Golden Kamuy 2nd Season OVA

Golden Kamuy is the chef's kiss of historical anime, perfectly balanced with comedy, action, and philosophical depth. The characters as always are always well-portrayed, and the plotlines are whimsical tangents to the main storyline. There are no words to describe the catharsis of being that occurs in the third episode of this OVA trilogy. I would recommend this for anyone who has already watched the first two seasons of Golden Kamuy and enjoyed them a lot. Especially if you liked the episodes featuring Edogai, because the third episode definitely has humor along those kind of extreme lines.

You go, Anehata Shiton. ... You...you just go.

this is literally my second review on MAL, ever. but i just HAD to make one for s2’s ova eps. golden kamuy is never short on their overly hilarious and insane scenes, but these ovas definitely take the cake. granted it makes sense for these eps to be more explicit and bizarre than the actual show since that’s why they were aired as ovas, but it still very much surprised me. they really up’d the raunchiness with these. they literally just went with more gay, sexual, vulgar and crude hahah. i've enjoyed watching and laughing my ass off with every single one of them. its ... worth the effort to find them online!!

my suggestion on the watch order would be to watch s2 ova episode 2, “monster” right before the start of the main series season 2. and then proceed with main season 2 eps until you’ve finished watching episode 15, and then watch s2 ova episode 1, “i fell in love, and that’s why i decided to escape”/“a life and death battle vs the horrifying deadly venom!..” and then continue back to the main season 2 series. lastly, once you’ve finished s2 ep 18, you can finally watch s2 ova episode 3, “shiton animal record”.

If you are interested in Golden Kamuy, you might be coming across this 2nd season OVA. There are 3 stories.

The first that takes place between S1 and S2 is titled Monster. Unlike with the events of "The Bodyguards of Barato" which are shown at the end of S1, the actual events of this arc are used in the OVA. This is an event that happens directly after S1, but S2 starts with the Yuutaro arc, so it feels clunky watching it between S1 and S2. Still, it is important, as the Yakuza boss having tattooed skin was part of the main story, which is ... why it ended up being adapted in the OVA.

So is this worth watching? Well, outside the acquired tattoo skin, there is not too much to note. So you could skip the OVA and be absolutely fine. Still, if you love the cast of characters and their dynamic, then you will also really enjoy it. If so, I would think you would also enjoy this.

In relation to the manga, it adapts chapters 63-69. So for manga readers, it does cover the ground between episodes. Though the parts in chapter 63 are skipped and basically overlooked, as Asirpa seeks to get back the treasure that her great-aunt gave to her daughter, whose husband lost it gambling to the American we see at the beginning of the episode. Again, the main flaw of this adaptation is that it cuts out on the world-building and Ainu culture stuff.

The 2nd one is called "Love Made Me Escape from Prison/The Terrifying Battle of Deadly Poison! A Massive Snake Deep in the Hokkaido Wilderness!" takes place in two different parts in the anime. The first half takes place after S2 episode 2, but the last half takes place after S2 episode 5. So essentially, if you want to watch this, it's best to watch after S2 Episode 5.

The first part goes over how Shiraishi became known as the Escape King. This covers chapters 84 and 85 and is very well adapted. While the 2nd part introduces the Saksomoayep from Asirpa talking about Ainu culture. This one adapts chapter 104, but the issue with this one is that it served as a great piece alongside what will be in the chapters that cover the 5th OVA. By itself, it is fun. However, it loses the reason for Noda writing it in the first place without the contents of the 5th OVA.

Is this worth watching? I do think this episode is a huge improvement over "Monster" As I mentioned, it talks about Shiraishi's origin story. Which is very fun and definitely worth a watch if you love the characters in the anime. Now, do note that Kumagishi is cut out of the main anime since they cut out the Fake Ainu Village Arc. This side story is fully skippable because of that, but if you have loved the series so far, you should watch this episode of the OVA as well.

Now the final OVA is probably the best completed of the OVAs, called "Shiton Doubutsuki". One of the criticisms of the Golden Kamuy anime compared to the manga is how it cuts out the world-building and Ainu culture elements, which are a core piece of the manga. This OVA is likely the first time that aspect was nailed.

As we are aware, there are tons of stories of humans and gods being married. For Golden Kamuy, Ainu refer to them as Kamuy. As Asirpa points out in those stories, the Kamuy has a human form. It is because humans can only marry humans. Kamuy/animals can only marry Kamuy/animals. It is an ingrained part of their culture.

One of the more interesting parts of the OVA is in the aftermath Sugimoto feels bad for Anehata. Of course, everything that he did to those animals and then proceeded to kill them, Asirpa has no sympathy for him. As killing them would imply what he did to those animals was wrong. Her reasoning is very on point. It is very interesting to see the switch of roles where we see Asirpa feeling bad for the prison convicts and Sugimoto knowing they are awful people.

So should you watch this final OVA? If you love the cast, comedy, and the Ainu culture elements, then yes. This OVA did cover chapters 108-113 of the manga, but the beginning of the episode is actually what happens at the end of episode 18. As the end of episode 18 is anime original. If you only care for the main story, it is skippable since the only notable thing to remember is Sugimoto collecting another skin. The anime doesn't keep track of the skins like the manga doesn't, so that might not be as big of a deal. Also, to add, the Golden Kamuy experience is more about the adventure and the end goal with how it is written.

In general, if you are a fan of the Golden Kamuy anime, I would say to definitely watch these OVAs, but they are skippable.