Golden Kamuy vol. 13

A while back I called out one volume of this series for being somewhat homophobic in the way that it stereotyped the members of a same-sex couple.  Vol. 13 starts off by making amends for that by doing whatever the opposite of homophobic is as Sugimoto and the rest of his crew fight some blind assailants in the dark while completely naked.  The first few chapters offer up as much of the main male cast as you’ve ever wanted to see, while mangaka Satoru Noda keeps the bits that would’ve turned this into a full-on hentai manga covered in shadow, or by hands, guns, or convenient mushrooms.  To those of you who are thinking that this might be the time to jump off the “Golden Kamuy” train at the arrival of such a scene, I have one word for you: Don’t. Nudity aside, the whole sequence is an effortlessly thrilling action setpiece as Sugimoto and company have to rely on their wits to outsmart their attackers.  With their dongs out.

Things cool down a bit for just a chapter of picture-taking before the plot kicks back into high gear again.  The reason for that is the cast has finally made it to Abashiri Prison. It’s time to finally find out whether or not Noppera-Bo, the man who stole the Ainu gold that everyone’s after, and Asirpa’s father are one and the same.  They’ve just got to break into the prison first. What follows is an engrossing combination of the title’s mix of action and comedy and some “Great Escape”-style shenanigans. It’s a lot of fun to read, even if the plot feels that it’s moving too fast at times to keep up with character motivations.  It’s a volume-length issue that mainly affects blind gunman Anji Toni and how he’s dragged around by the narrative.

Still, the volume has one last trick up its sleeve for the final act.  It’s not a spoiler to say that something eventually goes wrong with this plan.  That’s the nature of these prison break in/out stories. What is surprising is the extent to which the stakes are raised by the final page.  Vol. 13 leaves off with the reader feeling like the story has reached a climactic point, leaving you desperate to find out what’s going to happen next by the time you’ve finished.