Golden Kamuy 3rd Season

Golden Kamuy is one of those animes that gets better and better by each season. The surprising part is that it started great from the very beginning and it has never lost its steam since then. The ending of the last season was one of the highlights of the series to that point, and yet, I had some doubts after the reconfiguration of the parties we follow in this part, how the story will work when you separate Sugimoto and Asirpa, one of the strongest features of the series? to my surprise (and ignorance), it worked extremely well, so I was happy to be rightfullycorrected for my unfaithful way. The main driver of this season is for Sugimoto to rescue Asirpa while still unfolding the mystery of the tattoos and trying to get the treasure. One could say that it falls in the “damsel in distress” trope, but this being Golden Kamuy, it is nothing to worry about and makes it work extremely well. The pacing is something to talk about as every chapter went flying, even the ones with a more slow pace and dramatic turns. Still, the show knows exactly where to slow down and give you emotional packed punches as where to give you its funniest jokes. It is hard to make these kinds of turns from comedy to drama or action, but the series makes them as if they were nothing. In that regard Sugimoto’s party was the most fun to be around, especially with the inclusion of Tsukishima and Koito, they do wonders to the show and only make you want for them to hang around forever. Of the many interactions with the new set up of parties, one of the strongest might be Sugimoto and Koito, because they kinda hate each other they tend to go to ridiculous and extreme ways to fuck up the other, resulting in the most hilarious outcomes, there is one episode where they participate in a circus show and it was pure laughter. I have a particular love for one episode in which Sugimoto’s party has to enter a gambling fight Vs. a Russian team, battle royale style. While the episodes focused on Sugimoto are for the most part character-driven, the ones focused on Asirpa’s party are the ones that forward the plot and keep the stakes higher by the second. Not to say that they don’t reverse their “established” team roles, as Sugimoto’s party can get pretty emotional and, Asirpa’s can be quite comical also. The past season advanced towards having an epic climax ending with the prison raid, however, this season takes things more intimately and is developed around a growingly epic setting, not only feels more fitting to the story but in a world where sequels need to be bigger and louder by each new chapter, this creative decision in its storytelling feels even fresh and naturally subverts your expectations. One of the meta-questions that this series has championed from the beginning is how are heroes different from evildoers? What makes the hero a hero? At first, it was easy to root for Asirpa to get the gold for whatever reason she wants it to use it, but as the story developed and more parties were interested in getting the gold for their own personal and social benefit, it has become harder to separate heroes from antagonists, they all seem to do bad things (and they do) to obtain it, but they also want it to attain it for a far greater and nobler goal. This season still blurry that line even more that I’m no longer sure who I want to get it, and that is one of the beauties of Golden Kamuy, from one moment to another, antagonists can become heroes or vice versa. Performances are still amazing but that is hardly a surprise as Japanese voice actors have a pretty high standard, this time though, not only some actors speak Ainu but they also speak Russian. From what I’ve read they don’t speak it that fluently nor clearly, but it is a commendable effort nonetheless, they went the extra mile of doing it and don’t go the easy way as other anime shows or even other popular media do things in that regard. Speaking of the Russian language, among the things that I loved since the first season was the historical bits they use to talk about Japan and more specifically the Ainu, now we also have a little bit of Russia’s history and culture. This only adds more depth to the rich narrative of Golden Kamuy, sometimes on a superficial level and another on a plot level, for people who like historical settings or trivia this will be a treat, it certainly was for me. Of all the anime that came around the fall season, Golden Kamuy was on my top, but after watching a couple of episodes it became my most anticipated watch every two weeks (I like to watch 2 episodes at once). Not only maintains the stakes or the excellent pacing and writing of previous seasons, but heightens the bar even further in this one. Aside from some “not that good” quality animation and drawing, I can’t recall anything negative for this season, and they even upgraded it in comparison with the past seasons (still there’s a lot of room to improve mind you). For people who already like Golden Kamuy, I think it will be a blast, and for people who are hesitant to start the series, I think this is a great moment to give it a shot.