Thank you for purchasing the 47th volume!

As I wrote on the cover of the album, after my former editor Jelly Belly Honda, Congalala Matsuo, the current editor in charge of Gintama, also shaved his head to atone for forcing me to do double work – film and weekly publication – with the consequent delay in delivery. I’m amazed that the very gorilla who was as sharp as a pointed knife and threw poo at everyone who touched him when he was just starting out has mellowed so much. Now all they talk about is the fact that the people who handled Gintama have mellowed. I’m even pondering whether to change profession, because maybe I’m better suited to opening a Buddhist monastery or a barbershop than being a mangaka.

Well, despite appearances, I regret it. I can even hold a press conference crying and apologizing to everyone for the whole double job thing. Only now is not the time to stop yet, so I have to run and hold back tears.Even if my editor shaved his head, or because of stress started to frequent clubs with mature entraîneuses, or wasted a few hundred thousand yen on soaplands, I have to keep running silently!  After overcoming such scandals, and when Sonoyama and Tominaga, that is, the film and the original work, have reached the peak of popularity by even exploiting them… right then, that is the Shun Shioya* of the manga world, I think I will cry.

*Japanese actor.
He was simultaneously with two women, Makie Sonoyama and Ai Tominaga.

CONTACT WITH THE READERS: QUESTION CORNER 136

QUESTION FROM MR. “THE NUTRIENT I LIKE BEST IS SUGAR” FROM TOKUSHIMA PROVINCE

Hello! I’m a seventh grader and I love Gintama. Where do your crazy ideas come from?

P.s. Treat your editor with more care.

ANSWER:

Absurd ideas come to mind when I think back to the time when I was in seventh grade, which is the age you are now.

P.S. Treat your teacher with more care.

CONTACT WITH THE READERS: QUESTION CORNER 137

QUESTION FROM MR AUCHIKA-FAFAFA

Good morning! Sensei, I have a question for you! When the characters eat something, why do you use the onomatopoeia “move-move” in the original? You normally use “mogu-mogu”, right? I’ve been thinking about this since I started reading your work… Please answer.

ANSWER:

Because they eat ” mooved” stuff, that is, not very refined.

CONTACT WITH THE READERS: QUESTION CORNER 138

QUESTION FROM MR. “I’M GOING TO TAKE THE ENTRANCE EXAMS TOO”, KANAGAWA PROVINCE

In the 407th lesson, “Shinbo and Chief Hajime”, Shinpachi has a mobile phone… Did the Yorozuya members finally decide to have one? I’m curious…

ANSWER:

That mobile phone was Yamazaki’s. Shinpachi and the others, while looking for Gin-san and Obi-wan, joined Yamazaki and his colleagues, who were following them. He then borrowed Yamazaki’s mobile phone, and during the search they kept in touch via that, splitting into groups. I’m sorry if it was difficult to understand!

CONTACT WITH THE READERS: QUESTION CORNER 139

QUESTION FROM MISS “I’VE THOUGHT ABOUT SHAVING, BUT AS IT’S AN UNFAMILIAR WORLD I’M AFRAID”, FROM THE PROVINCE OF MIE

Hello, Sorachi sensei! Until I got together with my current boyfriend, I didn’t know that butt hair really existed. And he has an inferiority complex because of it… So I can’t mock Mr. Kondo. In my own way I’ve tried to look for a silver lining, but I can’t find any! In every way I’m just in the way! In the filthy sense of the word. You seem to care about your butt hair, so I thought it was taboo to ask you a question like that… but I know I’m being rude, so I’m asking you: when you shave there, what can happen?

ANSWER:

I can’t get over the fact that you’re sending the argument forward based on the assumption that I shave my butt hair. However, even if it is done, they will come back and become even stronger, so I suggest that we walk a path together instead of exterminating them. You must be more proud of your butt hair! In this world there are only two types of individuals: those who have hair there and those who do not. The tendency is to discriminate against us, the hairy individuals, because we look filthy, or because the toilet paper gets caught and forms balls when we wipe. But they can only criticize us like this now! Listen to me! Hair exists to protect human organs, so there is hair, eyelashes and nose hair. So why is it that just because of butt hair, men are divided into two: who has it and who doesn’t? We have to think about this point carefully. Although we all have anuses, why is it only on our buttocks that there are these annoying hairs? Why do we have to carry such a heavy cross? I believe it is because ass hairs are not just hairs, but evidence of a mission imposed by God on some! In other words, they don’t exist to protect the anus, but the chikyu, the shameful hill called the butt… that is, the earth itself.

CONTACT WITH THE READERS: QUESTION CORNER 140

REQUEST FROM MR. “GIVE ME SOME PICTURES OF GIN-SAN AND TAKASUGI (FOR AUTOGRAPH… IT DOESN’T MATTER)”, FROM NAGANO PROVINCE

Hello, Sorachi sensei! The other day I bought a Gintama book and found five curly hairs inside. I almost had a psychological trauma. Are they a gift from you? Or should I consider it a personal spite?

ANSWER:

No, it’s definitely Gin-san’s wavy hair.

CONTACT WITH THE READERS

You’re so persistentttt!

CONTACT WITH THE READERS: QUESTION CORNER 141

QUESTION BY MR. KENTO MORISU OF IBARAKI PROVINCE

Listen, Sorachi sensei! My younger sister has recently started saying “I personally…” Like a refrain. I didn’t pay much attention to it until now, but since I realized it’s her catchphrase, it really irritates me. I told her to stop, but she doesn’t hear me. Sorachi sensei, say something to her!

ANSWER:

Personally… I don’t see the problem, partly because everyone can speak as they please. I’m sure you’ve got some little catchphrases that you just haven’t noticed. Let me tell you an old story.

When I was in university, I had a friend who always said, “commonly said”. No matter what I said to him, he would reply: “Are you talking about the commonly said_?”, as if everyone called him that. Therefore, I personally began to feel angry. Then, as a preventive measure, I too started to use before him, in a very vulgar, almost punk-like way, “About ___ commonly said_”, to prevent him from doing so. So, he said to me: “You always use that catchphrase”. How to say… I personally couldn’t get over it.

What is the common definition of this situation? What’s wrong with a gorilla? Since there was a boring gorilla who always repeated ‘uho uho’, I too started to say ‘uho uho’ in a higher tone than him, beating my chest so much that it burst… your situation can be compared to this. If you pay too much attention to your sister’s catchphrase, you too will end up using it without noticing. Personally, I think so.

I’m sorry for telling you a personal story!

Having said that, volume 47, the ‘having spent several hundred thousand yen is exaggerated’ special, ends here. Right after shaving his head, Congalala also cut off his eyebrows, saying, “Since I have nothing left, to atone for my guilt, I’m going to cut these off,” with a face without hair or eyebrows, similar to that of a Yakuza who cut off his finger. So, I said, “I feel sorry for you. It’s just that, since you make too many mistakes every week, I don’t understand what you’ve done this time.” …then asking him what he had to atone for. But he replied muttering unconvincingly, “It’s for a set of conduct…”. Having no other choice, I asked my first editor and the previous one, but I could not understand the situation well. The only thing I could figure out was that he was seeing a lot of soaplands in September. So, I thought, “Wait a minute…! In September he shaved his head and eyebrows, and also in September he spent a few hundred thousand….

YOU WERE SIMPLY INFECTED WITH PEDICULOSIS PUBIS!!!

New topic: “Please do not suspect that a mangaka or his editor has a venereal disease”.

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Thank you for purchasing the 46th volume! As I wrote in the previous one, there are several things to make public… Even though they’ve already been made known in Jump and on the net. To my surprise, I, Hideaki Sorachi, found blood in my urine! Has a decision been made to resume the anime, or to make a second film? True, these events are happy, but in the meantime… blood came out of the tip of my p_nis! Is the film based on a completely new story written especially by Hideaki Sorachi? Will it be released in cinemas next year? That’s all true, but first the author painted the WC red with his pen!
So instead of going to a movie theatre, I went to the urologist and went there ready to die, after washing my p_nis thoroughly thinking they would check it all. Instead, the doctor made a face as if to say, “Don’t pull that thing out!”. Then he said, “Why the fear? Everyone gets blood out. If you’re not ready to undergo something like this, you shouldn’t go to certain clubs to have fun, you damn syphilitic!”…
So, I was sent home after undergoing a urine test. But listen to me, doctors and dear readers! I, Sorachi sensei, do not have a venereal disease, and I haven’t gone out to have fun in almost a year! I’ve hardly ever left the house because of deadlines and the storyboard for the film. I thought that because of the blood in my urine they would give me some rest, but even the editor made a face that said, “Everyone bleeds, damn syphilitic!”



CONTACT WITH THE READERS: QUESTION CORNER 130

QUESTION BY MISS AYAKO AKAHIRA OF HOKKAIDO

Until now, Sacchan’s house has appeared often. But each time it looks like a different house, or rather a different room. Does she live in one place?

ANSWER:

Since Sacchan has a dangerous profession, the assassin, on principle she lives in the same place for too long. She keeps moving from one inn to another. She just doesn’t want to leave Gin-san’s side, so she stays around Kabukicho.



CONTACT WITH THE READERS: QUESTION CORNER 131

QUESTION FROM MR. “BECAUSE OF GINTAMA I CAN’T GO ON WITH MY STUDIES AND PREPARE FOR EXAMS, DAMN YOU”, FROM TOKYO METROPOLITAN AREA

A sixth-grade student like me, in the middle of midterm exams, asks you a question… Sensei, among the AKBs, do you support Tomochin? I’m asking because in volume 42 Sasaki says: “He might not fit in as well as Tomomi Itano in the AKBs, who is too pretty.” …

ANSWER:

Like you, there are many who believe that a comic book character’s opinion is the same as mine. But they’re two different things. Sasaki thinks so, and in the manga I draw things I don’t think at all. By the way, I’m a supporter of Miss Mariko.

CONTACT WITH THE READERS: QUESTION CORNER 132

QUESTION FROM MISS GINTAMA LOVE, EHIME PROVINCE

There’s something that came to my mind when I bought volume 45 of Gintama. It’s about Oboro, who appeared in the Courtesan of a Nation saga. I noticed that he doesn’t have any scars on his face on the cover, but he does on the inside of the comic. Is that your mistake, sensei? Or is the scar a result of Gin-san’s injury during the story? Tell me the truth!

ANSWER:

You’re absolutely right. But rather than saying it was caused within the story, I’d say it was due to an external event. A certain gorilla, when he erased after he finished inking, also erased the scar… He may have this past, but he may not… I apologize!

CONTACT WITH THE READERS: QUESTION CORNER 133

QUESTION FROM MR. TORMENTED HORSE, FROM HYOGO PROVINCE.

Sensei, I find To Love-ru‘s Momo really cute, so I would like to collect the volumes of that work. But I can’t because my mother and older sister are there. And yet I wish I didn’t have to hold out until I start living on my own… What should I do, sensei?

ANSWER:

Buy the Gintama volumes and put the cover of these on top of the others! Huh? Would you be ashamed in any other way? No, don’t say that…

CONTACT WITH THE READERS: QUESTION CORNER 134

QUESTION FROM THE TRUE GINTAMA LOVER SIGNIOR FROM THE TOKYO METROPOLITAN AREA

Good morning, Sorachi sensei! Once, on a TV programme, I followed a speech: “It is well known in Japan – Sazae knows this too – that ‘cats like fish’ because the Japanese have always given cats fish since ancient times. As a proof we asked what the favourite food of cats in India and the answer was was curry’. We were surprised…”

Is it true that gorillas like bananas?

ANSWER:

Actually, the gorilla hardly ever eats bananas… but a set with half a portion of Chinese-style sautéed rice.


CONTACT WITH THE READERS: QUESTION CORNER 135

QUESTION BY MR. PARFAIT FROM IBARAKI PROVINCE

Good morning! Sorachi sensei, I heard you have bad handwriting, but then why do you write by hand on the extra pages? (Why don’t you write on a PC?)

ANSWER:

You’re right. And since it’s such a hassle, I’d really like to use the PC… But just think, I get complaints just because I’ve changed the pen to a brush tip! Like, the pen I was using before was better, etc. Since there are readers who observe even these smallest details, I think that since this style of mine is so loved by everyone, I can no longer change it. So I will continue like this. I apologise if it is difficult to read. Although I write in this way, I used to take calligraphy lessons…



Having said that, volume 46 with the special “The blood-soaked decision to produce the film”, ends here.
After all, after the tests I underwent, no problem was found, so the cause was attributed to stress.
However, I would like you to understand the whole situation, including Sorachi sensei’s feelings, who thought, “Hooray! If they put me in the hospital, I could get on with the storyboard for the film!”. Seriously, I’m working at the top of my game. Both the serial publication of the work and the making of the film can stall at any time. They say the film will come out next year, but all the staff members almost laughed. Even at the present stage it is not clear what will happen. It’s all the rage now to have films supervised directly by the writers, but since the other writers are professionals, they don’t complain at all. Instead, I, being a punk mangaka, say everything clearly: they probably all have their p_nis covered in blood. Both Luffy and Naruto don’t say anything, but they have the inside of their underwear completely soaked. They work hard to make you laugh, for the filthy grin of Shueisha and the anime company, shedding tears of blood from the tip of their p_nises! For adults, it’s no problem, because I’ll definitely drag them to hell with me and have their whole bodies covered in blood, but I’d like readers to remember that the movie was made with tears of blood, like this, and also, I’d like you not to forget that Sorachi sensei is not suffering from venereal diseases. Then, if the Gintama movie doesn’t come out, as if it was never planned, I want you to go see Conan without saying anything. I believe in all of you. So don’t believe in me… Promise me that!

New topic: “Well, I’ll try my best, but…”

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Thank you for purchasing the forty-fifth volume! A ramen shop opened up near my house, so I went to check it out. Since I found a menu outside that said “a set of ramen noodles with half a portion of Chinese-style stir-fried rice,” I rushed over with such impetus that I almost ripped off the noren*, as if I were going to slide in.
There are many sets in this world, but I only recognize the one with ramen noodles and half a portion of Chinese fried rice, and the musical duo Chage & Aska. Since it’s newly opened, there were a lot of people in the joint, and I was told: “We apologize, but due to the fact that we’re very busy, we can’t prepare the half portion of Chinese stir-fried rice”.
So, I thought, ‘It’s not for nothing that this is the Chage & Aska of the ramen world. Their tickets sold out immediately’. Only I wasn’t interested in Aska singing alone, because I wanted to savour the complete harmony of the duo. So, I was about to leave, when a waiter told me to wait a moment and that they could prepare a plate of Chinese-style stir-fried rice even if it was not possible to serve a half portion. He basically told me that a set of Chage & Aska was impossible, but a set of Aska & Aska was feasible. For me, it would have been like getting slapped on both cheeks. Who would want to eat something that weighs down their stomach?! I wanted to savour Aska’s voice mixed with Chage’s sigh going ‘Fuh’ or ‘Hah’. They shouldn’t have underestimated Chage so much. First of all, what language do they speak? What does it mean, ‘Even if Chage didn’t come because he’s busy, there’s Aska’? If it’s possible to prepare a whole portion of Chinese-style stir-fried rice, even half of it shouldn’t be a problem. If Aska has some free time, Chage should be a little busy too. They shouldn’t underestimate Chage.
But that waiter may have advised me to have a normal portion of Chinese stir-fried rice after seeing my ugly, swollen belly… he must have thought, “How dare he force himself to say he wants a half portion? I can’t just watch!” So, I put my hand back in my pocket ready to slap him and, trying to calm down, I told him: “I’m fat, but I’m a half-fat person who can only eat a half portion of Chinese-style stir-fried rice. Since I don’t want to leave stuff on my plate, could you please split the normal portion in half?” Then the waiter replied, “Well, I can’t give you special treatment, sir…”

*Tent placed at the entrance of a shop or restaurant.

Well, if I asked for a half portion of Chinese-style stir-fried rice when there is no set with half a portion of such rice, I could see that I was demanding the impossible. Or if “half” of “half a portion of Chinese stir-fried rice” indicated a legendary ingredient that bears fruit once every hundred years on a cliff in an unexplored region of China, impossible to catch without bungee jumping with a rope made from ramen noodles… I would understand what they were saying. But they don’t. The word ‘half’ means ‘half’. Besides, it was they, the group of half conmen, who caught a half-fat guy like me writing that you can eat a half portion of Chinese-style stir-fried rice. And then, when I asked them, they were half-smiling even though there was no half portion. The waiter had a face that seemed to say: “Manager, there’s an annoying wolverine!”, so he said to me: “I can’t give special treatment only to you, sir… otherwise we’ll be forced to give it to other customers as well…”.
But what’s inappropriate about this request? What’s wrong with other customers asking for a set with half a portion of Chinese stir-fried rice? Listen up! Have you ever studied arithmetic? Eh, have you? Well, then first of all, split Aska, whom you’re now wok-frying, in half. You have to split her. That’s right! Take your time and don’t rush! Now, I want to ask you something. Who is it? Yeah, it’s Chage! So, if I put this Chage next to a portion of ramen… yes, it’s Chage & Aska! By dividing a portion of Chinese-style stir-fried rice in this way, you can make two sets with half a portion of rice. And so you can set two half-fats, right? Now you have learned something important. Well, then let’s give it the last touch! Split yourselves in two too, you damned half fools!!! I shouted like that in my heart, and stuck my chopsticks into Aska & Aska… I ate it all like it was normal. It seemed slightly unsatisfying to me. By now, that half-fat was nowhere to be found….


CONTACT WITH THE READERS: QUESTION CORNER 125

QUESTION FROM MR. MATCHBOX, SAITAMA PROVINCE

Good morning, Sorachi sensei!
Here’s a question for you. Why doesn’t Sakamoto carry a sword? Since I like him, this fact is close to my heart.

ANSWER:

Because he likes new things.
Sakamoto is also quite good with a sword, but he’s basically a pacifist with a merchant’s character rather than a samurai’s. For this reason, he has little attachment to the sword and prefers a more compact weapon, such as a pistol, to defend himself rather than to attack.


CONTACT WITH THE READERS: QUESTION CORNER 126

QUESTION FROM MR. ” YOU HAVE MANY MARRIED PEOPLE AROUND, BUT YOU DON’T GET MARRIED SO EASILY, SENSEI! (LAUGHTER)”, FROM OSAKA PROVINCE.

You once said that you got the name Gintoki Sakata from Kintoki Sakata, the Kintaro who appears in a folktale. The heroine of the self-contained work Shirokuro is called Tomiko Sakata, so they both have the same surname… Is Gintoki Sakata really from Kintoki Sakata? Or did you actually use your first love’s surname? Eeeh, Sorachi sensei?

ANSWER:

Without a doubt, I got it from Kintaro.
Rather, although I don’t think anyone cares about such a detail, Shirokuro’s Tomiko Sakata is assumed to be a descendant of Kintoki Sakata. Kintaro is famous for defeating an ogre, right? Taking my cue from this episode, in my head was the assumption that his family had been doing this for generations. Even after the decision to make Gintama was made, I couldn’t get that fact out of my head, so I decided to call the main character Gintoki Sakata, changing an ideogram, since it was a hassle to come up with a new name.


CONTACT WITH THE READERS: QUESTION CORNER 127

QUESTION FROM MR. MASTERLESS SAMURAI PROMOTING THE CAMPAIGN AGAINST FOREIGNERS, FROM HOKKAIDO

Good morning, Sorachi sensei! I’m sorry for suddenly writing something like this… When I was in my first year of middle school, I was going to school with my friends, and one of them said he had a stomachache and wanted to poop in a convenience store. To which I said, “We’re going to get to school soon… Just hang in there!” He said, “I’m feeling a bit better now,” and started running towards the school. Then he stopped, pale. I asked him if he was in trouble, and he said, “Don’t worry, it’s out of my system now”. I feel very sorrowful at the very thought of having dissuaded him… What do you think I should do to ease this pain?

ANSWER:

You don’t need to worry about him so much. Everyone grows up with a pain in their heart. Even a friend of mine, when he was in secondary school, got the urge on his way home from school. Only there was no convenience store in my country town, so he disappeared into the bush by himself. Then he came back… without a sock. He had a dominant position, like Gian’s, but from then on he started to be called Socks… In fact, it was only us who called him that. But he also took advantage of this adversity, laughed about it and continued to enjoy a certain popularity in high school. We all fall down when we trip over something or have a poo crawl or two. The problem is how to get back up afterwards and how to wipe your ass. The only thing you can do is not to repent or mock your friend under a moustache like I did, but to gently hand him one of your socks while he looks for a way to wipe his ass, whispering in his ear that toilet paper is not the only way. Not only do good things happen in youth, but there are roads paved with poop. However, I would like you to walk in such a way as to laugh about it in the future… That’s what I want as a man of a certain age covered in poo.


CONTACT WITH THE READERS: QUESTION CORNER: 128

QUESTION FROM MISS “I, HIS DAUGHTER, WOULD LIKE TO MARRY MR. SHINSUKE”, OKAMA PROVINCE

Sorachi sensei, I have a problem in my family: my mother says she wants to marry you! She’s attracted by your sense of humour, and she doesn’t care if you’re a gorilla. I don’t want my parents to break up, nor do I want them to commit any crimes. My family is at risk of disintegration… Help me!

ANSWER:

You don’t want them to commit any crimes? What is your mother trying to do? Your father’s safe and sound, isn’t he? Isn’t he in a freezer? And he’s not trying to put me in a freezer, is he? I wish she’d calm down! I may like married women, but no matter how eccentric I am, I could never get involved with a reader’s mother! Even a gorilla thinks… So give me your daughter in marriage, Dad!


CONTACT WITH THE READERS: QUESTION CORNER 129

QUESTION FROM MR. “OOH, YAMAZAKI-SAN, WHY ARE YOU YAMAZAKI-SAN?” FROM CHIBA PROVINCE

This is the first time I’ve written it, Sorachi sensei! Tama calls some people around her by adding “Mr.”, like “Mr. Gintoki” or “Mrs. Otose”, right? But in the 385th lesson, she also calls Yamazaki “Mr. Yamazaki” … Why is that?

ANSWER:

Since Tama is a robot, her relations with humans are basically those between master and servant, and she is very ceremonious towards her mistress or people who take her side. On the other hand, those who are at odds with the Yorozuya, such as the Shinsengumi, are like pebbles in Tama’s eyes. However, since she knows good manners anyway, Tama was kind to Yamazaki as well. However, practically speaking, to her, Yamazaki is a pebble.


Having said that, volume 45 “How much did you want to eat a half portion of Chinese fried rice?!” ends here.
I’ve written a number of things, but since I can only bully people in monograph volumes, I’ve only been arrogant here. In reality, I’m a fat guy who went to a restaurant, ate one portion of ramen, one portion of Chinese stir-fry rice, and then went home. And that’s it.
And since that’s what happened, if anyone was disgusted by my story, I ask them to forgive me. Please don’t think you want to beat up that fat guy.
I think that in the next issue there will be an upheaval in the work, as various ideas have been accumulating behind the scenes. So look forward to finding out.

See you in the next volume!

New topic: “Beware of the half-portion Chinese fried rice scam.”

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Thank you for purchasing volume 44!

Lately I had been assigned a very complicated job, which I was carrying out in conjunction with the weekly serial publication. But since I could not finish it, I was tired both physically and mentally, and so prostrated that I wished for the unhappiness of people all over the world! Then, those middle-aged men who have nothing to do since the Gintama anime ended, pitied me, organized a drink to encourage me, honestly, drinking with filthy middle-aged men, and no women, is not at all comforting so I would have preferred to work instead of spending the time uselessly. But given the circumstances, I thought I’d relieve the stress, and attacked the others: ‘What do you mean Justaway won*? I want to make sashimi out of it and eat it now!”.

So as I continued with my complaints, they were all infected and we started to touch on complicated topics, such as the regulation of TV programs and the ideal future of the anime. They were arguing lively with their dirty but elated faces: “Rather than broadcasting something that isn’t Gintama, changing the work because of certain laws, it’s better to let it end!”. Or: “No! The most important thing is to fight against regulation and allow viewers to see Gintama edited within acceptable limits!”Well, I should have been grateful, because they cared enough about my manga to engage in a spirited discussion. They said nice things, nice words, but they were filthy and their saliva splattered all over the fried chicken and other dishes on the table… So I nodded randomly, hoping they’d stop talking and come up with a solution.  I was thinking: ‘I don’t care about these things, I wish they would encourage me!’. Then the situation evolved in a totally unexpected way…

*It’s the name of a racehorse

At first, even though it was an argument, it was as if they were playing around and having a Mongolian sumo match partly for real and partly as a joke, smearing lubricant on each other. But since the drink was organized to encourage Sorachi sensei, which is me, I thought they would stop it sooner or later. However, when I returned from the bathroom, I found all these older men engaged in a Pride* match in a ring surrounded by barbed wire!

They’d been properly lubricated just now, but in the short time I’d been looking away, the lotion had dried up and they were straddling each other, dyeing themselves a completely different lotion than usual… red! Well, it wasn’t that they were really going at it, but two filthy middle-aged men were giving each other dirty looks as if they might fight at any moment. It was like, “Aah? You want to hit me? Hey!”

Have you ever seen older men looking at each other with hostile eyes? It was scary. It wasn’t a junior high school student! It was a middle-aged man against a middle-aged man! People who should have learnt many things in life, apart from knowing how to cope and understanding other people’s pain, were looking at each other hard!

Since I grew up in the lap of luxury, I was trembling with fear, but I couldn’t go on like this, because I too am a middle-aged man! So, together with Jelly Belly, my former editor, I immediately poured some lubricant on my head and slid slippery between the two of them, making unfunny jokes like: ‘Oof! Do you think it’s appropriate to show Sorachi sensei such a quarrel?! If the style of Gintama is going to change because of you guys, what are you going to do?” or, “Go for it! You might be useful for battle scenes!”. So I placated them by greasing everything with the cry of: “You’re not doing it seriously, are you? This isn’t a serious fight, it’s a comedy skit, right? Right? You’re joking, right? You’re all creeps, right?”

CONTACT WITH THE READERS: QUESTION CORNER 121

QUESTION FROM MISS CHIHIRO

In Gintama, which character is the most difficult to draw and which is the easiest?

ANSWER:

The easiest ones are Hasegawa and Zenzou. The most challenging part of drawing a character is the eyes. I avoid them with these characters. But above all, they’re middle-aged men, so even if they look a bit ugly, they’re still acceptable.

But I want to make the female characters pretty, so they take longer.

CONTACT WITH THE READERS: QUESTION CORNER 122

QUESTION FROM MR. SOBANA’S PARTER

Bansai carries out his activities as a music producer under an assumed name. But since the Shinsengumi know his face, is he in no danger?

ANSWER:

Since he’s a mysterious producer who never shows his face and doesn’t even make his profile public, there’s no problem. By the way, Otsu has never met him in person either.


CONTACT WITH THE READERS: QUESTION CORNER 123

QUESTION FROM MR. OGAWA

Who was the character in Gintama that first came to your mind?

ANSWER:

Gin-san. First of all, I put the main character at the centre, then I thought that in order to make him stand out, you needed someone to compare him to. So Shinpachi was born. Then Kagura, because we needed a little more sparkle. Otae appeared in the scene first, but Kagura’s outline had been done beforehand. After placing the Yorozuya at the centre of the story, I defined the characters around him. Even Hasegawa, who appeared in episode 2, was part of the Yorozuya in the outlining stage, to add an adult’s point of view, but then he fell through the cracks on his own…


CONTACT WITH THE READERS: QUESTION CORNER 124

QUESTION FROM MR. NAKAGAWA

Sorachi sensei, what do you do when you’re in the situation “I’m sleepy but I don’t have to sleep, I have to finish the boards”‘ I, personally, am always so sleepy lately….

ANSWER:

Drinking coffee, chewing gum, licking mustard, slapping myself with a slipper, even sticking a drawing pin in my arm… I’ve tried various methods to make a night of it over the past eight years, but they all only work at first, and once I get used to them, they have no effect. When I reach the limit, even if I’m giving directions to the assistants, I fall asleep.

“Sensei, tell me!”

“So, at this point… zzz…”

I once fell asleep for two or three minutes like this. I slept pretending to torment myself by staring at the boards. Since I reduce myself to this state, it is impossible to eliminate sleep completely, no matter what I do.

So what is to be done? Let’s face it: nothing but sleep! Even ten or twenty minutes is fine, fall asleep without hesitation. If you’re worried about people’s stares, collapse in the toilet pretending to poop. As soon as you wake up you are assailed for a moment by a sense of exhaustion, which makes you think that it would be better to die, but in this way, at least for a while, you manage to chase away sleep.

It’s just that your body feels the effects of all this, and you don’t work efficiently, so I advise you to get as much sleep as you need and to distribute your time well, so that you can work without interruption.

CONTACT WITH THE READERS: QUESTION CORNER 125

QUESTION FROM MR. NAKAGAWA

Sorachi sensei, what do you do when you’re in the situation “I’m sleepy but I don’t have to sleep, I have to finish the boards!”? I’m always very sleepy lately….

ANSWER:

Drinking coffee, chewing gum, licking mustard, slapping myself with a slipper, even sticking a drawing pin in my arm… I’ve tried various methods to make a night of it over the past eight years, but they all only work at first, and once I get used to them they have no effect. When I reach the limit, even if I’m giving directions to the assistants, I fall asleep.

“Sensei, tell me!”

“So, at this point…zzz…”

I once fell asleep for two or three minutes like this. I slept pretending to torment myself by staring at the boards. Since I reduce myself to this state, it is impossible to eliminate sleep completely, no matter what I do.

So what is to be done? Let’s face it: nothing but sleep! Ten or even twenty minutes is fine, fall asleep without hesitation. If you’re worried about people’s stares, collapse in the toilet pretending to poop. As soon as you wake up you are assailed for a moment by a sense of exhaustion, which makes you think that it would be better to die, but in this way, at least for a while, you manage to chase away the sleep.

Only the body feels the effects of this, and you do not work efficiently. Therefore, I advise you to get as much sleep as you need and to distribute your time well, so that you can work without interruption.


However, when I later asked them the reason for the quarrel, they said that it is the order of the day to fight in such a skirmish. And they continued to make dirty jokes as if nothing had happened.

But the director Wada, from TV Tokyo, was sad because he had made a fool of himself in front of the author of the original work. He wasn’t moving, his eyes were half-closed, and his umbrella was clutched to his chest. So I said, “It’s not like that, Director Wada! I am quite moved. I feel really encouraged, because I saw that mature men like you are trying to turn such an absurd manga into anime by having lively discussions and even giving importance to a dirty joke! Rather than a meeting to support Sorachi sensei, it became a meeting to incite Zatoichi*. But that doesn’t matter, thank you very much for today!”.

Then Wada rushed to the bathroom. I thought he was crying and was moved by my words, but he didn’t come back. Since he was drunk off his ass, we started to worry.

“Director Wada! Are you alright?! Come on, Wadaaaa!” … Since he didn’t answer, I opened the bathroom door by picking the lock with a ten-yen coin and… I found Zatoichi pooping in a normal way…

New topic: “Meeting to see Zatoichi poop.”

*Literary character created by writer Kan Shimozawa.

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Thank you for purchasing volume 43!

As I wrote in the previous one, the editor in charge of me has been replaced. It used to be Jelly Belly Honda, but now it’s Congalala Matsuo. He’s actually a newbie who was hired last year, and Gintama is the first work he’s been in charge of. So, he doesn’t understand anything, he’s like a newborn gorilla who doesn’t even know how to peel a banana. For a newcomer like him, the fact of dealing with this work, drawn by Jump’s slowest author, is the equivalent of being in the demon king’s castle at level 1. Well, it’s true that up until now, hero Sorachi’s team has never been much of a team: Onishi, a pleasure-lover who only thinks about getting things offered to him by Bandai employees… Saito, who despite looking like a warrior who prefers to use force, is actually a monk who only heals his own wounds by reading manga for girls in his room… Nakasaki, a sage who because he has the pride parameter at level 99 is difficult to deal with… Honda, a packhorse who only stays in hotels with a fancy bar, etc…

In short, a team made up of rubbish that can’t be useful for anything. Anyway, when the hero Sorachi was in real trouble, they would stop the printing press with the “Megante “* formula or bring Sorachi back to life by shaving his head using “Megazaru “*.

Any refusal will do, if only he’s able to use “Megante” and “Megazaru”, or even “Zaraki “*… Or if he’s able to throw holy water on the demon king, or if it’s Clift. In all these cases, the hero can keep a smile on his face.

Instead, a guy with zero experience who naturally can’t even use a magic formula has arrived. I checked his belongings to see if there’s anything effective, and that’s how I found out that he has a lot of “Congalala excrement”… Basically, a Japanese cypress stick covered in poop instead of a reliable team, just a step away from the demon king’s castle!

*Magic spells appearing in Dragon Quest.

CONTACT WITH THE READERS: QUESTION CORNER 117

QUESTION BY MISS NATSUNA, FUKUOKA PROVINCE

The Shinsengumi are only men… Who prepares the food? Do they take turns cleaning? I’d be happy to know.

ANSWER:

Since there’s a canteen at the Shinsengumi’s headquarters, everyone usually eats there. I think it has appeared several times so far. When they want some particular dish, they go out wherever they want.

CONTACT WITH THE READERS: QUESTION CORNER 118

QUESTION FROM MISS “I LIKE BOTH REBORN AND D. GRAY MAN BUT I WANT TO ASK ABUTO TO MARRY ME, AND I WILL MAKE EVERY EFFORT TO BECOME A GOOD WIFE”, FROM SAITAMA PROVINCE

How old is Abuto? Tell me since I like middle aged men!

ANSWER:

He is thirty-two. By the way, Abuto was originally supposed to die.

But since I liked him more and more while I was drawing him, he survived. Proof of this is the fact that in the first scene in which he appeared he had a typical face of a secondary character.



CONTACT WITH THE READERS: QUESTION CORNER 119

QUESTION FROM MR. “SOMETIMES I SEE MUMIN MUSHROOMS”, TOKYO METROPOLITAN AREA

Hello, Sorachi sensei!

I’ll ask you a question right away… In volume 40, your older sister started to sense something. After that, what happened to her psychic (?) ability?

ANSWER:

She sent me an email with a picture of an Anna Sui bag attached for me to find for her…

CONTACT WITH THE READERS: QUESTION CORNER 120

QUESTION FROM MR. FURUSATO, OF SAITAMA PROVINCE

Sensei, I’m writing to you for the first time. I respect three people: Ryoma Sakamoto, Ryotaro Shiba and Hideaki Sorachi.

I began to feel esteem for you when I read your answer to a question during an interview:

“What do you pay attention to when outlining characters?”

“I will never create any perfect superhuman. Having everything is the same as having nothing.”

Since I read these words of yours, I think you are a great person. But here’s the question…

I am a student looking for a job. The other day I went to take the exams for a certain teaching hospital in the Tokyo metropolitan area. Since I was asked at the final interview who is the person I most respect, I said, “It’s Hideaki Sorachi sensei!”.

I wasn’t hired. When you’re feeling down, what moral support do you turn to? Absolutely give me some advice!

ANSWER:

Since I’m feeling down right now, just ask some older men near you!

Having said that, the special “It can’t break suddenly” ends here.

Well, I was really surprised. I wouldn’t have imagined that Matsuo, at level 1, would be able to resort to “Megante” already. What’s more, in a place that has nothing to do with work, getting excited in a Sumo match during a trip, against Clift, in the carriage, before fighting the demon king!

I sped through the work with all my might, but my previous editors came to pick up the boards: Saito and Honda. They, by now, are used to the fast pace of the other authors, and seemed to want to say “Are you still living in a cesspool like this?”, or “Could you hurry up? I have a meeting for Naruto” … So I said, “Sorry to disturb you…”.

I don’t really understand why, but the hero Sorachi apologized. I don’t really understand why, but I felt like having a sumo match. I thought maybe I could break my right hand….

New topic: “No problem for me, because I wanted it, but at least apologise to Clift!”.

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Thank you for purchasing the 42nd volume! It has been decided that Mr. Jelly Belly Honda, my editor, will be leaving Gintama to embark on the great journey called marriage. I’m really glad that I can send him off safely. If he makes a mistake and loses a finger before the wedding, he won’t be able to wear a wedding ring, and that would be a trouble for which it would not be enough to say “Amen”! He would have to exclaim “Jesus!” …

That said, as I wrote on the flap of the book, I was asked to draw an illustration of the bride and groom to congratulate them. I said “leave it to me”, because this is the only chance I have to repay him for the fact that he had to shave his head because of me, but also because Honda’s future wife is truly exceptional: he once told me that he woke up in pieces after a Gintama deadline and found Monster Hunter 3 on his bed. She had bought it, on the sly, standing in line since 4:30 in the morning.

“Well, now I won’t have to sit on my hands waiting for the Gintama boards!”

Looking at him smiling sarcastically with a face similar to Yian Kut-ku*, almost like a chicken bone, my big sword exploded, “Imbecile! What you need to hunt for is not the monsters in the video game, let alone rare items, but your sweet bride! A very rare woman to find! Give me Monster Hunter and go buy a wedding ring by standing in line from 3:30 in the morning!”

After all, it’s thanks to me and Capcom. Honda is nothing but a hyena, he simply took the prey down from me and Capcom and made the best of it. I would never trust a guy like that with the last hunt, the “big catch”. Penetrating Yian Kut-ku and his bride with my arrow of the heart, turning them into yakitori**, is my last mission as a Happy Hunter!

*Monster appearing in Monster Hunter.
**Chicken skewers.

So I gladly agreed to do the illustration. It’s like… even though it’s a thoughtful bride, they’re a couple of fools who formed through a video game after all. She’s Yian Kut-ku’s bride, so I know very well that she’s similar to Congalala*.

“Well, leave it to a mangaka… I’ll draw Congalala as a golden Rathian*, give me a picture!”, I told him. But other than Congalala, it was a pretty bride like Felyne**, with glasses and a pair of socks. The photo showed the pretty Felyne and the clean-shaven Yian Kut-ku with a face like a stowaway, cheek to cheek, around the Disney Sea, as if shouting “Yeah”! I felt like hunting them down! By now it doesn’t matter how similar they look to Felyne and Yian Kut-ku, I can smash their heads with a big sword and reduce them to “Jelly Belly Socks”? I didn’t know you were like that, I thought they were a poor couple of Congalala and Yian Kut-ku, and I thought more of dedicating a flower to these two fools. Even when I heard about the Monster Hunter purchase story, all I could think of was Congalala standing in line at dawn, and I was even sure that she had forcibly stolen the game by throwing poop at others. That bastard! Even though it’s Yian Kut-ku, in which Village Vanguard shop did he buy the bride? And since he made her wait in line at 4:30 in the morning, in winter, what the heck kind of SM games do they play?

So I felt like ruining the wedding and asked Matsuo, my new editor, “Hey, do you think I could put poop in the bride’s hands?” He replied, “That’s right, it’s annoying! Gori! Uho! Uho!. It’s rather him, my Congalala-like “new bride”… Jesus!

*Monsters appearing in Monster Hunter.
**Monster Hunter character.

CONTACT WITH THE READERS: QUESTION CORNER 116

QUESTION FROM LADY SADIST QUEEN OF CHIBA PROVINCE

In one episode, Okita’s older sister Mitsuba is getting married, right? And Okita says, “…there’s a guy who irritates me. Even though he’s my kohai, he talks to me like we’re on the same level. Also, he’s insolent…” You’re referring to Hijikata, aren’t you? Why was Okita his senpai at the time, but now he’s the commander of Team #1 and Hijikata is the deputy chief?

ANSWER:

Director Kondo is the core of the Shinsengumi, as well as the symbol, but the deputy chief has, venerating the chief, the actual running of the organization. And since it’s a continuous follow-up to the boss, Followkata was the most appropriate.

Okita is also smart, but not suited to leading others. He also specialises in fighting, so he was given command of the first team. He is the most dangerous of all. But both are important roles that are indispensable in an organisation.

Volume forty-two, the special “Sorachi and Matsuo W Congalala training” ends here. Forget curly hair, this man looks like he has pubic hair on his head… Besides being Congalala. On top of that, he was born and raised in Hokkaido, so I thought he was a copy of me. I thought I was going to die.
Anyway, he has a head that deserves a shave. But since it looks like a simple shave, I’m fearlessly conceding mistakes. And the first one I think I’ll make at Yian Kut-ku’s wedding, attending with a “W Congalala with poop on two hands” as my offering. Thanks for taking care of me so far, Honda!

New topic: “Thank you for your work, Honda”.

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Thank you for buying Gintama 41!

The other day I had the chance to draw a manga for the first time in collaboration with another work published in Jump, that is Sket Dance, and I included it in this volume.

To tell you the truth, Shinohara sensei, the author, was my assistant before I started it, one of the best, an ace in the Sorachi clan. As soon as he left the Gintama studio, he got a serial publication in no time, and also won the Shogakukan prize. On top of that, his work was made into anime and he even found a young and beautiful wife! In short, he’s become a respectable and dirty guy, so much so that he made me the scandalous proposal to join him, without being satisfied with his wife… So I thought it was time to pay him back, since when he was my assistant I made him work hard (for example, he often drew Gin-san’s wooden sword that I forgot about). So, thinking that now it was my turn to draw a big sword on Bossun’s back to help him out, I started Super Dirty Dance loaded to the max!

But Shinohara sensei is such a precise man – even to pick his nose he goes to the bathroom – that he keeps his boogers under strict control. I, on the other hand, always have boogers stuck on my shoulder during meetings… And I thought it was rude of my editor to stare at me right there, as if he were talking to my shoulder! Also with regard to deadlines, my timeline is as long as the viscous green mucus of that time, so even if we wanted to collaborate, our work schedules didn’t coincide at all… as if our mucus were water and oil! So we decided to have the Yorozuya members and the Sket-Dan club members appear in each other’s stories, and pick each other’ nose in our own way.


CONTACT WITH THE READERS: QUESTION CORNER 110

QUESTION BY MR. YAMADA V, OSAKA PROVINCE

For the original anime episodes, do you provide the ideas? Does it sometimes happen that after watching them, you find that the image of a character is different from what you have in mind? Or is there a special staff?

ANSWER:

I leave everything to the staff, and I let my editor check the basics, trying not to interfere in the production. If I stick my nose in too much, they might not enjoy it. My job is to make funny stories, so I honestly don’t care if the anime is funny or not, but I know that if you have fun with it, you’re more likely to come up with something hilarious. So, I try not to get involved in the other stuff, gadgets included. In return I do what I like too, ignoring the anime! Here’s my position.


CONTACT WITH THE READERS: QUESTION CORNER 111

QUESTION FROM MR. NAMELESS

I have some questions about the characters in Gintama. Gin-san is based on Kintoki Sakata, while Shinpachi is based on Shinpachi Nagakura, right? Then who is the character modeled after Kagura?

ANSWER:

As you say, for Shinpachi, I used Shinpachi Nakagura, who appeared in a manga about the Shinsengumi that I worked on before making Gintama. Only, changes were made, and he became the heir to a dojo. For this reason, I thought about the name of his father, who would become the key character, and I chose Ken Shimura, a real samurai name. And so Shinpachi Shimura was chosen.

As for Kagura, since the protagonist of the story is based on Kintaro*, I thought the heroine could be based on Princess Kaguya. By the way, her name, and her brother Kamui’s name, I took both from two locations in Hokkaido**.

*Name by which Kintoki Sakata is known.
**Kagura-cho (神楽町) and Mt. Kamui (神威岳)


CONTACT WITH THE READERS: QUESTION CORNER 112

QUESTION FROM MR. SAD ELDER BROTHER (TEARS) FROM KAGAWA PROVINCE

Good morning, Sorachi sensei! I have to take my exams soon, but I don’t understand English at all. So before asking the teacher anything, I asked my younger brother who is incredibly intelligent (he’s a seventh-grade student in the prime of his youth and rebellious period) a question.

Older brother: “How do I do with English?”.

Younger brother: “It is useless of time“.

Sensei, you help me!

ANSWER:

Alright! Let’s shut your insolent little brother up! But before I help you study, tell me one thing… What does your younger brother say?


CONTACT WITH THE READERS: QUESTION CORNER 113

QUESTION FROM MR. DAIJI SATO OF HOKKAIDO

The other day I came across the word nigrigintama in a dictionary. It means “to stand with arms folded and do nothing”. In ideograms it is spelled “tight testicles”.

ANSWER:

Rather than nigrigintama, judging by the ideograms, you cross your balls. It says “Without doing anything”, but it’s obvious that one is thinking of obscene things.

All in all, it means that reading Gintama is equivalent to doing nothing by titillating yourself. If you keep doing such a thing without even studying…

It is useless of time.

CONTACT WITH THE READERS: QUESTION CORNER 114

QUESTION FROM MISS KASUMI, NAGASAKI PROVINCE

How do you create famous jokes? This has always been a concern of mine.

ANSWER:

The effectiveness of jokes, or rather decisive phrases, is already clear before they are said. In other words, in the unfolding of the story, before you get to the scene in question, you already find the solution for most cases. In other words, the most important thing is how to direct the speech. For example, I give importance to the recovery of the lines said casually before arriving at the climax scene, in order to make the characters speak with a language that suits them. For the rest, I rely on inspiration… And I just thought of one now:

It is useless of time.

CONTACT WITH THE READERS: QUESTION CORNER 115

QUESTION FROM MR SARASARA, TOKYO METROPOLITAN AREA

Hello, Sorachi sensei! In volume 14 where the Yagyu saga takes place, while observing Gin-san’s fighting style, Binbokusai says, “Did you invent those sword techniques you use?” Did Katsura and Takasugi, who learned from the same master, Shoyo, also invent the techniques they use?

ANSWER:

They are part of the school “It is useless of time“.

And so the manga crossover made in collaboration with him was completed and will start from the next page.

Since both Shinohara sensei and I didn’t want to influence each other, we drew each other’s parts without checking the other’s. I do remember regretting not reading his half, though, because I found that our ideas overlapped more than I had imagined.

As for the readers’ reaction, there was a storm of praise: “Gin-san drawn by Shinohara sensei looks just like the original, but Gorilla Bossun looks like another one!”, “It’s not clear who’s whose sensei!”, etc. In short, it seems that I have to apologise to Shinohara sensei. In fact, it’s true that the character I drew doesn’t look like the original one, but take a closer look at him: his goggles are identical, aren’t they? At least the goggles look alike, right? They’re indispensable to Bossun, and if he’s wearing the same pair as the original… he’s none other than Bossun? You idiots!

But because it was a nuisance, I never designed the goggles, which were made by my assistants instead. Well, that’s my idea of Sket Dance, done in my own way as a Gorilla! So I apologize to the fans.

By the way, this crossover was included in volume 20 of Sket Dance, but you don’t need to buy it… so you won’t be comparing the two manga. And if you should find it in any bookstore, hide it!

Having said that, the special “Excuse me if when I left the studio I thought I was going to die like a dog” ends here.

In the past, while chatting with my assistants, I told them: “Since I get excited talking to other authors during the New Year’s party, you have to make your debut while the serial publication of this work is still going on”. And so Shinohara sensei, who fulfilled this stupid dream of mine, remains a reliable assistant to me. But positions have changed, and if possible, I would like to learn how to draw not only Bossun, but also Anpanman (by sketching him, Shinohara sensei made one of his nephews cry during the wedding banquet). I’d be delighted if together with him I could be one of the two respectable mangaka who keep on Jump! Shinohara sensei, I had a great time. Thank you very much, and I’ll see you at the New Year’s Eve party!

New topic: “After all, I haven’t gone there even once since then”.

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Thank you for purchasing the 40th volume! The other day I ran into my family after a long time, and I noticed that my older sister, who I’ve seen again after a long time, has become a questionable person… Well, she’s always been a shameless woman with her brain reduced to industrial sludge who mistakenly said “Hedoro pass” instead of “Middle pass”, but that time she gave me a terrible “Killer pass”, meaning she said, “Maybe I’ve started seeing spirits!” So I thought: “Are you stupid? At thirty-five years old, do you still want other people to take care of you?”. I don’t believe in that stuff, and I consider those who talk about it to be individuals who can’t stand to be alone. However, fearing that she had embraced some strange religion, I listened to what she had to say, half laughing… also driven by alcohol. Then my face gradually contracted. As if to say, I could see some spirits, in fact it looked almost like Bleach! And fixing my gaze on her, it seemed she was looking at a strange entity, as if she was carrying the Zanpakuto* “Hedoro” on her back. She was clearly staring at something enigmatic, so much so that even I, Hideaki Sorachi, an ultra-realistic, sarcastic and objective guy, couldn’t explain the situation. On top of that, my sister sees the spirits not alone, but sometimes with other people… in short, the situation is really terrible.

“Well, anyway, since I’m scared, I try to think that it’s all due to tiredness, or an optical illusion.” “You’re r-right! Maybe it’s just your impression…”

In this way, we both went to bed resignedly.  But it was impossible to fall asleep. After all – we didn’t admit it just because we were afraid – the answer is clear. It was as if we had to answer the question in a class assignment: insert the missing syllable in the underlined space “__doro pass”. There is no other choice but “He”! although I don’t want to admit it, the only correct answer is “Hedoro pass”! in short, there was an atmosphere similar to this… You are sleeping with a relieved soul after emptying the Hedoro, i.e. the slime, but your younger brother is covered with Hedoro! Since then, you have been sleeping with the TV set on.

*appears in Bleach.

CONTACT WITH THE READERS: QUESTION CORNER 106

QUESTION FROM THE LADY “HOUSEWIFE WHO MAY LOVE GINTAMA” FROM AICHI PROVINCE

I’ll ask the question right now… In volume 25, Abuto lost his left arm, but as Yato… did he recover? (Even Kagura, when she was hit by a gun, recovered in one day!)

ANSWER:

No, he didn’t recover. Even though he’s a Yato, his arm doesn’t grow back. He uses an artificial arm. Since the Yato are a fighting race, they are often injured in battle, so they are equipped with advanced artificial limb reconstruction technology.

CONTACT WITH THE READERS: QUESTION CORNER 107

QUESTION FROM MR. NEW EIGHTH GRADE STUDENT

I’ve been thinking this ever since the episode “In a gokon, the funniest part is the waiting before it starts” in volume 16: since when did Gin-san and his friends start using telepathy? Or is it always better to play dumb on this one?

ANSWER:

If the characters understand each other even though there’s this kind of speech bubble… it’s because they speak softly!

CONTACT WITH THE READERS: QUESTION CORNER 108

QUESTION FROM MR. “SORACHI SENSEI, LATELY SUFFERING FROM AN ADDICTION TO CONTROVERSIAL TOPICS, YOU SHOULD ANSWER ANY QUESTION!”, FROM HOKKAIDO

Sorachi sensei, you are very good at drawing the Shogun’s brief! By any chance, are you one of the lovers of briefs?

ANSWER:

More than a matter of personal taste, in my day, wearing a pair of briefs at least once was considered a sort of rite of passage. At the medical check-up, everyone wore a pair so worn out that the elastics had stretched so far as to leave the testicles uncovered, looking like little click balls.

There were no tight-fitting boxers yet, and if you wore a normal pair of boxers you were treated like an anti-patriot.

“This is a boxer, make friends with him, boys! Boxer, sit next to the thong!”

“Tsk! What a snobbish student the newcomer is! Let’s take him down a peg now, Fundoshi-o*!”

Rumble Crash

“Hey! Who was the one who hooked the elastic band of the brief here?!”

I mean, that was pretty much the situation back then. So it was hard to find the right moment to become a boxer lover, and that’s why we all tormented each other: “How to wear a pair of boxers naturally without being obnoxious”?

By the way, back in my briefs days, I once went to the dermatologist. When he had me undressed, the front part was yellowish (it looked like some oronamin c** had fallen in), and I submitted to the examination while keeping my hands crossed in front of me.

I have since become a lover of boxers.

*The fundoshi is a traditional loincloth worn by men. -O is a suffix indicating the male gender.
**Energy drink.

CONTACT WITH THE READERS: QUESTION CORNER 109

QUESTION FROM MR. “THE ONE INSIDE SACCHAN IS VERY PRETTY”, FROM NAGANO PROVINCE

Good morning, Sorachi sensei! While playing Dragon Quest 5, after a long time, I got to the point where I have to decide who to marry. I’m really struggling because I don’t know who to choose between Bianca, Flora, and Debora.

ANSWER:

Bianca, by now, only has eyes for me, she is my bride. So you could choose any other slut, and I hope you will be happy forever!

That said, volume forty, the special “sister, how dare you start to realise something like this at almost thirty-five years old?”, ends here!
Well, I wouldn’t want to believe it either, and even now I’m looking for material to disprove it. But just imagine a scene in which a lady over thirty, and moreover the older sister with whom I used to mock the spirit pictures until recently, tells me such a thing in all seriousness! Scary, isn’t it?
A woman and a man in their thirties say to each other: “Well, that’s not a spirit, but an entity made essentially of thought, isn’t it?”. … It would terrify anyone and you’d think that such brothers should end up in hospital! Anyway, regardless of whether it’s an optical illusion or not, this story makes an impression, so I told her to get exorcised. She replied that she had already done so, either at a Shinto shrine or a Buddhist temple. But they seem to have told her that if a certain person is psychic by nature, it’s not possible to lose this ability, and that she should go on living without paying too much attention to it. They seem to have checked her out nicely, telling her, “No need to worry, you have a very strong guardian spirit!” And when she asked what kind of spirit it was… “A defeated samurai, holding two decapitated heads.” …
Well, would that be what a guardian spirit looks like?! What’s he doing holding two decapitated heads? Anyway, since he’s protecting her, I can’t expect too much, but as a younger brother I would have preferred a rapper with two radios, or someone cheerful… But I don’t think so… Rather, let him take care of my sister…

New topic: “Ghosts don’t exist.”

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Thank you for purchasing Gintama 39!

In conjunction with the anime’s resumption, I’ve had various jobs come in, and I’ve been very busy lately. So, the number of e-mail exchanges with my editor has also increased. I would reply, “Sorry, but it looks like I’m going to be a little late with those colour pages,” etc. At some point I realized that the subject was always the same: ‘Sorry’. In all the emails. ” I’m sorry”, or “Re: I’m sorry”, all the way up to “Re: I’ m sorry”, in both mine and the editor’s emails. Even when there was no need to apologize it said “Excuse me”.

That item was probably used for the first time when I delayed the delivery of the storyboard. We both have many opportunities to apologize to each other, so in our response we pretend to express some sense of regret by deleting “King”, but in reality the words ” I’m sorry” refer to something else entirely. Don’t you think this is rude? It’s true that I am rude, since I recycle ‘Sorry’ several times and sprinkle water on the dried out ‘Sorry’ object to put it back on the plate, but it’s my editor who is more rude. That is my ‘Sorry’ object, which I wrote in tears after hurting my back. How dare he use it acting like my father? Is it reasonable to apologize to me before using the “I’m sorry” object… If he really wanted to apologize to me, he would have to erase not only “Re:” but my entire “I’m sorry” in the object and write “I’m sorry” with his fingers… That’s really apologizing, isn’t it…?

I apologize if I ended up being preachy.

CONTACT WITH THE READERS: QUESTION CORNER 102

QUESTION FROM MR. JUMP LOVE, GUNMA PROVINCE

Ever since I read Bakuman, I’ve wanted to work in the Jump editorial department. Also, after learning that Mr. Nakasaki, Sorachi sensei’s previous editor, graduated from T. University, I realized that there are people with a high degree, and I have even more desire. I pride myself on being able to judge a manga, I can tell immediately if it’s going to end soon or when the editor has changed. And now we come to the question: is Mr. Nakasaki an ordinary employee or a senior employee? And how much does he earn?

ANSWER:

As you have read, I received a letter from a Bakuman fan. Unfortunately, Elite Nakasaki now works for Margaret magazine, so I can’t ask him for details about his salary.

One thing I can say, though: he does have a high degree, but he also has such a low IQ that he cries his eyes out after pouring tabasco on his groin. I can’t forget his silly face as he proudly told us that by rubbing dairy products, like cheese, on himself, the pain went away.

Having said that, in order to work in an editorial office, qualifications do not count. In Bakuman the editors are drawn as cool individuals, but their IQ is lower than that of chimpanzees, so even you, who use “manager” instead of “director”, have a good chance. Also, just noticing the flaws in a manga is not good at all, everyone can do that. But an editor has to be able to find the interesting elements and think how to enhance them.

Of course, it’s not easy, but we mangaka want a partner to walk through hell with, even if they have a very low salary or are at the level of a chimpanzee. So if you aspire to that job, aim to become a passionate chimp, but never pour tabasco on your crotch… it’s dangerous!

CONTACT WITH THE READERS: QUESTION CORNER 103

QUESTION FROM MR TAKEMON OF OSAKA PROVINCE

Good morning, Sorachi sensei! A friend of mine, despite being a high school student, suffers from the typical immature and self-centered seventh grade student syndrome. He thinks he can defend himself and fight back, even in front of four punks. I would like to treat him in some way, you tell me how.

ANSWER:

People suffering from this disease have a weakness for words like “On the contrary”, or “I would dare…”, so say to him: “I’d even lose to a brat in primary school, you’re really strong!” showing him the strength of someone who recognizes his weakness. But don’t say it with a thymus of esteem, but with a deep sigh, as if you wanted to imply ‘You’re incorrigible!’. The phrase “You are really strong!” should be uttered to show your magnanimity, as if it were a warm blanket with which to wrap him and his irascible soul. The number of thugs he says he can rout should decrease from four to three and from three to two. Eventually he will begin to say: “The hooligans frighten me, but if they touch something dear to me, I will not keep quiet!”. Even then he will seem quite annoying, but less so than before.

Anyway, if some thugs actually beat him up, call me! I train my fists on the wall every day, I can crush four or five of them with one hand!

CONTACT WITH THE READERS: QUESTION CORNER 104

QUESTION FROM MISS AKARI OF YAMAGATA PROVINCE

Good morning, sensei! I can’t help but think of something… Once, in the episode where the slimy orbs appeared, Hijikata said he was going to quit smoking, right? Yet I keep seeing scenes where he has a white stick in his mouth. Tell me why! Is it to maintain his pose? Personally, I don’t think there’s any problem with smoking, but I’m curious about this… Tell me if there’s a particular reason!

ANSWER:

Despite the desire to quit smoking, people tend to fail. And there’s a kind of tacit consensus on the subject.

Hiroshi Tachi* demonstrates this, watch him!

*Actor and singer. He once claimed to have quit smoking.

CONTACT WITH THE READERS: QUESTION CORNER 105

QUESTION FROM MISS YNG, TOKYO METROPOLITAN AREA

In the 286th Lesson “Don’t let the meteorite defeat you” in volume 33, there’s a scene where Gin-san gets hit in the groin, right? So because I’m a woman, I can’t understand how strong the pain can be. Someone said, “It’s comparable to what it feels like to be attacked directly, ignoring your opponent’s defensive strength, by a body with no abdominal muscles”. Even with this explanation, I don’t fully understand. In simple terms, how much does it hurt? This issue is so close to my heart that I can’t sleep at night…?

ANSWER:

You can’t understand because you don’t have the balls?

Well, I’ll use a fairy-tale comparison.

Imagine that you are drinking a cup of delicious tea in a field of flowers, when your rabbit escapes. You go to fetch it, but at that very moment a prince riding a white horse passes by. Because of your sudden appearance, he can’t keep hold of the reins, and the horse gives you a hoof on the head! But since you’re wearing a helmet, you don’t get hurt.

The prince loses his balance and is thrown to the ground by the horse, but just before he hits the ground, he is caught by his servant, who used to be a member of the artistic gymnastics club. However, perhaps due to over-exertion, the faithful servant’s back makes an unpleasant ‘crock’, causing him imaginable pain all over his body. The old man cries out loud, and wakes up. Yes, it was all a dream.

When you read a horrendous novel, which narrates what is written above, you are in great pain.

It is a pain similar to the one your father finds when he bangs his balls, and to the even deeper pain of your mother next door, who sees you in such pain.

Volume 38, the ‘Sorry’ special, ends here! And remember, apologize in your own words! In fact, don’t ever become frivolous adults who think it’s enough to say sorry! The other day my editor sent me by mistake the email he could have sent to his girlfriend. When I saw the subject line was “Sorry”, I was amazed! What’s more, the content of the email was more or less: ‘Sorry! As I will have to drink until the morning, let’s postpone our appointment to Sunday. Sorry again! Jelly Belly”, But it was me, Sorachi sensei, who was going to drink with him until morning! He sent me who was standing in front of him, an email blaming me for the postponement of his appointment as if nothing had happened!

From then on, as we conversed, I had my head in the clouds, because I was worried about him. Jelly Belly, on the other hand, was talking about the mysteries of mathematics while drunk.

Well, I already know the subject of the answer:

“Re: excuse me”.

New topic: “Re: excuse me”.

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Thank you for buying Gintama 38!

I haven’t told you yet, but it’s been decided that starting from April the anime will resume. And that’s also thanks to your support!

You might think that at the very moment it was finished, it was decided behind the scenes that it would be resumed, but that’s not the case. It’s true that everyone said they wanted to do something so that they could rebroadcast it, but I thought it was definitely over. However, understanding the atmosphere, I said: “With everyone’s strength we’ll make it!”, but then, alone with my editor, I spoke as if it was no longer necessary. Talking about the directors, I would call them ‘superfluous’, or ‘useless’, and maybe they too would think ‘We don’t need you there’, or ‘We only need the Jump brand’. But I wouldn’t have imagined that we would start to see each other as a ‘source of income’ for each other again… The world is hard to understand. I hear anxious voices like “Won’t we have to worry, since we don’t have enough episodes of the original work yet?”, or “They’ll finish again soon”. No problem, before the supply of episodes runs out, such vulgar anime will definitely be deleted! In fact, just in case the original work will be eliminated too… So I can’t guarantee anything about the duration, but I can promise you one thing: I’ll work hard, as I did until now, both for the manga and the anime, so that I won’t have any regrets.

So just in case the time comes when we fall down and set off a dirty firework, say the following: “The anime is to blame, but the manga is healthy… Resume its publication!”

CONTACT WITH THE READERS: QUESTION CORNER 97

QUESTION FROM MR. “MY DAD HAS METABOLIC SYNDROME” FROM HYOGO PROVINCE

The title of the 150th lesson in volume 18 is “There’s no two without three”, but the 322nd in volume 37 is also titled “There’s no two without three”. They are completely the same. Is this a simple mistake?

ANSWER:

It is not a mistake. You say it as if you have made a great discovery, but I want you to re-read that title carefully and keep waiting because… There is no two without three.

CONTACT WITH THE READERS: QUESTION CORNER 98

QUESTION FROM MR. “BECAUSE I LIKED THE NAME OF A CERTAIN CHARACTER, I MEMORIZED IT IN TWO DAYS BY REPEATING IT OFTEN, SO MY MOTHER SAID, ‘BUT DO YOU HAVE A HEADACHE?’ DAMN IT!”, FROM YAMANASHI PROVINCE

Good morning, Sorachi sensei! I have a question, or rather a favour to ask of you. My family has decided to have a dog, but we haven’t chosen a name yet. So I’d like to ask you to do that. I hate normal things, so I don’t want to give him the usual name that everyone gives their dog. I think you could come up with a wonderful name (?) like a certain character’s…

ANSWER:

You don’t ask a middle-aged man you don’t know to choose a dog’s name lightly. Since it will be his for life, I don’t like the idea of it being chosen in such a bizarre way. Even a banal name is fine, if it’s one you’ve thought up in your head and with all your heart. Even something as common as Pochi or Taro becomes unique in the world! Can you understand me? The important thing is your heart, period.

You can even call it ” Heart-period”.

CONTACT WITH THE READERS: QUESTION CORNER 99

QUESTION BY MISS RISA MINAKAWA

I think you underestimate Mr. Yamcha too much, sensei! It’s true that he is often cited as an example of weakness, but you shouldn’t judge his worth from that point of view alone. First of all, he enjoys everyone’s trust. You only have to see Puar to understand that. Dragon Ball is famous as a manga in which revolts of the inferiors and the subversion of the hierarchical order often occur. It is rare to find a character who remains loyal to his master. Even the fact that Krillin addresses Yamcha with respect, despite the fact that he is an older and better student of martial arts, shows that he is held in high regard. (By the way, Yamcha frankly addresses Tenshinhan, who seems to be the same age as him, asking him, for example, “Don’t you have any money?”). Also regarding the separation from Bulma she was actually jilted by Yamcha. It’s not possible for women to dump such a man, but he chose to become a clown so Bulma wouldn’t lose face. There’s a tendency in Dragon Ball to judge characters’ worth based on strength alone, but I think it’s Yamcha who’s great from a human standpoint.

ANSWER:

I FEEL THE SAME WAY.

CONTACT WITH THE READERS: QUESTION CORNER 100

QUESTION FROM MR. CYBORG NO. 77 OF AKITA PROVINCE

Good morning, Sorachi sensei! What does the existence of Yamcha mean to you? Tell me!

ANSWER:

Well, Yamcha is often cited as an example of weakness, but you shouldn’t judge his worth from that standpoint alone. First of all, he enjoys everyone’s trust. You only have to see Puar to understand that. Dragon Ball is famous as a manga in which revolts of the inferiors and the subversion of the hierarchical order often occur. It is rare to find a character who remains loyal to his master. Even the fact that Krillin addresses Yamcha with respect, despite the fact that he is an older and better student of martial arts, shows that he is held in high regard. (By the way, Yamcha frankly addresses Tenshinhan, who seems to be the same age as him, asking him, for example, “Don’t you have any money?”). Also regarding the separation from Bulma, she was actually jilted by Yamcha. There’s no way women would dump such a man, but he chose to become a clown so Bulma wouldn’t lose face. In Dragon Ball we tend to judge the value of characters based on strength alone, but I think it’s Yamcha who’s great from a human standpoint.

CONTACT WITH THE READERS: QUESTION CORNER 101

QUESTION FROM MR. GORILLA WHO LOVES YAMCHA, TOKYO METROPOLITAN AREA

Good morning, Sorachi sensei! Question: How did Yamcha get the scars on his face?

ANSWER:

Well, I guess during training. But Yamcha probably… Hey, you need to write to the Dragon Ball department!

A WILD HOOLIGAN PASSING BY

This is the self-contained work I drew for the project I wrote about in the previous volume. When I decided to tell you about the ringleaders, I thought that you young people wouldn’t be able to understand them well, because maybe they look like the ogres that appear in fairy tales. So by talking about the ringleaders, the punks, and the onyanko as if they were characters in a fantasy, it made for a really absurd manga. The work schedule I had to follow was hellish, but while I was drawing I was having fun and kept working at full speed. Then the plot of the work expanded more and more and I ended up touching on a tremendous amount of ideas, which I had a hard time summarizing. This work amounts to one of about a hundred pages, so it is very difficult to read. Maybe enjoy it by dividing it into three parts… But if I tell you that in the afterword, it’s a bit pointless…



Having said that, volume 38, that is, the special on Yamcha, ends here. But how many postcards about Yamcha have come in? Well, the third one is a fake, I wrote it. I wanted the last one to be a funny ending, so I wrote it myself as a joke.
Listen up, everybody! From now on, when you send such postcards, write three different questions. No matter how hard I looked, I could only find two postcards related to Yamcha, so I had no choice but to make the last one myself. Try to understand the atmosphere, and don’t let Sorachi sensei commit such a shameful act ever again! I know very well that if you work hard, you will succeed! I believe in you!

New topic: “When writing three types of postcards, don’t forget to make it look like they were sent by different people, using different P.N.’s.”

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