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Notes: I wrote this a while back and put it here to have something!

Page from the Golden Kamuy manga. It consists of three panels. The first one shows Koito looking at a building in Fort Goryokaku, which is the one he was kept in when he got kidnapped. Tsurumi and Tsukishima are also there, closer to the building and the sky is pitch black. The second panel shows Tsurumi about to open the door to the building, rifle in hand. He's smiling, but his eyes and mouth are blackened out. The third panel shows Koito as a 16 year old. He's surrounded by darkness and has a terrified expression.This page is in chapter 294.

Starting with the first panel, the sky is completely black. This not only helps to emphasise the dark ambiance of the scene, but it also makes everything below it in the panel stand out more. The attention is drawn to Koito and the building, which is the same one he got held in when he was kidnapped.

The use of the snake-like screentone on Koito is interesting too. Again, it emphasises the creepiness of the scene, but some people I've talked with about it said it reminded them of a shiver down the spine or a twist in the stomach.

The way the only characters visible in this panel besides Koito are Tsurumi and Tsukishima is noteworthy too. Not only were they both heavily involved in the kidnapping, they're also very important pieces in relation to Koito's development.

The second panel is most likely from Koito's POV and Tsurumi here is drawn with fully black eyes and mouth. It looks terrifying, but it also makes Tsurumi look like he's not even human.

By this point, Koito can no longer ignore that Tsurumi manipulated him and his father nor the lengths he went to do it.

The third panel is the one that hits me the hardest. We see a 16 year old Koito, scared and surrounded by darkness, like he's in a dark room or at the bottom of the ocean. He is seen slightly from above, which makes him look small and it almost seems like we're seeing this through the eyes of someone who's looking down at him.

This panel of him as a child represents Koito reliving his trauma.