To put it simply, now we’ve got all 3 sides going at each other, and it is simply madness. The first interesting point is when Kikuta meets up with Asirpa. A lot of what he says makes sense, as we are still left in the dark about what happened to Wilk after he left Asirpa. His mention of the gold coins showed the existence of the gold in the first place. It sounds like the patterns on the tattoos are the same as on the coins. Still, Asirpa’s mind is made up, and she cares more about leading the Ainu than learning of her father. Which, admittedly, it is impressive she cannot be tempted.
Thanks to Vasily, we were able to witness the matchup of Ogata vs. Usami. While Ogata clearly wasn’t ready for. Well, Usami is letting his rage pile up. Which ultimately was his biggest mistake. As we have seen with Ogata, if you take your eye off him, you will pay. Sadly, Usami got shot, which got him to retreat, but that just made him a dead man walking. Although he was probably happy to die in Tsurumi’s arms. Tsurumi calling him a brother in arms, which is what Usami mentioned to Tsurumi when he saw Tsurumi save Hajime back in the war. The added part is all the people watching Usami dying in Tsurumi’s arms. Usami dies happily because he died as a pawn and was of use for morale. Though curious what Tsurumi actually thought of it as it was happening.
After being wounded by Hijikata, Jack the Ripper went after Asirpa. It seems he is aware of Ainu traditions and the tale of an island of Ainu women only, and they can have babies without men. Of course it is likely that the tale is for children and wasn’t real. It does outline how sick Jack is, as he killed those women because they were prostitutes. Though in reality his mother was a prostitute, and he hated that. His hatred of his mother carried on with the killing. More than likely he saw his mother in each prostitute he killed. Killing him was the only option because it would never end. Sugimoto’s quote about life hits on the mark in that life is what you make of it, not who gave you life. Who knows what Asirpa’s father is truly like? She is living the life she wants.
There are some interesting revelations in this episode. The first is that Kadokura has an outline of the final tattoo for finding the gold. Of course, him with his luck escaping more than likely makes that important. Meanwhile, Ueji, assuming that they need all the tattoos to solve the code, wants to disappoint all of them by killing himself. Though it would make sense that not all 24 tattoos are needed. As a map can be verified even with a missing piece. It’s ironic that the one Ueji disappointed in his death the most was himself.
While Sugimoto and Asirpa are still in the smoke, Botaro betrays them, taking Asirpa. In all honesty, this betrayal was bound to happen. Botaro wants to be king of his own country and have his own legacy. He wouldn’t want to share that gold with anyone. He smartly picks at Asirpa’s feelings for Sugimoto as he knows Sugimoto would hold regret if he wasn’t able to help Asirpa find the gold. Of course Asirpa knows that to lead the Ainu at this point, she needs the gold. The ironic part of Botaro pointing out Asirpa would miss Sugimoto might be hinting that Botaro suffers from loneliness. Hell, how he gets upset when his men die could suggest that.
Thankfully, Hajime and Koito were still around. As they were able to halt Botaro. It was an interesting decision from Hajime to save Koito after securing Asirpa when it would be to his benefit to make sure Asirpa was secured first. Though they ended up securing Asirpa thanks to Nikaidou. So it goes back to saving lives while fulfilling Tsurumi’s goals, which is what Koito pointed out to Hajime before. Of course it wasn’t a guarantee they would still secure Asirpa. Still, Tsurumi has Asirpa. The question is what does Sugimoto do now since this is the 2nd time this has happened.