Thank you for purchasing the 6th volume of Gintama. I am Sorachi, and please continue to support me.
So, for this work, which I started while taking advantage of the airing of the long teledrama The Shinsengumi in Japan, the time has come for it to go on its own, since the teledrama has now ended. I’ve always been a fan of the Shinsengumi, so I’m feeling a little sad, both because of work and a private matter. Thank you for keeping me company until now, dear Shinsengumi! I’ll try my best to go as far as I can!
Well, under the circumstances, I’m tired of taking advantage of a certain opportunity in a cowardly way, so this year I’m going to move forward resolutely. That is to say… straight ahead! My editor? Who’s that? Are you by any chance referring to that dead monkey on the side of the road? Since it suddenly appeared, I ran over it, so I can experiment some more. Maybe… something princely… reminiscent of distant eras like the Heian or Kamakura periods. I have a feeling that this year I’ll have a chance to draw things like that… like a character similar to the warrior monk Benkei or his lord Ushikawa… Huh?!
GINTAMA COMPLETELY NAKED
There, the corner you like so much is back! I’m going to undress again! The other day, when I was going through my room, I found a pair of dirty underwear, so I put them on… I’ve been waiting for this opportunity since volume five, thinking, “Aah! So I can do a striptease in the extra pages again!” … As I’ve already written once, in the initial phase Gintama was thought as a manga to be realized taking advantage of the airing of a famous teledrama, in which the Shinsengumi were the protagonists who had to defeat one by one the bad guys. Some character sheets, made at the time, have been discovered… The shocking truth will soon be revealed!
This is Director Kondo at the initial stage. He looks just like Hasegawa, that’s right! Hasegawa’s current character was created using this sketch, and before that, he was actually the director of the Shinsengumi. Kondo’s character was almost the sum of the current Kondo with Hasegawa, split into two, with the remainder of three. In short, an incapable middle-aged person. He was supposed to always meet women for the purpose of marriage… By the way, Hasegawa is a character who ranks among the top two in my personal preference ranking of those who appear in Gintama. That’s why I bring him in at the slightest opportunity… Help me!
And who might this be?
But it’s Shinpachi Nagakura, from whom I developed Shinpachi! The story unfolded from his point of view. He had come to Edo from a small town in the countryside to train in the art of swordsmanship. He was to meet Kondo and his companions, who still ran a dojo for swordplay in Edo, where the samurai were in decline after being attacked by the Amanto, and eventually join the Shinsengumi. Shinpachi is a character I couldn’t define very well: first I made him a shaved head, then a tuft of hair gathered on top of his head… However, since he’s comparable to Nobita, I decided to make him wear a pair of glasses… and so the current character was born.
This is Okita… She must have been a woman at first. She was like Otsu, and her ability to fight with an umbrella was inherited from Kagura. Since at some point I realized that the Shinsengumi were all middle-aged men, devising desperate measures, I decided to create this grumpy character. By the way, Kagura was also supposed to be as big as her, but my editor dismissed that idea saying, “She’s not very pretty… make her smaller!”…
After all, he has a lolita complex.
The next space will be dedicated to Hijikata.
Hijikata was supposed to be the main character, but since I couldn’t find his character sheet, I drew him now, a bit randomly. If I remember correctly, he looked like this. Well, he was basically the same as Gin-san… It was Gin-san with his hair parted on one side and undead eyes. He had an ambiguous nature, less lazy than now… In short, he was a bit indecipherable in every way. Since I like the real Shinsengumi, Hijikata is my favourite. When I read the novel Moeyo Ken, I couldn’t get the image I had of this original character out of my head. However, perhaps because of that, I failed to recreate him, and since I couldn’t use him as the main character, I decided to remove him from that role. The editor complained about my choice, but I evaded his criticism with an excuse I made up on the spot, that it would be enough to give the Shinsengumi a function similar to Zenigata’s in Lupin III. So I named the main character Gin-san, and I managed to break this character. That’s a really weird name! We often talk about the spirit inherent in words, and I feel like I’ve understood him a little. I can’t break Hijikata, even though I ruined him with mayonnaise…
Above is “Mad Bull” Kamo Serizawa, and below is Sanosuke Harada. I had various characters like that in mind… Anyway, absorbing them all… Gintama was born! Although the first episode, the one approved at the meeting to decide on the serial publication, was different: Shinpachi was already part of the Yorozuya and together with Gin-san he saved a samurai who looked like the comedian Cha Kato. But since it seemed a bit too sober, because there were only middle-aged male characters, I changed the story… When I get distracted, my manga tends to be invaded by middle-aged men!
CONTACT WITH THE READERS: QUESTION CORNER
QUESTION BY MR T2 FROM GUNMA PROVINCE
Your answers to the questions are too long! It’s tiring to read. Besides, you reply randomly, so do it in short sentences, sensei! (Give a more important role to Yamazaki!)
ANSWER:
Since I got this opinion, I wrote a very long comment this time.
How did you feel about volume six? It’s like I’ve shown myself up to my anus by now! If you consider it a good purchase, since you’ve been able to see someone else’s anus, I’ll be happy! After all, one can rarely admire such a thing…
Also, I would like to tell you not to send opinions like “I would have liked to see the other manga about the Shinsengumi” because I would be psychologically hurt. Keep this thought deep in your heart and carry it to the grave without telling anyone!
I couldn’t have much contact with you readers this time, but since I keep collecting your questions keep sending them in!
Yorozuya Shinigami 