Episode 2

## Nopperabo

**Nopperabo** (のっぺらぼう, *Noppera-bō*) is the second episode of the *Golden Kamuy* anime series.

## Synopsis

Sugimoto and Asirpa head to Otaru, the largest town in the area, in search of the tattooed prisoners. They quickly find out that they're not the only ones after the treasure. The army is looking for it too! Sugimoto has to face off against a deadly sniper, and a horrible cold front is setting in too..

## Plot

Seeing eaten pine cones, Asirpa realizes there are squirrels around and sets up traps, hoping to catch some for dinner. Sugimoto guesses that to not stand out, the prisoners are staying in larger towns in Hokkaido, and they visit one of the four larger ones, Otaru.

In Otaru, Sugimoto goes to a public bath, asking a regular if he has seen people with tattoos resembling straight lines, but the man states he has not. When Sugimoto goes out of the bath, the man realizes Sugimoto was a soldier and thanks him for his service. Elsewhere, Asirpa asks other people if they have seen someone with those tattoo patterns, but with no luck. A shop owner comes out, annoyed by Asirpa's presence. He picks Asirpa up, threatening to sell her. Asirpa punches him in the eye and escapes. Sugimoto then shows up and hits the man, asking him if he has seen the tattoo. The man denies it, but says someone asked him the same question before. As Sugimoto and Asirpa keep asking around, they realize a man is following them and lead him into the forest. Impatient, the man decides to kill them but ends up getting caught in one of Asirpa's traps. As he flails, he reveals a tattoo on his body.

Sugimoto and Asirpa recognize the man is one of the prisoners. When the man wakes up, Sugimoto asks him where the other prisoners are. However, the man doesn't know. He explains that after their escape others started killing each other, so he decided to run for his life. Sugimoto says that the tattoos are useful only if they're gathered together, with the escaped prisoners all skinned. Sugimoto then points his gun at the man, but Asirpa stops him and reminds him he promised not to kill the man. Sugimoto backs off, saying he only intended to scare him into talking.

The two tie the man up, and Asirpa proceeds with drawing his tattoo on paper. She asks him what kind of person made the tattoos, and the man explains it is Noppera-Bou, a man without face. In that moment someone shoots the man in the head, and Sugimoto quickly ducks with Asirpa. Sugimoto provides cover fire while Asirpa makes smoke screen. Unable to see from his shooting spot, the sniper gets closer, and his weapon gets caught in one of Asirpa's traps. Sugimoto then engages him and realizes he is a soldier from the 7th Division. As they fight, Sugimoto manages to disarm him. When Sugimoto is ready to deal a final blow with his bayonet, Asirpa interrupts him, once again asking him to spare his opponent. Distracted by Asirpa, Sugimoto gets blinded by the sniper, who then manages to escape from Sugimoto's grip. However, the soldier gets hit by Sugimoto's rifle and then falls from a cliff into the river. Sugimoto explains to Asirpa that he isn't a killer, but would kill before he gets killed. Later that day, Asirpa's stomach growls and her and Sugimoto catch some squirrels, then return to her hut to rest. Asirpa prepares traditional Ainu dish, *citatap*. Some time later at night, the sniper who fought Sugimoto is found alive on the riverside by the 7th Division.

The next day, another man gets caught in Asirpa's traps. He appears to be one of the tattooed prisoners, so after Sugimoto ties the man up, Asirpa starts copying his tattoo. Asirpa sees a rabbit and urges Sugimoto to catch it, leaving the man on his own. To their dismay, the man turns out to be the legendary Escape King Yoshitake Shiraishi, who is known for his agility. Shiraishi manages to free himself using a hidden blade in his mouth. Sugimoto sees Shiraishi run and goes after him, but as the weather gets bad, they both fall from a cliff into the river. As they start to freeze, Sugimoto and Shiraishi try to find a way to make a fire. Sugimoto realizes he is out of gunpowder and decides to search for it in the water. He asks Shiraishi to help, but Shiraishi refuses to do so unless Sugimoto promises he won't kill him. Sugimoto agrees and Shiraishi spits a bullet out, stating he keeps one in his stomach in case he needs to shoot a jail cell lock. They manage to start a fire and warm themselves. Shiraishi explains that there are 24 prisoners, but he doesn't know how many are still alive. Shiraishi says that the only person who might know about it is the prisoners' leader, Toshizou Hijikata, the former Vice Commander of Shinsengumi. Shiraishi tells Sugimoto that Noppera-Bou told the prisoners to go to Otaru. Sugimoto warns him that the 7th Division is also after the prisoners and it's better to give up on the gold.

Tokushirou Tsurumi is informed that Hyakunosuke Ogata is awake. The lieutenant decides to check on his soldier.

## Adapted Chapters

* Chapter 3
* Chapter 4
* Chapter 5
* Chapter 6
* Chapter 7

## Character Appearances

* Saichi Sugimoto
* Asirpa
* Prisoner Number One *(Debut)*
* Hyakunosuke Ogata *(Debut)*
* Noppera-Bou *(Mentioned)*
* Umeko Kenmochi *(Mentioned)*
* Yoshitake Shiraishi *(Debut)*
* Toshizou Hijikata *(Debut)* *(Flashback)*
* Tokushirou Tsurumi *(Debut)*

## Trivia

* Noppera-bō, or Noppera-Bou, is a Japanese yokai (spirit) that looks like a person without a face. It is usually harmless, but can frighten or impersonate humans.
* In Japanese, when Shiraishi insults Asirpa by calling her a pet dog, he uses a slur for Ainu people that was common back in the day. The Japanese word for dog, 犬 (*Inu*), was used as a derogatory term for Ainu people because of the similarity in sounds.
* Sugimoto's flashback from Chapter 6 is absent in the anime. In the flashback, Sugimoto remembers of his family being shunned for being sick with consumption. When they all died, Sugimoto burned his house down and resigned himself to leave his village. Umeko, who loved Sugimoto, wanted to go with him, but he was afraid of being contagious. He promised himself to return back to the village in two years, but when he came back, he saw Umeko getting married to Toraji.