Episode 16

## The Great Plan to Infiltrate the Asahikawa 7th Division!!

**The Great Plan to Infiltrate the Asahikawa 7th Division!!** (旭川第七師団潜入大作戦!!, *Asahikawa Dai Shichi Shidan Sennyuu Daisakusen!!*) is the sixteenth episode of the *Golden Kamuy* anime series.

## Synopsis

After joining forces, Sugimoto's Group and Hijikata's Group are on a mission to rescue Yoshitake Shiraishi, who's been captured by the 7th Division. But he's in the middle of a massive garrison, surrounded by hundreds of troops. How can they possibly sneak in...?

## Plot

Shiraishi runs through the city, trying to escape the 7th Division, but he still gets caught. Toshizou Hijikata witnesses it and tells his group about it. They conclude it was not Tokushirou Tsurumi's unit and they're heading to Asahikawa now. Kiroranke wonders if Shiraishi being the Escape King could run away on his own, while Kano Ienaga says he might have been killed and flayed already. Hijikata then orders Shinpachi Nagakura and Ienaga to stay and wait for Sugimoto's group, while he and Kiroranke rescue Shiraishi from the 7th Division.

In Iwamizawa, a crowd has gathered around Inkarmat who is telling people their fortunes. Genjirou Tanigaki, who is standing beside Inkarmat, is approached by a merchant who asks him about his wares. Tanigaki replies that he isn't selling anything, and the merchant comments that Tanigaki is lucky to be a gigolo who can accompany Inkarmat. Tanigaki protests and says he isn't a gigolo, and then sees how Cikapasi pesters Inkarmat for money. When asked if he's seen three men accompanying an Ainu child, the merchant says he saw them in Yubari. Tanigaki decides his group should travel to Yubari next.

Saichi Sugimoto's group has arrived in Ashibetsu, where they are greeted by Nagakura who breaks the bad news to them. Meanwhile, Kiroranke and Hijikata are galloping to Asahikawa and discussing their plan to save Shiraishi. Hijikata asks Kiroranke why he left his home and came to Hokkaido. He wonders if it's because the Czar chased Kiroranke and Noppera-Bou here.

The 7th Divsion passes through Mikawa village, where Shiraishi sees a bean candy peddler and wants to buy candy from him. The peddler turns out to be disguised Hijikata who passes Shiraishi a secret message that reads *"Kamuy Kotan hanging bridge"*.

Near the Kamuy Kotan river, Kiroranke and Hijikata are getting ready to execute their plan. Kiroranke shares the Ainu legend of Kamuy Kotan with Hijikata, as well as a legend of a katana that devours men — the *Ipetam*, a cursed sword that flies through the air in search for the men to prey on. Nothing could hold the sword down, so the Ainu threw it in the bottomless swamp of the Kamuy Kotan, and it never came back. Hijikata smirks and says that he will be an *Ipetam* himself, the one that climbed back from the bottomless swamp.

Some time later, the 7th Division soldiers arrive at the Kamuy Kotan. Shiraishi is taken to cross over the bridge with the soldiers and then sees a familiar figure standing on the other shore. Hijikata takes out his katana and cuts the ropes of the bridge, making it collapse into the water. The soldiers and Shiraishi fall down.

Kiroranke appears on a boat and tries to save Shiraishi. He finally manages to reach him and holds out his hand, but Shiraishi hesitates after suddenly remembering his nightmare of Sugimoto. Shiraishi is then hit on the head with a passing log, and the flow takes him away from Kiroranke. When he manages to get on the shore, Shiraishi is surrounded by the 7th Division soldiers again.

After failing to rescue Shiraishi, Hijikata and Kiroranke meet up with the rest of the group. Hijikata says they can't wait for Shiraishi's escape, and, after thinking of it for some time, everyone decides they don't want to save the Escape King after all since they have a copy of his tattoo. However, Sugimoto announces that he wants to save Shiraishi. Hijikata agreees with him and seemingly comes up with a plan...

In the hospital in Otaru, Hajime Tsukishima and a doctor are struggling with Kouhei Nikaidou who refuses to give up on the bottle of morphine he stole. They are interrupted by a sudden visit from Lt. Tsurumi who brought them flowers. Tsukishima reports to Tsurumi about Nikaidou's issue, and the doctor tells them to not blame him if Nikaidou dies of a morphine overdose. Tsurumi reprimands Nikaidou, saying he must follow doctor's orders. However, Nikaidou seems to be deeply depressed after he lost his leg and now can't chase Sugimoto like that.

After leaving the hospital, Tsurumi and Tsukishima see a man waiting for them. Tsukishima asks the man who he is, and the man replies that he is the person who made the rifle Tsukishima is carrying. Tsurumi salutes the man and apologizes for making him wait, calling him Lt. General Arisaka. Tsukishima realizes it's Arisaka Narizou himself, the genius weapons designer. Tsurumi explains to Tsukishima that Arisaka lost much of his hearing after spending years making weapons so that's why he speaks in such a loud voice.

Lt. Tsurumi asks Arisaka how he liked Asahikawa. Arisaka says they made a dirigible division there, but those things use hydrogen to float and are too fragile and slow to use in the warfare; he then says it is the age of airplanes now. After ending his speech, Arisaka notices morphine in Tsurumi's hands and asks if his head wound still hurts, then wonders if Tsurumi managed to grow the opium poppies. They continue to discuss opium and laugh, while Tsukishima watches in disbelief. He wonders about the kind of relationship Tsurumi and Arisaka have and about the things he still doesn't know about the First Lieutenant.

Arisaka demonstrates two new weapons, a Type 38 heavy machine gun and a Type 38 infantry rifle, designed by Nambu, one of Arisaka's men. Tsurumi holds the gun in his hands and calls it beautiful, commenting that the beauty of the gun testifies to its function. He compliments Arisaka, saying he will sell millions of those guns, which makes the weapon designer scream in frustration. Arisaka laments that selling more guns means more people will die and it's a cursed business. Tsurumi disagrees and says that the things Arisaka creates are beautiful, so he must continue doing that, as *"beauty and power are two sides of the same coin"*. He reminisces of the 28 cm howitzer that provided troops with suppressive fire and made the skies rain with gore and blood, which Tsurumi found beautiful. Arisaka says Tsurumi's head is messed up, which the First Lieutenant confirms since he lost his frontal lobe, and they both laugh. Tsukishima observes them and thinks of wars increasing the demand for painkillers and weapons, and that's what the Ainu gold will be used for; war will bring jobs to people of Hokkaido, and all of that will turn into war addiction.

Tsurumi tells Arisaka of Nikaidou, who was attacked by a bear and, despite suffering from it, still called it a beautiful creature. Tsurumi then asks Arisaka for help, explaining that Nikaidou is terribly depressed. In a few days, Tsurumi visits Nikaidou, who is still struggling with his addiction. First Lieutenant announces that a wonderful visitor arrived in the hospital. However, some strange man walks into the room, confusing and scaring Nikaidou. Tsurumi shoves him out, and Arisaka appears with a present for Nikaidou. He opens the present and sees the prosthetic leg but still looks depressed, clearly disappointed. Arisaka tells him it's not just a fake leg but also a shotgun, which he quickly demonstrates in action. Nikaidou accepts the gift, now smiling and thanking the "old man he doesn't know". The doctor scolds them for shooting in the hospital, but everyone laughs at him. Finally, Tsurumi, Arisaka, Tsukishima, and the strange man that walked into the room stand by Nikaidou and smile, congratulating him on his wonderful new leg.

At the outskirts of Asahikawa, in an Ainu *cise*, Hijikata introduces Suzukawa Kiyohiro to the group. He is another Abashiri convict and a marriage fraudster, genius of disguise. After being told that he needs to save Shiraishi from the 7th Division while being disguised as one of their own, Suzukawa suggests he poses as Shirosuke Inudou, the Abashiri Warden. Even though Hijikata says they don't really look alike, after getting his hair cut and styled, Suzukawa manages to look almost like Inudou himself. Suzukawa says he has a plan which he will elaborate on later.

Asirpa, who already dozed off, falls on Hijikata's back, so he lifts her up and then puts her on his lap. Sugimoto tells him to leave her be as she gets grumpy when she is sleepy, but Hijikata smiles, commenting she will become a good woman someday. When Sugimoto sees Asirpa lie in Hijikata's lap he realizes where he saw Hijikata before: he was the old man in the fisherman longhouse. Sugimoto gets up and takes Asirpa away from Hijikata. He then confronts Hijikata about his epiphany and asks if Shiraishi was working with him. Kiroranke says he saw Shiraishi hesitate when he reached out for him at Kamuy Kotan. Nagakura asks Sugimoto to look past it given the current circumstances, which Sugimoto takes as confirmation. Hijikata claims that there are no enemies or allies here, and all that's important is information. Kiroranke tells Sugimoto that Shiraishi probably figured out that Sugimito would murder him for passing the information. Hyakunosuke Ogata, who is clearly amused by these revelations, asks Sugimoto if he is going to save Shiraishi now and just kill him later. Sugimoto sternly says that *"someone who betrays you once will betray you again and again"*. Asirpa, who has already woken up, calls out to Sugimoto and asks him to not kill anyone he doesn't have to.

Sugimoto's and Hijikata's groups arrive in Asahikawa, where the 7th Division's base is located. Kiroranke explains that the insignia number of the soldiers that took Shiraishi away was "27", making them the 27th Infantry Regiment. He then points at the map, saying this is the Regiment's barracks. However, Ogata stops them and clarifies the number. He then show his own insignia with number "27", which is Lt. Tsurumi's Regiment. Ogata reveals that the Regiment is led by Lt. Colonel Yodogawa, who is controlled and blackmailed by Tsurumi.

In the 27th Infantry Regiment barracks, Lt. Colonel Yodogawa is told Inudou Shirosuke, the Warden of Abashiri Prison, came to see him. Yodogawa proceeds to the room where he sees the Warden waiting for him while accompanied by a strange masked man.

## Adapted Chapters

* Chapter 91 (p.17-21)
* Chapter 92 (p.2-6, 8, 11-18)
* Chapter 93 (p.1-6, 10-18)
* Chapter 94
* Chapter 95 (p.9-14)
* Chapter 97 (p.5-12)

## Character Appearances

* Yoshitake Shiraishi
* Toshizou Hijikata
* Kano Ienaga
* Shinpachi Nagakura
* Kiroranke
* Inkarmat
* Genjirou Tanigaki
* Cikapasi
* Saichi Sugimoto
* Asirpa
* Tatsuma Ushiyama
* Hyakunosuke Ogata
* Noppera-Bou *(Mentioned)*
* Hajime Tsukishima
* Kouhei Nikaidou
* Tokushirou Tsurumi
* Narizou Arisaka *(Debut)*
* Kiyohiro Suzukawa *(Debut)*
* Shirosuke Inudou *(Flashback)*
* Teruchika Yodogawa *(Debut)*

## Trivia

* The strange man that appears in the hospital and scares Nikaidou is a character from Satoru Noda's debut manga 恭子さんの凶という今日 (Kyoko Is Evil Today).
* The gestures that Tsurumi does when scolding Nikaidou parody a video of the singer Michael Jackson and his pet chimpanzee Bubbles.
* Sugimoto's mask that he is wearing while infiltrating the 7th Division's barracks is a homage to a Japanese horror film The Inugami Family.