Golden Kamuy S4 – 10

「完璧な母」 (Kanpekina Haha)
“Perfect Mother”

There’s something about the miracle of childbirth that can hold sway over even crazy men of violence like Tsukishima and Koito. It’s something that we all have in common- we all were babies from our mother’s womb at one point in time.

Things went far smoother than expected- I was not expecting Tanigaki or perhaps even Inkarmat to make it out alive. It was truly beautiful to see everyone pitch in together to assist in welcoming in a new life regardless of what side of the line they fall on.

I’m glad that Tanigaki didn’t run away by himself- it would be wrong to betray Asirpa on the one hand, but on the other hand, wasting time pretending to look for Asirpa also seemed like avoiding the situation and I doubt Tsurumi would buy that anyway. Often in difficult situations, the right way is often the hardest way. It shows the kind of character Tanigaki has that he chooses the option he does- it was ballsy to escape with Inkarmat to Huci’s- so much could go wrong, but ultimately it was the right choice.

There’s this trend of “Death of the Day” with GK- today’s feature was the doctor lady with the weird obsession for pregnant women, originating from witnessing her mother’s miscarriage and death. Her comments on Inkarmat’s “delicious curves” and perfection in motherhood were rather creepy. But hey, she helped the parents to be make a get-away.

I was half expecting Koito to shoot Tanigaki in the back. Not that there was any point in shooting him because Inkarmat was so close to her birthing day, if she gave birth on the road, Tanigaki wouldn’t get far anyway. That was a serious risk to take- Inkarmat has a lot of trust in Tanigaki (though the alternative of giving birth while in Tsurumi’s grasp wasn’t any better either). What if Tanigaki died from blood loss or further wounds on the road and Inkarmat either had to give birth alone in the woods or accompanied only by Tsurumi’s weirdos? Fortunately, that didn’t happen and the couple made it Huci’s in time.

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Then you have the next obstacle- Tsurumi’s crew all knows where Huci’s place is and that the pair would be headed there- it wouldn’t take long for soldiers to descend on the hut – and indeed, Tsukishima and Koito found them in no time.

There’s an elegance to it- these men who’ve become so absorbed in bloodshed contribute to bringing a life in the world- it’s almost redemptive (but not really seeing as they’ll go back to killing). It was so unusual to see these gunblazing guys with a lot of screws loose meekly babysit and wait for nature to do its thing. It was interesting to learn a little about Ainu birthing customs from rotating the baby to making the mortar dance. I couldn’t imagine having to push out a baby like Inkarmat did without painkillers- yikes- that’s the definition of tough. Huci’s thankfully quite the old hand at this sort of thing- apparently she even helped with birthing Asirpa. I’m happy for Tanigaki and Inkarmat that everything worked out- they look like they’ll make a nice family and it feels like a victory that Tsurumi can’t manipulate everything to his will.

The biggest shocker for me was Koito- disobeying Tsurumi’s orders and letting the new family escape was a far cry from his feverish devotion to Tsurumi, as Tsukishima questioned. So what does this mean for Koito’s loyalties? Koito supposedly wants to stick by Tsurumi for the long run, believing that the guy surely must have some great selfless cause worth following. He believes Tsurumi stands for life and prosperity (which I suppose follows that letting a young family live falls under that category). I highly doubt Tsurumi has anything so noble in mind- he’s a rotten bastard who’ll manipulate people for his own twisted ends. Either Koito is extremely deluded but it’s taken on a different form now or he’s wizened up to Tsurumi’s true nature and is biding his time by playing along for the moment. The latter would be an intriguing development that could have some big implications in the looming free for all, though I’m sure Tsurumi being mastermind that he is, has already made calculations for turncoats. And what’s with those fingerbones? I’m sure there’s quite a story behind that one.

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