Thank you for buying the 21st volume! So, it’s been decided that Mr. Onishi, the Gintama editor I’ve always made fun of in these extra pages, will be working on something else. Please give him a round of applause as he is a hero for taking care of me for so many years despite all the letters that wanted him dead. I too have continued to insult him, but after more than a five-year period together I feel a bit sad. As a student, I was the type who couldn’t adjust to a new class, so I pretended to sleep on the desk for about a week. The sense was “It’s not that I don’t have any friends, I’m just sleepy”. So I’m very anxious. Just the thought of having to start all over again with a new editor, like in my school days when I was hoping someone would talk to me, gives me a kind of blockage. If he were as introverted as I am, I wouldn’t know what to do. If we both bent over the desk, we couldn’t have meetings….
I was thinking about things like that, but the other day I had a chance to talk about work with three of us: me, Onishi and my new editor Saito.
The new editor Saito is three years younger than me: he said he used to play rugby as a student, so he is a sportsman. He is also a dynamic and friendly person, with short hair and not at all introverted. I don’t think I’ll have any problem, if I ever bend over the desk he can try to tackle me… or so I thought, but then he said: ‘I used to play rugby but my hobby was reading comics for girls. I joined Shueisha to work for Non-no magazine (women’s edition)’. What kind of sportsman is he?!
According to Onishi, he’s a slightly effeminate otaku rugby player who loves special effects, anime and video games. In short, he belongs to the same category as me: an introvert. During the meeting, he was constantly picking his nose (I don’t know if it’s just a habit of his or if he felt awkward). He did it with such force that he almost looked like a miniaturist! Since he sticks his fingers in himself, he’s an introvert, right? Anyway, the fact that he likes cartoons is good, since he’ll be dealing with the Sunrise staff because of the Gintama anime. So I praised him by saying that maybe he’ll be able to compare himself on an equal footing with those who talk by quoting Gundam. But he replied, “Ah! I like anime, but I’ve never seen Gundam… I like Aoi Hiiragi.” A useless being!
Given the situation I feel anxious about the future. However I’m not the only one, the same goes for Onishi, who will have to take care of One Piece! During the meeting he didn’t speak much, and I noticed that he was very pale and had dry lips, terrified at the idea of meeting Oda sensei. Well, I understand, because of the fear it took me three years before I was able to talk to sensei. The first time I saw him from afar during the New Year’s party, Onishi urged me to go and greet him, but the aura he emitted was too much for me. Since I was about to faint in front of his energy, I ran away with a nonsensical excuse, like “He won’t know Gintama anyway… which will probably end soon.” … But fortunately the work survived, and in its second year, at Jump Festa, I met him again. I was told: “This time go and say hello!”, but I replied: “One moment! If I go now, I’m sure he’ll ask me why I didn’t go, because at this rate I wouldn’t have greeted him… and while we were talking, I passed Oda sensei in a corridor and greeted him with such impetus that my voice came out a bit falsetto: “Thank you for your work!”. Sensei replied, “Ooh, hello!” …
He mistook me for a Jump Festa staff member (laughter), and left without stopping. Then, this year, on the occasion of One Piece‘s 10th anniversary, I was finally able to offer him my sincere congratulations!
However, Onishi’s fear was more than natural, but his condition was terrible. Explaining the work to be done to your successor is the last task of an editor, but the second half of the meeting had turned into a kind of pep session for Onishi. Saito’s first job for Gintama was to push Onishi. Anyway, to avoid any misunderstandings, I’d like to point out that Oda sensei is a wonderful person, a really nice guy, like Luffy. It’s just that the aura he exudes is no small thing, and we caterpillars squirm scalded. That’s all. However, if sensei doesn’t have any problems, Onishi has a lot of them, so I can’t help but think that the head writer has lost his mind. Since this is the last chance, I’ll be frank: I think the rookie mangaka who have worked with Onishi may agree with me when I say that he touches his crotch during meetings.
Well, he doesn’t do it often, but he talks by touching it with a hand stuck in the zip of his trousers. Once I asked him what he was doing, and he said, “Well, my tummy itches.” And yet he was obviously touching his crotch! He was holding meetings on Gintama by fiddling with his kintama (i.e. testicles). If he did that in front of Oda sensei, a scandal would break out and he wouldn’t get away with just a Gum Gum punch! If Onishi was able to get away with a line like “I was putting in second!”, it would be a different matter, but he’s not that talented… they’d rip off his gearbox.
SORACHI’S Q&A: HANGING OUT WITH THE READERS #59
QUESTION FROM MR. SILVER WORLD
How many members do the Shinsengumi have? In the 33rd lesson it was written that eighteen individuals is more than half. Since the Shinsengumi is made up of ten teams, excluding espionage officers like Yamazaki, it appears that there are only two or three members in each team. Is it really 35-36 in total?
ANSWER:
They periodically recruit new personnel as the organization grows. In volume 19, Kondo was trying to go to his homeland because of this.
Currently, a team consists of about ten people.
Well, I used a lot of pages, but all in all I just wanted to say: “Onishi, thank you for taking care of me!”.
In these six years we’ve argued several times, and I’ve said and written rude things to him, but it’s thanks to him that I’m able to have wonderful experiences as a mangaka! I thank him for coming all the way to Hokkaido to drag me to Tokyo when I was still a beginner. If it weren’t for him, I wouldn’t have been able to do it… I considered this city a den of demons. That time, before leaving, amidst the half-laughs of both of us, he shook my hand and said, “Let’s climb the pyramid together!” This memory sustained me on the threshold of a weekly publication. Unfortunately, I didn’t make it to the top, and I won’t be able to in the future either, although I will work hard to become a mangaka he can brag about by saying, “I was the one who raised him up!”.
Thank you for taking care of me.
But don’t touch your crotch again!
New topic: “Do this all you want at home.”
Yorozuya Shinigami 