Gintama theme by Potamochero
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 First tankōbon volume cover, featuring Gintoki Sakata | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 銀魂 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Manga | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Written by | Hideaki Sorachi | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Published by | Shueisha | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Imprint | Jump Comics | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Demographic | Shōnen | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Original run | December 8, 2003 – June 20, 2019 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Volumes | 77 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Gintama (銀魂, lit. 'Silver Soul') is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Hideaki Sorachi. It was serialized in Shueisha's shōnen manga magazine Weekly Shōnen Jump from December 2003 to September 2018, later in Jump Giga from December 2018 to February 2019, and finished on the Gintama app, where it ran from May to June 2019. Its chapters were collected in 77 tankōbon volumes. Set in Edo, which has been conquered by aliens named Amanto, the plot follows samurai Gintoki Sakata, who works as a freelancer in his self-established store, "Yorozuya", alongside his friends Shinpachi Shimura and Kagura, offering a wide range of services to handle various tasks and odd jobs. Sorachi added the science fiction setting to develop characters to his liking after his editor suggested doing a historical series.
The series has been adapted into an original video animation (OVA) by Sunrise and was featured at Jump Festa 2006 Anime Tour in 2005. This was followed by a full 367-episode anime television series, which debuted in April 2006 on TV Tokyo, and finished in October 2018. Three animated films have been produced. The first film premiered in April 2010. The second film premiered in July 2013. The third and final film premiered in January 2021. Besides the anime series, there have been various light novels and video games based on Gintama. A live-action film adaptation of the same name was released in July 2017 in Japan by Warner Bros. Pictures.
The manga has been licensed by Viz Media in North America. In addition to publishing the individual volumes of the series, Viz serialized its first chapters in their Shonen Jump manga anthology. It debuted in the January 2007 issue and was serialized at a rate of one chapter a month. Sentai Filmworks initially licensed the series. The website Crunchyroll purchased the anime's streaming rights and home video rights.
In Japan, the Gintama manga has been popular, with over 58 million copies in circulation by December 2023, making it one of the best-selling manga series. The anime and its DVDs have been featured, at various times, in the Top Ten rankings of their respective media, while TV Tokyo has announced that the first Gintama anime was responsible for high sales overseas along with the anime adaptation from Naruto. Publications for manga, anime, and others have commented on the Gintama manga. Positive responses have focused on the comedy and characters from the series, as well as its overarching plot and action choreography.
Plot[edit]
The story is set in an alternate-history late-Edo period, where humanity is attacked by aliens called "Amanto" (天人, "Sky People"). Edo Japan's samurai fight to defend Earth, but the shogun cowardly surrenders when he realizes the aliens' power. He agrees to an unequal contract with the aliens, placing a ban on carrying swords in public and allowing the invaders to enter the country. The samurai's swords are confiscated and the Tokugawa bakufu (shogunate) becomes a puppet government.
The series focuses on an eccentric samurai, Gintoki Sakata who works as an odd-jobs freelancer. He helps a teenager named Shinpachi Shimura save his sister Tae from an alien group that wants to send her to a brothel. Impressed by Gintoki, Shinpachi becomes his freelance apprentice to pay the bills and learn more about the enigmatic samurai. When the pair rescues a teenage alien girl with super-strength, Kagura, from a Yakuza group, they accept her into their odd-jobs freelancing business, and the three become known as "Yorozuya" (万事屋, 'Store of 10,000 business' or 'We do everything').
While working, they regularly encounter the Shinsengumi police force, who often ally with Gintoki when work involves dangerous criminals. The trio also meets Gintoki's former comrades from the Amanto invasion, including the revolutionary Kotaro Katsura who is friendly toward them despite his terrorist activities against the alien-controlled government.
The story is a balance between episodic and shorter arc based plotlines that resolve quickly, and a rich background plot that develops from its beginning to end.[5] For example, Gintoki's former comrade Shinsuke Takasugi is a major antagonist who regards Gintoki and his other former comrades as enemies and seeks to destroy the shogunate. Over time, Takasugi gains allies, including Kagura's brother Kamui, and the elite fighting unit Mimawarigumi to prepare for his large-scale coup d'état. After the true antagonist—the immortal Utsuro—is introduced, Gintoki works with both friends and enemies to stop Utsuro from destroying the Earth.
Themes and style[edit]
Hideaki Sorachi's main focus in Gintama is the use of gags; during the manga's second year of serialization, he started to add more drama to the story while still keeping the comedy.[6] Various jokes from the manga are comments regarding elements from other manga series. For example, in the first chapter, after Gintoki fights a group of aliens to protect Shinpachi and Tae, Shinpachi complains that he only fought for "one page" and Gintoki replies, "Shut up! One page is a long time for a manga artist!" Gintoki's exaggerated desire to read the Weekly Shōnen Jump (which causes him to fight other readers to get it) also makes fun of shōnen series, since during those parts characters quote them.[2][7] Other types of comedic situations are more general so that the reader must know about Japanese culture to understand them.[8] The humor is described by publications as being "bizarre" and "weird". It is also described as being divided between two categories: "sci-fi comedy" and a "samurai comedy" with the former referring to the aliens.[3] It tends to point out "an irritating foible about modern society" including celebration days or famous mythical figures.[5] Additionally, there are references to several historical figures with a few characters from the story being based on them.[9] Besides the series' comedy, the aliens' invasion of Japan brings several social issues between them and the humans with the most recurring one being the lack of social equality.[10] As a result, one of the main themes involves society trying to preserve their way of living rather than fulfilling a dream like in other shōnen series.[11]
Production[edit]
In 2003, Hideaki Sorachi was an up-and-coming manga artist who had already created two one-shots for the Weekly Shōnen Jump magazine.[12] Although he was preparing to write his first serialized series, his editor suggested he create a manga series based on the Shinsengumi, mostly inspired by an upcoming TV drama about the 1860s troupe as depicted by idol actors. Sorachi attempted to create this series since he admitted to liking the Shinsengumi but ultimately failed to get anything off the ground. Instead of abandoning the idea completely, he remained focused on the historical Japanese era but began to create his own story, adding in elements of science fiction and fictionalizing many of the figures from the era to create a story more to his liking.[13] The original title of the series was meant to be "Yorozuya Gin-san" (万事屋銀さん, lit. "Odd Jobs Gin-san"), but it did not have any impact on Sorachi. After a great debate, he decided to go with the name Gintama after discussing it with his family, deciding on a name that sounded close to the edge without being completely off it.[14] Although Sorachi considered the one-shot "Samuraider" to be very poor, the setting of one-shot served as the base for Gintama such as the addition of alien characters.[15] Sorachi liked the Bakumatsu and Sengoku periods due to how both were eras of change and thus presented the positive and negative points of humanity. The series was then set in an alternate Bakumatsu to give a bigger significance to the characters' bushido as in that time samurais were at the low point of their lives.[11] Sorachi also cited the manga series Rurouni Kenshin (1994–1999), set during the Bakumatsu and Meiji periods, as a major source of inspiration.[16]
The main character of the series was originally meant to be Toshiro Hijikata as Sorachi was a fan of the Shinsengumi, most notably from Hijikata Toshizō (the Shinsengumi who was the base for the one of Gintama) after he saw the film Burn! Sword!. When Sorachi could not "shake off" Hijikata's initial design, he decided not to use him as the lead character but added him along with the Shinsengumi to the story.[14] The pilot chapter from the series had a different plot to the one from the serialization: Shinpachi already met Gintoki in the story and there were more Shinsengumi to the story such as one based on Harada Sanosuke. As all these new Shinsengumi were older than most of the recurring characters from the series, Sorachi removed them thinking they were not entertaining.[17] When asked by a fan, Sorachi mentioned that most characters from the series are based on real-life Edo citizens while Gintoki's character is roughly based on the folk hero Sakata no Kintoki.[9]
When starting serialization the manga was unpopular and was close to being canceled. Although Sorachi was pleased with the first tankōbon selling all of its copies, he later learned Shueisha was afraid of poor sales which resulted in the minimum printed.[18] To increase its popularity, the author introduced new characters, the Shinsengumi, who felt memorable to his assistants.[11] Sorachi had little hope on the manga's popularity, as he noted that people used to tell him the manga would not surpass the number of two tankōbon volumes. However, once the third volume was released, Sorachi found that he did not have "any fresh material to use."[19] During the first year of the series, Sorachi believed that the source of the popularity of Gintama was partially connected to the Shinsengumi drama. While the drama ran during the first year of the series, when the manga was mostly shorter stories that established the characters and the world, he felt uncomfortable making things related to the drama. By the second year and beyond, he became more daring in his stories and concepts, creating longer storylines that included more drama while keeping his sense of humor and satirization of modern Japan by way of his fictionalized past.[6]
When working on a chapter of Gintama, Sorachi sometimes had problems finishing the manuscript, leaving his supervisor to take it before he can revise it. He figured out what to write by staying in his room or going for a walk.[20] Although he commented that some of his ideas are "random," he focused on the fact that they are all related to the manga, and when he had problems coming up with ideas, Sorachi was often helped by his editor.[21] Thinking of Gintama as a "non-sense manga," before writing a chapter, Sorachi decided whether it should be a comedy or a drama. Sorachi defined Gintama as a "science fiction human drama pseudo-historical comedy."[22]
When Sorachi illustrated Gintama, he usually used a felt-tip pen, a fountain pen, a brush-tip pen, and a multiliner, but for the major characters, he only used a felt-tip pen and a fountain pen and did their outlines with a multiliner-0.8.[23]
Media[edit]
Manga[edit]
Gintama, written and illustrated by Hideaki Sorachi, started in Shueisha's shōnen manga magazine Weekly Shōnen Jump on December 8, 2003.[24] Shueisha published the first chapters of Gintama online on their Weekly Shōnen Jump official website.[25] In August 2018 it was announced that the manga would end on September 15 in Weekly Shōnen Jump;[26] however, it was later announced on September 15 that the manga would be transferred to Jump Giga.[27][28] It ran in three consecutive issues from December 28, 2018,[29] to February 22, 2019.[30][31] In February 2019, it was announced that the manga would continue in the free Gintama app.[32] It started in the platform on May 13, 2019,[33] and finished with its 704th on June 20 of the same year.[34][35] Shueisha collected its chapters in 77 tankōbon volumes, released from April 2, 2004,[36] to August 2, 2019.[37][38]
Viz Media licensed Gintama for publication in North America. A 55-page preview from the series was first featured in the January 2006 Shonen Jump issue.[39] Viz acquired the license to publish chapters from the series in the Shonen Jump during the San Diego Comic-Con International in 2006.[40] The chapters were serialized in Shonen Jump from January to May 2007 at a rate of one chapter a month.[41][42] The tankōbon volumes were published under Viz's "Shonen Jump Advanced" imprint.[43] The first volume was published on July 3, 2007, while on August 2, 2011, Viz published the twenty-third volume.[44][45] Publication of the series by Viz Media ended with that volume with no reasons given.[46]
Anime[edit]
Jump Festa specials[edit]
Two animated specials of Gintama were developed by Sunrise for the Jump Festa Anime Tour 2005 and 2008. The first one, having the same title, is composed of various auto conclusive stories meant to introduce the characters from the series.[47] The second special titled Shiroyasha Kotan (白夜叉降誕, lit. "White Demon's Birth") is initially set in the war between aliens and samurai and it is later revealed to be a hoax.[48] On September 30, 2009, a DVD named Gintama Jump Anime Tour 2008 & 2005 was published by Aniplex. It contains the 2005 and 2008 specials and an audio commentary.[48] In Weekly Shōnen Jump's 34th issue of 2014, it was announced that the Gintama anime would return for a one-episode special for the year's Jump Festa.[49] The anime special DVD was bundled with the limited edition of the 58th manga volume released on April 3, 2015.[50] The fourth special was released in 2015.
Gintama[edit]
An anime adaptation by Sunrise debuted on TV Tokyo on April 4, 2006. The first ninety-nine episodes were initially directed by Shinji Takamatsu. Episodes 100 to 105 were directed by Takamatsu and Yoichi Fujita, while the following episodes are being directed only by Fujita.[51] The subtitle for the Gintama anime could be loosely translated as "The starting point is the utmost importance for anything, so trying to outdo oneself is just about right."[52] In January 2009, Fujita mentioned he was not going to work in the fourth season of the series starting in such year. However, in February 2009, it was confirmed that the anime would continue for a fourth year, once again directed by Fujita.[53] The series ended on March 25, 2010, with a total of 201 episodes.[54]
In Japan, Aniplex distributes the anime in DVD format. A total of thirteen volumes were released for the first season, between July 26, 2006, and June 26, 2007.[55] The second season was released over another set of thirteen volumes between July 25, 2007, and July 23, 2008.[56] Season 3 was also released in thirteen volumes from August 27, 2008, to August 26, 2009.[57] The fourth season was collected released in thirteen DVD volumes from October 28, 2009, to October 27, 2010.[58][59]
In November 2008, an agreement was reached between TV Tokyo and the streaming video service Crunchyroll. Crunchyroll would stream English-subtitled episodes for free one week after they had aired in Japan. Paying subscribers can watch new episodes an hour after they air in Japan.[60] On January 8, 2009, Crunchyroll uploaded their first episode (episode 129) to the service. Alongside new episodes each week, Crunchyroll also uploads episodes from the beginning of the series.[61] The anime is licensed in North America by
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One Reply to “Gintama”
O..M…G…
This is amazing. Thank you much for making this theme. I never thought I’d ever see a Gintama one anywhere. YAY ^_^
That anime is awesome so is the manga.