Thank you for purchasing the 28th volume! This is the fifth anniversary of the work in Japan! I thought I’d only just started it, but it’s been five years since I began serializing it. Until recently, I considered myself a newcomer, but I’m in my thirties… Sorachi himself, that punkish mangaka who came from Hokkaido on the back of a dolphin wearing rags… Sorachi himself, who’s always irritated, has turned thirty! Up until now, even if I made a mistake or missed a deadline, I’d justify it to myself by saying it was natural since I was a newcomer… but I’m not that anymore, I’m a respectable middle-aged mangaka. I can’t justify myself in any way and I have to behave properly. In fact, I had been in this situation for some time, but I simply looked away from reality. I’d always have an excuse ready and tell myself that Sorachi hasn’t fully matured yet and since he’s in the developmental stage he can make more progress… But now, in my thirties, I have no hope and it seems he has no room for progress, does it? What should I do? I should come up with a new excuse… but thinking back I realised I had forgotten that I was wearing a very heavy T-shirt and cuff while drawing. Since I was doing it naturally, I forgot to tell you. You didn’t know, did you? It’s a suit of armour for training mangaka to temper their muscles with. I suppose you thought, “This guy can’t draw,” or “This story isn’t interesting at all.” It’s only natural, because the G nib of Sorachi sensei, that’s me, weighs a good ten kilograms because lead has been poured into it! Besides, my assistants are a multinational unit made up of French, Africans, etc., so we don’t understand each other. On top of that, they are heavy too, because they have lead poured into them! Their boss Jeff weighs about 560kg. In this situation it’s only natural that he can’t draw a funny manga, because Jeff weighs half a tonne! Nevertheless, Sorachi is working hard! And when he takes off that shirt and fires Jeff, who knows what he’ll show us…! His strength is immeasurable…! Think of it this way. And keep supporting me!
CONTACT WITH THE READERS
LETTER SENT BY H-DA FROM SHIMANE PROVINCE
I’m an eighth grader living in Shimane Province, and there’s a reason I’m writing this letter to you, sensei! In the same class as me, there’s a girl I like… I challenged her in exams, and the loser had to do what the winner said. Well, I lost, and she asked me to “take her to the two-dimensional world”. So I beg you to help me out, Sorachi sensei, since you are the author of Gintama, a manga that the girl I love likes so much! I know very well that it’s rude to ask you something like that, because drawing is your job, but could you send me one of your illustrations, sensei? Since I’m already in middle school, I can pay for it, even though I don’t have much money… Please help the love of a student you don’t know! If so, please send the drawing to my address! I’ve enclosed a thousand-yen note, which is all I have… Please accept it!
ANSWER:
H-Da actually slipped a thousand yen into my letter! Dear H-Da – or rather, H-Da! – I’ll tell you one thing clearly… I won’t draw anything, because it’s a nuisance! A thousand yen won’t even buy a sex DVD… You don’t have to make fun of a grown-up like me, H-Da! Grown-ups don’t move a finger for a thousand yen! You don’t have to rely on others! All you need to make a statement is your sincere and honest love for her. Try to face her without resorting to petty tricks. This thousand-yen note to me is just a piece of paper that you can’t even buy a porn DVD with, but you can buy a pretty flower and convey your love by giving it to her along with a letter. I will give you back the money, and there will be no need to write to her anymore, because she will have already understood your feelings by reading this page. Everything else will depend on you, H-Da! If she rejects you, write to me telling me all the details until you succeed. That’s enough, otherwise I’ll only feel irritated. Also, you don’t have to send me any more money, and I beg everyone not to do as he did!
CONTACT WITH THE READERS: QUESTION CORNER 74
QUESTION FROM MR MURAMATSU
My dream for the future is to become a novelist, and like you, I’d like to create something that makes people smile, Sorachi sensei! So here’s my question: Gintama is in its fifth year of publication, right? What’s the secret to this arduous longevity? I apologize for such an absurd question!
ANSWER:
I’d say the important thing is to have the intention to find everything useful… When you come across something interesting, a movie, a TV show, a conversation with others, if you can think “Ah! I’m going to create something more compelling than that!” You will find the right motivation! If you think it will help creativity, you will enjoy whatever you do.
However, even if it’s interesting, most things don’t come in handy, and I don’t even do much of anything, I often stay at home… I apologize for putting on airs and graces…
CONTACT WITH THE READERS: QUESTION CORNER 75
QUESTION FROM MR. FUJIWARA OF KANAGAWA PROVINCE
I always read your work and enjoy it. I’m asking you about something that’s been on my mind for a long time. In the 138th lesson, volume 16, why was Sacchan in the attic of Shinpachi’s house in the scene where Kondo… joined the ceiling after Otae’s kick?
ANSWER.
Ever since the episode in which a child appeared, Sacchan has suspected Gin-san and Otae of being intimate, so every now and then she even investigates the girl’s moves… she even plans to eliminate her by catching her in a moment of distraction.
Volume 28 ends here.
I once said that Gintama would end on the 30th, but, plain and simple, that’s impossible! I’ll try to make it happen, so don’t abandon me! Is it a problem if it’s a little over thirty volumes? If you throw away issues of Jump, you’ll quickly find room for the volumes. You don’t need a bookshelf, even in the kitchen… you can use the volumes for a cutting board, dividing them into two rows of fifteen. At this point, if you don’t collect them all, you won’t feel relieved, right? It’s like leaving your sideburns at the barber. Now… cut your sideburns once and for all! Treat yourself to a techno cut, you’ll feel better! Take care!
New topic: “It’s better not to talk nonsense”.
Yorozuya Shinigami 