelo Gabrini - 1st year Rococo Urupa - 2nd year Bjorn Kyle - 3rd year Kamezaki Kappa - 1st year Dylan Keith - 2nd year Mark Kruger - 2nd year Walter Mountain - 1st year Edgar Valtinas - 3rd year Mac Roniejo - 2nd year Julien Rousseau - 3rd year Teres Tolue - 3rd year

Raimon

Endou Mamoru - 2nd year Kazemaru Ichirouta - 2nd year Kabeyama Heigorou - 1st year Kageno Jin - 2nd year Kurimatsu Teppei - 1st year Handa Shinichi - 2nd year Shourinji Ayumu - 1st year Shishido Sakichi - 1st year Matsuno Kuusuke - 2nd year Gouenji Shuuya - 2nd year Someoka Ryuugo - 2nd year Megane Kakeru - 2nd year Domon Asuka- 2nd year Kidou Youth - 2nd year Ichinose Kazuya -2nd year Yamino Kageto - 2nd year

Tachimukai Yuuki -1st year Tsunami Jousuke - 3rd year Kogure Yuuya - 1st year Urabe Rika - 2nd year Fubuki Shirou - 2nd year Tobitaka Seiya - 2nd year Fudou Aki - 2nd year

Kino Aki - 2nd year Otonashi Haruna - 1st year Raimon Natsumi - 2nd year Kudou Fuyuka - 2nd year

Aliea & Teikoku

Suzuno Fuusuke - 2nd year Midorikawa Ryuuji - 2nd year Saginuma Osamu - 3rd year Nagumo Haruya - 2nd year Kiyama Hiroto - 2nd year Genda Koujirou - 2nd year Sakuma Jirou - 2nd year

[goldenkamuyhunting]

Let me introduce you...

Let me introduce you to some characters...

Actually you should know them already but not by their name or full name so, since Noda Sensei was so kind to share them on the fanbook (which I recommend you to buy!) let’s meet them again.

So, in order of apparition...

The old man without whom Sugimoto would have never been involved in this mess. Previously known as just Gotō, his full name is actually Gotō Takechiyo (後藤 竹千代). He wasn’t a good person and we don’t really miss him but we’re grateful for introducing Sugi to the gold hunt otherwise we wouldn’t have this story.

But let’s talk about better people one of whom is really missed by a certain main character.

Meet Kenmochi Toraji (剣持 寅次) and his lovely wife Kenmochi Umeko (剣持 梅子) (Maiden name: Kakizaki Umeko (柿崎 梅子)) with their kid.

And now let’s talk of a guy who was called “Prisoner number 1″ by the fandom because his name was a mystery. Well, now he isn’t anymore Prisoner number 1. Say hi to Kasahara Kanjirō (笠原 勘次郎)!

N o, I’m obviously not talking of Tsurumi but of owner of the tattooed skin he was wearing previously known merely as Tsuyama.

His full name was Tsuyama Mutsuo (津山 睦雄)... and I fear no one in the GK fandom will miss him as we never met him (and from the stories about him he probably wasn’t a very nice person).

And now we’re going to talk...

...of the infamous bear trio! Ogata’s rebel buddies.

Previously we just knew their surnames but now we can tell they are:

Corporal Tamai Hōzō (玉井 芳蔵)

Noma Naoaki (野間 直明) and

Okada Fumio (岡田文夫). RIP, bear trio, I really want to know more about you!

And now for someone else we’ve know really for a long time without knowing which was her name.

Huci, Ainu name Susupo (ススポ).

And we continue with the 7th division so let’s met someone else we previously only knew by surname...

Captain Wada Kōji (和田 光示). Please let me know more about you too.

Mishima Kennosuke (三島 剣之助)

Komiya Ikutarō (小宮 幾太郎).

But let’s stop talking about the 7th, what about the baby of Hijikata’s team?

Please meet Okuyama Kantarō (奥山 夏太郎)!

And then we have...

...no, not Ogata, just the owner of the skin on his head, Takara Tetsuo (宝井 哲夫).

And he’s not alone as we also have...

...no, not Edogai but the owner of the tattoed skin with whom his dress his made.

Meet Funabashi Sōroku (船橋 荘六) and wonders if the face we see was his own. And okay, back to the 7th we go and to...

Maeyama Kazuo (前山一夫).

We continue with an unlucky lady...

Ogata Tome (尾形 トメ), better known for being Ogata’s mom. As I was among the ones betting on her to be Tome I’m glad my guess turned out right.

We continue with the luckiest man alive of whom before we knew only the surname...

Kadokura Toshiyuki (門倉 利運). He’s great and deserves a lot of love. And we move to another nice person...

Enonoka’s grandfather, Ainu name Yōyanke (ヨ一ヤンケ).

And we continue with another beloved lady about whom we’d like to know more.

Harumi Chiyo (春見ちよ), previously known just as Igogusa (or Egogusa if you’re Tsurumi).

Last but not least a very favourite of mine.

the awesome Central spy Kikuta Mokutarō (菊田 杢太郎)!

And that’s all for now as I didn’t seem to see any other name that was previously missing but if I were to spot it I would probably update this list.

Hopefully I translitterated all the names correctly so that now everyone can call them with their full names!

[goldenkamuyhunting]

FULL LIST OF THE KNOWN TATTOOED PRISONERS (23 OF 24)

1. Gotō (後藤): Status: Deceased (Killed by a bear) - Crime: He murdered his wife and son while he was drunk. - Skin owned by: Sugimoto Saichi, Tsurumi Tokushirō.

2. Sugimoto-tachi o Bikō Shite Ita Shūjin (杉元達を尾行していた囚人 “Prisoner who was tailing Sugimoto’s group”): Status: Deceased (Killed by Ogata) - Crime: Unknown. - Skin owned by: Sugimoto Saichi, Tsurumi Tokushirō.

3. Hijikata Toshizō (土方 歳三) aka Oni no Fukuchō (鬼 の 副長 “Demonic vice-commander”), Bakumatsu no Baragaki (幕末 の バラ餓鬼 “Lingering ghoul of the Bakumatsu”), Baragaki (バラガキ “Brat with a thorny personality”): Status: Alive - Crime: He was on the enemy side in the battle of Hakodata and therefore is considered a political prisoner. - Skin owned by: Hijikata Toshizō (copy).

4. Shiraishi Yoshitake (白石 由竹) aka Datsugoku-ō (脱獄王 “Escape king”): Status: Alive - Crime: Robbery was what put him in juvenile prison but due to his many escaping from prison to prison he ended up in Abashiri. - Skin owned by: Shiraishi Yoshitake, Hijikata Toshizō (copy), Tsurumi Tokushirō (copy), Sugimoto Saichi (copy) (?) [We don’t know if Sugimoto made a copy].

5. Tsuyama (津山): Status: Deceased (Killed by Tsurumi Tokushirō) - Crime: He killed 33 people. - Skin owned by: Tsurumi Tokushirō.

6. Ushiyama Tatsuma (牛山 辰馬) aka Fuhai no Ushiyama (不敗 の 牛山 “Ushiyama the Undefeated”): Status: Alive - Crime: He killed his master, wounded several of his master’s students causing one to remain bedridden for the rest of his life. - Skin owned by: Ushiyama Tatsuma, Hijikata Toshizō (copy).

7. Nihei Tetsuzō (二瓶 鉄造) aka Kumauchi (熊撃ち “Bear hunter”) and Tōmin-chū no higuma mo unasareru akumu no kumauchi (冬眠中 の 羆 も 魘される 悪夢 の 熊撃ち “The bear hunter who gives hibernating bears nightmares”): Status: Deceased (Killed by Retar’s mate) - Crime: Murdered three thieves who stole prey from hunters and also killed them when they threatened to do the same with him. – Skin owned by: Sugimoto Saichi, Tsurumi Tokushirō.

8. Henmi Kazuo (辺見 和雄): Status: Deceased (Killed by Sugimoto Saichi) - Crime: Murdering over a hundred of people around the country. - Skin owned by: Sugimoto Saichi, Tsurumi Tokushirō.

9. Ienaga Kano/Chikanobu (家永 カノ/親宣): Status: Deceased (Killed by Tsukishima Hajime) - Crime: Killing a bunch of patients and transfusing their blood into himself. - Skin owned by: Hijikata Toshizō (copy), Tsurumi Tokushirō (copy).

10. Barato de irezumi ninpi nomi torihikiki sa rete ita shūjin (茨戸 で 刺青 人皮 のみ 取引き さ れて いた 囚人 “Prisoner whose tattooed skin was traded in Barato”): Status: Deceased (Killed by Wakayama Kiichirō) - Crime: Unknown. - Skin owned by: Wakayama Kiichirō, Hidoro Tamotsu, Ogata Hyakunosuke, Hijikata Toshizō.

11. Wakayama Kiichirō (若山 輝一郎) aka Oyabun (親分 “Boss”): Status: Deceased (Killed by a bear) - Crime: He’s a Yakuza boss who makes his living with gambling and clearly has killed other people… though we don’t exactly know why he ended in the jail. - Skin owned by: Sugimoto Saichi, Tsurumi Tokushirō.

12. Yūbari no tankō jiko de shibō shita shūjin (夕張 の 炭鉱 事故 で 死亡 した 囚人 “Prisoner who died in an accident in the coal mine in Yubari”): Status: Deceased (Killed by a mining incident) – Crime: Unknown. - Skin owned by: Edogai Yasaku, Tsurumi Tokushirō.

13. Suzukawa Kiyohiro (鈴川 聖弘): Status: Deceased (Killed by Koito) - Crime: Being a con artist. - Skin owned by: Sugimoto Saichi (copy), Tsurumi Tokushirō, Hijikata Toshizō (copy).

14. Sakamoto Keiichirō (坂本 慶一郎) aka Inazuma Gōtō (稲妻 強盗 “Lightning Bandit”): Status: Deceased (Killed by Tsurumi Tokushirō) - Crime: Thief sentenced to life prison in Kabato. He escaped and was captured and sent to Abashiri. - Skin owned by: Tsurumi Tokushirō.

15. Anehata Shiton (姉畑 支遁) aka Anehata Sensei (姉畑 先生 “Professor Anehata”): Status: Deceased (Died of heart attack while raping a bear) - Crime: Animal rape and animal slaughter. - Skin owned by: Sugimoto Saichi, Tsurumi Tokushirō.

16. Toni Anji (都丹 庵士) aka Mōmoku no tōzoku-dan no oyadama (盲目 の 盗賊団 の 親玉 “Leader of the Blind bandits”): Status: Alive - Crime: Unknown. - Skin owned by: Toni Anji, Hijikata Toshizō (copy), Sugimoto Saichi (copy), Tsurumi Tokushirō (copy).

17. Gansoku Maiharu (岩息 舞治): Status: Alive - Crime: He expressed himself through violence so likely he was sent in jail for brawling and since he kept on doing it even hen in jail his sentences piled up, in fact, he says he spent most of his life incarcerated but never that he murdered someone. - Skin owned by: Gansoku Maiharu, Sugimoto Saichi (copy), Tsurumi Tokushirō (copy), Sofia (copy) (?) [We don’t know if Sophia mande a copy].

18. Yōichirō/Doi Shinzō (用一郎/土井 新蔵): Status: Deceased (Killed by Hijikata Toshizō) - Crime: We know he was a hided assassin who killed countless people for a samurai who served the emperor but what caused him to end up in prison was merely the fact 8 years ago he murdered a man to get his wife back. - Skin owned by: Hijikata Toshizō.

19. Sekiya Waichirō (関谷 輪一郎): Status: Deceased (Killed by Hijikata Toshizō) - Crime: He killed 30 people with strychnine. - Skin owned by: Hijikata Toshizō, Tsurumi Tokushirō (copy).

20. Matsuda Heita (松田 平太) aka Dōtō no higuma otoko (道東 の ヒグマ 男 “The Bear Man of East Hokkaido”) and Heita Shishō (平太 師匠 “Master Heita”): Status: Deceased (Suicide) - Crime: He was discovered while murdering and eating a man while wearing a bear pelt… but actually he had killed much more than just one man. - Skin owned by: Sugimoto Saichi.

21. Ōsawa Fusatarō (大沢 房太郎) aka Kanbō no kaizoku (監房 の 海賊 “Pirate of the prison”) and Kaizoku Bōtarō (海賊 房太郎 “Pirate Bōtarō”): Status: Alive - Crime: 55 known cases of robbery, murders, injury, arson, theft plus many more still unknown. - Skin owned by: Ōsawa Fusatarō, Sugimoto Saichi (copy) (?) [We don’t know if Sugimoto made a copy].

22. ? (?) aka Jack the Ripper (ジャック ザ リッパー): Status: Alive - Crime: around 10 years ago he stabbed multiple times a prostitute in Yokohama. – Skin owned by: Michael Ostrog.

23. Ueji Keiji (上エ地 圭二): Status: Alive – Crime: he’s a murderer who abducted tons of kids and buried them in his garden. - Skin owned by: Ueji Keiji.

24. ?

AT CHAP 240 THE SITUATION BETWEEN THE THREE MAIN GROUPS CHASING THE TATTOOED SKINS IS AS FOLLOW

Sugimoto (3 skins?)

Gotō Sugimoto-tachi o Bikō Shite Ita Shūjin Nihei Tetsuzō Henmi Kazuo Wakayama Kiichirō Suzukawa Kiyohiro (copy) Anehata Shiton Toni Anji (copy) Gansoku Maiharu (copy) Shiraishi Yoshitake (copy) (?) [We don’t know if Sugimoto made a copy] Heita Matsuda Ōsawa Fusatarō (copy) (?) [We don’t know if Sugimoto made a copy]

Hijikata (9 skins)

Hijikata Toshizō (copy) Shiraishi Yoshitake (copy) Ushiyama Tatsuma (copy) Ienaga Kano/Chikanobu (copy) Barato de irezumi ninpi nomi torihikiki sa rete ita shūjin Suzukawa Kiyohiro (copy) Toni Anji (copy) Yōichirō/Doi Shinzō Sekiya Waichirō All the 6 fake skins

Tsurumi (15 skins)

Tsuyama Yūbari no tankō jiko de shibō shita shūjin Shiraishi Yoshitake (copy) Sakamoto Keiichirō Gotō Sugimoto-tachi o Bikō Shite Ita Shūjin Nihei Tetsuzō Henmi Kazuo Wakayama Kiichirō Suzukawa Kiyohiro Anehata Shiton Toni Anji (copy) Ienaga Kano/Chikanobu (copy) Sekiya Waichirō (copy) Gansoku Mahiru (copy)

Sophia (1 skin?)

Gansoku Mahiru (copy) [We don’t know if Sophia made a copy]

[goldenkamuyhunting]

Golden Kamuy Volume 1 Data Hunting

So this is a collection of assorted information about Golden Kamuy Vol 1 inclusive of data, points to ponder, notable quotes and so on.

It was a terribly long work and I don’t expect it to be perfect. If you notice something is wrong (especially in the translation from Japanese) or missing please, feel free to drop me a note.

I will try to do something similar for vol 2 as well but I don’t promise at all I’ll manage it.

Anyway, I’ll hope you’ll enjoy this!

VOLUME 1

Cover: Sugimoto Saichi

Chapters: 7

First printed: 19/January/2015

Volume only extras: A page explaining the Blakiston line, a map of Hokkaido and south Karafuto, Asirpa wearing an Attus, frontal and back image, the Ainu sentence ‘Kanto orwa yaku sak no arankep shinep ka isam’ (“Nothing comes from heaven without purpose”).

GENERAL INFO

Notable or recurring Characters: Sugimoto Saichi (杉元 佐一), Gotō (後藤), Wilk (ウイルク), Retar (レタㇻ), Toraji (寅次), Umeko (梅子), Toraji and Umeko’s child, Asirpa (アシㇼパ), pimp (妓夫太郎 ‘Gifutarō’), prisoner who was tailing Sugimoto’s group (杉元達を尾行していた囚人 ‘Sugimoto-tachi o Bikō Shite Ita Shūjin’), Hijikata Toshizō (土方 歳三) , Ogata Hyakunosuke (尾形 百之助), Tsurumi Tokushirō (鶴見 篤四郎), Shiraishi Yoshitake (白石 由竹), Wilk (ウイルク), Tsuyama (津山).

Maps of the places mentioned:

Meiji years mentioned: Meiji 1= 1868, Meiji 2= 1869, Meiji 23= 1890, Meiji 37=1904, Meiji 38= 1905, Meiji 40= 1907, Meiji 41= 1908, Meiji 44= 1912.

Weapons used:

- Arisaka Type 30 rifle: Japanese soldiers, Sugimoto, Toraji, Gotō, Ogata

- Arisaka Type 30 bayonet: Sugimoto, Ogata

- Mosin–Nagant M1891 rifle: Russian soldiers

- Ainu bow (Karimpaunku) and aconite poisoned arrow (Ay): Asirpa

- Ainu short knife for women (Menomakiri): Asirpa

- Ainu hunting knife (Tasiro): Asirpa

- Sharp stake: Ainu hunters

- Koishikawa Arsenal Type 26 revolver: prisoner who was tailing Sugimoto’s group, Sugimoto

- Murata Sword: Hijikata

Convict appeared and their tattoo owners (at the end of the volume):

1. Gotō: Sugimoto

2. Prisoner who was tailing Sugimoto’s group: Sugimoto

3. Hijikata Toshizō: Hijikata

4. Shiraishi Yoshitake: Shiraishi, Sugimoto (copy)

5. Tsuyama (Tsurumi)

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01. SUGIMOTO, THE IMMORTAL (不死身の杉元 FUJIMI NO SUGIMOTO)

First printed: 21/August/2014 Weekly Young Jump 38

Characters: Sugimoto Saichi (杉元 佐一), Gotō (後藤), Wilk (ウイルク), Retar (レタㇻ), Toraji (寅次), Umeko (梅子), Toraji and Umeko’s child, Asirpa (アシㇼパ).

Location: Near Otaru.

Other Places mentioned: 203 hill in Port Arthur (current Lüshunkou) (China), Abashiri Prison in Abashiri.

Time: 1907/1908 (?) Late February

Historical events mentioned: Russo-Japanese war (8 February 1904  – 5 September 1905) Siege of Port Arthur (1 August 1904 – 2 January 1905), Hokkaido Gold Rush (1617), Meiji Restoration (4 January 1868)

Includes flashbacks or info about the characters past: Yes, about Sugimoto, Toraji, Umeko and their kid.

Info and the characters’ theories about the ‘Noppera-bō incident’, the gold and the escape:

Hokkaido gold rush caused Ainu to store up 75 Kg of gold to fight the Japanese, who even after the Meiji Restoration were oppressing them by forbidding them to hunt salmon or deer, and stealing their lands. And then a single man stole it all, and killed the Ainu who owned it. The police were after the man, so he hid the gold somewhere in Hokkaido. But he was caught before he could tell anyone where it was, and thrown into Abashiri Prison, to be sentenced to death. He wanted to tell his comrades on the outside where the gold was, but he never wrote a letter as the guards would just steal it. No matter what they did to him, he didn't tell anyone where the gold was. In the end, one of the guards turned out to be a horrible man. He cut the tendon of one of the man's legs so he couldn't escape. So he tattooed on the bodies of his fellow inmates a code that revealed the location of the treasure. He mixed charcoal with saliva, and then slowly carved that ink in with a needle he'd kept hidden. Only his comrades on the outside can decrypt the code and this is what he said to the other prisoners: “Escape from this prison. Whoever succeeds can have half the treasure.” To crack the code, one needs all the prisoners' tattoos. Some of the lower members of the military heard the rumors about the tattoos and dragged the prisoners out of their cell, saying they were going to "transport" them as they were after the gold, too but that was the prisoners' chance to escape. The prisoners killed all the soldiers, and every last one disappeared into the forest. Nobody's caught them. And nobody knows what happened to the gold, either. (Source: Gotō)

Asirpa’s father was also among the men killed that night, during the ‘Noppera-bō incident’. (Source: Asirpa)

Character deaths: Japanese soldiers (shoot by the Russians), 6 Russians (killed by Sugimoto), 7 Ainu (killed in the Noppera-bō incident), guards that were transporting the prisoners (killed by the prisoners), Toraji (during the war), Gotō (killed by a bear)

Animal deaths: mother bear (killed by Asirpa), bear cub (killed by a bear)

New Ainu words:

- Kamuy:  “God”

- Kanto orwa yaku sak no arankep shinep ka isam: Nothing comes from heaven without purpose

- Attus: “Bark”. Traditional Ainu coat made from fibers harvested from the bark of the Manchurian elm or the Japanese linden

- Ainu: “Human being”. It seems however that among Ainu, you called Ainu only the men after the age of thirty, giving it the meaning of “man” more than just human.

- Matakarip: “Those that move in winter”. Bear which missed hibernation.

Food and drinks: Ant, Sake

Useful info and points to ponder:

- The first page of the chapter is coloured in red and green. All the soldiers are green except for Sugimoto who’s red, making him easily identifiable. The choice of the red though fits with the fact he’s the main character (in many colour coded groups the red character is the main character) but also with how red is one of Sugimoto’s colours (the cover of the volume has him in predominantly red colours despite the fact Sugimoto’s coat should have been blue) as red well fit with Sugimoto’s character.

- Sugimoto calls the Russians ‘Roske’ (露スケ) “Russky” (also written as 露助). The anime however preferred to change this, having him refer to them as ‘Roshia’ (ロシア) “Russians”.

- Gotō uses ‘-san’ to talk with Sugimoto. Sugimoto never refers to him by name, just with ‘Anta’ (あんた “You”) or ‘Oyaji’ (オヤジ “Old man”).

- As Gotō calls him, Sugimoto instinctively removes his hat as if to greet him to place it back on his head, realizing it’s just him. It’s notable because Sugimoto hardly removes his army cap.

- When talking with Gotō Sugimoto will remarks that he wants money, that he needs it. Later, when talking with Asirpa he’ll remark he needs money more than anything.

- Sugimoto took part to the Russo-Japanese war during which he fought like a ‘Kishin’ (鬼神 “Demon god”/“Ogre god”) (for more info go here) and was nicknamed ‘Fujimi no Sugimoto’ (不死身の杉元 “Sugimoto, the Immortal” [Lit: “Sugimoto, the not-dying”]) because despite the serious wound he received he didn’t die and healed fast.

- Sugimoto explains he didn’t get a medal and a cozy retirement because he almost killed an official he didn’t like (‘Kiniiranai’ 気に入らない “he didn’t please me/suit me”). This was never developed further though I hope the ‘didn’t please me’ is actually a Japanese polite way to say ‘he was a jerk’ otherwise Sugimoto had quite an overreaction. On another side attacking a superior officer was quite a serious crime that could warrant you a dead sentence so Sugimoto really got it easy.

- The “Order of the Golden Kite” (金鵄勲章 ‘Kinshi Kunshō’) was an exclusively military award, conferred for bravery, leadership or command in battle. It ranked just below the Order of the Chrysanthemum, Japan’s highest order. The award came with an annual monetary stipend and was awarded for the lifetime of the recipient, and following his death, it would be awarded to the recipient's family for one year after.

- When Gotō talks about the Ainu collecting the gold he says the Ainu were going to fight against the Japanese that EVEN AFTER THE MEIJI RESTORATION had stolen their land and forbidden fishing and hunting. The bit about the Meiji restoration is cut in the scanlations but it implies that the facts are taking place AFTER 1868. Instead, while the stealing took place after that date, the collecting took place much, much before. This will become relevant later on because, as soon as they boys will discover it, they’ll realize the gold is much more than they were told.

- The word used for tattoo is ‘Irezumi’ (入れ墨 lit: "inserting ink") and, during the Edo period (1603–1868), it referred to the tattoos tattooed to criminals' faces or arms, which marked that they had been found guilty of their crimes. Yakuza often would also have tattoo that were obligatory in some clans and had birth in protest for the branding of criminals with tattoo. However not all the tattoo had a negative meaning in Japan. ‘Horimono’ (彫り物 Lit: “carved/engraved thing”) were large tattoos, which covers a person's whole back, or arms, or chest, or full-body that weren't branded on criminals but on fishermen, firemen, and so on, people who had jobs were they wouldn't be wearing many clothes, so their skin, and the tattoo, would be visible most of the time. Buddhist priests would also have tattooed on themselves sutras or religious designs while ‘Irezumiko’ (入墨子) were the tattoos sex workers would make to show their romantic devotion to their regular customer and it would start with the customer's name, and end with inochi (命), meaning life. In total, the tattoo meant "I devote my life to (customer's name)".

- Gotō told Sugimoto he saw an Hokkaido wolf, and although the latter didn’t believe him as he thinks they’re extinct, this might mean Gotō spotted Retar.

- Sugimoto remembered/dreamed his friend Toraji told him to go with him to Hokkaido to search for gold because he wanted his kid to go to college so he doesn’t grow up to be an idiot like him, escaping from a life of poverty and a good doctor to look at his wife, Umeko as his eyesight is getting worse every day. Toraji heard from an American pal of his working for the railroad industry that America has the best eye doctors so he estimated for the boat fare and the operation a cost of 200 yen with the boat fare doubling if he goes with her. In his dream Toraji told him he has to hurry as relations with America will worse after the war and begged him, crying, to take care of Umeko for him, as they had been friends all their lives and nobody will want a woman with bad eyes and a kid. Sugimoto then saw Toraji being limbless and with intestines exposed sinking in a pool of blood as he claimed “I can’t go back to Japan” (俺は日本に帰れない ‘Ore wa Nihon ni kaerenai’).

- Although when Gotō attacked him it was kill or be killed, Sugimoto didn’t kill him. When he chased him his first though was he clearly wanted to know more about what Gotō knew but then he talked himself into how he was chasing him because otherwise Gotō would kill him.

- The poison on Asirpa’s arrow is a fast-acting one made from a red stingray spine and aconite root but a brown bear can move for 10 second after being hit by it.

- Sugimoto refers to the bears as “Monsters” (バケモノ ‘Bakemono’)

- When talking about Toraji first Sugimoto defines him as his childhood friend (‘Osananajimi’ [幼なじみ “childhood friend”]) then switches to comrade (‘Senyū’ [戦友 “comrade in arms/war buddy”]).

- When asked about what he wanted to do with Gotō’s body by Asirpa, Sugimoto at first claimed he wanted to take him to a nearby village, skipping to mention he planned to use him to find the Ainu gold and only when Asirpa told him he would have to kill the bear to keep it he told her the truth, begging her to help him to kill the bear.

- In scanlations Asirpa claims that night will be a moonless night, which clashes with the fact in the next chapter we’ll see a full moon in the sky but in the Japanese version her sentence might be read as ‘the moon won’t appear’ (because hidden by clouds). In fact in the next chapter for a while it will be pitch black then the moon will appear from behind the clouds.

- Umeko calls Sugimoto ‘Saichi-chan’ (佐一ちゃん) and he calls her just ‘Ume-chan’ (梅ちゃん).

- Asirpa believed her father was among the Ainu killed THAT NIGHT.

- The way the tattoo wraps around the chest and arms and is sectioned off at the median lines of his body is the same way one would mark a bear or a deer before skinning it. This, according to Asirpa, implies the man tattooing them never wanted to share the gold with the prisoners but wanted them to be skinned.

- Gotō might look like a plot device to let Sugimoto know about the gold, set him on chasing it and helping him to meet up with Asirpa however he’s also a symbolic representation of the temptation for Sugimoto (Sugimoto has stopped killing people but if he tries to chase the gold he’ll resume doing so), but he can also work as an interesting parallel with Sugimoto. Our first impression of him is of a harmless, friendly drunkard. When he later tries to kill Sugimoto it’s obviously because he feared for his own life, not out of hate or cruelty. However late it’ll turn up he ended in Abashiri because he got drunk and while drunk he ended up killing his wife and kid. In short he lost control of himself and ended up murdering his family. And much later Sugimoto will have troubles controlling himself.

Notable changes from the magazine version: None

Notable quotes:

- Sugimoto: “Worse comes to worst, we take a bite out of one of those damn Russians. I won’t die here.” (‘Iza to nattara buttobashita Roske no shiroi ketsu o kajitte demo ore wa ikinuite yaru’ いざとなったらぶつ殺した露スケの白いケツをかじってでも俺は生き抜いてやる Lit: “When the moment come, even if I’ve to take a bite out of the white asses of the Russkies I’ll kill, I will survive.”)

- Sugimoto: “I want money. I need money.” (‘Kane ga hoshī. Kane ga hitsuyōna nda’ カネが欲しい。カネが必要なんだ)

- Gotō: “They called you… ‘Sugimoto the immortal,’ didn't they? They say you fought like you were possessed by The devil himself. That you were running around the day after receiving a mortal wound. bayonets, bullets, cannonballs. None of them could take you down. Are the stories true?” (‘Fujimi no Sugimoto tte yoba re teta n datte? Kishin no yōna tatakai-buridatta-sō janai ka. Hinshi no jūshō o otte mo yokujitsu ni wa hashirimawatteru. Jūken demo kikan jū demo hōdan demo sugi moto o korosenai tte… hontona no? Sono-wa?’ 「不死身の杉元」って呼ばれてたんだって？鬼神のような戦いぶりだったそうじゃないか。瀕死の重傷を負っても翌日には走り回ってる。銃剣でも機関銃でも砲弾でも杉元を殺せないって…ほんとなの？その話？Lit: “You were called Immortal Sugimoto, weren’t you? It seems that you fought like a Kishin. Even though you were seriously injured, you would run around the next day. A bayonet, a machine gun, or a shell can’t kill Sugimoto...  is it true? This story?”)

- Sugimoto: “They’re true. I just don't seem to die.” (‘Nakanaka shinenai mon sa’ なかなか死ねないもんさ Lit: “It’s hard to die for me.”)

- Sugimoto: “If I hadn’t nearly killed an officer that pissed me off… I’d have the order of the golden kite, and be enjoying a cosy retirement right now.” (‘Kiniiranai jōkan o hangoroshi nakya kinshi kunshō moratte imagoro wa nukunuku nenkin kurashida’ 気に入らない上官を半殺しなきゃ金鵄勲章もらって今頃はぬくぬく年金暮らしだ Lit: “If I hadn’t half killed a superior officer I don't like I would have received the Order of the Golden Kite and nowadays I would be living thanks to my cosy retirement.”)

- Wilk: “Break out of here. I'll split half the gold ingot among anyone who succeed” (‘Koko kara datsugoku shiro. Seikō shita yakko ni wa kinkai o hanbun yaru’ ここから脱獄しろ。 成功した奴には金塊を半分やる Lit: “Jailbreak from here. To the successful guy I’ll give half of the gold.”)

- Gotō: “The tattoos on all the prisoners only had meaning when they were combined.” (‘“Shūjin tara no irezumi wa zen'in de hitotsu no angō ni natte irurashī”’ 「囚人たらの入れ墨は全員でひとつの暗号になっているらしい」Lit: “‘It seems the tattoos on the prisoners were all forming a single encrypted code.’”)

- Toraji: “I can’t go back to Japan” (‘Ore wa Nihon ni kaerenai’ 俺は日本に帰れない).

- Sugimoto: “So then…what was that crazy story he was just telling me? Suddenly it's starting to sound a lot less crazy. Maybe he knows something else.” (‘Nanda yo… sakki no yotabana ga kyū ni shinjitsumi o obite kita jane~e ka! Aitsu mada nani ka shitteru no ka?’ なんだよ… さっきの与太話が急に真実味を帯びてきたじゃねぇか！あいつまだ何か知ってるのか？“What's going on... That gossip story suddenly tinged with truth! Does he still know anything?”)

- Sugimoto: “It’s kill or be killed” (‘Yara reru mae ni yaru shika’ やられる前にやるしか Lit: “I have to do it before him”)

- Asirpa: “It'll get extremely dark soon. There won’t be a moon tonight. It’ll be so dark you can’t see your own hands.” (‘Mō sogu makkura ni naru kon'ya wa tsuki ga denaikara jibun no te mo mienaku naru’ もうそぐ真っ暗になる今夜は月が出ないから自分の手も見えなくなる Lit: “It'll get extremely dark soon. Tonight the moon isn’t visible so it’ll be so dark you can’t see your own hands.”)

- Asirpa: “The weak get eaten” (‘Yowai yatsu wa kuwareru’ 弱い奴は食われる)

- Sugimoto: “It was my childhood friend… my comrade’s request” (Osananajimi de Sen'yū ga nokoshita saigo no tanomi’ 幼なじみで 戦友が残した最後の頼み lit: “My childhood friend… my comrade left me with this last request”)

- Sugimoto: “I need money more than anything!” (‘Dōshitemo kane ga hitsuyō nanda’ どうしてもカネが必要なんだ)

- Sugimoto: “So basically… they had planned all along to kill and skin him. And that's why he has tattooed like this?” (‘Tsumari… koroshite kawa o hagu koto ga zentei de kono irezumi wa hora rete iru tte koto ka?’ つまり… 殺して皮を剥ぐことが前提でこの入れ墨は彫られているってことか？ Lit: “I mean ... is this tattoo engraved like that on the premise of killing and skinning him?”)

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02. WEN KAMUY (ウェンカムイ WEN KAMUY)

First printed: 21/August/2014 Weekly Young Jump 38

Characters: Sugimoto Saichi (杉元 佐一), Asirpa (アシㇼパ), Gotō (後藤), Wilk (ウイルク), Retar (レタㇻ).

Location: Near Otaru.

Other Places mentioned: None

Time: 1907/1908 (?) Late February, 12 hours before sunrise (In Sapporo from Feb 16 to Feb 28 sunset is at 5:14PM and sunrise is at 6:22 AM so we’re at around 6:00 PM)

Historical events mentioned: Hokkaido Wolf extinction (1890)

Includes flashbacks or info about the characters past: None.

Info and the characters’ theories about the ‘Noppera-bō incident’, the gold and the escape:

Five years ago Asirpa’s father and six men from other villages were killed while transporting the gold to a new hiding place. Their bodies were chopped up and animals got them, scattering their remains. One of the lump of flesh resembled Asirpa’s father. Ainu were never even told that the man who'd killed them was arrested and sent to Abashiri prison, let alone anything about the tattooed prisoners. (Source: Asirpa)

Anybody involved with the case has probably been tight-lipped with the facts, since they’re all trying to get the gold themselves. (Source: Sugimoto)

Since Gotō is still living in hiding, this means the gold wasn’t found and the people in charge in the prison won’t execute the one who murdered Asirpa’s father and the others until they find the gold but the minute the gold is found the man’s life is forfeit. (Source: Sugimoto)

Character deaths: 2 Russians (killed by Sugimoto)

Animal deaths: Bear (killed by Sugimoto)

New Ainu words:

- Wen Kamuy: “Evil God”. Animal God which killed a human and can’t eat anything else but humans so he no longer fears humans and turn violent and dangerous.

- Sitat: Bark from white birch trees.

- Retar: White

- Sisam: “By my side”. Non-Ainu Japanese people.

- Asirpa: “New Year/Future”

- Teine Pokna Mosir: “Wet Underground World”. An Ainu hell in which all souls who do evil and commit taboo are sent after their death. It is a dark, cold, muddy and damp place, the lowest netherworld out of six. Being there is like a live burial, suffocating and lonely in a sort of karmic payback in which to hurt another is to dig a grave for yourself.

Food and drinks: Bear meat

Useful info and points to ponder:

- When Asirpa praises Sugimoto as a good warrior she comments it’s impressive ‘for a Sisam’ (a not Ainu). Actually Ainu didn’t have the monopoly of brave warriors so her comment comes out as prejudiced.

- Asirpa calls Sugimoto ‘Sisam’ until he’ll introduces himself as Sugimoto Saichi. Then she’ll call him just ‘Sugimoto’.

- After learning her name, Sugimoto calls Asirpa, ‘Asirpa-san’.

- Asirpa’s Ainu name (アシㇼパ) is written with a small ‘ri’ that needs to be read as just ‘r’ while the ‘shi’ needs to be read as ‘si’. Now, in the manga, Japanese characters usually write/pronounce Ainu words in the Japanese way (‘Citatap’ becomes ‘Citatapu’) while Ainu pronounce them in the correct way. However in Asirpa’s name case it seems everyone writes/pronounces it correctly, with a small ‘ri’ (though I’ve heard in the fandom this is up to debate). The anime didn’t care AT ALL about this and had even Asirpa say ‘Ashiripa’.

- While Asirpa didn’t specifically say the Ainu men killed were of HER village, the context implied she believed they were and even Sugimoto assumed so. We know though, the men weren’t all from her village. The Doylist explanation is Noda retconned this, the Watsonian explanation is that Asirpa doesn’t remember the fact correctly as she was a child.

- Sugimoto asks Asirpa to team up with him to find the gold. He acknowledges it belongs to the Ainu in the first place so he won’t ask for 50:50, just for a share. When Asirpa refuses because this would mean track and kill the prisoners and she doesn’t want to kill anyone Sugimoto claims that by finding the gold, they’ll trigger the execution of her father’s murderer, ensuring she’ll get revenge for her father and that Asirpa helped him because this is exactly what she wanted, so he volunteers to be the one who dirties his hands as she’ll only have to share her knowledge with him.

- It’s worth to mention that, although Sugimoto didn’t ask for an even split, it was never exactly established how much Sugimoto wanted. The scanlations say he asked for a small share but in the Japanese version he asked just for a share (‘Wakemae’ 分け前), without claiming it also had to be small. He likely hoped it wouldn’t be as in chap 3 he said he would also become rich.

- Ainu do not eat a bear who killed a human nor take their fur.

- The last page of the chapter has two panels, in one there’s Sugimoto and Asirpa, Sugimoto claiming he’s in this for the money and Asirpa is in this for revenge and therefore their destinations are different but they’re walking the same path and together they can be unstoppable. The panel below shows the bodies of the convicts, implying their path is built above the corpses of the convicts.

Notable changes from the magazine version:

- In the magazine Asirpa says Retar’s name out loud, in the volume she just thinks it.

Notable quotes:

Asirpa: “When a brown bear kills a human, it is cursed to never be able to eat anything else.” (‘Higuma wa ichido ningen o korosu to batsu to shite ningen shika kuenaku naru.’ ヒグマは一度人間を殺すと罰として人間しか食えなくなる。Lit: “Once a brown bear kills a human, as punishment, he can only eat humans.”)

Asirpa: “It no longer fears humans and turns violent and dangerous, it becomes a Wen Kamuy (Evil god)” (‘Ningen o osorenai kyōbōde kiken'na Wen Kamuy (warui kami) ni naru.’ 人間を恐れない凶暴で危険なウェンカムイ（悪い神）になる。Lit: “He become a vicious and dangerous Wen Kamuy (evil god) who does not fear humans.”)

Sugimoto: “I guess the bear figures out just how weak human beings really are…” (‘Bare chimatta wakeda... Ningen-sama ga yowai ikimonodatta’ バレちまったわけだ… 人間様が弱い生き物だった Lit: “The bear understood it. . . Human beings are weak creatures.”)

Sugimoto: “Just try and kill me, dammit! I'm Sugimoto the immortal!” (‘Koroshite miro ~tsuore wa fujimi no Sugimoto da’ 殺してみろッ俺は不死身の杉元だ Lit: “Try to kill me! I'm Sugimoto the immortal!”)

Asirpa: “You're brave and know your way around a fight. A most capable warrior! Impressive, for a Sisam.” (‘Yūki to tatakai no sainō ga aru. Yūshūna senshida. Shisamu ni shite wa yaru na’ 勇気と戦いの才能がある。優秀な戦士だ。シサムにしてはやるな Lit: “You have courage and fighting talent. An excellent warrior. Impressive for someone who’s just a Sisam.”)

Asirpa: “My father and six other men from the village were killed while moving the gold stash to a new hiding place” (‘Chichi o fukume mura no otoko-tachi 7-mei wa kinkai no kakushibasho o idō sate iru dōchū ni korosa retarashī’ 父をふくめ村の男たち７名は金塊の隠し場所を移動さている道中に殺されたらしい Lit: “Seven men from the village, including my father, seemed to have been killed on the way while moving the gold to a new hiding place.”)

Sugimoto: “Listen, Asirpa. Let's team up and find this gold together. It belongs to your people in the first place, so I won't ask for 50:50. All I'm looking for is a small share.” (Nā Ashiripa-san. Ore to kunde kinkai o mitsukeyou. Moto wa anta-tachi no kinda. Yamawake to wa iwanai. Daga orenimo wakemae ga hoshī ‘’ なぁ アシㇼパさん。俺と組んで金塊を見つけよう。もとはあんた達の金だ。山分けとは言わない。だが俺にも分け前が欲しい Lit: “Hey, Asirpa-san. Team up with me to find the gold. Originally it was your people’s gold. I’m not saying to split it equally. But I also want a share.”)

Asirpa: “We ainu don't eat the meat of a man-eater. We don't take the fur either. A bear that does evil things and becomes an evil god is sent to a hell called Teine Pokna Mosiri” (‘Ainu wa hito o koroshita inoshishi wa kuwanai. Kegawa mo toranai. Warui koto o shita kuma wa warui kami to natte teinepokunamoshiri to iu jigoku ni okura reru’ アイヌは人を殺した熊の肉は食わない。毛皮も取らない。悪い事をした熊は悪い神となってテイネポクナモシリという地獄に送られる Lit: “Ainu do not eat the meat of bears who killed people. We also don't take its fur. A bear who does bad things becomes a evil god and is sent to a hell called Teine Pokna Mosiri”)

Asirpa: “I don’t want to kill anyone.” (‘Watashi mo hito o koroshitakunai’ わたしも人を殺したくない)

Sugimoto: “Killing people sends you to hell? then I guess they'll be rolling out the red carpet for me!” (‘Ningen o korose wa jigoku-ikidato ku? Sorenara ore wa tokutō sekida’ 人間を殺せは地獄行きだとく？ それなら俺は特等席だ Lit: “Killing humans sends you to hell? Then I guess I’ll get a special seat!”)

Sugimoto: “I'll be the one getting their hands dirty. All you need to do is share your knowledge with me. I'm in it for the money. You're in it for revenge. Our destinations are different, but we're walking the same path. If we work together, we'll be unstoppable!” (‘Te o yogosu no wa ore ga yaru. Asirpa-san wa chie dake kashite kure. Ore wa kin de Asirpa -san wa oya no kyū. Mokuteki wa chigaedo michi wa onaji. Futari de te o kumeba oninikanabōda’ 手を汚すのは俺がやる。アシㇼパさんは知恵だけ貸してくれ。俺は金でアシㇼパさんは親の仇。目的は違えど道は同じ。二人で手を組めば鬼に金棒だ Lit: “Getting their hands dirty is what I’ll do. Asirpa-san, please lend me only your wisdom. I'm in for the gold and Asirpa-san is in for her parent's revenge. The purpose is different but the road is the same. If we join hands together we’ll give a metal rod to an ogre (we’ll be even stronger).”)

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03. TRAP (罠 WANA)

First printed: 04/September/2014 Weekly Young Jump 40

Characters: Sugimoto Saichi (杉元 佐一), Asirpa (アシㇼパ), unnamed merchant, unnamed prostitute, Tokiko (時子), unnamed pimp (妓夫太郎 ‘Gifutarō’), unnamed prisoner who was tailing Sugimoto’s group (杉元達を尾行していた囚人 ‘Sugimoto-tachi o Bikō Shite Ita Shūjin’).

Location: Near Otaru and Otaru.

Other Places mentioned: Sapporo, Hakodate, Asahikawa, Southern Karafuto (current Southern Sachalin)

Time: 1907/1908 (?) Late February

Historical events mentioned: Russo-Japanese war (8 February 1904  – 5 September 1905)

Includes flashbacks or info about the characters past: None.

Info and the characters’ theories about the ‘Noppera-bō incident’, the gold and the escape:

If the escaped prisoners are still searching for the gold then they wouldn’t have run to mainland Japan but remain somewhere in Hokkaido. As they’re not animals they can’t survive hiding in the mountains and an outsider would stand out in a small village so Sugimoto imagine they would want to go to a big town and blend into the crowd. (Source: Sugimoto)

Character deaths: None.

Animal deaths: Squirrel (Killed by Asirpa’s trap).

New Ainu words:

- Ikayop: Quiver.

- Ay: Arrow.

- Karimpaunku: Bow wrapped in cherry tree bark.

- Tasiro: Hunting knife.

- Ekimnekuwa: Hiking stick.

- Menokomakiri: Short knife for women.

- Cinru: Snowshoes for use on crusty snow.

- Saranip: Knapsack.

- Yukker: Deerskin boots.

Food and drinks: Fried shrimp, squirrels, soba

Useful info and points to ponder:

- Sugimoto admits to like squirrels therefore he wouldn’t want to kill them. Asirpa says she likes them too. As a food. It’s possible though Asirpa didn’t get Sugimoto didn’t mean ‘as a food’ hence why she was so upset when he didn’t want to eat them later.

- Asirpa, with her hunting abilities, becomes the money provider of the group as money will come from the animals she hunts and sell, for example squirrel fur but also in the previous chapter she explained how to sell the part of the bears that got killed.

- In hindsight Sugimoto’s plan to find the convicts is based on completely wrong premises that show how little he knew about Hokkaido and the convicts. Not all the prisoners were searching for the gold and one even left Hokkaido (Gansoku Maiharu). Nihei could have survive hiding on the mountains if he had wanted to and Hokkaido has plenty of seasonal workers who also travelled in small villages or small towns.

- Of course, while having a bath Sugimoto isn’t wearing his cap. However he has a towel on the top of his head. When Sugimoto removes it, Noda covers the top of his head with vapour.

- When the men at the bath comments he never say a body like Sugimoto his sentence is phrased as if he means ‘good looking’. When, however, we see Sugimoto’s body as well we are meant to get he’s referring to the fact his body is badly scarred, making impressive how Sugimoto managed to stay alive.

- When thanked by the man in the baths because he helped ensure the financial prosperity of Otaru Sugimoto points out the merchants are the only ones getting rich and he thinks he’ll get rich too, no matter what he has to do.

- The prostitute calls her co-worker ‘Tokiko-chan’.

- When the pimp grabs Asirpa his first worry is she’s there to make fun of the girls working there. A prostitute defends Asirpa, telling him to let her go, calling her ‘Kawaisō’ (可哀想 “poor thing”). When Asirpa beats him they side with her, calling her ‘Ojōchan’ (お嬢ちゃん “young lady”)

- The pimp asks Asirpa if she’s 12 or 13 claiming Ainu girls get tattoo around their mouths when they come of age. Coming of age for Ainu girl varied from 14 to 18 according to the village in which the girls were in. Noda doesn’t tell us which is the rule in Asirpa’s village.

- The pimp plans selling Asirpa, likely to a brothel.

- Asirpa hits the pimp with the butt of her small knife in the eye, forcing him to put her down but not harming him permanently. Sugimoto hits him with his thumb on his trachea, while it won’t do permanent damage, a blow on the trachea is very dangerous, as we’ve seen with Usami and Tokishige.

- The method chosen to capture the convicts is the one used to capture squirrels. However, there was a chance the convict would have ended up slowly strangled in the process or, worse, it could have broken his neck and kill him instantly. Actually, considering how fast the rope seems to move and how it manages to pull him up, it could have even been possible to decapitate him.

- When Sugimoto claims they got a prisoner he uses ‘hikime’ (匹目) which is the counter for ‘small animals’ not for ‘people’. So he’s basically saying they got one small animal. While part of his sentence is tied to the fact they caught him with the same method they use to catch squirrel it’s possible Sugimoto was already dehumanizing convicts so as not to empathize with them.

Notable changes from the magazine version: None

Notable quotes:

- Sugimoto: “What, you're going to eat a squirrel? But I kind of like them…” (‘Ee~ risu kuu no ka? Ore risu-sukina ndakedo nā’ ええ～リス食うのか？俺リス好きなんだけどなぁ Lit: “Eh, do you eat squirrels? I like squirrels…”)

- Asirpa: “I like them too. They eat nothing but nuts, so their meat is really tasty. We can also sell their fur and make some money.” (‘Watashi mo sukida. Risu wa konomi shika tabenaikara niku ga umai. Kegawa mo urerukara genkin ga tenihairu’ 私も好きだ。リスは木の実しか食べないから肉が美味い。毛皮も売れるから現金が手に入る Lit: “I like them too. Squirrels eat only tree nuts, so their meat is delicious. Since their fun can be sold you can also get money.”)

- Sugimoto: “Hey, old timer. are you a regular here?” (‘Nā otchan wa koko no jōren?’  なあおっちゃんはここの常連？ Lit: “Hey, middle aged man, are you a regular here?”)

- Sugimoto: “Have you seen any guys with strange tattoos recently?” (‘Saikin koko de myōna irezumi no kyaku o mitakotonai?’  最近ここで妙な入れ墨の客を見たことない？ Lit: “Recently have you ever seen customer with a strange tattoo here?”)

- Merchant: “Young man…are you a soldier? I've never seen any strange tattoos…and I've certainly never seen a body looking like yours. I can harldly believe my eyes. It’s amazing you’re still alive. It's thanks to soldiers like you that we got back southern Karafuto. Thank you for giving so much.” (‘Nī-chan… heitai-san kai? Hen'na irezumi wa mita koto naiga, anta mitaina sugoikarada mo mita koto nai na. Kori yā. Anta sore de yoku iki totsuna nā. Nīchan-tachi ga tatakatte kuretakara Nihon wa minamikarafuto o torikaeseta. Okage de kono Minatochō wa korekara motto motto sakaerudarou. Hontōni gokurō-samadeshita.’ にいちゃん…兵隊さんかい？変な入れ墨は見たこと無いが,あんたみたいなすごいからだも見たこと無いな。こりゃあ。あんたそれでよく生きとつななあ。兄ちゃんたちが戦ってくれたから日本は南樺太を取り返せた。おかげでこの港町はこれからもっともっと栄えるだろう。本当に御苦労様でした Lit: “Young man... are you a soldier? I've never seen a strange tattoo, but I've never seen an amazing body like yours either. Wow. It’s amazing you’re still alive. You young men fought, so Japan was able to regain Southern Karafuto. Thanks to this, this port town will prosper more and more from now on. Really thank you for your hard work.”)

- Sugimoto: “...the merchants are the only ones getting rich. And I'll get rich too. No matter what I have to do.” (‘..Mōkaru no wa shōnin dakedaro. Ore mo taikin o tsukande yaru. Don'na te o tsukatte demo’ ...儲かるのは商人だけだろ。俺も大金を掴んでやる。どんな手を使ってでも Lit: “…Only the merchants are making money. And I too will grab a lot of money. No matter what kind of means I’ll have to use.”)

- Sugimoto: “Gotcha! there's prisoner number one!” (‘Kakatta Mazuwa ichi hikime!’ かかった まずは一匹目! Lit: “Got him! We’re starting with one small animal!”)

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04. NOPPERA-BŌ (のっぺら坊 NOPPERA-BŌ)

First printed: 11/September/2014 Weekly Young Jump 41

Characters: Sugimoto Saichi (杉元 佐一), unnamed prisoner who was tailing Sugimoto’s group (杉元達を尾行していた囚人 ‘Sugimoto-tachi o Bikō Shite Ita Shūjin’), Hijikata Toshizō (土方 歳三) , Asirpa (アシㇼパ), Wilk (ウイルク), Ogata Hyakunosuke (尾形 百之助)

Location: Near Otaru.

Other Places mentioned: None

Time: 1907/1908 (?) Late February

Historical events mentioned: Pencil introduction in Japan (Meiji era from October 23, 1868 to July 30, 1912)

Includes flashbacks or info about the characters past: Yes, about Wilk.

Info and the characters’ theories about the ‘Noppera-bō incident’, the gold and the escape:

Although the tattoos are worthless on their own, the prisoners split up because the other prisoners just suddenly started killing each other. The prisoner who was tailing Sugimoto’s group had no idea what was going on so he just ran away and since he couldn’t trust anyone he has been laying low all that time. (Source: prisoner who was tailing Sugimoto’s group)

The killing means some of the prisoners must have realized they had to start skinning the other convicts. (Source: Sugimoto)

The guy who came up with the escape plan was a cold, violent bastard, a monster, compared to whom the prisoner who was tailing Sugimoto’s group is just a small time punk and Sugimoto should have seen how had died the greedy soldiers who came after them. (Source: prisoner who was tailing Sugimoto’s group)

Character deaths: Guards that were transporting the prisoners (killed by the prisoners), prisoner who was tailing Sugimoto’s group (Shoot in the head by Ogata Hyakunosuke)

Animal deaths: None

Flashbacks or info about the characters past: None

New Ainu words:

- Makiri: “Knife”

- Menomakiri: “Knife for women”

Food and drinks: None mentioned.

Useful info and points to ponder:

- We will never get the name for the prisoner who was tailing Sugimoto’s group. Maybe it’s a nobody as Shiraishi claimed. Maybe there’s more to discover about him and it will be revealed in the future along with his name.

- The gun Sugimoto is holding is the one the prisoner who was tailing Sugimoto’s group owned and that he likely stole it from the soldiers who were escorting them, as this sort of guns were used by officers in the army (we saw Koito owning one). Nice catch for one who defines himself a small punk but, when Sugimoto will use it, Ogata will assume it’s Sugimoto the one who stole it from an officer, also because they were expensive (22 yen + 100 rounds of ammunition for 3 yen) and normally not given to the soldiers (the officers would buy them themselves). the price was 22 yen (currently around 44,000 yen) and 100 rounds of ammunition for 3 yen (currently around 6,000 yen).

- The scanlations talk of a ‘bloodbath’ but the Japanese version merely says they just started killing each other (Koroshiai sa “殺し合いさ”). Now, even if the Japanese version is tamer, there were 24 convicts and 22 for sure walked out of it just fine (we still don’t know the whereabouts of the last convict) and, even if we assume Wakayama killed the convict whose skin will become the Barato skin during that moment… well, it’s hard to think many tough guys who also were interested in the skins (Hijikata, Ushiyama, Boutarou, Sakamoto)  just escaped from him or watched him doing so or let him escape with a corpse (Sakamoto would have reached him). It’s much easier Wakayama killed the poor guys AFTER the convicts have parted ways. The Doylist explanation is the attempted slaughtering was removed from the story, the Watsonian that the prisoner either lied or overreacted to the prisoners attacking each other… or maybe Heita just went rampaging and this impressed him… or they just gave him an hallucination drug… but, as Sugimoto trusted him, he never questioned Shiraishi about why the convicts parted ways.

- Although chapter 2 implied Sugimoto’s plan was to kill the convicts and then skin them it turns out Asirpa agreed to help Sugimoto after he promised her he wouldn’t kill anyone. Her idea was they would just draw down the tattoos instead than skinning the convicts.

- When Asirpa will interrupt Sugimoto, reminding him he promised not to kill people, Sugimoto will claim his plan was only to threaten the convict he would kill him in order to get him to talk, but he clearly never discussed this with Asirpa.

- It turns out Asirpa has good drawing skills even if she has never used a pencil before.

- Asirpa will reveal her father was good with his hands too and this made him popular with ladies. He’s also the one who made her Menomakiri.

- Ainu men craft Menomakiri for the woman they like, so that the woman can look at their work and see how good of a providers they are.

- The prisoner will say the one who tattooed them was called ‘Noppera-bō’ (のっぺら坊 “Person who’s faceless”) because he didn’t have a face. He doesn’t explain how Wilk came to lose his face. Was it through torture? Or was his face the lump of flesh that was found and made people assume he died?

- Ogata was distant 300 meters when he shoot straight in the head the prisoner who was tailing Sugimoto’s group.

- In hindsight if he wanted to kill the whole group Ogata should have shoot Sugimoto first, as the convict couldn’t go anywhere as he was tied, so the fact he shoot him first means he didn’t mean to kill Sugimoto.

- Sugimoto’s first assumption is that Ogata was another convict or, at least, one of his allies.

- Sugimoto acknowledges Ogata is a dangerous adversary which can’t be taken lightly.

- The number on Ogata epaulette is 27 but the 7 is hardly visible in both shoulders.

- In this chapter and in chap 5 there’s light in Ogata’s eyes. There won’t be light in his eyes in the following chapter. A retcon in the character design or it means something?

Notable changes from the magazine version:

- This chapter had a colour cover in the magazine version. In the volume version it has been turned into a black and white one.

Notable quotes:

Prisoner: “It turned into a bloodbath. The other prisoners just suddenly started killing each other. I had no idea what was going on, so I just ran like hell. I couldn't trust anyone, so I've been laying low all this time.” (‘Koroshiai sa. Totsuzen nani no maebure mo nashi ni shūjin dōshi ga koroshiai ni natta. Ore wa wake mo wakarazu nigedashita no sa. Dare mo shin'yō dekine~ekara hitori de senpuku shi teta nda’ 殺し合いさ。突然何の前触れも無しに囚人同士が殺し合いになった。俺は訳も分からず逃げ出したのさ。誰も信用できねぇからひとりで潜伏してたんだ Lit: “They started to kill each other. Suddenly, the prisoners started to kill each other without any notice. I didn't understand the reason and ran away. I didn't trust anyone, so I hid myself.”)

Prisonier: “Those greedy soldiers that came to get us? They were practically teenagers. You should have seen how they died. Listen, buddy. You'd be better off chasing rabbits.” (‘Kinkai ni me ga kuranda gaki mitai ni wakai tondenhei-tachi ga don'na shinizama o shita ka misete yaritakatta ze. Usagi demo okkakete tamauga mi no tameda zo, ni ̄-chan’ 金塊に目がくらんだガキみたいに若い屯田兵たちがどんな死に様をしたか見せてやりたかったぜ。ウサギでも追っかけてたまうが身のためだぞ、にーちゃん Lit: “I’d like to show you in which manner those young military settler colonists died, they were like brats blinded by the gold. It is better for you to chase the rabbits, bro.”)

Sugimoto: “Is that all you’ve got to say? Well, don’t worry… after you’re dead, you won’t feel a thing when I skin you.” (‘Iitai koto wa sore dake ka? Nāni… shinde shimaebahin muka reyouga itami nantenē sa’ いいたいことはそれだけか？なあに…死んでしまえばひん剥かれようが痛みなんてねえさ Lit: “Is that all you want to say? Well… if you die, you won’t feel the pain of being skinned.”)

Asirpa: “Hey, Sugimoto! You promised not to kill anyone! If you kill him, I won’t help you!” (‘Oi Sugimoto-! Korosanai to yakusoku shita hazuda zo! Korosunara watashi wa kyōryoku shinai’ オイ杉元ッ！殺さないと約束したはずだぞ！殺すなら私は協力しない Lit: “Oi Sugimoto! You promised not to kill! I will not cooperate with you if you kill him.”)

Sugimoto: “Asirpa, I was kind of hoping you'd play along. There goes my plan to threaten him and get all his information.” (‘Asirpa-san, soko wa engi shite notte kurenai to. Odoshite iroiro kikidasu tsumoridattanoni’ アシㇼパさん、そこは演技してノッてくれないと。脅していろいろ聞き出すつもりだったのに Lit: “Asirpa-san, here you have to act. I was going to threaten him to get out of him many info.”)

Asirpa: “I like this thing. this "pencil". It's useful.” (‘Sugimoto, kore ī na. Enpitsu tte iu no ka. Benrida’ 杉元、これいいな。鉛筆っていうのか。便利だ Lit: “Sugimoto, this is good. Is it a pencil? It's useful.”)

Asirpa: “Ainu men craft a Makiri and give in to the woman they like. she looks at the craftsmanship and decides how good of a provider that man is.” (‘Ainu no otoko wa sukina on'na ni jibun de hotta makiri (kogatana) o okuru. On'na wa sono dekibae de otoko no seikatsu-ryoku o hakaru nda’ アイヌの男は好きな女に自分で彫ったマキリ（小刀）を贈る。女はその出来栄えで男の生活力を量るんだ Lit: “An Ainu man gives to the woman he likes a carved Makiri (little sword). The woman measures the man's ability as a provider by his craftsmanship.”)

Prisoner: “…Noppera-bou. That's what we all called him.” (‘… Nopperabō sa. Oretachi wa sō yonde ita.’ …のっぺら坊さ。俺たちはそう呼んでいた)

Prisoner: “He didn't have a face” (‘Kao ga nai nda’ 顔が無いんだ)

Ogata: “Sounds like he’s using a type 26 looted off a dead soldier.” (‘Heishi o koroshite ubatta nijūroku nenshiki kyojū ka’ 兵士を殺して奪った二十六年式挙銃か Lit: “A stolen 26 model handgun gotten by killing a soldier?”)

Sugimoto: “I was hoping to take him alive, but this isn't the type of guy I can afford to take lightly!” (‘Ikedori ni suru tsumoridattaga… tekagen dekiru aite janē’ 生け捕りにするつもりだったが…手加減できる相手じゃねえ Lit: “I was going to take him alive… but this isn't an opponent I can afford to take lightly!”)

Box: “The instant they moved apart… the man had pushed down the bolt stop and pulled out the bolt, rendering Sugimoto’s rifle useless” (‘Hanare sai… Shunkan-teki ni jū no waki ni aru borutosutoppā o oshinagara boruto o hikinuki sugi moto no jū o shiyō funō ni shita’ 離れ際… 瞬間的に銃の脇にあるボルトストッパーを押しながらボルトを引き抜き杉元の銃を使用 不能にした Lit: “When they had moved apart… in a moment he had pressed the bolt stop at the rifle’s side and pulled out the bolt rendering Sugimoto’s rifle useless.”)

Sugimoto: “He’s a member of a unit of frontier soldiers chasing after the gold. The unit renowned as the strongest in the army. The Hokkaido 7th division.” (‘Kinkai o otte iru tondenhei no butai rikugun saikyō to utawa reta Hokkaidō no dai nana bumon’ 金塊を追っている屯田兵の部隊。 陸軍最強と謳われた北海道の第七部門 Lit: “A military settler colonist of the unit chasing after the gold. The Hokkaido seventh division, which was claimed to be the strongest in the army.”)

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05. HOKUCHIN UNIT (北鎮部隊 HOKUCHIN BUTAI)

First printed: 18/September/2014 Weekly Young Jump 42

Characters: Sugimoto Saichi (杉元 佐一), Ogata Hyakunosuke (尾形 百之助), Asirpa (アシㇼパ), Tsurumi Tokushirō (鶴見 篤四郎).

Location: Near Otaru.

Other Places mentioned: 203 hill in Port Arthur (current Lüshunkou) (China), Mukden (currently Shenyang) (China).

Time: 1907/1908 (?) Late February

Historical events mentioned: Russo-Japanese war (8 February 1904  – 5 September 1905) Siege of Port Arthur (1 August 1904 – 2 January 1905), Battle of Mukden (20 February - 10 March 1905)

Includes flashbacks or info about the characters past: None

Info and the characters’ theories about the ‘Noppera-bō incident’, the gold and the escape: None

Character deaths: None (although Ogata will be assumed dead)

Animal deaths: None.

New Ainu words:

- Kuca: “Temporary hut”. A cone shaping hut used for short camping trips in the wilderness.

- Citatap: “We mince it”. An Ainu dish.

- Ohaw: Boiled soup

- Pukusakina: Soft wildflower

- Hinna: “Thank you (for the food)”.

Food and drinks: Citatap with squirrel and ohaw in which it’s cooked.

Useful info and points to ponder:

- The name of the ‘Hokuchin Butai’ (北鎮部隊) or “Defeat the north unit” is formed by two kanji. One means ‘north’ and actually refers to Russia, the other means both ‘to calm down/to pacify’ but also ‘to dominate/to subdue’.

- When facing Ogata Sugimoto comments the sniper and his companions are probably “the dregs/failures of the unit” (師団の中のはずれ者 ‘Shidan no naka no hazure-sha’). This is actually wishful thinking on his part.

- When facing Sugimoto Ogata actually asks him “Who are you with?” (きさまどこの所属だ ‘Kisama doko no shozoku da’), which Sugimoto interprets with “Which unit were you with?” when it’s more likely Ogata is interested in knowing with who Sugimoto is working NOW as there were few people aware of the gold hunt, the convicts, the soldiers of the 7th, Inudo’s men and Wilk’s allies. That’s why Ogata relaxes when Sugimoto misunderstands and says he was with the first division but reached the term of his service and was discharged, because he indirectly confirms he’s not affiliated with any group searching for the gold and that’s also why Ogata talks about ‘kane’  (カネ “money”) not ‘kane’  (金 ‘gold/money’ though it seems when it means ‘gold’ the more common pronunciations are ‘kin’ or ‘ougon’ or ‘kogane’ or ‘kigane’)).

- Ogata uses ‘Kisama’ to say you, when talking with Sugimoto. Nowadays it would be considered very offensive, as if he has told him ‘you bastard’. However, up to WW2 it was the normal way soldiers would say ‘you’ among them (and prior to it, it was used by samurai and it was a polite way to say you… in fact it contains ‘-sama’). Hard to say though if Noda is using it keeping this into consideration or not.

- When Sugimoto tells Ogata he was in the 1st division he adds he reached the end of his term of service and was discharged. This doesn’t necessarily mean he was discharged AT THE END OF THE WAR. It seems in Meiji time soldiers were enlisted for 3 years, with them being called to enlist at 20. A recruit entering the Army was given the rank of 2nd-dass private and, as a rule, was automatically promoted to 1st-class private after 6 months so Sugimoto, who goes to was as a first class private, has already spent 6 months in the army. This means it’s possible Sugimoto was 20 in 1903, when he was enlisted (April/July), did his 6 mandatory months as 2nd class private, was promoted to 1st class private and, by February 1904, he was ready to take part to the Russo-Japanese war and would have to stay in the army till 1906. It’s also worth to mention that, although he doesn’t mention it to Ogata, Sugimoto claimed he beat half to death a superior officer. If this is true and wasn’t reconned, this might have affected his time of permanence in the army (prolonging it).

- Once learning Sugimoto was in the 1st division, Ogata wonder if they had met at the 203 hill. While possible, so far we only know that Sugimoto has met Tanigaki during that battle.

- While talking with Sugimoto Ogata scratches the back of his head (the sound effect in the scanlation was removed). Noda might have retconned the gesture into becoming his signature hair petting gesture.

- Sugimoto will reply to Ogata he’s not doing it for money but for the woman he loves [‘Horeta’ (惚れた) can mean “to fall in love”, “to be in love”, “to lose one’s heart to” so he’s clearly not implying just simple fondness]. Ogata will remember this.

- After sending Ogata on the ground Sugimoto breaks his arm and retrieves his bayonet, presses the tip on his neck and then attempts to stab it but Asirpa interrupts him, saving Ogata. Ogata will also remember this.

- When Asirpa calls Sugimoto by name Ogata connects the dots and realizes that Sugimoto of the first division can only be ‘Sugimoto the immortal’.

- Ogata escapes because he’s aware he can’t beat Sugimoto the immortal, especially with a broken arm.

- When Ogata begins to fall Asirpa attempted to reach for him while Sugimoto was surprised. Clearly neither wanted that outcome.

- Ogata falls from a cliff in the frozen river with a broken arm and after hitting his face and breaking his jaw. Sugimoto and Asirpa are above the cliff so they can’t recover him but assume he would die. Ogata managed to reach the riverbank and was found by the 7th division at dusk without him having succumbed to hypothermia. How he managed to do it is considered amazing by the members of the 7th division. People in the fandom speculated he might have received outsider help to survive (maybe from Kiroranke). As of now, if he made it on his own or someone helped him out of the river and then left him on the riverbank is unknown.

- After Ogata falls Sugimoto claims this was for the best and explains to Asirpa that, although he had promised her he wouldn’t kill anyone, if his life is on the line he won’t hesitate to kill. Considering they’re meant to face dangerous convicts Sugimoto had to know he wouldn’t be able to keep the promise when he made it.

- During that speech Sugimoto claims he’s not a murderer (in the scanlations he say “I don’t enjoy killing”) and quotes Asirpa’s line in his speech “The weak gets eaten” (弱い奴は食われる ‘Yowai yatsu wa kuwa reru’) although scanlation changed it in “The strong survive, and the weak perish”.

- Asirpa has several huts in the area.

- Asirpa knows so much about hunting thanks to her father who carried her along in all his hunting trips as she has no male brothers and prefers to be out than knitting at home.

- When Asirpa offers him the squirrel brain and Sugimoto complains he explains his complain not with “it’s all so new to me” but with “I’m not used eating this kind of things”.

- Sugimoto is introduced to ‘Citatap’, ‘Ohaw’ and saying ‘hinna’ to thanks for the food.

- The word ‘Citatap’, when said by Asirpa, is written ‘チタタㇷ゚　’ with a small ‘pu’ (プ) which implies you’ve to read it ‘citatap’. However when said by Sugimoto (and, in future, when said by the other Japanese members of the cast), it’s written ‘チタタプ’, implying they actually say ‘citatapu’.

- The image of Asirpa and Sugimoto happily having Citatap and saying ‘hinna hinna’ is placed in direct contraposition of Ogata’s bandaged and wrapped up in a cover body. However, although there are voices around him, no person can be seen near him in the page.

- Due to the dialogues of the soldiers we learn that the soldier who attacked Sugimoto is the ‘Superior Private Ogata’. Tsurumi’s troops actually don’t know why Ogata was wandering through the mountains.

- It was impressive how Ogata, despite the wounds, managed to crawl out of the river.

Notable changes from the magazine version:

Notable quotes:

Box: “The 7th division of the Imperial Japanese army. During the Russo-Japanese war, they were sent into the worst fighting during the Siege of Port Arthur and the Battle of Mukden. Despite suffering heavy losses, they were a vital contributor to the Japanese victory. The people of Hokkaido reverently call them the ‘defender of the north unit’. Tasked with defending Northern Japan, they are the strongest unit in the army.” (‘Dainipponteikoku rikugun dainanashidan! Nichirosensōde wa Ryojun kōryaku-sen hōtenkaisen to iu gekisen-chi ni okurikoma re dai songai o dashitsutsu mo shōri ni kōken. Dōmin wa ikei no nen o kome `hokuchin butai' to yobu. Kita no mori o ninau rikugun saikyō no shi kuni.’ 大日本帝国陸軍第七師団！日露戦争では旅順攻略戦・奉天会戦という激戦地に送り込まれ大損害を出しつつも勝利に貢献。道民は畏敬の念を込め「北鎮部隊」と呼ぶ。北の守りを担う陸軍最強の師国。 Lit: “The 7th Division of the Imperial Japanese Army! In the Russo-Japanese War, it contributed to the victory while being sent to the fierce battlefields of the Siege of Port Arthur and the Battle of Mukden, despite suffering great damage. The people of Hokkaido in awe call it the “Hokuchin Unit”. It’s the army's strongest division responsible for the protection of the north.”)

Ogata: “What unit are you from?” (‘Kisama doko no shozoku da’ きさまどこの所属だ Lit: “Who are you with?”)

Sugimoto: “I was in the 1st division… though I reached the end of my service term and was discharged.” (‘Dai ichi shidan itaga konaida manki jotai shita’ 第一師団いたがこないだ満期除隊した Lit: “I was in the 1st division… though I reached the end of my service term and was discharged.”)

Ogata: “Oh, really? Then maybe we saw each other at 203 hill. Listen, you’d be better off handing that corpse over to us. It would be a shame to survive the war and then throw your life away over some money. I don’t think you understand what a dangerous game you’re playing.” (‘Sō ka? De wa nimarusan kōchi-atari de atte ita kamo shiren na. Sakki no shitai wa otonashi ku kochira ni Watari shitahōgaī ano sensō de hirotta inochi wa kane ni kae raren zo. Dore dake kiken'na bakuchi ni te o dashite iru no ka wakatte oran noda’ そうか？では二◯三高地あたりで会っていたかもしれんな。さっきの死体はおとなしくこちらに渡した方がいい。あの戦争で拾った命はカネに換えられんぞ。どれだけ危険な博打に手を出しているのか分かっておらんのだ Lit: “Really? So maybe we meet at 203 hill. The corpse of before, you should quietly give it to me. The life you picked up in that war cannot be exchanged for money. You don't know how dangerous of a gambling this is.”)

Sugimoto: “It’s not for money. It’s for the woman he loves.” (‘Kane janē. Horeta on'na no tameda’ カネじゃねえ。惚れた女のためだ Lit: “Not for money. For the woman I fell in love with.”)

Sugimoto: “During the war, I figured out the trick to staying alive. You don't let anybody kill you. I don't enjoy killing… but if my life is on the line, then I won't hesitate to kill whoever I need to. the strong survive, and the weak perish. It's a universal truth isn't it?” (‘Ore ga sensō de mananda shinanai hōhō wa hitotsu sa. Korosa renai kotoda. Asirpa-san ore wa satsujin-kyō janai…de mo korosa reru kurainara chūcho sezu korosu. Yowai yatsu wa kuwa reru. Doko no sekai mo sore wa onajidarou?’ 俺が戦争で学んだ死なない方法はひとつさ。殺されないことだ。アシㇼパさん俺は殺人狂じゃない…でも殺されるくらいなら躊躇せず殺す。弱い奴は食われる。どこの世界もそれは同じだろう？  Lit: “During the war there's one lesson I learned in order not to die. You can’t let anybody kill you. Asirpa-san, I’m not a murderer… but if my life is on the line, then I won't hesitate to kill whoever I need to. The weak gets eaten. It’s always the same no matter where you are, isn't it?”)

Asirpa: “And what is that supposed to mean? Do you have a problem with Ainu cuisine?” (‘Dōiu imida? Watashitachi no tabekata ni monkude mo aru no ka?’ どういう意味だ？私たちの食べ方に文句でもあるのか？Lit: “What do you mean? Is it a complaint for our way of eating it?”)

Sugimoto: “Err, N-No…No problem at all. It's just all so new to me…” (‘A … iya sōiu tsumori janai datte ore sō iu no tabe nare tenaishi’ あ…いやそういうつもりじゃないだって俺そういうの食べ慣れてないし Lit: “Ah... No, I don't mean that, I'm not used to eating that kind of thing.”)

Asirpa: “Citatap means "We mince it." It's because we all take turns mincing that we call it Citatap.” (‘Citatap wa wareware ga (ci) kizamu (tata) mono (p) to iu imida. Kōtai shinagara tatakukara `wareware'Na nda’ チタタプは我々が（チ）刻む（タタ）もの（プ）という意味だ。交代しながら叩くから「我々」なんだ Lit: “Citatap means we (chi) mince (tata) it (p). It's "we" because we take turns hitting it.”)

- Asirpa: “Hinna, hinna! ” … “It's what we Ainu say to show appreciation for the food. We say it as we eat.” (‘Hinna hinna’ … ‘Shokuji ni kansha suru kotoba. Watashitachiha tabenagara iu nda’ 「ヒンナヒンナ」「食事に感謝する言葉。私たちは食べながら言うんだ」 Lit: “Hinna, hinna! They’re words to say thank you for the meal. We say them while eating.”)

- Soldiers: “We found him on the riverbank at dusk. Any later and he would have succumbed to hypothermia. Frankly, I’m amazed he was able to crawl up onto the bank with those injuries.” (‘Yūgata ni ni kawagishi de mitsukemashita. Hakken ga mōsukoshi osokereba tei taion-shō de shinde itadeshou. Kono kega de yoku kishi made hai agatta monodesu’ 夕方にに川岸で見つけました。発見がもう少し遅ければ低体温症で死んでいたでしょう。この怪我でよく岸まで這い上がったものです Lit: “We found him on the riverbank in the evening. If it was discovered a little later, he would have died of hypothermia. Despite these injuries he still somehow managed to crawl on the shore.”)

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06. PERSECUTION (迫害 HAKUGAI) 25/SEPTEMBER/2014 WEEKLY YOUNG JUMP 43

First printed: 25/September/2014 Weekly Young Jump 43

Characters: Sugimoto Saichi (杉元 佐一), Asirpa (アシㇼパ), Shiraishi Yoshitake (白石 由竹), Wilk (ウイルク), Umeko (梅子), Umeko’s mother, Toraji (寅次)

Location: Near Otaru.

Other Places mentioned: Kabato prison in Tsukigata

Time: 1907/1908 (?) Late February

Historical events mentioned: None

Includes flashbacks or info about the characters past: Yes, about Sugimoto, Toraji, Umeko and about Shiraishi.

Info and the characters’ theories about the ‘Noppera-bō incident’, the gold and the escape: None.

Character deaths: None

Animal deaths: Hare (killed by Asirpa… if not right then in the next chapter)

New Ainu words:

- Nipus hum: “The sound of trees splitting”. It’s a phenomenon where a sudden, extreme drop in temperature causes the sap inside trees to freeze and the trunk to split open.

Food and drinks: Hare.

Useful info and points to ponder:

- Same as when they caught the previous prisoner here too, when Sugimoto claims they caught the second prisoner he uses ‘hikime’ (匹目) which is the counter for ‘small animals’ not for ‘people’. So he’s basically saying they got the second small animal. The trap seems the same they used for the previous convicts and for squirrels, though now it also looks like the one for hares.

- When questioned, Shiraishi, differently from the previous prisoner, refused to speak. At this point Sugimoto asked him if he’s keeping silent because his throat was crushed by the trap (‘Wana de nodo tsubureta ka’ 罠でノドつぶれたか), showing he knew their trap could be dangerous.

- Shiraishi’s reply to Sugimoto is actually based on a racist joke as he asks him if ‘that Ainu’ is his ‘kai inu’ (pet dog) since the word ‘Ainu’ and ‘kai inu’ sound similar and Japanese used to call Ainu dogs due to the following wordplay アッ、イヌ (“ah, inu” meaning “ah, a dog”) sounding like the word ‘Ainu’. Shiraishi is clearly trying to insult Sugimoto, who has referred to him as well as an animal, asking him if he also consider Asirpa too as an animal (normally Shiraishi never refers to Ainu in such a rude manner) but, of course, since Sugimoto doesn’t view her as such, he thinks he’s insulting Asirpa. At the same time his reaction shows a certain hypocrisy. He’s not okay with people he loves being called animals but he’s fine with doing so to the convicts.

- Asirpa, stopping Sugimoto from hurting Shiraishi, points out how she’s used to hear such things so she doesn’t care anymore. Sugimoto complies but thinks ‘where’s the need to get used to it?’ (‘Nareru hitsuyō ga doko ni aru’ 慣れる必要がどこにある), which, combined with his attempt at hurting Shiraishi hints at his disapprobation of Asirpa’s passive and non violent stance, thinking it would have been right to beat Shiraishi up or, at least, scare him into silence. He doesn’t get though that if Asirpa got used to it, is because way too many Wajin do those racist comments and that if she were to use violence or threats like him to make them stop she would end up at war with them as he won’t spend the rest of his life beating up whoever were to insult Asirpa. He’s missing the full picture and not really looking forward to an Ainu rebellion besides, when Asirpa in the future will consider not being passive anymore, he’ll insist others should fight in her place. Sugimoto means well but he is of no help whatsoever. It’s a bit like when he complained Ainu should have just let him kill their prisoner. He means well but he wants to butt in into things without a full picture, claiming his methods are better even if, at least, he doesn’t force them.

- After thinking there’s no need to get used to it, Sugimoto’s mind, by association, goes back to his past, to how his family got infected with tuberculosis and ostracized by the village while Umeko, the person he loves, is told to keep away from him. As three of his relatives dies and his father ends in a sanatorium, people started suggesting to just burn his house down. It’ll be Sugimoto who’ll burn it down one night, when he’ll hear his father died. Umeko will reach him and he’ll tell her he burned the house and will leave the village, while she should just marry their childhood friend Toraji who has liked her from when they were child and who’s also liked by Umeko’s parents. Umeko begs him to carry her with him but he refuses, running away in fear he could be infected as well. He however thinks to wait two years and, if he’s not sick he’ll come back for her, implying he planned to marry her then. However, when he comes back, he sees her dressed in a nuptial kimono also called Shiromuku kimono (白無垢, lit. "white pure-innocence") with her Wataboshi (綿帽子, lit. "cotton hood"), an all-white hood up, about to get married to Toraji.

- Umeko calls Sugimoto ‘Saichi-chan’ while Sugimoto calls her ‘Ume-chan’.

- Sugimoto claims he would feel bad if he were to scare the hare… a hare he would have tried shooting down if it weren’t hidden.

- Shiraishi was originally imprisoned for robbery but after repeatedly escaping and being imprisoned again his sentence for escaping became far longer than the original one for robbery. Since he’s a genius at escaping he’s nicknamed the “Escape king” (Datsugoku-ō 脱獄王). He’s able to easily dislocate any of his joint and can hid all over his body needles, wires, a razor blade and even a bullet.

- Shiraishi is sure Sugimoto wants to kill him, which is what pushes him to not cooperate with him, no matter if Sugimoto has him at gunpoint or if them both could die. He accepts to work with him only when Sugimoto promises him he won’t kill him.

Notable changes from the magazine version:

Notable quotes:

- Sugimoto: “There’s prisoner number two!” (‘Ni hikime’ 二匹目一匹目! Lit: “Second small animal!”)

- Sugimoto: “What, did the trap crush your windpipe?” (‘Wana de nodo ga tsubureta ka?’ 罠でノドがつぶれたか？Lit: “Did your throat get crushed by the trap?”)

- Shiraishi: “I see you have your very own pet Ainu. Does she do any tricks?” (‘Sono Ainu wa omae-san no kai inu ka?’ そのアイヌはお前さんの飼いイヌか？Lit: “That Ainu is your pet dog?”)

-Sugimoto: “How about I smash your jaw, and make it so you really can't speak?” (‘Ago o kudaite hontōni shi ~yaberaren'younishiteyarouka’ アゴを砕いて本当にしゃべられんようにしてやろうか Lit: “Shall I crush the jaw so that I can speak really?”)

- Asirpa: “Stop it, Sugimoto. It doesn't bother me. I'm used to people saying things like that” (‘Yose Sugimoto. Watashi wa kinishinai, nare teru’ よせ杉元。私は気にしない、慣れてる Lit: “Stop, Sugimoto. I don't care, I'm used to it.”)

- Sugimoto: “But you shouldn't have to get used to it!” (‘Nareru hitsuyō ga doko ni aru’ 慣れる必要がどこにある Lit: “Where is the need to get used to it?”)

- Sugimoto: “You know, Toraji… he’s a good, dependable guy. And he’s liked you since we were kids. I know I can count on him to take care of you. You should listen to your parents and marry him.” (‘Toraji wa… majimede ī yatsuda. Chīsai koro kara omae o sui teru. Aitsunara makase rareru. Goryōshin no susume ni shitagaubekida’ 寅次は… 真面目でいい奴だ。小さい頃からお前を好いてる。アイツならまかせられる。ご両親の勧めに従うべきだ Lit: “Toraji is… a serious and good guy. He love you since he was little. I can entrust you to him. You should obey to your parents’ advices.”)

- Umeko: “Saichi! Take me with you!” (‘Saichi-chan tsuretette!’ 佐一ちゃん連れてって！)

- Sugimoto: “I don’t want to kill you, Ume.” (‘Ume-chan o koroshitakunai’ 梅ちゃんを殺したくない)

- Sugimoto: “I’ll wait a year… no, two years. If I don’t show any symptoms in that time, I’ll come back to the village. I’ll come back for her, and then…” (‘Ichinen… iya ni-nen tatte. Hasshō shinakere wa kono mura ni modotte koyou. Kanarazu mukae ni…’ 一年…いや二年経って。発症しなけれはこの村に戻ってこよう。必ず迎えに… Lit: “One year ... no two years from now. Let's return to this village if the symptoms don’t appear. I’ll certainly come to pick you...”)

- Shiraishi: “Pull the trigger, then! Getting shoot now or getting shot later makes no difference to me!” (‘Yatte miro ~tsu. Kotchi wa ima uta reru no mo ato de uta reru no mo isshoda’ やってみろッ。こっちはいま撃たれるのもあとで撃たれるのも一緒だ Lit: “Try it. It’s the same to be shot now or to be shot later.”)

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07. THE ESCAPE KING (脱獄王 DATSUGOKU-Ō)

First printed: 02/October/2014 Weekly Young Jump 44

Characters: Sugimoto Saichi (杉元 佐一), Shiraishi Yoshitake (白石 由竹), Asirpa (アシㇼパ), Hijikata Toshizō (土方歳三), Gotō (後藤), Wilk (ウイルク), Ogata Hyakunosuke (尾形 百之助), Tsurumi Tokushirō (鶴見 篤四郎), Tsuyama (津山).

Location: Near Otaru.

Other Places mentioned: None

Time: 1907/1908 (?) Late February

Historical events mentioned: Founding of Nippon Match Company (日本燐寸製造株式会社) (January 1907), Battle of Hakodate (4 December 1868 to 27 June 1869), Death of Hijikata Toshizō (20 June 1869)

Includes flashbacks or info about the characters past: No, none

Info and the characters’ theories about the ‘Noppera-bō incident’, the gold and the escape:

The tattooed prisoners are 24 but nobody knows how many are still breathing. The leader who took care of the escape is the only one who knows something about Noppera-bō’s friends. During the escape he pulled a sword from one of the soldiers and killed three of them immediately. (Source: Shiraishi)

Noppera-bō told to all the prisoners to head for Otaru. (Source: Shiraishi)

Character deaths: Guards that were transporting the prisoners (killed by the prisoners, 3 by HIjikata only)

Animal deaths: None.

Flashbacks or info about the characters past: Yes, about Hijikata.

New Ainu words: None

Food and drinks: Hare.

Useful info and points to ponder:

- The matchbox from which Sugimoto pulls out the match seems to be from the Nippon Match Company (日本燐寸製造株式会社) which was established on January 1907.

- Due to being wet and the sudden cold Sugimoto and Shiraishi have only 10 minutes before they’ll succumb to hypothermia.

- On a weird note Shiraishi’s adventure kind of parallel’s Ogata, only it’s much tamer. Ogata will have his jaw broken, while Shiraishi was only threatened to have his jaw broken. Asirpa stopped Sugimoto from killing Ogata, and stopped him from hurting Shiraishi. Ogata ends in a river and has to get himself out of it, risking hypothermia. Shiraishi falls in the river with Sugimoto and, although they both risk hypothermia they cooperate to save each other. Noda has said he originally planned Shiraishi to be a one-off character but it’s clear he changed his mind pretty soon. I guess I’ll never stop wondering how Shiraishi’s story would have been if he had stuck to the original plan.

- Shiraishi seems to be affected by the cold more than Sugimoto, even if, despite this, he still manages to make a deal with him, also thinking if he’s going to die no matter what he prefer sit there and watch Sugimoto die and won’t help him until he’ll agree with to make a deal. Once they’ll do though, not only he’ll help Sugimoto but he’ll also give him information.

- Although Sugimoto will claim he didn’t want to kill Shiraishi, just to keep him captive until they find the gold, he’ll hesitate making a deal with him.

- It’s worth to mention the idea to keep captive an assorted number of potentially very dangerous convicts for a prolonged time was beyond unbelievable.

- When Shiraishi will give Sugimoto info he won’t report how the convicts tried to kill each other nor if one of them died during it. He only say nobody knows if they’re still alive.

- Shiraishi says previously leader who took charge of the escape had been a model prisoner and all though he was a political one but he believes this was all a act. Shiraishi later found out he was a samurai who fought for the Shogunate and ended up on the losing side of the battle of Hakodate in which he was thought to have died and that he is Hijikata Toshizō also known as the “Demonic vice-commander” (‘Oni no Fukuchō’ 鬼 の 副長) of the Shinsengumi.

- The battle of Hakodate happened 30 years ago. During which Hijikata Toshizō supposedly died.

- Shiraishi refers to Hijikata first as ‘Jī-san’ (ジイさん) then, as he talks about him after the escape as ‘jijī’ (ジジイ). They both mean “old man/grandfather” but the first is more respectful than the latter which will be the one to which Shiraishi will stick.

- When Shiraishi moves to leave in the scanlations Sugimoto says next time they’ll meet he’ll take his tattoo. Actually the sentence is more vague because it’s just ‘the next meeting time’ (次に会うとき ‘Tsugini au toki’) without saying with whom Shiraishi could have that meeting so it can imply  ‘the next time you meet ME’ or ‘the next time you meet SOMEONE ELSE’ those someone else being the other prisoners or the 7th division about which he warns Shiraishi moments after. Sugimoto after all has no reasons to go after Shiraishi as they have made a copy of his tattoo and he’s warning him to escape, meaning he’s not really planning to go after him. However he could have left the ambiguity to persuade Shiraishi to escape.

-  When Sugimoto warns Shiraishi about the 7th division being after the convicts, he tells him they know the most efficient method to do it is to kill and skin them. This hints that even if Sugimoto agrees with Asirpa not to kill prisoners, he thinks it’s not an efficient way.

- We can’t see the soldier who informs Tsurumi of how Ogata regained consciousness. In the anime he has Tsukishima’s voice.

- Tsurumi says he’ll pay Ogata a visit.

- Behind Tsurumi we can see a tattooed skin hanging from a wall as if it were a painting.

Notable changes from the magazine version:

- Tsurumi’s character design was changed. In the magazine he has light in his eyes and the metal place covering his forehead is much bigger and also partially circles his eyes.

Notable quotes:

- Sugimoto: “Damn it! I am not giving up! No matter what, I'll make it out of this alive!” (‘Chikushō ~tsu! Akiramenē zo! Zettai ikinuite yaru’ 畜生ッ！あきらめねえぞ！絶対生き抜いてやる)

- Shiraishi: “We thought he was just some old guy, a political prisoner. He was always real quiet. A model prisoner in every way. But as it turns out, that was all an act. Keep in mind that this is only a rumor, but…apparently, everyone thought that old man had died at the battle of Hakodate, but…he's actually the merciless vice commander of the shinsengumi, Hijikata Toshizou!…or so they say.” (‘Tan'naru seiji-han no jī-sanda to omotteta. Otonashī mohan-shū sa. Tokoroga dokkoi neko kōmutte ya gatta. Kore wa akumade uwasadaga ne… ano jijī wa hakodatesensō de senshi shita to iwa re teru… shinsengu no oni no fukuchō hijikata toshizō datte….’ 単なる政治犯のジイさんだと思ってた。大人しい模範囚さ。ところがどっこい猫被ってやがった。コレはあくまで噂だがね…あのジジイは箱館戦争で戦死したと言われてる…新選組の鬼の副長・土方歳三だって…)

- Sugimoto: “The next time we meet, I’m taking your tattoo.” (‘Tsugini au toki wa sono irezumi o hippegasu ze’ 次に会うときはその入れ墨を引っぺがすぜ Lit: “The next meeting time, that tattoo will be ripped off.”)

- Shiraishi: “I'm the Escape King! even if I'm caught, I'll just vanish like a puff of smoke.” (‘Ore wa “datsugoku-ō”da. Dare ni tsukamarouga kemuri no yō ni nigete yaru sa’ 俺は『脱獄王』だ。���に捕まろうが煙のように逃げてやるさ Lit: “I'm the "Jailbreak King". No matter who catches me, I escape like smoke.”)

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VOLUME COLOR GALLERY

[goldenkamuyhunting]

Ramblings and crazy theory time about GK chap 236 “King”

And so in this chapter we learn something important about how someone was…

…yeah, an unreliable narrator as there was more than a bit of trouble in Barato and it was caused by a tattooed skin, tattooed skin he left there. Still, kudos to @bloody-fabre​ for guessing Wakayama was the one to blame for the skin which ended in Barato.

There’s to say the situation is much more complicate than what it looked like when we first met Wakayama and a side of me is very happy that a arc that seemed to go nowhere (the Wakayama arc didn’t seem to have effects on the plot beyond giving Sugimoto an extra skin) is now becoming a relevant part of the plot.

But let’s dig into the chapter.

We resume where we have left, with Boutarou and Sugimoto fighting.

Despite the punch Boutarou doesn’t even let go of his gun but hurries to point it to Sugimoto. Sugimoto however put to good use his experience as a war veteran and grabs the gun in such a way not only he manages to move it slightly away from his face but also takes care to place his hand between the hammer and the bullet, so that when Boutarou pushes the trigger, the gun can’t fire.

Hand-to-hand combat is where Sugimoto excels after all, with tons of life threatening battles on the battleground, surrendered by other soldiers all willing to kill him. It’s in these moments Sugimoto’s six sense and experience, let him find a safe way out in the blink of an eye.

It’s kind of amazing as he just knows how to do.

This is not being a tactician genius though, that requires long term planning. Sugimoto doesn’t have the time to plan, he’s just a man who, when in extreme danger in a hand-to-hand fight, can find the right countermeasure in a blink thanks to his huge experience and talent in this sort of things.

Give Sugimoto two days to think of a plan and he likely will come up with only a vague idea of what to do. Give Sugimoto five second to stop a fatal blow and he’ll come up with the perfect method to stop it and, if possible, to retaliate.

So, now that he has stopped Boutarou from firing, Sugimoto tries to retrieve the gun from himself and at the same time damaging his enemy by attempting to cut away his fingers from it with his bayonet.

Who has good memory might remember Sugimoto doing the same with Nihei, cutting his fingers to stop him from holding his weapon.

(Japanese people knew very well how big of a harm it was to lose fingers, that’s why Yakuza used to cut the pinkie of a Yakuza who failed them, because afterward he would have troubles holding his sword)

Boutarou though isn’t a rookie either.

He’s quick enough to let go the now useless gun, so that all that Sugimoto’s bayonet hit is the gun itself and uses his powerful legs to kick Sugimoto hard enough not only he send him flying against the wooden railing but makes it partially crack. As someone who can jump out of the water like the merman he obviously is Boutarou clearly has strong legs and if he had kicked that way another men, the poor guy might have been sent out of commission.

Meanwhile the postman is still shooting like crazy, Boutarou’s accomplice swearing he’ll kill him but, thanks God (or should I say thanks Kamuy?), Asirpa is there to save the day.

She calls him and hurries him to come with her, telling him there’s spare ammunition there, then catches her chance to retrieve Sugimoto’s rifle and kick him off the boat at the same time, forcing him to swim away.

Asirpa is a genius and this constitute as planning as she considered her options, laid out a trap for the postman and put it to work.

Boutarou, on the other side, has recovered his anchor and is tossing it at Sugimoto, who manages to avoid it before Asirpa reaches him. Sugimoto worriedly asks her if she’s hurt.

I wonder if he realized how, while he was busy punishing Boutarou for putting her in danger, he had left her to fend for herself as Boutarou had an accomplice and that postman was completely out of it.

Boutarou’s accomplice informs him the postman has escaped leaving behind the money.

Shiraishi in a scolding tone stops Sugimoto from fighting further, reminding him there’s something they have to ask Boutarou.

This is the problem with Sugimoto losing control and getting himself into battle. In his attempt to ‘avenge Asirpa’ he had left her on her own and has risked jeopardizing his chances to get info out of Boutarou. His actions weren’t a smart move, they were just the result of his feelings overtaking him.

However, after a moment of hesitation, Sugimoto now makes a powerful and rather smart gesture, throwing Boutarou’s gun in the water.

Why is it a powerful gesture?

Because normally it’s assumed that the one with a gun is at a huge advantage toward the one who haven’t it. By tossing it away and therefore by apparently tossing away an advantage, Sugimoto gives a clear demonstration of not having aggressive intentions and only wanting to talk.

Why is it rather smart?

Because Sugimoto is rather bad with firearms and much, MUCH better with his bare hands and therefore for him the gun is more of a disadvantage than a help as it keeps one of his hands busy and, if he were to lose it by mistake, Boutarou could manage to get it back.

Boutarou accepts the truce with another of his smiles, acknowledging Sugimoto by his name. I wonder if his name also rang a bell or he’s just repeating it to make sure he would remember it/got it right.

‘Omae… Sugimoto tte iu no ka’

「お前… 杉元っていうのか」

“You… are called Sugimoto, right?”

We’ll see.

Honestly I doubt Boutarou heard of Sugimoto before but it’s possible. Everyone and their mom know Sugimoto in the 7th so that they could even open a fanclub. People talk and maybe rumours of Sugimoto had reached Boutarou as well. But still i think it’s unlikely, as Boutarou didn’t act as Sugimoto’s name rang a bell.

Meanwhile Shiraishi asks for clarifications about what Boutarou said on how there’s a rumour about how it’s no more possible to solve the code, also asking him if, due to it, he’s no more collecting tattoos.

In the panel we can see clearly Shiraishi and Sugimoto. Asirpa is present too but she’s in it only partially due to her head and due to the ballons covering her partially, hinting at how in a way she’ll be cut out from the discussion even if she saved the day.

Boutarou tells Shiraishi that a little over one year ago he met Wakayama in Sapporo… and approached him planning to murder and skin him. From the way the scene looks like, with Boutarou naked on a bed, I’ll say his way to approach him, was to try to seduce him.

Wakayama though, evidently realized something was off, had his men encircle him. Among them there’s Nakazawa (princess), while the others are all dressed in black suits with sunglasses (okay, no, they don't have sunglasses, it's just their eyes are so deeply shadowed they seem to wear sunglasses, which fits with the stereotype of Yakuza wearing them so I love Noda's visual choice).

Wakayama tells him that the code can’t be solved. He then explains he killed (and skinned) one of the tattooed men just after he escaped but then dropped by to Barato and left it as a payment for a game he lost.

As he says so we see the same image we saw in the Barato chapter, showing how the Hidoro gang got the skin, but not showing it was Wakayama giving it to them.

As Boutarou asked him why he did so, Wakayama claims the tattooed code can’t be solved because the other convicts might have ended up in the sea and be swallowed by a fish (and at this we’re shown an image of Henmi meeting this fate) or killed by a bear on the mountain (and at this we’re shown an image of Gotou).

Or that a certain weird guy (which I bet is our dear candy seller) might ruin it on purpose.

Long story short, Wakayama leaves without skinning him, which convinces Boutarou he was sure that the tattoo code couldn’t be decrypted.

At this Asirpa is reminded of how the candy peddler commented that ‘Boss Wakayama’s disappointed face was pretty great too, though’.

Shiraishi also whispers to Sugimoto that this might be connected to what Asirpa overheard the candy peddler saying, both of them sweating as, after this story, the possibility he was right, seems even more concrete.

And maybe it means nothing but in the panels, even though the group thinks exactly the same thing Asirpa is visually ‘parted’ from Sugimoto and Shiraishi.

They’re in separate panels, the panel with the candy peddler divising them.

Now… let’s stop a bit and recap what we knew about Wakayama and the Barato skin PRIOR TO THIS CHAPTER.

Time unknown (It could be before Wakayama was arrested or afterward): Wakayama entered a gambling den by chance and was charmed by Nakazawa’s (Hime’s) skill in rolling the dice. After an initial refusal, Nakazawa betrayed his group, ran away to Wakayama’s place, spent a hot night together, but the yakuza pursuers were already outside… we’ve no idea how it ended as Noda interrupted the story here. [Noda Satoru’s Q&A]

FEBRUARY

- Wakayama escapes with the other prisoners…  [GK according to Noda begins at the end of February, the convicts, supposedly, escaped a bit sooner than that]

MARCH

- Wakayama with a young man drops by in Sapporo World Hotel. Ienaga locks the younger man in the underground and tortures him, and the guy admits that the man he was with has the same tattoo as Ienaga and is an escaped convict from Abashiri. When Ienaga goes to check on him the morning after Wakayama has disappeared, supposedly planning to go in Hidaka to meet an American named Dun. [The guys went to Ienaga’s hotel in April, she said Wakayama was there a month before] [Chap 55-63]

APRIL

- Things escalates in Barato between the Hidoro gang and the Umakichi gang after a guy went to their gambling hall, lost a lot of money and left a tattooed skin as a collateral. Nagakura, Hijikata and Ogata went there and manage to retrieve the skin from Hidoro. [Chap 55-59]

- Wakayama buys horses from Dun [chap 69: When meeting Wakayama again, Dun said he’s the guy who bought horses from him a month before]

- Kiroranke takes part to the Tomakomai race on Wakayama’s horse in place of the jockey who has escaped. However, instead than throwing away the final race he wins it. [Chap 61-62]

May:

- While trying to deal with 3 bears Sugimoto group ends up hiding in the same place in which Wakayama and Nakazawa (Princess) had met the guys who organized the race. Wakayama explains the oddity of him not having men around with sending all of his men to Barato to help a guy in Barato who did him some favors. It’s unclear if the guy is Hidoro or Umakichi but I would say it’s Umakichi as the visual shows him.

It also turns out it was Nakazawa who exposed the heads in plain view because Wakayama cheated on him with a prostitute.

It also turns out the prostitute ended up being killed, although Nakazawa denies killing anyone (was it Jack who killed the prostitute? I wonder... after all Jack kills prostitutes in Sapporo although so far it seems he focused on females).

Wakayama complains he should have left him in Sapporo.

Due to various happening Wakayama and Nakazawa die, Wakayama’s skin ending up in Sugimoto’s hands. [Chap 65-69: Noda said chap 64 is placed in May]

And this is were I thought Noda placed the words ‘THE END’ to Wakayama’s story.

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Turned out that’s not the case.

In fact, whose info made it look like Wakayama had no interest in the skins, in fact he was back handling his betting business instead than searching for convicts, which made me think it would be weird if he had taken his time collecting a skin and then… dropped it somewhere, as if it were to be useless.

I mean, if he went through the trouble of getting that one skin, I would expect the guy who beat a bear wouldn’t let it go easily.

However this chapter and chapter 233 added some interesting info to Wakayama’s story.

The first is that yes, Wakayama in the beginning wanted to collect the tattooed things but then something, or more likely ‘someone’ (read ‘our dear candy peddler’) persuaded him that it would be impossible to do it, suddenly making the skin he had collected to look worthless.

Hence it was possible for Wakayama to have an abrupt change of heart and drop collecting skins.

I wonder if the candy peddler, to persuade him, told him about Henmi’s death, or just showed him he has completely ruined his own tattoo.

Hard to say.

However he and Wakayama likely met pretty early on, likely in March as, by then, while he was in Ienaga’s hotel he was already thinking to go meet Dun to buy horses from him, meaning he wasn’t going to devote all his strength in pursuing convicts but was going back to his horse betting business.

Note that this is just my speculation, I might be completely off and maybe he wanted to pursue both.

We don’t know what pushed him to leave abruptly Ienaga’s hotel, maybe he couldn’t find the man he was with and assumed Nakazawa killed him, or maybe Nakazawa dropped by in his room and he left with him or maybe he was actually penniless and couldn’t pay the bill of the hotel nor the man he came with and left.

Hard to say.

We aren’t even sure back then he was already with Nakazawa as we don’t know when the two met.

However, according to what he says to Boutarou, we’re to suppose he moves to Barato alone, went into a gambling hall, lost a lot of money and left the skin he had with himself as collateral, tattling out the whole tattooed skin matter that could set everyone and their moms hunting for him.

As he did so he clearly didn’t act like a Yakuza boss, Shuhei wasn’t impressed by him and even said they planned to have him work in the fishery, meaning they didn’t realize Wakayama could be a dangerous fighter or even a Yakuza himself.

Why going there alone?

We get he likes to gamble but unless it was Nakazawa who again worked against him as Wakayama complained Nakazawa kept on trying to screw him over it seems weird he would just put himself into a huge debt.

Or did this happen really early on, when Wakayama hadn’t yet managed to reach his underlings?

After all it seems his headquarters are in Sapporo, it can be that moving from Abashiri to Sapporo he just stopped to Barato, which is on the way...

...ended up losing money in the gambling hall and, not wanting to lose face, he hid his own identity.

Anyway, after he left the skin there, he meets Boutarou in Sapporo.

The cover of chap 233 showed Sugimoto and Shiraishi looking at huchen/Adonis flowers, which we know can be observed in April, so if Wakayama and Boutarou’s meeting in Sapporo happened a year before than we supposedly were in April. Boutarou says a little over a year though, so it can be it was in March.

This time Wakayama has plenty of his men around himself, among which Nakazawa.

But figuring out when this meeting exactly takes place becomes hazardous and that’s not the only problem.

When talking with Sugimoto Wakayama declared he went to meet Dun alone because he sent all his men to help someone who helped him in the past (supposedly Umakichi).

As his men were with him when he was in Sapporo we’ve to assume the fight in Barato hadn’t taken place yet (Umakichi will die during it so he can’t really ask for support afterward) so he hadn’t sent his men there yet.

Overall the thing seems to be a bit shaky.

If Umakichi was someone who helped him, why did boss went to bet at Hidoro’s place instead than at a friend’s place? Or was that the moment in which Umakichi helped him? Because Umakichi should have helped him BIG TIME if boss sent ALL HIS MEN to help him… yet he didn’t warn him pursuing that tattooed skin was useless as we know Umakichi was actually pursuing it?

And Umakichi didn’t know Wakayama was also someone who escaped from Abashiri?

Because if he had known sending all his men to help him retrieve the tattooed skin would be dangerous as then Umakichi might try to get Wakayama’s one.

Besides we don’t even see a single man, among the ones with Umakichi, dressed in black suit and tie as Wakayama’s men. Sure, maybe they changed so it’s not big deal but overall the whole thing is weird, so weird even Sugimoto found odd how Wakayama went there alone.

Did Wakayama lie to Sugimoto, whom he knew was searching for the tattooed convicts?

Is there another reason why he sent all his men to Barato but didn’t go there himself?

Or actually he was there also for some other reason than punishing the two at the race (he said he wasn’t expecting Kiro and the others to show up and it makes sense, Wakayama didn’t meet Kiro back then so I’m not even sure if he would have recognized him)?

I don’t know but I’m starting to wonder if we’ll learn more about boss and how that skin ended up in Barato, maybe through Shinpei, who left Barato with Chiyoko and might have transferred temporally to Ebetsu.

It would be interesting to meet Shinpei again as we were never told exactly how his meeting with Ogata ended, we just saw that Ogata gave him a scolding...

...then the scene was cut and we dealt with Hijikata’s group reaching the place, Hijikata and Nagakura getting in to talk with Ogata who now owns the skins, the bodies of Shinpei’s parents nowhere to be seen.

The next we see Shinpei he’s with Chiyoko, first observing the place burning down,

then ready to start a new life with her.

Besides, Shinpei was there when the skin was left to his family, he might tell us exactly how things went and if Nakazawa or the candy peddler were involved and if he knew if Wakayama had a relation with Umakichi.

LOL, overall I’m curious.

When I first read the Wakayama arc it felt like its only purpose was to hand Sugimoto a new skin as it seemed to bring no other development, so now I’m extremely intrigued at the idea there could be more behind it.

And always about Wakayama… what the candy peddler said that made him so sure the tattooed skins can’t be used anymore? Did he ruin his own tattoo? Or, since Wakayama was spot on about a convict ending eaten by a fish and another by a bear someone warned him about Gotou and Henmi’s deaths? Because okay, Gotou’s death is normal enough and one could guess it but Henmi’s death is a bit of a stretch. They were supposed to go to Otaru after all, not go to fish whales or orcas so one of them drowning wasn’t something one should consider a normal occurrence yet it’s the first thing Wakayama comes up with.

But yes, it could also be a lucky guess.

Long story short though… I don’t know anymore which of Wakayama’s words were true and which were a lie, making him an unreliable narrator. I’m only sure that he believed they couldn’t use the tattooed skins anymore to find the gold but that’s it.

I wonder if more will come up in the future.

Back to the story, Boutarou explains that since Wakayama was sure the tattooed skins couldn’t be collected he also decided stopping collecting them.

Shiraishi, clever guy, asks him if he found the place in which the Ainu gold is hidden.

Boutarou though, might act friendly but he’s clearly not a stupid.

He doesn’t directly answer, he just says it’s possible to get close to it but he’s confident Noppera-bou wouldn’t have hid it in a place that’s easy to spot once you get close by.

So Boutarou asks Shiraishi and Sugimoto to join forces with him and help searching for it. He claims he wants Shiraishi in his team because Shiraishi is fun and Sugimoto because Sugimoto is strong and both are things he likes he claims as he wraps his arms around them.

Shiraishi though, using a joking tone, points out they might end up on fighting over how to split the gold.

Boutarou claims they can become his vassals as he wants to become the king of a warm Southeast Asian small island on which he can grow and sell fruits to other countries and have so many kids he can make a country of his own family.

The way Boutarous smiles as he asks them to become vassals in his kingdom is kind of cute, like the one of a happy child.

Shiraishi laughs a bit uncomfortable at his ambitious dream while Sugimoto wonders on why everyone wants to be in charge of something as huge as a country.

He covers his eyes with his hat at this, shadowing them completely even though he smiles, making hard to read his expression. It’s usually no good when Sugimoto’s eyes can’t be seen.

I think Sugimoto believes Boutarou is moved by either ambition or greed or both, therefore by something negative, and that due to this he’s getting in his way when he instead aims at something much smaller and that should also help a person he loves.

I think Boutarou gets what Sugimoto is implying and that’s why, although he keeps his smile he looks much more serious as he makes Sugimoto a personal question.

‘Do you have any family?’

Sugimoto’s face is shadowed and his eyes fully black as he says he doesn’t, Boutarou clearly touching a sore spot.

Boutarou goes on, asking him if they’re dead. He’s still smiling but he’s not being overly cheerful.

Sugimoto, also smiling but with his eyes downcast, admits they died due to tuberculosis.

I think that’s the first time Sugimoto talked with someone about how his family died. Sugimoto, Asirpa and Shiraishi are a group but, except for Asirpa who occasionally talk about her father or about Huci, they hardly talk of any personal matter. Credits when its due both Shiraishi and Asirpa tried talking with Sugimoto about personal matters but both stumbled on the Umeko issue (Shiraishi asking him if he had someone and Asirpa asking him what he planned to do with the gold) and Sugimoto closed up to Shiraishi and wasn’t quite honest with Asirpa so talks never went that far… when instead it was probably important they did. They’re risking their life together, they should be able to share the burdens of the pasts with the others.

Anyway at Sugimoto’s reply Boutarou’s smile stay even if his expression is much more serious.

Then Boutarou goes closer to Sugimoto (WOW, Boutarou seems quite a bit taller than him), wrapping his arms around him in some sort of conforting or kinship gesture and telling him his family died too, although what killed them was smallpox, and adding ‘you know what it’s like, right?’.

He’s likely not referring to smallpox but both to the pain of losing your family but also to the sad fate of victims of contagious illness. Places in hospitals were scarce, which means they would have to stay home until one would free, infecting, if they hadn’t already, their family members.

Back then there was no cure for illness like smallpox or tuberculosis same as there is no cure for coronavirus now and they also had a lot less mean to protect themselves from infection.

The result would be that neighbors, in fear of getting infected, would ostracize the families whose members would fall prey of an illness, mock them, claim if they got sick it was because they did it was due to something they had done, as if illness was some sort of divine punishment, abandoning them to their sad fate and refusing to help.

It’s easy to feel empathy for Boutarou and Sugimoto’s conditions, especially considering how even now, in a time in which superstition shouldn’t rule us way too many people had felt entitled to mock or blame or turn their backs to those who would get coronavirus cases.

Boutarou found himself living this situation when he was a child and, as he was a child, he came up with this naïve dream.

‘If I become a king, nobody would ever shun my family.’

For a child this makes sense. He was powerless to fight what was happening so he assumed if he were to be the most important person he would have had control and would have been able to stop the world from rejecting and abandoning him and his family to their fate.

In a way it’s not a completely wrong assumption as we see that people in position of power or with a lot of money can get tested sooner than people who aren’t and they also get better health care, everyone hurrying to find a comfortable place for them in the most comfortable hospital.

Child Boutarou was aware of this as well but instead than thinking that the system was unfair and wanting to fight the system decided he would ride it.

If only who’s in power, who’s rich get help, he would be that person.

A king.

And then he wouldn’t have to suffer that fear and that pain anymore.

This thought helps him to survive.

He decided to stop being afraid of getting smallpox, to pursue his dream and look at the world in a positive manner and this allowed him to carry on to the point that adult Boutarou thinks it was his own attitude that kept smallpox away from him.

Boutarou makes it simple but it doesn’t really work like turning a switch on. You’ve to persuade yourself that you aren’t afraid, that you’ve to feel positive day after day, wearing these thoughts as if they were a mask that covers fear and negativity until the mask becomes you and you believe in all this… but sadly it’s not so easy and it doesn’t necessarily work smoothly.

Often the mask remains just a mask that stops us from facing what we’re really thinking. Only we’ve been wearing by so long we just delude ourselves the mask is us when it’s always just a mask and, since what’s behind it remains there unchallenged, it slowly poisons our life.

For Boutarou by now it’s probably hard to say if he smiles because he’s genuinely happy or if he smiles because HE MUST BE POSITIVE.

And he’s not the only one who hides behind a smile. We saw how in this chapter Sugimoto too smiled as he said his family died. His smile is a lot less cheery than Boutarou, it’s clear it’s a sad smile but Sugimoto too tries to cope with pain through a smile… although Sugimoto more often than not use it to cover his fear.

We saw him smiling when he punched the bear and it didn’t work, when he faced Tsurumi for the first time he smiled and even joked around even though he knew he was in deep troubles.

Although smiles are usually connected to happiness, they don’t necessarily mean the one showing them feels genuine happiness because they’re also more often than not used as a mask to show confidence, to hide troubles, pain and fear to the others and to yourself.

So I’m not so sure always smiling Boutarou is as happy as he looks like, and I don’t know if his obstinacy in having a positive outlook might cause him to miss facing something negative, becoming a maladaptive behavior. We’ll see but, for now, I think there’s more in Boutarou than just a happy guy, and the same goes for other Golden Kamuy smiling prone characters.

Who knows, maybe as @osomanga has suggested, maybe the funny Shiraishi too has behind himself a sad backstory and let’s not forget the friendly Kiroranke hid behind himself a partisan fighter who had remained alone after he believed Wilk, his hero, betrayed him.

Golden Kamuy is a story with characters with a complicate psychological background after all, we shouldn’t just wave them off as just black and white.

So, back to Boutarou, now we know it’s not greed or ambition what’s behind his wish, but merely a traumatic past that forced him to face on his own the powerlessness of watching your parents and relative die due to a terrible illness and the people turning their back to you.

What Boutarou GENUINELY wishes is fundamentally to never again live that experience, to erase it from the universe but, as this is not possible, he came up with this, with a dream that deludes him he won’t be abandoned, that he will be able to control his fate, that he and his family will be able to live happily.

Not being abandoned, having a measure of control over our fate and live a happy life with our beloved ones are really normal things, things we all wish and that we normally pursue through more normal means but as Boutarou lived in desperate times he decided to use desperate measures.

And, in a way, Boutarou’s dream is overall pretty similar to Tsurumi’s goal and to his men’s dream. They want a country in which they will be safe, happy and in control.

And yes, although what they fundamentally wish is something really normal and human… their wish is sadly a very selfish one as, to fulfill it they would sacrifice other humans. Their world is not a perfect one where everyone is safe, happy and in control but one in which they are.

However, as they perceive they were sacrificed first, they have a hard time realizing sacrificing others is wrong, that they should just accept they were wronged but that it’s not okay to retaliate, to return just retribution for the pain they were made to suffer.

It’s sad. It’s wrong. And it’s also something that happens way too often in life.

As Boutarou explains his dream, Sugimoto’s eyes are still downcast...

...and he remembers himself as he watched over his sick father, Sugimoto’s eyes back then, completely void of light.

This transition reminds me a bit of the transition Noda used to shift from when Asirpa asked Ogata which was his favourite food to when we saw him with Hanazawa.

We know that Sugimoto’s father was the last to die, before him Sugimoto lost three other family members.

One of them was likely his mother, the other two are either his grandparents or two younger siblings (Sugimoto’s name implies he’s the firstborn as it contain the kanji for “1”).

His father is probably the last surviving member of Sugimoto’s family and he’s there, sitting at his bedside, watching him slowly die due to illness.

There are many stress lines under Sugimoto’s eyes and his expression is grim. He likely knows there’s no hope, that there’s nothing he can do, that he can only stay there and watch.

Sugimoto’s father tells him not to hope he’ll manage to get a bed in the sanatorium. For who’s not familiar with the term,  in a time in which they had no antibiotics against tuberculosis, they assumed you could cure the illness just by giving the ill person a regimen of rest, fresh air and good nutrition. But beds in sanatorium were scarce, that’s way Sugimoto’s father is warning him he won’t get a bed in one… and since sanatorium were assumed to be the only place in which one could heal and he finds unlikely he’ll get a bed in one, basically Sugimoto’s dad is telling Sugi to prepare to the idea of his death.

His father then tells Sugimoto he’s kind and this causes him to end up stuck with the worst roles… same as it used to happen to his father, a personality trait which didn’t seem to want to change.

Sugimoto’s father looks like Sugimoto, only older, thinner and sick. He’s in a bed whose covers are dirty with the blood he should have coughed. The poor guy choughs occasionally but he’s smiling and, contrary to Sugimoto, there’s a light in his eyes.

Sugimoto’s father probably sees the shortcomings of being kind but, at the same time I think he also sees the good sides of it.

It’s not a personality trait that doesn’t want to change, it’s him who didn’t want to change it.

And this makes me think at how it should have been terrible for Sugimoto to accept to kill in order to survive. Because killing is all but kind and he should have made a lot of mental gimmicks to accept to do it and receive a lot of mental scarring.

So of course his reasoning to cope with it is that enemies are soulless bad guys, which Asirpa waved off as an excuse one would give to a child.

Probably a side of him, to protect himself, reverted to a kid and came up with such a silly excuse, same as Boutarou who can’t let go of his childish dream, and then he clung to it and he keeps clinging to it even now, a maladaptive copying mechanism that helped Sugimoto survive the war but that’s now plaguing him, a mask he uses to try to cover the fact he views himself as no more kind as his father said he was.

Sugimoto is a complicate psychological mess and I’m sorry for him because deep down he should be suffering a lot inside and hiding it deep inside himself, covering it with a smile and a kind attitude and not really facing it, which only result in more psychological harm for him.

Again, it’s sad.

The scene changes, Sugimoto is outside of the house and a black cat comes to him.

Contrary to what us westerns say Japanese people back then believed black cats to bring good luck and ward off against illness.

As the cat comes to him to be patted Sugimoto, who has shown through all ‘Golden Kamuy’ to be superstitious enough he even absorbed Ainu superstitions, complains with the cat that the cat was supposed to cure tuberculosis and asks him if this is happening because the cat hardly comes there, therefore making the cat useless. The cat leaves at that, leaving Sugimoto alone to watch him walk away, bringing away with itself even the silly hope the cat could fix everything.

It’s another bit of life experience that forms Sugimoto’s mind, a bit that explains why he’s not very good at cooperating, because back then he could do nothing but entrust his hopes to a black cat and yet he was left alone to deal with it.

Sugimoto stands there as he watched the cat leaving, clearly trying hard not to cry. He’s alone stripped even of the delusion the black cat would magically save his father. No one will help him.

He can’t do anything and no one will help him.

At this point I think he remembers what his father told him, he told him to leave the house and not let himself trapped by tuberculosis. He told him he could live for his own sake, that it wouldn’t be such a bad thing.

The words, the memory of them after the cat’s abandonment, push Sugimoto to run.

He wants to do it, to escape from that house, but more exactly to escape from that pain. However, as he’s about to get out of the fence he stops, unable to go further.

He looks at the world that extend itself outside the fence, he looks at the freedom, at a place in which he isn’t plagued by the specter of getting infected with tuberculosis each day. He squeezes his eyes shut. In his home his father is still lying in his bed, coughing.

And, I think, at this point Sugimoto knows he can’t leave him to die alone.

In fact in the past flashback we learnt that his father managed to find a spot in a sanatorium… but then he died there and only when the note he was dead reached Sugimoto he managed to leave his home.

So, even though Sugimoto wants to escape, even though he can’t bear it any longer, he can’t leave either. For his torn mind not to crack under the pressure of this two contrasting things, wanting to leave and wanting to stay, his psyche build up a narrative meant to help him to cope.

Sugimoto is a good judoka, isn’t he?

Well, this is a fight, a fight to death against him and tuberculosis, a fight Sugimoto isn’t going to lose. He states he’s going to live and then challenges it to try and kill him, like he will challenge the Russians much later on war, stating he’s immortal.

The image depicts him as if his aura was a fire, a fire burning around him but his expression is contracted, ugly. Not as bad as Usami when he murdered Tomoharu but still… ugly.

You can see in it determination… but it’s a forced determination.

Sugimoto is forcing himself to think all those things to overcome his fear.

Telling himself he’s immortal is the copying behavior he has chosen, a behavior that fits with how he’s a fighter at heart but it’s also just a big lie. He’s not immortal and he’s not really facing the realty of the situation, that he’s a mortal taking upon himself a risk.

He’s young, the situation is so traumatic and terrible he simply CAN’T face the truth, but that copying behavior will follow him traumatic situation after traumatic situation, covering his fear behind a wall of fake confidence into something that’s simply not real.

It’s true that a strong will can overcome a weak body, but will can’t do miracles. Sugimoto is a normal person and therefore he can die like any other person. Just because he has more endurance and luck (and a solid plot armor) than others it doesn’t mean all of sudden he’s immortal and this wrong belief might end up doing him more harm than good.

The flashback ends and we go back to present time and to Boutarou, asking Sugimoto what he plans to do once he finds the gold to reach HIS OWN HAPPINESS and if he doesn’t have any dream.

It’s clear Sugimoto started this adventure hoping he could get gold enough for himself to cure Umeko but also to be capable to present himself in front of her as a man who’s better than the one who left her, if not in actions (Sugimoto is plagued by the fact he’s a killer now), at least in finances.

Although Toraji clearly wasn’t rich I always had the feeling he was a little better off than Sugimoto and Sugimoto was afraid this influenced Umeko’s choice... so, since he can’t clean away the blood he has shed I think he hopes he can ‘hide it’ by presenting himself as someone who’s better off economically and can provide Umeko with the means to cure her eyes.

I think he’s afraid to present himself to her but wanted to believe by going back rich and capable to cure her he could find the guts to show himself to her again and get what he truly wanted, her love back.

However many things had happened and more than a full year went by from when he started hunting skins, not mentioning the time that had gone by from when he returned from war.

This goal had moved always further from him while his hunt for the gold became a sidequest that didn’t help him to go back to Umeko but that actually kept him away from her.

So Sugimoto likely knows what he used to dream for when all this started, what he believed would give him happiness… but instead than getting closer with any skin he gained, it only got far. The shading on him isn’t uniform, it’s swirling, I think it hints Boutarou’s words forced him to realize, if not this, at least ‘something’.

Meantime the boat has almost reached Ebetsu.

Boutarou, the gentleman pirate, apologizes to the passengers, telling them he didn’t mean to cause them troubles and commotion so he won’t steal things from them, he’ll just settle for taking the money that was sent as registered mail. As he says so though, he spot Sugimoto opened back with, inside it, Heita’s skin and the tobacco case he always carried with himself.

It doesn’t take a genius to guess this means troubles for his alliance with Sugimoto, Shiraishi and Asirpa… which, to be honest, never got involved in the alliance. Boutarou just wanted Shiraishi and Sugimoto and they didn’t mention having a third member in their group even if it was kind of obvious Asirpa was connected to them.

I’m a little annoyed at this, it’s not the first time Asirpa is handled as a minor part to the group even though today she’s the one who saved the day by handling the problem of the crazy postman (along with Shiraishi who got information from Boutarou and set the basis for an allegiance)… but well, I guess it can’t be helped. We’ll see if things will change in the future.

[goldenkamuyhunting]

It's a bit silly but can you please make a post about many characters' ears? ✿◕ ‿ ◕✿ Thank you

Sorry for my lateness. No, don’t worry, your ask isn’t silly...

...it’s just that, to be honest, when I was researching if Hasegawa and Tsurumi were the same person, I’ve noticed Noda isn’t really strict into how he draws ears, so, even when he draws the same character, he changes their shape slightly, from draw to draw, being slightly bigger or smaller, but overall being all the same for almost all the characters.

It’s not a complain, normally characters are hardly recognized by their ears.

For example, those 3 ears.

Noda draws them rather accurately, when they’re up close he even shadows them.

Can you recognize to whom they belong?

It’s pretty hard to do so even though, if I we look at the characters to whom they belong, one realizes those characters are physically pretty different among them.

In itself it is a mistake to draw ears so similar they all look the same, because ears change from person to person (to the point you can use them to recognize a person from another, almost as if they were fingerprints) but in the manga world ears are hardly used to recognize a character and therefore they are often drawn even more stylized than Noda does, so it’s no surprise that, conventionally, ears are almost always drawn for each character as if they were all the same and Noda merely followed that habit.

However in the middle of ears that look all the same there are some notable differences.

Although to us the ears above are perfectly normal, to Ainu whose ears are not.

They are ‘sinna kisar’ (“strange ears”) because, compared to Japanese, Ainu have thiker earlobe.

Noda isn’t exactly prone to represent Ainu by profile but I think you can see Kiroranke’s ears here well enough, both with his earrings and without.

Also have Asirpa’s ears too.

Overall, up close they don’t seem that different from the previous type, just a bit rounder and yes, with round thicker earlobes...

...but still, especially when the draw isn’t up close, Noda isn’t very careful with giving the characters a precise ear shape, so sometimes Japanese characters’ lobes seem thicker (yeah, even for recurring characters like Sugimoto or Shiraishi or Ogata) and Ainu lobes seem smaller.

So really, it’s hard to tell.

It’s noteworthy though that in the fake Ainu village Sugimoto and Ogata will argue if the fake Ainu are Ainu or not and ears will be brought into the discussion.

If I were to give my two cents, Ekurok seems to have lobes even thicker and bigger than Kiroranke or Makkanakkuru or Asirpa but, supposedly, he’s not an Ainu (if he’s from Hokkaido though maybe he has, unknown to him, some Ainu blood in him, hence the thick lobes).

Lastly there’s another pair of ears which, despite belonging to a Japanese person, are pretty uncommon, even among Japanese.

Those are the Judo ears Ushiyama has.

Ushiyama’s ears are clearly drawn differently no matter if you look at Ushiyama's profile...

...or if you look at him frontally (you can compare his ears with Sugimoto’s and see how they look different).

That’s all for ears, I think, though, of course, I could have forgotten something.

Thanks for the ask, although a bit uncommon it was interesting to answer to it, even if I couldn’t really say much so I hope you aren’t too disappointed!

[goldenkamuyhunting]

FULL LIST OF THE KNOWN TATTOOED PRISONERS (20 OF 24)

1 . Gotō (後藤): Status: Deceased (Killed by a bear) - Crime: He murdered his wife and son while he was drunk. - Skin owned by: Sugimoto Saichi, Tsurumi Tokushirō.

2. Sugimoto Saichi-tachi o Bikō Shite Ita Shūjin (杉元達を尾行していた囚人 “Prisoner who was tailing Sugimoto Saichi”): Status: Deceased (Killed by Ogata) - Crime: Unknown. - Skin owned by: Sugimoto Saichi, Tsurumi Tokushirō.

3. Hijikata Toshizō (土方 歳三): Status: Alive - Crime: He was on the enemy side in the battle of Hakodata and therefore is considered a political prisoner. - Skin owned by: Hijikata Toshizō (copy).

4. Shiraishi Yoshitake (白石 由竹): Status: Alive - Crime: Robbery was what put him in juvenile prison but due to his many escaping from prison to prison he ended up in Abashiri. - Skin owned by: Shiraishi Yoshitake, Hijikata Toshizō (copy), Sugimoto Saichi (copy), Tsurumi Tokushirō (copy).

5. Tsuyama (津山): Status: Deceased (Killed by Tsurumi Tokushirō) - Crime: He killed 33 people. - Skin owned by: Tsurumi Tokushirō.

6. Ushiyama Tatsuma (牛山 辰馬): Status: Alive - Crime: He killed his master, wounded several of his master’s students causing one to remain bedridden for the rest of his life. - Skin owned by: Ushiyama Tatsuma, Hijikata Toshizō (copy).

7. Nihei Tetsuzō (二瓶 鉄造): Status: Deceased (Killed by Retar) - Crime: Murdered three thieves who stole prey from hunters and also killed them when they threatened to do the same with him. – Skin owned by: Sugimoto Saichi, Tsurumi Tokushirō.

8. Henmi Kazuo (辺見 和雄): Status: Deceased (Killed by Sugimoto Saichi) - Crime: Murdering over a hundred of people around the country. - Skin owned by: Sugimoto Saichi, Tsurumi Tokushirō.

9. Ienaga Kano/Chikanobu (家永 カノ/親宣): Status: Alive - Crime: Killing a bunch of patients and transfusing their blood into himself. - Skin owned by: Ienaga Kano, Hijikata Toshizō (copy), Tsurumi Tokushirō (copy).

10. Barato de irezumi ninpi nomi torihikiki sa rete ita shūjin (茨戸で刺青人皮のみ取引きされていた囚人 “Prisoner whose tattooed skin was traded in Barato”): Status: Deceased (Cause unknown) - Crime: Unknown. - Skin owned by: Hijikata Toshizō.

11. Wakayama Kiichirō (若山 輝一郎): Status: Deceased (Killed by a bear) - Crime: He’s a Yakuza boss who makes his living with gambling and clearly has killed other people… though we don’t exactly know why he ended in the jail. - Skin owned by: Sugimoto Saichi, Tsurumi Tokushirō.

12. Yūbari no tankō jiko de shibō shita shūjin (夕張の炭鉱事故で死亡した囚人 “Prisoner who died in an accident in the coal mine in Yubari”): Status: Deceased (Killed by a mining incident) – Crime: Unknown. - Skin owned by: Edogai Yasaku, Tsurumi Tokushirō.

13. Suzukawa Kiyohiro (鈴川 聖弘): Status: Deceased (Killed by Koito) - Crime: Being a con artist. - Skin owned by: Sugimoto Saichi (copy), Tsurumi Tokushirō (original), Hijikata Toshizō (copy).

14. Sakamoto Keiichirō (坂本 慶一郎): Status: Deceased (Killed by Tsurumi Tokushirō) - Crime: Thief sentenced to life prison in Kabato. He escaped and was captured and sent to Abashiri. - Skin owned by: Tsurumi Tokushirō.

15. Anehata Shiton (姉畑 支遁): Status: Deceased (Died of heart attack while having sex with a bear) - Crime: Animal rape and animal slaughter. - Skin owned by: Sugimoto Saichi, Tsurumi Tokushirō.

16. Toni Anji (都丹 庵士): Status: Alive - Crime: Unknown. - Skin owned by: Toni Anji, Hijikata Toshizō (copy), Sugimoto Saichi (copy), Tsurumi Tokushirō (copy).

17. Gansoku Maiharu (岩息 舞治): Status: Alive - Crime: He expressed himself through violence so likely he was sent in jail for brawling and since he kept on doing it even hen in jail his sentences piled up, in fact, he says he spent most of his life incarcerated but never that he murdered someone. - Skin owned by: Gansoku Maiharu, Sugimoto Saichi (copy), Tsurumi Tokushirō (copy), Sofia (copy) (?) [We don’t know if Sophia managed to make a copy].

18. Yōichirō/Doi Shinzō (用一郎/土井 新蔵): Status: Deceased (Killed by Hijikata Toshizō) - Crime: We know he was a hided assassin who killed countless people for a samurai who served the emperor but what caused him to end up in prison was merely the fact 8 years ago he murdered a man to get his wife back. - Skin owned by: Hijikata Toshizō.

19. Sekiya Waichirō (関谷 輪一郎): Status: Deceased (Killed by Hijikata Toshizō) - Crime: He killed 30 people with strychnine. - Skin owned by: Hijikata Toshizō, Tsurumi Tokushirō (copy).

20. Matsuda Heita (松田 平太): Status: Deceased (Suicide) - Crime: He was discovered while murdering and eating a man while wearing a bear pelt… but actually he had killed much more than just one man. - -Skin owned by: Sugimoto Saichi.

21. ?

22. ?

23. ?

24. ?

AT CHAP 222 THE SITUATION BETWEEN THE THREE MAIN GROUPS CHASING THE TATTOOED SKINS IS AS FOLLOW

Sugimoto Saichi (2 skins)

Gotō Sugimoto Saichi-tachi o Bikō Shite Ita Shūjin Nihei Tetsuzō Henmi Kazuo Wakayama Kiichirō Suzukawa Kiyohiro (copy) Anehata Shiton Toni Anji (copy) Gansoku Maiharu (copy) Shiraishi Yoshitake (copy) Heita Matsuda

Hijikata Toshizō (9 skins)

Hijikata Toshizō (copy) Shiraishi Yoshitake (copy) Ushiyama Tatsuma (copy) Ienaga Kano/Chikanobu (copy) Barato de irezumi ninpi nomi torihikiki sa rete ita shūjin Suzukawa Kiyohiro (copy) Toni Anji (copy) Yōichirō/Doi Shinzō Sekiya Waichirō

All the fake skins

Tsurumi Tokushirō (15 skins)

Tsuyama Yūbari no tankō jiko de shibō shita shūjin Shiraishi Yoshitake (copy) Sakamoto Keiichirō Gotō Sugimoto Saichi-tachi o Bikō Shite Ita Shūjin Nihei Tetsuzō Henmi Kazuo Wakayama Kiichirō Suzukawa Kiyohiro Anehata Shiton Toni Anji (copy) Ienaga Kano/Chikanobu (copy) Sekiya Waichirō (copy) Gansoku Mahiru (copy)

Sofia (1 skin?)

Gansoku Mahiru (copy) [We don’t know if Sophia managed to make a copy]

[goldenkamuyhunting]

I hope u can make gk timeline summary someday. And i always curious why tsurimi, hijikata just have 1 tatoo skin when gk starts but sugimoto has gained more in such short time.? He cant be smarter than tsurimi i believe. So how long was it when those prisoner broke out and gk start?

Many, many apologies for my lateness in replying.

I’m actually working on a timeline but it’s taking a lot of time also because Noda isn’t really giving clear time indications.

Probably someone native of Hokkaido would better understand the hints he gives for the passing of time but for me it only mean to research a lot and often don’t find an answer anyway... -_-

Now... about the skins and why Sugimoto seems to collect them faster than both Tsurumi and Hijikata...

The Doylist explanation would of course be that since Sugimoto is the main character we need to focus on him more and if Tsurumi and Hijikata were capturing all the convicts faster than him... well, Sugimoto’s role would end up drastically cut.

But there’s also what I think is a good Watsonian answer for the whole thing.

One of the main reasons is that for start both Tsurumi and Hijikata don’t totally focus all their energies on the tattooed skins hunt.

Tsurumi has a division to handle, men to persuade to follow him into rebelling to Japan’s government, weapons to seize from Asahikawa and bring where they’re useful to him, soldiers moving independently because they actually want to rebel TO HIM, forcing him to investigate and take the matter in his hands, funds to collect and patrons to find and probably many other things off screen that might or might not be revealed.

In addition to this, convicts will likely try to avoid him and his very flashy men in uniforms as they know the men from the 7th are searching for them, or more specifically for their skins, so they’ll hid from them.

Hijikata is in a similar situation as he also busies himself finding allies and funds.

Sugimoto doesn’t have such troubles.

He stumbles on the first convict, Gotou, merely out of luck, as it’s Gotou who actually seeks him out, tattles everything to him, ends up causing Sugimoto to chase him, dies killed by a bear and allows Sugimoto to discover he’s a convict.

The other 2 convicts who approach Sugimoto, prisoner number 1 and Shiraishi, likely did so as they didn’t realize how dangerous Sugimoto could be and thought they could just get rid of him easily (at least in case of Prisoner Number 1... in Shiraishi’s case I think he was just curious).

As for Nihei, it’s Shiraishi who finds him for Sugimoto, and he can do so because the fur trader likely wasn’t wary to talk with Shiraishi about Nihei (while he might not have felt like tattling Nihei out to the soldiers of the 7th) and, in addition to this, Shiraishi knew Nihei so he could easily recognize him for a tattooed convict.

It’s noteworthy how, while Sugimoto is about to start chasing Nihei, we see that Hijikata instead is busy searching for allies.

In itself though, Hijikata too does good.

He’s fast into finding Ushiyama because he knows him and his appetite and so he figures the easiest way is questioning the whores, then he manages to capture Shiraishi when the latter comes to spy on him and to force him to help him so that Shiraishi supposedly should give all the skins Sugimoto gets to Hijikata, then passes to Shiraishi the hints to find Henmi, with the result that in a way Sugimoto works under him, allowing him to pursue other activities, like yes, checking for the skin in Barato but also contacting a newspaper writer to carry on his other plan.

So sure, Sugimoto conveniently stumbles in Henmi but his group was tipped to go there by Hijikata... and while they search for Henmi we see that Tsurumi was there too, but he was busy trying to collect funds (and possibly investigating for Henmi but he doesn’t have Sugimoto’s luck).

It’s also worth to mention when Sugimoto escaped Tsurumi ultimately decided to let Sugimoto go.

Tsurumi could have shoot him but decided against it, likely because he was already planning to do what he’ll voice when he’ll try again to catch Sugimoto.

Sure, if he could Tsurumi wouldn’t mind capturing Sugimoto... but he’s not overly obsessed by it back then because he thinks if he let Sugimoto play the role of the orca he can then become the loathsome creature who’ll collect all the skins from him.

Instead, at Abashiri, Tsurumi is forced to become another orca and fight on an ‘equal��� footing.

So I think that ultimately, the idea isn’t that Sugimoto is brighter than them (which doesn’t mean he is dumb, just that I think in terms of cleverness Hijikata and Tsurumi are at advantage) but that circumstances were in his favour.

Tsurumi and Hijikata are busy men, Sugimoto isn’t and he has the bizzarre luck of stumbling into convicts right and left so he doesn’t have to search much for them. Just think at how in the last arc they went there to pan gold only to find another convict... and that’s not the first time.

They stop to a hotel? Bang, Ienaga is there.

Wakayama was near Dunn’s house and got himself discovered due to a series of unexpected circumstances (he sent his men to Barato so he had to handle things on his own, Kiro won the race, they were trapped by three bears while princess was in the middle of a jealousy crisis).

They’re coincidentally tipped by Dunn about the skin in Yubari, though they’ll be too late to retrieve it.

They stop to an Ainu village and bang, there’s a convict there, Suzukawa who tips them on Anehata.

Then as they’re going to Abashiri they’re conveniently told about the blind bandits and how one of them is tattooed by the Ainu who’re hostping them.

As if all this wasn’t coincidental enough, while they’re searching for Asirpa in Karafuto they’re dragged into a stenka fight and learn a tattooed convict also fight in those stenka matches.

Really, Sugimoto would find the convicts even without searching for them at all, it’s just his luck.... at least this is what it looks like.

Lastly, regarding how long was it when those prisoner broke out, they likely broke out not much before the story start and around a year (possibly a little less but not much) should have gone from when the serie started.

We’ve been told Heita killed 5 people since last year, and since the killing should have started after he got freed this is more or less the time he’d been freed (we should consider also the time it took Heita to retrieve the pelt). Also it’s likely the child of the blind bandit was conceived after he escaped from prison. We don’t know exactly when that arc started but it’s possible to assume we’re in June or, at worst, in July. In short if GK supposedly started in late February (according to Noda) the convicts were free by some months before that date, although they probably spent the first period hiding and then reaching the places they wanted to reach.

Sorry if I’m so vague but it’s hard to say for sure though, and unless Noda will decide to give us a real timetable we’ll never know for sure.

Still, thanks for your ask!

[goldenkamuyhunting]

[goldenkamuyhunting]

Hello! Do you happen to know of any posts floating around about the characters on each prisoner's tattoo? I feel like I've seen one at some point (maybe on twitter?) but I can't seem to find it.

Yes,

there’s one made by the awesome Golden Kamuy central but it doesn’t cover all the convicts. They took the kanji from this list.

I wish I could contribute with the missing ones but I’m horrible at recognizing kanji so I’ll let it up to who’s better than me on this one. Sorry if I couldn’t really be that much of a help.

[goldenkamuyhunting]

How are the characters called? (Vol 1)

So, since I’m making a re-reading I thought to take advantage of it to check how the characters call themselves and each other as this goes often lost in the translations but can turn relevant later on.

By the way, in order to do this:

- characters will be listed by their own name (regardless of it being used in the volume)

- in case of characters whose name is still unknown, I’ll use the Japanese labelling given to them for the Golden Kamuy contest

- if a character appears in the volume but has no speaking role I’ll only list his name and update it with new info when I’ll do the following volumes (yes, even if I know the new info already… I’m trying to keep this ordered).

- the way characters addressed to themselves will be listed and so will the various form of ‘you’ they use to talk with other people.

- for soldiers their ranking, if known, will be listed.

- in case of nicknames they’ll be listed as well.

- next to each way of calling themselves/the others will be listed the number of the chapter when this happened for the first time.

- at the bottom you can find some useful explanation on the various way to say ‘I’, ‘you’ and the suffixes character use.

So let’s go on and see how the characters called each other in Vol 1 (which covers chap 1-7)

Asirpa (アシㇼパ)/Kochōbe Asuko (小蝶辺 明日子)

Asirpa: She uses ‘Watashi’ (わたし “I”) to talk about herself (Chap 2).

Sugimoto: In the beginning she uses just ‘Omae’ (お前 “You”) to call him (chap 1) and she’ll also refers to him as ‘Sisam’ (シサム Ainu word for “not-Ainu Japanese person”) (Chap 2). Then she’ll starts to call him ‘Sugimoto’ also (Chap 2), though occasionally she’ll still call him a ‘Sisam’. She’ll call him ‘Fujimi no Sugimoto’ (不死身の杉元 “Sugimoto the Immortal”) when she’ll ask him what that nick means (Chap 5) though.

Gotō: Well, they don’t really get to talk so she refers to him simply as ‘Sono otoko’ (その男 “That man”). (Chap 1)

Retar: Of course Asirpa calls him just ‘Retar’. (Chap 2)

Gifutarō (妓夫太郎 “Pimp”)

Asirpa: He calls her ‘Ainu no gaki’ (アイヌのガキ “Ainu brat”) first, ‘Ainu no onna’(アイヌの女 “Ainu woman”) short after and, when Asirpa hits him, ‘Kono kuso gaki’ (このクソガキ “this goddamn brat”) (Chap 3)

Sugimoto-tachi o Bikō Shite Ita Shūjin: He calls him ‘Otoko’ (男 “Man”) (Chap 3)

Sugimoto: He calls him ‘Omae’ (お前 “You”) (Chap 3).

Gotō (後藤)

Gotō: He uses ‘Ore’ (俺 “I”) to talk about himself (Chap 1).

Sugimoto: He calls him first with his full name ‘Sugimoto Saichi-san’ (杉元佐一さん) then just ‘Sugimoto-san’ (杉元さん) or ‘Anta’ (あんた “You”). He also mentions how people during war used to call him ‘Fujimi no Sugimoto’ (不死身の杉元 “Sugimoto the Immortal”) but doesn’t use this nick. (Chap 1)

Wilk: He calls him just ‘Otoko’ (男 “Man”). (Chap 1)

Hijikata Toshizō (土方 歳三) - Nicknamed ‘Oni no Fukuchō’ (鬼の副長 “Demonic vice-commander”).

Ogata Hyakunosuke (尾形 百之助) - Rank: ‘Jōtōhei’ (上等兵 “Superior Private”)

Sugimoto: In the beginning he uses ‘Kisama’ (きさま “You”) to call him, then, understanding who he is, first he calls him ‘Dai ichi shidan no Sugimoto’ (第一師団の杉元 “Sugimoto of the first division”) then ‘Fujimi no Sugimoto’ (不死身の杉元 “Sugimoto the Immortal”) (Chap 5).

Retar (レタㇻ)

Shiraishi Yoshitake (白石 由竹) - Nicknamed ‘Datsugoku-ō’ (脱獄王 “Escape king”).

Shiraishi: He uses ‘Ore’ (俺 “I”) to talk about himself (Chap 6) although he also refers to himself by his nickname ‘Datsugoku-ō’ (脱獄王 “Escape king”)

Asirpa: He calls her ‘Sono Ainu’ (そのアイヌ “That Ainu”) when he asks Sugimoto if she’s his ‘Kaiinu’ (飼いイヌ “Pet dog/Pet Ainu”, through it’s actually a wordplay that takes advantage of how the last part of the word aINU is ‘Inu’, which written with this kanji 犬 means “dog”).

Hijikata: He defines him as ‘Shūjin-tachi no Oyadama’ (囚人たちの親玉 “leader of the prisoners”) (Chap 7) and explains they thought he was just a ‘Jī-san’ (ジイさん “Old man”), a ‘Seiji-han’ (政治犯 “Political prisoner”), ‘Mohan-shū’ (模範囚 “Model prisoner”) but then discovered he was a ‘Kyū bakufu-gun no samurai’ (旧幕府軍の侍 “Samurai of the former shogunate army”), the ‘Shinsenkumi Oni no Fukuchō Hijikata Toshizō’ (新撰組鬼の副長土方 歳三 “Demonic vice-commander of the Shinsengumi Hijikata Toshizō”). (Chap 7)

Sugimoto: At first he calls him ‘Omae-chan’ (お前ちゃん “You”) (chap 6) to switch to just ‘Omae’ (お前 “You”) when they risk dying of hypothermia (Chap 7). After they talk, when he says bye to him he calls him ‘Fujimi no Sugimoto’ (不死身の杉元 “Sugimoto the Immortal”) (Chap 7)

Wilk: He calls him ‘Nopperabō’ (のっぺら坊 “Faceless boy”) as he didn’t have a face (Chap 7).

Sugimoto Saichi (杉元 佐一) – Nicknamed ‘Fujimi no Sugimoto’ (不死身の杉元 “Sugimoto the Immortal”)

Sugimoto: He uses ‘Ore’ (俺 “I”) to talk about himself (Chap 1). Sometimes, when in danger, he also refers to himself by his nickname ‘Fujimi no Sugimoto’ (不死身の杉元 “Sugimoto the Immortal”) (Chap 2).

Asirpa: When he first sees her he just refers to her as an ‘Ainu’ (アイヌ). Then, to talk with her ,in the beginning he uses only ‘Anta’ (あんた “You”) to call her (chap 1) but later he will also start to use ‘Asirpa-san’ (アシㇼパさん). (Chap 2)

Gotō: In the beginning he uses ‘Anta’ (あんた “You”) to call him (chap 1). When he discovers he was one of the prisoners he calls him ‘Kono Oyaji’ (このオヤジ “Old bastard”) (Chap 1). In front of Asirpa he’ll call him ‘Kono Hito’ (この人 “This man”) (Chap 2)

Hijikata: Asking info about him he calls him ‘Oyadama’ (親玉 “leader”) (Chap 7).

Ogata: When Ogata removes his coat Sugimoto calls him simply a ‘Heishi’ (兵士 “Soldier”)

Retar: First seeing him Sugimoto calls him a ‘Yaken’ (野犬 “Wild dog”) as that’s what he thought Retar was (Chap 2) and also referred to him as a ‘Dekai Shiroi Inu’ (デカイ白い犬 “Huge white dog”) (Chap 2)

Shiraishi: When they capture him with the squirrel trap he labels him ‘Nibikime’ (二匹目 “the second small animal”) they captured (Chap 6). He then calls him ‘Omae’ (お前 “You”) (Chap 6). When Shiraishi is trying to escape he calls him ‘Kono yarō’ (この野郎 “You bastard”) (Chap 6). When Shiraishi tries rub a huge piece of wood to make a fire he calls him ‘Aho’ (アホ “Idiot”) (Chap 7). Then, when searching for the cartridges in the river calls him ‘Temē’ (テメー “You”) (Chap 7). After they talk though, he starts to call him ‘Shiraishi’ (Chap 7).

Sugimoto-tachi o Bikō Shite Ita Shūjin: When they capture him with the squirrel trap he claims he is the ‘Itsupikime’ (一匹目 “the first small animal”) they captured.

Toraji: He calls him ‘Toraji’ (Chap 1). Talking about Toraji with Asirpa he calls him first ‘Osananajimi’ (幼なじみ “childhood friend”) then switches to ‘Senyū’ (戦友 “comrade in arms/war buddy”). (Chap 1)

Umeko: Talking about her with Toraji he uses ‘Umeko’. Calling her he uses ‘Ume-chan’ (梅ちゃん) (Chap 1). When talking with Ogata about why he’s searching the gold he calls her ‘Horeta Onna’ (惚れた女 “the woman he fell in love with”) (Chap 5). He however calls her ‘Omae’ (お前 “You”) when he tells her to marry Toraji (chap 6).

Wilk: He calls him ‘Nopperabō’ (のっぺら坊 “Faceless male”) as this was how Sugimoto-tachi o Bikō Shite Ita Shūjin told him he was called (Chap 6)

Sugimoto-tachi o Bikō Shite Ita Shūjin (杉元達を尾行していた囚人 “Prisoner who was tailing Sugimoto”) better known by the fandom as Prisoner number 1 (囚人番号一 Shūjin Bangō Ichi)

Sugimoto-tachi o Bikō Shite Ita Shūjin: He uses ‘Ore’ (俺 “I”) to talk about himself (Chap 4). When he compares himself to the other prisoners he defines himself as a ‘Koakutō’ (小悪党 “Small villain”) (Chap 4).

Hijikata: He calls him a ‘Kaibutsu’ (怪物 “Monster”) (Chap 4).

Sugimoto: He calls him ‘Nīchan’ (にーちゃん “older brother/young man”) (Chap 4).

Wilk: He claims everyone called him ‘Nopperabō’ (のっぺら坊 “Faceless boy”) as he didn’t have a face (Chap 4).

Toraji (寅次)

Toraji: He uses ‘Ore’ (俺 “I”) to talk about himself.

Sugimoto: He calls him ‘Saichi’ (Chap 1) or ‘Omae’ (お前 “You”). Talking about their relation he calls him ‘Osananajimi’ (幼なじみ “childhood friend”)

Umeko: Talking about her with Sugimoto he calls her ‘Umeko’ (Chap 1). He also refers to her as his ‘Nyōbō’ (女房 “Wife”)

Tsurumi (鶴見) – Rank: ‘Chūi’ (中尉 “First Lieutenant”)

Tsuyama (津山)

Umeko (梅子)

Sugimoto: Calling him she uses ‘Saichi-chan’ (佐一ちゃん)

Wilk (ウイルク/Вилк) – Nicknamed ‘Nopperabō’ (のっぺら坊 “Faceless male”)

Nuances in the words used to say ‘I’

Ore (俺): the masculine way to say “I”. This is the word tough guys use, and as such it’s almost never used with a polite verb form. It’s worth to note though that it was also the way soldiers would say “I”, though since Sugimoto and Toraji used it prior to join the army I guess it doesn’t matter.

Watashi (私 or わたし): the standard, gender-free way to say “I”.

Nuances in the words used to say ‘you’

Anta (あんた ): the “you” which is a shortened version of ‘anata’, highly informal and generally rude or admonishing in nature.

Kisama (貴様 or きさま): the “you” who’s currently rude usually used between enemies and by Japanese males when angry. In old Japan it was actually a term of respect though and later it was commonly used among soldiers to talk to each other.

Omae (お前): the “you” used in very informal situations or toward people of lower status. This word feels very “blunt” and can easily come off as rude.

Temē (手前 or テメー or てめえ): the “you” rude and confrontational. Literal meaning “the one in front of my hand”. It’s a reduction of ‘temae’ and it’s ruder. Used when the speaker is very angry. Originally used for a humble first person. The Kanji are seldom used with this meaning, as unrelated to its use as a pronoun, 手前 can also mean “before”, “this side”, “one’s standpoint” or “one’s appearance”.

Suffixes

Chan (ちゃん): a diminutive suffix; it expresses that the speaker finds a person endearing. Also used to speak about children or among childhood friends.

Dono (どの or 殿): roughly means “lord” or “master”. It does not equate noble status; rather it is a term akin to “milord”, and lies below -sama in level of respect. It was also used in place of “sir” in the army.

San (さん): the most commonplace honorific and is a title of respect typically used between equals of any age. Although the closest translations would be “Mr.”, “Miss”, “Ms.”, or “Mrs.”, -san is almost universally added to a person’s name and can be used in formal and informal contexts for both genders.

[goldenkamuyhunting]

Golden Kamuy re-reading: CHAP 7: ‘The escape king’

Trasposed in: Episode 2 ‘Nopperabō’

Currently the story is at: Chap 172: ‘On the banks of Lake Akan’ (scanlated), Chap 173: ‘My Ghost’ (raw)

What follows are my ramblings over Golden Kamuy chapter by chapter, comprehensive of summary of the chapter, comparisons with the anime transposition, spoilers, theories, discussions about how a page or a panel was drawn and whatever else caught my attention.

As Golden Kamuy hasn’t ended yet I might miss some details that will be relevant in the future or make a wrong theory (or change my mind in the future on that theory). Consider yourself warned.

Also occasionally you’ll find ramblings for the covers or the extra contained in the volumes.

CHAP 7: ‘The escape king’

The cover of the new chapter shows Shiraishi and Sugimoto still falling.

The story then starts with them ending up in the river (the same Ogata ended up in? Maybe…) and makes obvious how falling in a river in Hokkaido isn’t exactly a nice thing as the water is deadly cold. However, either the water in that point is actually pretty low, or Sugimoto and Shiraishi reached immediately low water because next we see is they can stand in it. They run out of it, finding the cold so terrible they can hardly cope with it. Sugimoto comes up with the idea of lighting a fire, or they’ll freeze to death. The narration in fact tell us they only have ten minutes to light it before they’ll die for the cold.

Even if it’s possible it wasn’t so terribly cold when Ogata fell in the river (but I won’t bet on it as Golden Kamuy started in late February hence it’s more likely the water was even colder when Ogata fell in it) he probably stood in it longer… or remained on the riverbank longer without being able to light a fire as he was found at dusk… which gives you an idea of how amazing it was despite his injuries and the cold how he managed to survive.

We’re also explained how the cold affects the brain, making harder to think.

Meanwhile Asirpa is waiting for Sugimoto, thinking she really wants to eat the hare, which I guess is supposed to be a scene that, considering Sugimoto’s situation, is meant to break the drama and insert a comedic effect. The scene is not in the anime because it was inserted much sooner, when Sugimoto started chasing Shiraishi.

It’s also a scene that define one of Asirpa’s main character traits, how she’s often hungry.

Meanwhile Sugimoto thinks he can use the bullets in his rifle to start a fire… only his rifle remained above the cornice from which they fell (how many times Ogata has to tell people never leave their guns? Though if Sugimoto had it, it would have gotten wet and, if he were to fire with it, it would have broken so no big deal…). His bullets too have fallen into the river. Telling to himself he’ll surely survive as he’s the immortal Sugimoto he tosses himself into the river to search for the bullets. He asks Shiraishi to help him but Shiraishi proposes him a deal. He’ll help him if he promises he’ll let him go.

This makes even more clear how counterproductive it was Sugimoto’s threatening technique. Shiraishi was SO SURE Sugimoto was out to murder him his actions are ruled by this idea. Not only he doesn’t answer to Sugimoto’s questions but he doesn’t even cooperate when his life is in danger because he thinks it’ll be a wasted effort if Sugimoto is going to kill him later on.

Sugimoto sort of wastes precious time discussing Shiraishi’s deal.

Fist Sugimoto claims that’s not the time to make a deal, then, when Shiraishi claims if he’s to die he prefers to do so watching Sugimoto freeze, Sugimoto insists they weren’t going to kill him but just to keep him captive until they were to find the gold. Now… since that wasn’t the time to discuss things, it’s a bit weird Sugimoto wasted time talking when he could have just said ‘yes’ because, supposedly, not killing Shiraishi was part of the plan… unless the cold is affecting his thought processes as well… but well, I think if that was the case both he and Shiraishi shouldn’t be able to make a coherent discussion. Anyway the point of concern is another.

Really, how fast Sugimoto assumed it would be to find the gold? Or how long he exactly planned to keep Shiraishi and whatever other escape convict imprisoned? And where? Either we’re to assume Sugimoto was secretly thinking to kill them when Asirpa wasn’t looking OR that he believed she would change her mind and be okay with killing them later OR that their plan is beyond naive OR the plot of the story is a bit shaky here.

And since we’re talking about shaky… okay, they caught the first escape convict because maybe he underestimated them and thought he could kill them (which was bold of him as he wasn’t that big of a deal apparently) but why Shiraishi let himself be drawn there? Was he curious to see who was searching the escape convicts? He’s not really planning to collect the skins as he isn’t willing to face Ushiyama or Hijikata or Henmi…

Maybe, Shiraishi was just curious but still this point is never addressed. Surely Shiraishi didn’t think to kill Sugimoto and Asirpa so it’s not like he only wanted to get rid of who could be chasing after his skin…

Anyway Sugimoto accepts the deal (in the anime he resists a little longer but it’s not a big trouble) and it turns out that Shiraishi also had hidden in his mouth a bullet.

The two of them finally manage to light a fire, then use it to warm themselves up and dry their clothes.

As they wait together Shiraishi shows he’s now willing to talk (see Sugimoto? Not threatening people can bring you far with certain people…).

Shiraishi tells Sugimoto the prisoners were 24 but he has no idea if many of them are alive… which seems to support the idea they had started to massacre each other… Shiraishi also admits he doesn’t know about Nopperabō’s friends as the only one who does is the leader who took charge of the escape (which will turn out to be Hijikata).

This is relevant because, if Shiraishi is being honest, it means Hijikata didn’t mention to him how they should search for Kochōbe Asuko… so Kiroranke knowing about how Nopperabō directed the convicts to search for her should have made him suspicious…

As Sugimoto asks Shiraishi which sort of man was the guy who took charge of the escape Shiraishi admits at first he thought it was just an old man who was a political prisoner, someone very quiet.

When the escape took place though, Shiraishi realized it was all an act. The guy took possession of a sword and killed in a second three soldiers.

The scene also shows us three prisoners who took possession of two rifles and a gun to threaten the other guards. One of them should be Nihei as he claimed he also killed the guards.

Anyway it turns out that Shiraishi thinks the leader is a samurai from the Shogunate, Hijikata Toshizou, the vice commander of the Shinsengumi who supposedly died at the Hakodate battle.

Shiraishi also tells Sugimoto that Nopperabō told them to head for Otaru but, as said before, he didn’t mention how they were meant to search for Kochōbe Asuko. I tend to think Shiraishi had no idea about it. The bit about Otaru isn’t something Sugimoto asked him about so there was no reason to give him a partial info. Shiraishi could have given him the complete one at that point yet he didn’t. Why not to mention about Kochōbe Asuko? Could it be because he didn’t know about her?

Anyway Sugimoto tells Shiraishi that the next time they would meet him he would take his tattoo… and here I facepalm because… Sugimoto, really, where had it ended the ‘we weren’t going to kill you’ thing you told Shiraishi before? Did you change your mind because Shiraishi helped you? Or was it all a lie? Or are you trying to scare Shiraishi afraid of you when it would be enough he were afraid of the 7th? Besides why would you need taking his tattoo? You have already copied it...

The good part in this mess is it could be a mistake in the English scanlations. In the official translation from my country Sugimoto tells Shiraishi next time Shiraishi ends up captured by someone they will take his tattoos. The sentence is constructed so as to imply that someone isn’t Sugimoto but someone else (which ties nicely with how Sugimoto mentions the others who’re searching for those tattoos). I personally prefer to think this is the right translation and not the one in which Sugimoto threatens to kill Shiraishi but well, I can’t really judge as I can’t translate Japanese.

Sugimoto goes on saying Shiraishi should give up on the gold and leave Hokkaido as the other prisoners and Nopperabō’s friends aren’t the only ones after the tattoos but there are also the 7th division (the visual showing an image of Ogata). Sugimoto adds that the others aren’t into copying the tattoos or taking the prisoners captives as they know the best thing is to kill them as the tattooed skins wouldn’t need to eat, are easy to carry around and wouldn’t escape.

Now… although he’s completely all right and it’s much easier to deal with tattooed skins than with captive prisoners, it’s still scary how Sugimoto coldly realized it… and… well, he is already showing he’s thinking at everyone else as a bad guy as he claims the others who’re chasing the convicts wouldn’t take time taking the prisoners captive or copying skins which is just his assumption as Hijikata DOES copies the skins and even makes alliances with the prisoners and some convicts weren’t interested at all in the gold or in harming the other convicts.

Shiraishi insists he’s the escape king so he’ll escape from whoever takes him captive in a cloud of smoke and it’s good how the visual takes advantage of the smoke of the fire to play with this idea, as if Shiraishi were about to disappear into it. It’s a pity the anime doesn’t take advantage of this idea as well as Shiraishi clearly only walks away.

In the anime though they have Sugimoto with a darken face as he watches Shiraishi leaving while in the manga he just watches him doing so.

It's worth to mention that this moment of peaceful interaction between the two can be viewed as the start of Shiraishi and Sugimoto's friendship... though their friendship will actually be something they'll build up slowly and that will be, in the beginning, merely a partnership. Personally I love how their relationship will grow and develop!

We switches back to the 7th division headquarter in Otaru where a soldier informs the first lieutenant Tsurumi of how Ogata had regained consciousness. To this Tsurumi replies by claiming he’ll pay him a visit.

Behind Tsurumi we can see the skin of a tattooed convict hanging on the wall... and I guess this means Tsurumi hadn’t started wearing it around yet.

Now… it would be really interesting to know what happened to Ogata while he was at the hospital. We know that, when he’ll met Tsurumi, he won’t be able to talk due to his broken jaw but managed to write ‘immortal’, hinting at Sugimoto’s involvement… and that he’ll remain in between life and death for a while… but that’s all. At a certain point Ogata will be healed and out of the hospital and, apparently, We know Ogata was already a member of the rebellion against Tsurumi PRIOR to ending up in the hospital… but we don’t know what was that something that happened AFTER his meeting with Sugimoto and caused him to feel ‘liberated’, hence he didn’t bother cutting his hair short when he left the hospital.

Oh well, we can only wait and see if this detail will be revealed.

With the scene of Tsurumi saying he’ll go meet Ogata ends the chapter, the first volume of Golden Kamuy and also the second episode.

In fact with only two episodes the anime managed to cover the whole first volume... however, while I understand they wanted to put as much plot as possible in those 12 episodes… the huge cuts about Sugimoto’s past which plagued this episode are a big deal.

Last but not least on the cover of the book, below the dust jacket, we can see Asirpa showing us how to wear an Attush, an Ainu type of clothing.

Also on the opening flap of the dust jaket there’s the writing “Kanto orwa yaku sak no arankep shinep ka isam” [Nothing comes from heaven without purpose] which is an Ainu proverb while on the ending flap of the dust jacket it’s included the coloured version of the image that was on the cover of chap 4.

I think this ends the info worth being mentioned about Vol 1. Next time we’ll move to volume 2!