In a funny sort of way Golden Kamuy is both more intimate in scope and grander than Vinland Saga, its spiritual counterpart as they each air their 46th episode.  With Yukimura the characters are always used in service to the larger ideas he wants to explore, to the point where the personal and the philosophical can’t be separated.  Noda-sensei is certainly concerned with big ideas too (though I’d call his more political and less existential), but it’s the motivations of the characters themselves which drive the story.  And those motivations are driven by the lives these strange and singular people have led up to this point.  It’s a fascinating study in contrasts.

One of the functions of Noda’s writing is that almost anyone in his massive cast can be at the center of the story without it missing a beat.  Again, every character is written as if they’re the protagonist.  So if we haven’t seen much of Inkarmat in ages and Tanigaki has been on the periphery for a bit, no matter.  It was clear the scenario introduced last week was going to be addressed at some point – it just happened a lot faster than I expected it to.  There was never a question in my mind that Tanigaki wouldn’t kill Sugimoto or deliver Asirpa to Lt. Tsurumi – he doesn’t have that in him.  But I thought he might try and get Sugimoto to assist in a rescue.

Taking the straightforward approach is very Tanigaki, in hindsight.  He goes to the last place where he knew Inkarmat to be, and while he knows he can’t openly inquire (as that would get back to Tsurumi) Inkarmat has thought this far ahead (whether clairvoyance or smarts is of little import).  When he arrives where she’s directed him to come, Tsukishima is the primary obstacle standing in his path.  But there are plenty of other familiar faces around, including Lt. Koito.  And one we haven’t seen since way back in Season 1 – Ienaga (Noda does love his serial killers), who’s been put in charge of Inkarmat’s delivery.

From this point it’s high-drama, an extended chase scene in true Golden Kamuy fashion.  Tsukishima cuts his bath short and catches Tanigaki in the act of rescuing Inkarmat.  Ienaga intervenes to help (either that was a very short two hours or Tsukishima is made of stern stuff), and Tsukishima shoots her – presumably fatally.  The real headline here, though, is Koito’s decision to let the two flee.  It will be explored later in the episode though I must confess in the moment, it very much took me by surprise (and Tanigaki too).

Tanigaki seems almost as indestructible as Sugimoto at this point, taking several gunshot wounds and barely noticing.  Unfortunately he leaves a trail of blood for Tsukishima to follow, and even though Tanigaki does cleverly throw his pursuer off the trail using his horse, Huci’s kotan is not going to be a secure hiding place.  Nevertheless Huci does take control of the labor situation (riding horseback can’t be good for that), and we’re treated to a litany of Ainu traditions regarding childbirth – some of which seem quite advanced and some frankly bizarre.

The showdown between Koito and Tsukishima is pretty much Golden Kamuy in a nutshell.  It’s personal, political, and philosophical all rolled into one.  In the final analysis is there anything to be gained by killing these two (or at least Tanigaki), as Tsukishima says?  Koito as an idealist seems a strange fit, but even if Tsurumi remains inscrutable he’s pot-committed to the point where Koito has to hope for the sake of his own sanity that there’s something more to what Tsurumi is doing that we know.  If that faint hope is what keeps Koito on this path, what keeps Tsukishima on it?  He seems to be following Tsurumi more because there’s nothing else in his life which gives him any purpose than anything else.

The question of what Lt. Tsurumi’s real endgame is remains a pretty big elephant for Golden Kamuy.  The man seems incapable of transparency to the point where I’m not convinced he even knows himself what drives him.  With Sugimoto and Asirpa and Hijikata we pretty much know – with Tsurumi it’s largely still a mystery.  If this ep gives us any clue it might be Tsukishima’s reference to the finger bones – if those have shown up in the story already, it’s not immediately coming to mind for me.