Spring has sprung in Hokkaido, and Asirpa as always proves a valuable font of Ainu knowledge when it comes to the usefulness of the various woods in the forest. Back in Sapporo, Usami is still hard at work on a different kind of wood, continuing to jack it as he rants about Ogata having killed his own brother for his father’s love.
When he didn’t get it, he killed his father so he’d get Tsurumi’s love. Usami, being both infatuated with and extremely possessive of the lieutenant, got into it with Ogata while he was still in the hospital, but Ogata got the final word: hitting Usami in the face with his bedpan and calling him “the cheapest” of Tsurumi’s pawns.
Ogata’s practice shooting lefty is paying off; he’s able to kill fowl for Hijikata’s crew. But he won’t call himself a sniper until he’s shot a human. We don’t get any Sapporo standoff this week, but you can bet Ogata and Usami will be facing off for all the marbles at some point, and Usami better bring more than cum to a gunfight!
Already pre-convinced that Sugimoto will leave her if they find the gold, and wondering if they should really find it at all or simply remain together forever, she finally tries to ask him directly, only for him to be distracted by strange marks on the trees. When one is felled, others fall like dominoes around them, trapping them under branches.
Back in town, Tsukishima and Koito catch a glimpse of Sofia, someone they identify only as someone to look out for. Indeed, Sofia is looking for revenge against Koito, but is biding her time until Asirpa is found.
Under the fallen tree, both Sugimoto and Asirpa are wounded but otherwise fine (Asirpa probably has a concussion). She asks him again what he’ll do with the gold, and he tells her about Umeko, to whom he was betrothed but couldn’t marry when his family died of TB. Ume-chan married their mutual childhood friend Toraji instead, but Toraji died in battle.
Sugimoto tells Asirpa he promised Toraji he’d return home to give Umeko the money. Asirpa is relieved his reason is “the Sugimoto she knows”. He also says he’ll remain her partner until she’s “satisfied with how things have turned out”. She notes it’s not the reply she wanted, but that means it’s ultimately her choice when, or even if he leaves.
Shiraishi manages to find them just as they’re in agreement he should know that Asirpa knows how to crack the code; his staying with her at Karafuto while Sugimoto was gone proves he’s trustworthy enough. We know Shiraishi is a convicted criminal and a greedy motherfucker, but I like to think his time with Asirpa and Sugimoto has at convinced him that betraying them is not in his best interest.
Now free of the fallen trees, Asirpa and Sugimoto survey the deforested field, and Asirpa says the Ainu chop trees and kill animals too, because they need to, but they take care not to take too much, and to leave a little behind. Sugimoto hopes that future generations will remember the kamuy who protect the Ainu.
Finding the gold is sure to determine the odds of that happening, and once Botaro is welcomed into the fold, he provides the vital next piece of the puzzle: a coin with an Ainu symbol of unity he found at the bottom of a lake. This coin convinces Asirpa that her father wasn’t responsible for killing the Ainu, but as he told Sofia, he wanted to unite all of the oppressed ethnic minorities far east Asia.
Asirpa is now certain what she has to do for the Ainu. She doesn’t share that with us, but with the post-credits announcement that the fifth and final season of Golden Kamuy is greenlit, we will find out for sure in due time. The bombshells left to be dropped and battles left to be fought are sure to be mixed with more Ainu lore, gross-out comedy, and, of course, generously marbled beefcake.
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