Chapter 227 of Golden Kamuy continues the unsettling exploration of Usami Tokishige’s past and his warped bond with Lieutenant Tsurumi, presenting a mix of psychological horror, manipulation, and dark humor that defines this part of the story.
The chapter resus in the past, monts after young Usami has brutally beaten another boy, Tomoharu Takagi, at the training grounds near Tsurumi’s dojo. Usami is consud by jealousy and rage, driven by the fact that Tsurumi had praised Takagi’s strength. Just as Usami is about to strike again, Tsurumi steps in and stops him. Takagi is gravely injured, barely conscious. Tsurumi cradles the boy and suggests getting a doctor, but Usami is hysterical — not with guilt, but with fear that he has lost his special place in Tsurumi’s eyes.
Tsurumi imdiately shifts his tone, comforting Usami instead. He tells him that Takagi would have quit and gone ho if he were truly strong, and reassures Usami that even if Takagi had talent, Usami is still “number one” to him. Those words completely change Usami’s emotional state. His violence dissolves into tearful devotion. In that mont, Tsurumi forges an unbreakable psychological hold over the boy. They beco “partners in cri,” bound together by the secret of what happened.
Tsurumi then calmly devises a cover story. Takagi’s death will be blad on an accident involving a horse, and any suspicious details will be buried. The ease with which Tsurumi manipulates both the situation and Usami’s emotions reveals how calculating he already is, even at a young age.
Two years later, Usami revisits the sa location. He calls it a sacred place — the site of his first kill. Rather than remorse, he feels nostalgia and attachnt. Tsurumi ets him there, and they speak about the consequences of the past incident. It’s revealed that Tsurumi’s career suffered because of Takagi’s death, yet he speaks of it almost casually, suggesting that being pushed away from central authority actually gives him more freedom. His ambitions clearly stretch beyond ordinary military service.
Tsurumi later discusses his beliefs about soldiers with his old martial arts instructor. He explains that hatred is not the strongest force in war — love is. A soldier who deeply loves his comrades will kill without hesitation to protect them. He describes certain n as being born to fight, loyal and violent by nature, comparing them to dogs who exist to serve and kill. This philosophy perfectly explains why he values soone like Usami, whose devotion is absolute and whose capacity for violence is unquestioning.
The story then returns to the present tiline. Usami reads about the serial murders in Sapporo and reflects on killing with disturbing clarity. He insists he isn’t a thief or a scher — he kills because he wants to, and believes that killers are inevitably drawn back to the scenes of their cris. His thoughts mirror the behavior of the murderer currently terrorizing Sapporo, reinforcing the the of predatory instinct.
The tone shifts abruptly to dark cody at the 7th Division’s temporary clinic. Nikaidou panics after realizing his prosthetic hand is missing. Koito cheerfully reveals he hid it as a prank and even stuffed food inside it as an ergency ration. Inkarmat jokingly offers to use her clairvoyance to locate it, only for Koito to discover he had it all along. Tsukishima scolds Inkarmat for trying to charge money for fortune-telling, while also carefully avoiding questions about Tanigaki’s whereabouts. The scene provides brief relief from the chapter’s heavy psychological thes, showing the strange camaraderie within the division.
By the end of the chapter, the connection between past and present violence is clear. Usami’s first kill, Tsurumi’s emotional manipulation, and the ideology of loyalty through bloodshed all feed directly into the brutal events unfolding in Sapporo, as the story moves toward an inevitable clash between factions drawn to the sa city for very different reasons.
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