Such a shame the comments are gone.
Holy shit, love the way Noda weaves the past to the present. Wilk entered into Abashiri and entrusted the future to Asirpa and guided Hijitaka to her. That framing with Wilk and Hijitaka looking at Asirpa, what a bueatiful penal.
Can't state how important Cikasapi is to the story. He pushed Tanigaki and Inkarmat to reveal their feelings, found Asirpa doing the crane dance, saved Sugimoto from knife stab to throat. I am glad that he finds happiness with his future wife Enonoka.
Noda loves to put irony in his stories. Would it be ironic if Ogata somehow loses his sniper's eye. He sniped his brother's eye (page 16) . "An eye for an eye" and karma catching up to him for the murders of his family.
Something doesn't smell right. Given that Noda is a masterful storyteller, the sequence panels point to this: Ogata sowing doubt, Sugimoto's questioning and Kadokura(aligns with Hijikata)'s dodgy answer, Toni(aligns with Hijikata)'s surprising appearence. What is Hijikata scheming?
From letting us to see Hijitaka's softer side, to pushing Tanigaki and Inkarmat closer, to scolding Shiraishi, Cikapasi is the latest wholesome character Noda added