Golden Kamuy continues to stake out a place for itself as one of the most unique anime offerings in a very long time.  This is a show that works on so many levels, which is I think why it’s managed to cobble together an unlikely coalition of disc buyers large enough to make it a modest commercial success despite not ticking any of the usual boxes.  This season thus far has really only showed one gear (whatever the highest one your transmission goes up to is) but it does have more – and even in perpetual overdrive mode, GK still offers a tonal range as wide as any anime this year (at least).

One thing that’s quite masterful about both the material itself and the way it’s being adapted is that it can balance so many storylines and so many characters.  There can be a risk of dilution in series that have so much going on – you never seem to see the characters you love best as often as you want, and you’d think it’d be especially challenging when there are so many epically GAR and charismatic ones as there are here.  But that may work to Golden Kamuy’s advantage, because no matter which characters are in focus they come off as protagonists of their own series rather than supporting players.

While we were all over the map this week as usual, the spotlight definitely shone brightest on the Shinsengumi.  When Tsurumi’s men attack Edogai’s house and set fire to it (thankfully the cat escaped – I hope someone feeds it) – which is an entirely logical thing for them to do – Hijikata finally breaks out his katana in battle for the first time in the series (I think).  It’s always seemed a bit discordant to see the old swordsman with a gun (he uses it here too), though he’s just trying to survive – but to see him life his blade in anger once more is pretty epic.  Things don’t turn out too well for the surviving Nikaidou twin, who loses his chance to revenge himself against Sugimoto, but on the plus side his shoe budget is going to be much more affordable.

I absolutely loved the flashback scene where Nagakura remembered seeing Hijikata at the prison for the first time, and both of them became young men again in that moment.  The warden (who’s waiting for Hijikata’s “light to go out” before he hangs him in revenge for his brother’s death in the war) refuses to let the old swordmaster see Hijikata but the guard goes behind the boss’s back and gives them 10 minutes.  Hijikata and Nagakura are played as young men by Nakamura Yuuichi and Nagai Kazuya respectively, and it’s a powerful scene.  Is it strictly necessary for the plot?  No – but it sure as hell adds a ton of depth and color to both characters’ arcs.

Forced to split up and flee, Sugimoto and Asirpa’s group includes Dick-sensei and Ogata, and this odd menagerie provides the comic relief in the episode.  Everything between Asirpa and Ushiyama is hilarious (after dinner she curls up on his belly like a cat) but I especially loved the bit where she cajoled him into eating woodcock brains (Sugimoto’s resistance has been worn down to the nub by now).  Meanwhile Tanigaki and Inkarmat are on the road and have indeed been followed by Cikapasi, who proves himself quite the imaginative storyteller.  All of his schemes for going undercover seem to involve his fondling Inkarmat’s boobs with no repercussions, and he eventually decides that Tanigaki will be his neighbor with giant testicles.

The one giant matzoh ball sting on the outside of this story packed with so many massive personalities is, of course, Nopperabo – the one who ties everyone and everything in the cast together,  Rivals, uneasy allies, all are bound to him and the secret he holds.  Hijikata’s team now has no choice but to go to Nopperabo for information now that the fake skins are in the mix, with no way to tell them from the genuine – and of course, it’s in Tsurumi’s interests to make sure that never happens.  It’s Shiraishi Hijikata pivots to now to get him into Abashiri, though honestly Shiraishi is more worried about his own skin when Sugimoto discovers the truth – and anyway, he’s at least as good at getting caught as getting away.  If you have Dramamine now would be the time to take it, because things are going to get even more turbulent for sure.