Can I write 'Watching movies' as a hobby? ~Lightweight Movie Reviews~ #53
Movie Title: Golden Kamuy: Theatrical Advance Screening - Sapporo Beer Factory Arc (Part 2)
Director: Shizutaka Sugahara
Cast: Chikahiro Kobayashi, Haruka Shiraishi, Kentaro Ito, Hochu Otsuka, Joji Nakata, Kenjiro Tsuda, Kenta Miyake, Takayuki Sugo, Tomokazu Sugita, Yoshitsugu Matsuoka, Eiji Takemoto, Katsuyuki Konishi, Tomokazu Seki, Kenyu Horiuchi, Masaaki Mizunaka, Yu Mizushima, Yoshito Yasuhara, Tomoaki Maeno, Wataru Hatano, Yuichiro Umehara, Akio Otsuka, Fumihiko Namiki, and others
Reason for Watching: I watched the live-action version and the first part of the anime's Sapporo Beer Factory arc. Since I watched the first part, I couldn't feel settled without watching the second part, so naturally, I went to see it.
Story: Shiraishi and the others search for Sugimoto and Asirpa, who were left behind in the burning Sapporo Beer Factory. Meanwhile, the 7th Division also storms the factory, with Second Lieutenant Koito and others pursuing Asirpa, who holds the key to solving the mystery hidden by the tattooed skins. In the end, Asirpa is taken away by the 7th Division. The 7th Division then shakes off Sugimoto and his group and hides Asirpa in a safe house. At that hideout, Lieutenant Tsurumi begins to tell Asirpa and Sofia the story behind the gold treasure hidden by the Ainu.
☆Lightweight Impressions
Lieutenant Tsurumi didn't have much screen time in the first part, but he was completely at the center of the story in the second part.
As I mentioned in the first part, this work, along with the first part, is billed as a theatrical advance screening and serves as a prologue to the 5th season (final chapter) of the "Golden Kamuy" anime, which will air starting in January 2026.
According to online information, this covers around volume 25 of the manga.
What I understood from the first part is that you don't necessarily need to collect all the prisoners' skins to decipher the tattoo code, some tattoos are unrelated to the code, both the Sugimoto side and the 7th Division possess the number of tattooed skins required for decryption, and Asirpa seems to have obtained hints for deciphering this code.
The story seems to be shaping up into a 7th Division vs. Asirpa/Sugimoto/Hijikata alliance scenario.
Sugimoto doesn't seem to trust Hijikata very much, but as for Hijikata, regardless of his feelings about Sugimoto, he seems to have high expectations for Asirpa, viewing her as the hope of the Ainu.
On the other hand, regarding the 7th Division, while Second Lieutenant Koito and Sergeant Tsukishima follow Lieutenant Tsurumi's orders, I feel it's a little different from saying they place their absolute trust in him.
This is because they seem to harbor suspicions that his obsession with Asirpa's father, Wilk, is unusual, or rather, that he might be using the 7th Division for his own personal vendetta.
However, while this suspicion is resolved within this film, one can't help but wonder if it's his true feelings, or if he is acting under the assumption that he is being overheard even after clearing the room.
In short, even if they are loyal subordinates on the surface, it's unclear if they truly trust him from the heart.
Here, I would like to summarize the thoughts of each faction moving to obtain the Ainu gold.
① Asirpa: The future of the Ainu
② Toshizo Hijikata: To make Hokkaido independent in order to create the Ezo Republic and use it as a buffer state against Russia
③ Lieutenant Tsurumi: To obtain the land where his fallen comrades rest, in order to secure a stable life for his comrades and their families
④ Wilk & Kiroranke: To make Far East Russia, Sakhalin, and Hokkaido independent and form a Far Eastern Federation
⑤ Wilk: Hokkaido independence (after Asirpa's birth)
As touched upon in the movie itself, I actually feel that Lieutenant Tsurumi's policy is the most convincing for protecting Japan from the threat of Russia, or rather, it was the one that resonated with me the most. After all, as a soldier, he has a certain persuasiveness.
And so, Asirpa, who was seized from the beer factory by the 7th Division, is told by Lieutenant Tsurumi at a church, along with Sofia, about what happened in Vladivostok and his connection (fate?) to Asirpa's father, Wilk.
And, going back a little, inside Abashiri Prison, Yoshitake Shiraishi and Botaro the Pirate talk about their own dreams and their respective upbringings.
What is revealed there is that Shiraishi was an orphan left at a temple with no relatives, and he doesn't even know if that temple still exists, and Botaro the Pirate lived a lonely life beyond imagination, being the only survivor among 14 siblings. In that sense, it's somewhat understandable, or perhaps sympathetic, that they ended up in trouble with the authorities.
In the era following the turmoil of the end of the Edo period, social security was not as well-established as it is in the 21st century, so it is thought that a certain number of people fell through the cracks of society.
The protagonist, Saichi Sugimoto, also lost his childhood friend right in front of him during the Russo-Japanese War and is searching for the Ainu gold to pay for the medical treatment of another childhood friend who became a war widow. Lieutenant Tsurumi lost his wife Fiona and their daughter Olga during intelligence activities, and Asirpa lost her father (Acha) Wilk. Many of the characters carry sad pasts.
Is the structure of the story that such sad people are competing for the Ainu gold to fulfill their respective intentions and ideals? (As always, I don't understand the overall picture of the story, so I'm expressing it this way.)
And the charm of this movie is that the story doesn't unfold with a serious touch the whole time; comedy relief episodes are occasionally incorporated, and that gap is interesting.
Even in this work, there are gag scenes (if I can call them that) that, objectively speaking, might seem a bit imprudent, but I decided to consider that as part of the "Golden Kamuy-ness."
Well, since this work is an advance screening of the anime that starts in January 2026, I will look forward to the anime itself.