We get more fun with the Ainu culture in the first half of the episode. Eating good food, playing with kids, and Sugimoto making a fool of himself! I love the moments in the Ainu village a lot because they’re always so charming and fun. Also, I found it extremely adorable that Sugimoto kept carrying the baby bear in his shirt when they were out. It seems he really wants to be its mother. :’)
I knew Asirpa had to be a very lonely girl. She may be extremely intelligent, mature, and confident in her abilities, but she’s just a little girl. She didn’t grow up with a mother, and her father was killed when she was much younger. Learning from her uncle about Retar, Asirpa has been abandoned by both her father and a wolf she loved. It’s pretty heartbreaking, and it was even more emotional when her grandmother approached Sugimoto and told him (in her language) that she wants him to stay with her granddaughter forever. Everyone has told Sugimoto that she’s been a lot more happier lately and that she’s been smiling a lot more, and it’s probably all because she enjoys being with him. It’s really sweet, and Sugimoto has noticed how much the village loves and cares for her. I understand his reasoning for leaving her behind, but it’s pretty messed up he did right after her grandmother told him to stay. I’m surprised he would even leave after learning how lonely she is and how much she’s been abandoned.
But Asirpa’s a tough girl, and she’s going to find him! But instead she finds Mr. Escape King because of switched socks. Hopefully they’ll come to Sugimoto’s rescue soon!
The interrogation scene with Shiraishi was intense as hell like I expect any scene with Tsurumi to be. He and his soldiers capture Sugimoto and tell him that he wants the gold to basically take Hokkaido for himself and he wants Sugimoto to work with him. Sugimoto tries to play stupid and pretend that they have the wrong person, mixing in some comedy but it doesn’t phase any of them and he gets a dango skewer in his cheek. D:
Of course Sugimoto refuses the offer and doesn’t show them the skinned tattoo in his possession, so they lock him up in a room and torture him until he talks. We don’t really see it, but it’s gruesome and unsettling seeing a the skewers in his cheeks. In the end, he fights back against the two soldiers and Asirpa makes Shiraishi work with her to find Sugimoto, so I expect lots of action next week in his escape!
