Thank you for purchasing volume 53 of Gintama!
As I explained in the previous volume, the editor who follows me has changed again. Mr. Naito, who has just been hired and graduated from T University, is in charge of looking after me, in fact he’s almost to be compared to a hitman. Shueisha, a well-known underworld organisation, has sent a new monster to the space sheriff, who keeps missing deadlines and rejects everyone sent to him by shaving his head. This latest monster, however, says some important nonsense, such as “Spare me the shaving, please! I want to be successful with women!” or “I would like to share a flat with someone. Don’t you dream of living like on the reality show Terrace House?”. In short, he is a monster who has developed questionable tastes since he started working, as he had so far only studied without having a social life. Perhaps, having had the bolts of his brain tightened so far, he doesn’t know how to loosen them. However, he didn’t only loosen his head, but also his asshole, although I don’t know how that was possible. And so he came home completely drunk, and when he woke up he realized he was lying on the floor covered in poo, in the bathroom devastated by excrement. So he started to live with the poo, so the monster self-destructed before fighting the space sheriff. Now, as space sheriff, I’m very worried about his future.
Firstly, this being his sixth fight against a monster, the space sheriff reacts by inertia. The first few times he was tense and ended up shaving the monster’s head with the Beam Saber* when he missed, but now it’s like he’s working on an assembly line. With one hand he shaves the heads of the monsters running on the conveyor belt, with the other he handles a mobile phone. The sheriff no longer has a Beam Saber, instead he has had his right hand modified into a clipper. He no longer wants to defend peace in space but has become a monster himself. Once, when I was a kid, they bought me a kind of space sheriff Gavan** action figure. It was my favourite toy and I played with it all the time. It had a hole in his hand where you could put your sword, but at some point, it was lost. Since he couldn’t fight without a sword, I looked for another weapon to replace it. Then I found that a toothpick fit perfectly in the hole, and I thought that he could fight again. But when I began to play with it, the toothpick broke right off at the base and my hand was clogged with the broken piece. From then on, the sheriff was left with a mysterious piece of wood in his hand and could never fight again. When I came into possession of a new toy, Gavan was demoted to the role of monster… it may be that I am now in the same position as him. Perhaps, after losing his sword and toothpick, the space sheriff had no choice but to become a monster.
*Laser sword appearing in Gundam.
**Star of a Japanese TV series from the 1980s.
CONTACT WITH THE READERS: QUESTION CORNER 164
QUESTION FROM MR. ” GIN-SAN’S POOP”, TOKYO METROPOLITAN AREA
Does Shinpachi walk to the Yorozuya shop? If so, how long does it take you to get there? While you’re at it, please also let me know the approximate location of the Shinsengumi’s headquarters.
ANSWER:
Yes, he walks.
Assuming that the Yorozuya shop is located in Kabukicho, Shinjuku, Shinpachi’s dojo is around what is now Nishi-Shinjuku, about a twenty-minute walk away. In contrast, the Shinsengumi’s headquarters are in the direction of the Tokyo Metropolitan Administration building on the edge of the district, near Shinjuku Central Park, at a roughly similar distance.
CONTACT WITH THE READERS: QUESTION CORNER 165
QUESTION FROM MR. “I’M A MAN, SO I’M INTELLIGENT EVEN THOUGH I’M THE STUPIDEST IN THE WORLD”, FROM SHIGA PROVINCE
I have a question for Sorachi sensei! Speaking of Shinpachi, is the frame of the glasses Shinpachi himself, or does his spirit reside in the lenses? What is Shinpachi…?
ANSWER:
The lenses correspond to “Shin” and the frame to “Pachi”.
CONTACT WITH THE READERS: QUESTION CORNER 166
QUESTION FROM MR. “YAMCHA WHO LOVES GORILLA”, OITA PROVINCE
Good morning, Sorachi sensei! You write with a soft-pointed marker every time a new volume comes out. I always enjoy reading your comments. The seriousness with which you do the work shines through from the comic! But I would also like to see some serious writing done with a soft-tipped pen. So I would ask you to write the same thing I have written here, to the best of your ability.
RISPOSTA:
Ah! The ink has run out.
Excuse me! From that point on it would have become a wonderful piece of writing. I would have used a beautiful calligraphy, incomparably better than the first part. But the ink ran out!
CONTACT WITH THE READERS: QUESTION CORNER 167
QUESTION FROM MR. SHINGEN MOCHI, NAGANO PROVINCE
Where do you usually keep your Gin-san scooter parked?
ANSWER:
In the alley behind the Otose Snack Bar.
CONTACT WITH THE READERS: QUESTION CORNER 168
QUESTION FROM MR. “READING THE COMMENTS PUBLISHED SO FAR ON THE SUMMARY PAGE OF ‘JUMP’ MAGAZINE, I NOTICED THAT SORACHI SENSEI IS HEAVILY TEASING HIS EDITOR”, FROM KAGAWA PROVINCE
Back when Gintama‘s publication had just begun, my father looked at his comment on the author page and said “this guy will go a long way” (and I wondered how it was possible to brag about such statements).
So lately I can’t help but notice his smug expression, as if to say “See I was right?”. What should I do?
ANSWER:
On those pages I used to just insult my editor. Who knows what comments caught your father’s attention? Anyway, based on his words, I feel that he is definitely not just any father, but a great man, with a face that exudes pride.
That said, the “Space Sheriff Keeps Fighting No Matter What” special in Volume 53 ends here. I’ve gone on too long, but the point is that even if the monster he has to face is a chickenshit, a harmless mascot, or unarmed, the space sheriff is convinced that he will continue to fight as long as the broken toothpick remains in his hand, dipping it in ink.
Perhaps he believes that even if he cannot defend peace in space, he will still make the next deadline.
New topic: “Where did Gavan’s sword go?”
Yorozuya Shinigami 