Chapter 103

## Anglerfish Nabe

* Color
* Magazine

**Anglerfish Nabe**, or **Anglerfish Hot Pot** (あんこう鍋, *Ankō nabe*) is the 103rd chapter of the *Golden Kamuy* manga.

## Synopsis

The trap that Asirpa had laid was able to catch a small mouse and Asirpa cheered that they caught one. However Sugimoto notes that the further down the mountain they went, the less mice they were able to catch. As Asirpa begins to cook the mouse, Shiraishi complains about eating them again but Sugimoto says that they can't afford to eat deer or bird since the 7th Division would hear their gunshots. Asirpa offers some mouse meat to Ogata who just silently eats it as Asirpa asks him to say "hinna". Asirpa then wonders if Ogata would say "hinna" if he eats food that he likes and asks him what his favorite food is.

In Otaru, Tsurumi asks if Koito really saw Ogata on the airship in Asahikawa to which Koito confirms through Tsukishima. Koito is angry that Ogata's actions are sullying the name of his father Koujirou Hanazawa and insulting the fact that he took his own life. He then goes on to say that his own father is upset about what happened to the 7th Division and what led to Hanazawa's suicide. Tsurumi recalls that Hanazawa and Koito's father both were from Satsuma and that they were close friends. He laments what happened to Hanazawa and that he believed that Ogata would surely want to fight for his father's honour and for the 7th Division.

Meanwhile, Ogata has a flashback where he opened up about his own family to a certain person. Ogata says that at the time he was born, his father Hanazawa was a Lieutenant Colonel in the 1st Infantry Regiment of the Imperial Guards and that his mother was a mere geisha from Asakusa, whom Hanazawa had a strong distaste about fathering a child with. His grandmother told him that once Hanazawa had fathered a child with his legal wife, he stopped coming to see his mistress and that his grandmother took him as a baby and his mother back to their family home in Ibaraki.

Ogata's mother would often make anglerfish nabe for him, which he enjoyed eating a lot. However, he grew tired of eating it everyday and found that his mother would keep making it for Hanazawa who claimed to her that it was delicious and that she would keep making it in the hopes of him coming back to eat it. Ogata laments that his mother wasn't right in the head anymore so he took his grandfather's gun and shot a bird in the hopes that it would dissuade his mother from making anglerfish nabe. Despite his efforts, his mother continued to make anglerfish nabe and so while his grandparents were away, he put rat poison in the anglerfish nabe which he fed to his mother.

As a result, Ogata's mother passed away and Ogata believed that his father would surely come to her funeral and that she would be able to meet the man that she loved. Despite that, Ogata angrily says that his father never came to Hanazawa whom he had injured and tied up in the room. Hanazawa asks if he is holding a grudge against him because he had abandoned him and his mother. He then asks him that he saw his mother in her pitiful, deranged state and that he must've felt disgusted about it. Hanazawa tells him that he is no different from him to which Ogata replies that children can't choose their parents and that he believes that the word love is vague and that if Hanazawa had truly loved his mother, he wouldn't have abandoned her. He also says that a child born from parents who don't love each other grows up to be an adult that's lacking something fundamental, regardless of how high-ranking the father is.

Ogata then points proof to Hanazawa's son that he had with his legal wife who grew up to be a man of integrity since he had full love from both of his parents. He reveals to Hanazawa that his son had lost his life on 203 Hill and that his murderer was none other than Ogata himself. Upon hearing this, Hanazawa says Ogata may be right and that he had a worthless, cold-blooded monster of a son. Afterwards, Ogata took Hanazawa's life and made it look like he committed seppuku as he left the building and met up with Tsurumi. Tsurumi says that the 7th Division will go through difficult times due to Hanazawa's death, but he believes that Ogata will surely rise to become a war hero to replace his father.

Back in the present, Tsurumi calls Koito over and shows him a newspaper article about one of the Abashiri Convicts, the Lightning Bandit who is on the move. Tsukishima says that if they use a tattooed skin as bait, he might fall into their trap. At this, Koito reveals Suzukawa's tattoo that he wore and asks to use his skin but Tsurumi scolds him that their authentic skin could actually get stolen and that they should use Edogai's fake skins. Koito has a breakdown and begins tearing up the mats, to which Tsurumi tells Tsukishima to splash some tea on him. Elsewhere, the Lightning Bandit and the Viper sets their sights on Otaru.

## Character Appearances

* Asirpa
* Saichi Sugimoto
* Hyakunosuke Ogata
* Yoshitake Shiraishi
* Tsurumi
* Koito
* Tsukishima
* Ogata's Mother *(debut)* *(Flashback)*
* Koujirou Hanazawa *(debut)* *(Flashback)*
* Yuusaku Hanazawa *(debut)* *(Flashback)*
* Keiichirou Sakamoto
* O-gin