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”.

Previous Next

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.”

Previous Next

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”.

Previous Next

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.”

Previous Next

Thank you for purchasing volume thirty-seven! Those who read Jump will already know that the other day I had the opportunity to draw a self-contained work. When I did it for Jump Square I saw hell and thought “That’s enough!”, but the editors tricked me by proposing a project that almost smacks of spite: everyone has to produce one. They vilely asked me to participate, since others were doing the same.

Since it would have been worse if only I had not been able to complain with the others later on with the cry of “That experience was really hellish!”, I decided to take a position similar to that of Taro Yamamoto in the film Battle Royale by saying: “I’ve already been to hell once. It’s a first for you, huh?” … So I immediately stood at the bus stop to hell, with a big cross-shaped scar on my face and in my swimming costume, posing as a veteran: “I want to give you some advice. This is real hell… be careful!”.

However, no matter how long I waited, no one arrived and, while I was wondering if I had got off at the wrong stop, a bus arrived in front of me, or rather a huge tank that went “psssh” and moved its cannon. I took a look inside and… it was full of veterans with their bodies covered in scars! Forget about the cross on their faces, those were the sensei Osamu Akimoto, Akira Toriyama, Masashi Kishimoto, Kyosuke Usuta and Takeshi Konomi, legendary men who had apparently survived a hell unlike any I’d seen, and they were standing there smoking a cigar! It was as if I had found Stallone, Schwarzenegger and Van Damme in school uniforms, their collars turned up, while I was posing as Taro Yamamoto in Battle Royale. I immediately wiped the scrawl off my forehead and climbed into the tank, almost prostrating myself. Then I phoned my editor and complained: “This was supposed to be a bus trip through the underworld with the other authors who publish in the magazine, but I find out that only legendary authors are taking part, so it’s a legendary men’s trip in a tank!”. And furthermore, I couldn’t fit into their conversation… When I told him this, he replied that since there were so few participants, the project had been modified. Then he added: “You’re obviously not a legendary author, but it’s not appropriate to abandon a trip halfway through, so try to get away with posing as much as possible!”.

It was the formidably titled Top of the Super Legend project, but as I mentioned earlier, it involved an out-of-place gorilla like me. Phrases such as ” Are you part of the legend?”, “Try to understand the atmosphere!”, etc… But if I had known from the beginning that it was a trip of legendary authors, I would have declined the proposal with all my might. I am aware that I am not so much part of the legend as to become part of it. In this sense, I should be considered a legendary individual. Drawing a self-contained work while another one is being published in episodic form does not give you any advantage (the work schedule is disrupted). Even if everything went well, if I was told “Publish this one and leave Gintama alone!”, I’d feel down in the dumps. But being told “Keep drawing Gintama all your life!” wouldn’t make me jump for joy either… I’d end up getting depressed anyway.

However, I jumped into hell wanting to create and learn, but mostly because I wanted to make the readers happy. For a man who chose to undergo penance driven by such a pure feeling, the words, “Huh? What about you, Taro?” Or “Hey, Taro! Your swimming costume is the same as Mr. Stallone’s, you should put it on your head!” are too cruel! Taro didn’t do anything bad except for the typical “Merolin Q “* joke to give people a smile!

Instead, nothing good! The legendary men’s tank proceeded with impetus and at a tremendous speed on a bumpy road. Therefore, even though the legendary authors were smoking cigars calmly, Taro was carsick and kept vomiting into the legendary bag in a legendary manner… Really legendary!

As you know, I’m someone who completes the panels at the last minute, just in time, among those who publish in Jump. From this point of view, I’m considered a legend, or rather an anti-legend, so I could barely keep up with the others. At a certain point I realized I had jumped off the tank, thrown into an immense desert. Oh, yeah, it was the desert in the storyboard, considered… the infinite hell.

*Senseless joke that Taro Yamamoto used to make when he participated in a TV comedy show.

The reason why I complete the panels just in time – which is now legendary – is because I’m slower with the storyboard than with the drawings. The storyboard is the most important thing in a manga, because it tells you how to divide up the panels, what lines to put in, etc., and I’m slow, or rather, the fact is that I can’t get my head around it and I work on it until the very end, and I don’t feel comfortable if I don’t keep working on it until the deadline, so that I don’t have time to draw the panels.

Maybe if I’m more talented than others, it’s precisely in this. I’m not talking about storyboarding techniques, or anything like that, but the talent to stick to it! If you do that, anyone can make a decent piece of work… And I keep on elaborating on it persistently, until I reach this level, like a pathetic man trying to convince a girl in front of a couples’ hotel. It’s as if I prostrate myself completely naked in front of her, every episode. That’s the only way I can draw a manga that’s on the same level as the others. All this for a regular nineteen-page episode… So for a self-contained work of forty-nine pages, the situation is terrible. A nineteen-page episode is an easy girl, who you somehow manage to convince by feeding her, giving her a gift, and throwing yourself at her feet. But a forty-nine-page work is a girl who grew up mollycoddled and at around nine o’clock in the evening says: “Sorry, but I have to go home!”. On top of that, it was the Super Legend project, so it was more like a Shinto priestess saying, “I’m busy tonight because there’s a Shinto ablution ritual.” … An impossible feat to take her to a hotel by the hour! While I was arguing with her (“But do the ritual to me first!”), I was stopped by a policeman: “Hey, you! What the hell are you doing?Why are you completely naked?” … So it was really horrible, and having no other choice I went to an Image club*, being served by a girl dressed as a priestess. When I left the club, the clock read four days before the deadline, and I still had to draw all forty-nine pages plus a regular chapter of Gintama. That’s why I asked for a page discount, but I still had to do a nine-page chapter.

All in all, I was faced with a legendary work schedule: fifty-eight pages in four days!

*Men-only clubs where girls in cosplay offer customers erotic shows and sexual performances.

To put it simply, asking to complete fifty-eight pages in four days is the equivalent of saying “DIEEEEEEEE!”.

The time it takes to draw the pages of a manga varies from person to person. As far as I’m concerned, working normally, I can complete a page in about an hour and a half. But that applies to Gintama, which I’m used to drawing. In the case of a self-contained work, since the characters are not well defined, even calculating the shortest possible time, it takes me two hours. If I work without sleep, I can complete twelve pages a day, and at this rate I could then reach a maximum of forty-eight pages. In addition, I had been on the storyboard for more than a week, without interruption, and I was exhausted both physically and psychologically. I hadn’t slept for a few days and it was impossible for me to stay awake all night. “Sensei, it’s impossible.” … In this desperate situation, a feeling similar to resignation was about to arise in my staff. But I’m Hideaki Sorachi, a legendary anti-legendary who has exceeded three figures of gory moments on the brink of expiration!

So I proposed the theory of the triple Kaioken: “By drawing a line at three times the usual speed, the boards will also be completed three times faster. As a result, four days might seem like twelve”. So, inciting everyone’s fighting spirit, taking off my hundred-pound G pen and the equally heavy brief I used to train in, I slid the pen on, completely naked, and managed to complete nineteen pages in twelve hours. However, even if the triple Kaioken makes it three times faster, it multiplies the stress by thirty! And since I resorted to it already exhausted, the stress exploded and I began to tremble without being able to remain seated. I was drawing standing up. Then my legs started to tremble, and I ended up wandering around the room. I couldn’t keep still, when I kept quiet I felt like running all over the place shouting “Aaaaah!”.

“Someone let me kick his ass!”
“Sensei, calm down! Take a nap!”

I went to bed but I couldn’t sleep, I kept fidgeting. It was the first time I had experienced something like that since I became a mangaka.

I was in a borderline situation without being able to draw or rest as I wanted. In front of me appeared a man with a shaved head, whom I had never seen before, who spoke to me in the carefree voice of someone who can’t take in the atmosphere: “How are you?”.

Actually, I knew him: “Y-you’re… Honda?!”.
At that instant Honda slumped to the ground, spilling Jelly Belly from his mouth.
“Hondaaaaa!”
“S-Since my hair grew… I changed my appearance.”
“Don’t lie! You… by any chance…!” Yes, the deadly work schedule of fifty-eight pages in four days was the result of Honda’s efforts, who had managed to reduce Gintama to nine pages by steadily lowering his head. It still remained a murderous, if already miraculous, programme.
“Since those in high places were petulant, I shaved my head. Then they shut up. Cough! Cough!”
“Don’t talk! If you spread more Jelly Belly you’ll die! Wait! I’ll shave too!”
“D-don’t worry! Compared to your suffering, being bald is nothing, Sorachi sensei! Sorry I couldn’t postpone the deadline! Cough! Cough!”
Honda was more broken up than I was. In fact… it was as if I had shaved his head with a clipper.

They say that a mangaka and his editor are one body and one soul, but there’s no reason why he should experience the same suffering as me because of a bald head.
“I’ll never forgive those editorial staff!”. Blaming everyone on them, I picked up the pen again. I hadn’t slept for a few days, I was exhausted both physically and morally, and completely naked after having taken off my G-nib and my brief, both of which weighed a hundred kilos, but I couldn’t thwart the miraculous work schedule that my editor, that is, my alter ego, had torn up by balding himself and thus depriving himself of the chance to go to a Village Vanguard shop that he likes so much! I wasn’t the only one suffering, Honda had made me realize.
“Not just me!”
FLAAP
“Mr. Sorachi! That… isn’t that…?!”

A hundred-pound wig had just fallen to the floor…

CONTACT WITH THE READERS: QUESTION CORNER 96

QUESTION FROM MR. “GREAT FRIEND (LAUGHTER)”

Every episode of the manga always ends at the right point.  Do you ever find yourself missing pages or running out? How do you fix things on those occasions?

ANSWER:

It almost never happens that I have pages left over, but it often happens that there aren’t enough pages available. In that case I try to fit everything in by shrinking the cartoons, and when I can’t, I eliminate some of them, sometimes excluding the whole page… In short, it’s like doing a puzzle. For a self-contained manga, it’s the hardest thing… Kochikame* is monstrous in that sense.

*Abbreviation for the title of the comic Kochira Katsushika-ku Kameari koen-mae hashutsujo, which lasted for forty years.

The “Sorry, Jelly Belly” special ends here. I’ve written for a long time, but I think you can see how many men fight desperately, shedding tears and blood, to complete a self-contained work. In fact, I am almost always the one who makes many cry tears and blood… But this time I went too far, I disturbed so many people that it didn’t seem real. It was like I was playing Dynasty Warriors. Apart from Honda, I apologize to everyone.

However, I too have been in a terrible state, my life has certainly been shortened by at least three years. I even fainted once, so at least for that reason, please accept my apologies. Then, even though Honda shaved his head, he already had very short hair. In addition, he forced me to participate in the project using a swindler’s trick. So he’s to blame as well. Let’s call it even, since we all suffered together, okay?

By the way, I’ve been reduced to this despite being given a two-week break. The authors who participated in the Legend project published their self-contained works as if it were a normal thing, without taking breaks or breaking deadlines…

LEGEND AUTHORS ARE FORMIDABLE!

New topic: “I should have waited another hundred years”.

Previous Next

Thank you for purchasing the 36th volume! The other day I went to a wedding. Since it was summer, I was dying of heat, it was thirty-five degrees… So, I celebrated the wedding all sweaty, as if I had gone to do some Mongolian sumo! Of course, I was thirsty, so I drank beer, and before I knew it, I was surrounded by the bride and groom’s relatives. In the end, I thought I was really going to do sumo, but they said, “You’re Gori… uh, Sorachi sensei, right?” and asked for my autograph. But I can’t draw without an outline, because I’m inexperienced. Still, I had to, and having no other choice I tried to get away with something simple, telling the people who asked me to draw Gin-san, “Better Elizabeth, right?”. But because I was drunk, the lines were uneven and Elizabeth looked like a character I’d never seen or heard of… Seeing him, one wondered: “Is it Venezuela?”. It created a situation where people wondered if I was really Sorachi, or said, “Hey, some animal escaped from a zoo” … So, they all walked away. At one point, I noticed that there was only a three-year-old boy standing next to me. He just stood there, silent, even though I asked him: “What do you want me to draw? (Say Elizabeth!)”. He kept staring into space with teary eyes. Then, from behind, a little girl of about five years old appeared, probably his older sister, who acted as an interpreter to explain to me what he wanted. I certainly couldn’t go home like that (you never know who might tweet ‘That gorilla has just left after only doing a bit of Mongolian sumo’), and after making all those mistakes. I absolutely had to get this last drawing right. I was psychologically ready: “At this point, I’ll draw any character, whether it’s Gin-san or Takasugi! I’ll show you the skills of a professional! Ask anything!”

AND THE SISTER ASKED FOR ANPANMAN…

CONTACT WITH THE READERS: QUESTION CORNER 92

QUESTION FROM MISS “I LOVE GIN-SAN AND KATSURA” OF CHIBA PROVINCE

Shinpachi is smart, isn’t he? Those whose role is to criticize others cannot perform their duties if they are not quick-witted, right?

ANSWER:

I get the impression that Shinpachi seems intelligent simply because those around him are too stupid, but actually… he’s very intelligent. When I was in primary school, there was a guy named Kakuta in my class. One day I looked at his face and noticed that he had a clearly swollen and reddened circle around his mouth. When I asked what had happened to him, he said that the previous day he’d gone too far while sucking air out of a glass and sticking it to his mouth… it wouldn’t come off. So Shinpachi is three times more intelligent than Kakuta.

CONTACT WITH THE READERS: QUESTION CORNER 93

QUESTION FROM MR. “I’M GOING TO SEE THE MOVIE WITH FRIENDS” FROM KYOTO PROVINCE

Why is there no character song for Gintama? It seems to me that the natural order is: manga → anime character song → (video games) → movie. Or is there something wrong with the characters in this opera singing?

ANSWER:

An Otsu CD has come out, and it seems to have been quite successful. Thank you. It’s not that I don’t like character songs, it’s just that among my characters it’s hard to get someone to sing because others want them to. The fact that they ask for a song that describes themselves is pretty absurd, and I think they might break the mic. That’s why there is no character song. However, if it’s a character who wants to sing, like Otsu, some song could also be made. For example, if need be, for the Vacuum!

An album with a Vacuum song on the A-side, a Nogusoel song on the B-side and Katsurap as a bonus track… That would be great!

CONTACT WITH THE READERS: QUESTION CORNER 94

QUESTION FROM MR. “SINCE I CAN’T REFUSE OTHER PEOPLE’S REQUESTS, I PUT AWAY A COCKROACH AND BURIED A RABBIT’S SKELETON, BUT AS A GOOD-NATURED PERSON I REFUSED TO REMOVE THE FROG DROWNED IN URINE FROM THE TOILET”.

Sorachi sensei, I’m writing to you for the first time. I’m talking about something that has no importance whatsoever… I’m shy, and since you claim to be too, I want to ask your advice. A few years ago I went out to eat ramen with my parents, I was strangely euphoric and entered the restaurant dancing for no particular reason. I was ashamed, but I also thought that no one had seen me. So, after eating, I went home and went to bed. The next day at school, a classmate said to me, “You used to dance like that, didn’t you?”, imitating my dance in front of the whole class. I felt so ashamed that every time I see that club, that memory comes back to me and I feel like I’m writhing around spitting blood and shouting “ghaaaaah!”. What should I do to forget?

ANSWER:

In my opinion – and I have thirty-one years of shyness behind me – since you came in dancing in a club, you are not shy. You have the talent of a street performer! Train now in “ramen dancing” and become a respectable street performer!

CONTACT WITH THE READERS: QUESTION CORNER 95

QUESTION BY MR. JUNZABURO OF OKAYAMA PROVINCE

This is the first time I’ve written to you, Sorachi sensei! I like to draw, but I can’t make the hair shine… Teach me how!

ANSWER:

In Gintama. for the gloss and the parts to be painted completely black, I use a pen with a brush tip, the Pentel one with an extra-fine tip. The secret is to always picture the direction of the hair.

For a beginner like you, I recommend drawing the lines with a pencil. After that, you pass the pen over the shiny, colourless parts, forming serrated strips. Be careful not to form these fine indentations when you “detach” the tip, but when you “start” to colour.

At the moment of “detaching”, once you have finished colouring, it is difficult to control the movement of the brush. This is why there is a risk of messing up the direction of the hair. However, when you “start” colouring, it is easier to control the movement of the brush, and you can calmly choose the lines to draw.

However, the movement of the brush is from top to bottom (painting from bottom to top is difficult, try to avoid this). When you have to paint the top of the sheet, turn it upside down instead of moving the brush backwards.

And in any case, imagine the direction of the hair… that’s the most important thing!

SO SAY MY ASSISTANTS.

So I drew Anpanman.

While I was doing that, the kid’s sister criticized me: ‘The symbol in the chest must not have a nose on it!’… Of course! I’m not the Anpanman guy! I’d rather have Takeshi Yanase sensei’s autograph! But I somehow finished off Anpanman with a shaky hand because of the alcohol and gave the shikishi to the kid. Then he started crying his eyes out….

“NOOO! THAT’S NOT IT!”

Of course, I’m not the Anpanman guy. Mine had irregular features and looked like it might secrete adzuki bean pesto at any moment.

Kid, I’m sorry for disappointing you! And to you, Takeshi Yanase sensei, I apologize for destroying a little boy’s dream! I, Hideaki Sorachi, vow to work hard to become a respectable mangaka, capable of not only drawing any character without sketches, but also Anpanman!

New topic: “The symbol in the chest must not have a nose on it!”

Previous Next

Thank you for buying Gintama 35!

Jump‘s readership has changed a bit lately… when I read fan letters, I see phrases like, “Lately your work has been getting published towards the end, don’t you think that’s something to worry about?” or “The anime is already over and you’ve left the safe zone.” … In short, there are more and more people who have blatantly read Bakuman and are familiar with the background of Jump‘s editorial staff… The “Bakuman Addicts”. But that’s just digging their heels in! Rather, how is it that they have so little faith in me despite the fact that I have been publishing Gintama for six years? Is this the reason why, despite the film adaptation, the manga is not considered brilliant? Anyway, I apologize for all these worries, but it’s okay. Gintama is fine, and it hasn’t even lost its popularity yet. At worst it may happen from now on. But that’s not what worries me… Quite frankly, the order of publication is of no importance. Except for the most popular work, the others move according to the magazine’s convenience: sometimes north to Hokkaido, sometimes south on a tuna boat. Before the north/south issue, the problem is that the ship on which Gintama boarded may have entered illegally! Gintama keeps violating the borders called deadlines! On top of that, despite having a mid-level popularity, its criminal career is top-notch in Jump, super S level with a bounty attached. It arrives a day later than the one who delivers before it… In short it is a chickenshit who every time crosses the border at the last with a slip. Being sent north or south doesn’t matter, because the fact that it has managed to arrive in the country called “Jump” is already a miracle. It is every time. And this is because, against all expectations, surveillance at the border is poor. For example, while the guards play with DS, I cross the border. Or, while they give Rinko* a kiss, I kiss the border and say “Kiss me, baby“.

The deadline is inflexible, but lately, the typography has been modernized, so it has been brought forward by a good five hours! The borders have thinned out and the guards, who used to be so nice, have turned into cyborgs that are not at all elastic! I mean, it’s like entering the gates of hell now, where they’ll shoot you dead as soon as they find you…

*Character from a DS game.

You may think it’s not such a big deal that the deadline was moved up by five hours, but in my case it was already a miracle to make it in time earlier, a miracle comparable to Yamcha killing the saibaman. Bringing it forward by five hours makes it equal to a miracle in which Oolong defeats Frieza, which is almost impossible! For Gintama these five hours were vital.

The other writers all finish a day earlier than me, so Frieza, ignoring the other warriors, including Goku and Piccolo, can come in and kill the pig that the scouter caught.

Kinda freaks you guys out, doesn’t it? It seems to be saying: Since the movie has already passed, we want to get rid of that pig that we don’t need anymore, dear Dodoria!

But I couldn’t let myself be killed without doing anything!

It was decided that Nakasaki Elite, with whom I had fought, would have to leave his post. Until then, we had worked miracles together, and to suffer a defeat at the end would be too sad. So to give him one last miracle, by undergoing three years of training in the spirit and time room with him, Oolong, that’s me, learned to transform into Yamcha! In the Frieza vs. Yamcha challenge, Yamcha doesn’t stand a chance, but still does everything he can, defeating one after another of the cyborgs in the guardhouse with the Wolf Fang Fist. Finally in front of Frieza, assuming the deadline at midnight, at that moment it is already 23:56. His right arm is broken at 23:57, and even the long hair he’s so proud of is ripped off; then Vegeta steals Bulma from him at 23:58; at 23:59 he is crushed by the pain of Trunks’ birth; then, the Wolf Fang Fist delivered in anger shatters Frieza’s genitals at midnight… The miracle has happened again! Yamcha savours the joy of victory together with Elite. But at that moment, behind them, the ground rises and something sticks to Yamcha’s back.

“Y-you are… a saibaman!”

The saibaman self-destructs involving him at 00.02.

When Elite arrived at the print shop, after taking a taxi and holding onto the boards, the hands of the clock were mercilessly marking two minutes past midnight. As I’ve written before, this time the deadline was not flexible… Even though it was only two minutes, since I, or rather Yamcha, had not kept to the appointed time, his defeat was decreed. Unfortunately, no miracle. “In the end I didn’t make it…”, so Yamcha let himself be overcome with despair. But in that moment he realizes that his body is unharmed, and that, beyond the smoke, he is slumped on the ground with his body torn apart. The instant the Saibaman exploded, he resorted to the supreme technique… a miracle in exchange for his pride: a written apology!

Having said that, in the end I gave élite a miracle, or rather a written apology… in the end he had to apologise in writing despite having graduated from T. University and despite having been a member of élite since childhood and never having been reprimanded by his teachers. In the teledrama Abunai Deka*, Taka and his colleagues are forced to write them, and the elite, who are not dangerous at all, had to do the same!

Anyway, I asked him immensely for forgiveness, but the attached poop doesn’t come off anymore. I apologize to élite and T. University! It’s not Elite’s fault, nor the university’s… nor mine. It’s all Yamcha’s fault! I told him to watch out for saibamen! How many times must that fool fall for it?! In any case, thanks to the deadly technique hurled by elites at the risk of their own lives, Gintama finally overcame his greatest crisis. Only the consequences were severe… For example, when I went to the anime’s conclusion party, as soon as I arrived, I was kidnapped by the editor-in-chief, deputy editor-in-chief, and the publishing house executives, and I was lynched for over an hour. While I was being lynched for over an hour, Elite was looking at me smiling… as radiant as ever.

Élite, I’m really glad I finally gave you an awesome present!

*Literally, “The Dangerous Police Officers”.

CONTACT WITH THE READERS: QUESTION CORNER 92

QUESTION BY MS. YUI SORASE, KANAGAWA PROVINCE

In the 158th Lesson, to Yamazaki who came to brag about his new sword (the Osafune M-II), one of the Shinsengumi says: “It seems that for now the elegant samurai of Shibuya all have an Osafune!” … But with the Haitorei edict, can “elegant samurai” have a sword without any problems?

ANSWER:

As I probably described in the manga, even though the Haitorei edict is in effect, Bakufu officials are allowed to carry a sword. In short, I meant the stylish officials who have fun in Shibuya.

Well, the 35th volume special “Apologies to Elite” ends here. Forgive me truly for all the trouble, Nakasaki! Know that your written apology was not in vain. Your words were also imprinted on my soul, and I was able to take my revenge in the challenge against Frieza I faced with my new editor Jelly Belly Honda, a man who once aspired to be a novelist, and who arrived carrying his first work The Jelly Belly Over Paper! The deadline was midnight, but Jelly Belly came rolling into the printer at 23:59.

00:02 to 23:59! See how much I’ve matured?! I even took advantage of the minute I had left to pick up the jelly belly that had fallen out of my pocket with composure. That’s it, that tragedy will never happen again! I will never drop the jelly belly over the written apology! Nakasaki, I will perpetuate your miracle, and thank you for taking care of me, even if only for a short while.

Blessed be the elites and the university T!

New topic: ‘The jelly belly over the written apology’.

Previous Next

Thank you for purchasing Gintama 34!

I think you guys are starting to find the hype about the upcoming movie annoying these days in Japan, so I won’t mention it at all! I won’t even write the “M” in the word “movie”, and to the movie staff I say: don’t think everyone can keep flattering you forever by talking about the movie! How dare you allow yourself to be interviewed by Quick Japan magazine posing as a protagonist? What is the interview between directors Fujita and Takamatsu? I should be interviewed too, you idiots! I should get a good interview too, you fools! Why interview the former and current editors, Onishi, Saito and Nakasaki?! They should contact me, damn idiots! They should flatter me more, you bloody idiots! Besides, what does “The new interpretation of the Benizakura saga” mean? They’re putting on airs by putting such a title when it’s just a rehash of an already published story. It would be enough to reread the volumes! Why is it necessary to pay more? What is…? Is this film worth seeing just because new scenes have been added? No way! They just tacked on new scenes at random… what? Thanks to the collaboration of Hideaki Sorachi, the author of the original work, the new scenes fit together well? No way… with the excuse of the meeting, I was just throwing up in a pub! Why would I offer them my help…? Their screenplay was so perfect that I didn’t need to… It was convenient, since it was accompanied by a short film… how should I put it… I think that even people who’ve already followed that saga will be able to enjoy it… What?! I’m not praising the movie at all! I-I don’t like it at all! And I have nothing to do with it! I’ve got my circle activities, and also I’m making my friends wait… So I’m leaving!

CONTACT WITH THE READERS: QUESTION CORNER 89

QUESTION FROM MR. “NEWLY AWAKENED SERIOUS AMANTO” OF GUNMA PROVINCE

I’ve always cared about this fact: if Gin-san and Katsura work so hard, why is Takasugi sitting on a pleasure boat with a cabin? I can’t stop thinking about it, so tell me why!

ANSWER:

He gets money by forcing his followers to do evil deeds. By the way, he’s a rich kid who grew up in a wealthy family.

CONTACT WITH THE READERS: QUESTION CORNER 90

QUESTION FROM MR. “I ONLY LICK LOLLIPOPS BOUGHT FROM A CHEAP SNACK SHOP”, FROM KUMAMOTO PROVINCE

Good morning, Dancer Sorachi sensei! The other day I played kabaddi with my friend Yokoyama, but since we couldn’t understand the rules, we stopped right away. Then I thought about it for three days and three nights, but I couldn’t understand the game. Please explain to me how it works!

ANSWER:

ON THE FOURTH DAY YOU WILL SUCCEED.

Volume 34 special, “I don’t like the movie at all…”, ends here.

I apologize for all this publicity! Seriously, this is the last time, I won’t do it again, so forgive me! From the next volume, an indifferent, sour and rocking Gintama will be back, who won’t advertise neither the anime nor the movie, because it doesn’t give them any importance and it’s satisfied only if the monographic volumes sell well! Keep that in mind!

Except that the movie is also very rockin’, so I guess it’s irresistible to you rock ‘n’ rollers… I’m not telling you to watch it, but at least pay the ticket to the cinema and go out after spitting in their faces! You can even buy gadgets and then hurl them at a wall! Whatever it is, spend a lot of money, just get it to me! There’s the rock!

At least I think so…

New topic: “Rock will never die.”

Previous Next

Thank you for purchasing the 33rd volume! In the short time I haven’t followed it, the Gintama anime, with which I shared the battlefield, died fighting, heroically. Hmm, more like… it’s on hiatus… Anyway, it ended. And that’s causing various reactions. Even if you tell me “Don’t do it!”, “Why did it end?”, I wouldn’t know what to answer, even though I realize the importance of the anime. However, I think it’s wrong to grieve over it, you should instead applaud the middle-aged men who created it and really put in the effort! Forcing them to make an anime out of a not-so-serious manga like Gintama was like condemning them to be beheaded, so for the mere fact that they put in the effort until now, we should thank them. Of course, their great feat was made possible thanks to the blood transfusion and the support you all gave them…

Thank you! It’s nobody’s fault, in fact, the fault is mine, that I didn’t invent any deadly techniques, that I refused a fighting video game and various gadgets. If you want to kill someone, take me out using any killing technique you want. But it’s too late… Even at volume 33, it’s not possible for a middle-aged man like me to suddenly come up with a killing technique. I really beg your pardon… but let me say one thing: for Touch, we can say that the real story begins when Kazuya disappears. Well, unlike Kazuya, Tatsuya doesn’t appear in such situations, and he’s not drawn with much care either. It’s even a nuisance to read his lines! Kazuya had a stylish hairdo with a parting in the middle, while Tatsuya has his hair all messed up. But he’ll be the one to make Minami happy for her brother too and take her to the Koshien! I swear on Kazuya’s hairstyle and Nitta’s scruffy hair!

CONTACT WITH THE READERS: QUESTION CORNER 87

QUESTION BY MR. GDS OF GUNMA PROVINCE

Regarding the Tsu Terakado Admirers Corps, whose commander is Shinpachi, why is it called that?

ANSWER:

Maybe young people today don’t know this, but the Idol fans of yesteryear, like Seiko Matsuda, were tougher individuals than the supporters of sports teams! They were like guards protecting their Idols, and were actually called that. All in all, it means that Shinpachi and his friends are part of such a hardened group of fans.

CONTACT WITH THE READERS: QUESTION CORNER 88

QUESTION FROM MS SAORI TAMURA, IBARAKI PROVINCE

What job could someone who’s bad at drawing do to support a mangaka? I guess editor…

ANSWER:

NO, THE READER.

What a great joke!
Excuse me, but it’s great!

I know I’m being rude if I repeatedly shout that he’s dead, but there’s still a movie! So, Kazuya might come back and give birth to “Katsuya” with the hairline on one side. I mean, a miracle could happen… In fact, with everyone’s strength, we’ll give birth to Katsuya! In order to make it happen, if all the Minamis and Minamis around the country could come and see the parting in the middle made by Kazuya with all their strength, I would be really grateful! Nitta, you come too, without shame!

PLEASE!

New topic: “It doesn’t look real, but that’s Gintama“.

Previous Next

Thank you for purchasing the 32nd volume! Lately, I’ve been having episodes that are inappropriately timed, and I’ve been feeling embarrassed because impossible things have been happening one after the other at such times. It happened to me some time ago that, after drawing an episode using a character from the show, he committed a misdeed… But now that I’ve drawn a story about cats, my assistant “I”‘s cat died. And when I drew the episode about hemorrhoids, “I” was taken to the hospital by ambulance because his hemorrhoid condition worsened. As if to say… something always happens to “I”. Every time I pick up the pen in my hand, “I” gets hurt. It’s as if my “G” pen exists to be driven into “I”‘s hemorrhoidal lump rather than to draw. “I” is increasingly broken, a Death Note-like situation has arisen, and it seems that “I” lately suspects that I am Kira. So, every day his back is bent more and more, and by now “I” has become “L”. To my eyes, all the assistants have curved backs, as well as some connection to the FBI. It’s as if both my assistants and my editor, and the readers themselves, suspect that it was me who exploded the haemorrhoidal lump in “I”. And, under the circumstances, I’m beginning to think that I’m not drawing, Gintama, but Nodule Hemorrhoid Note.

Wanting to set the record straight, first of all I’d say that the hemorrhoidal lump is like a companion (i.e. a Yasufumi Terawaki*) for a mangaka destined to work sitting down all the time. He’s an annoying bastard that’s hard to hate. Collaborating while keeping Terawaki under control, who is a rascal and easily loses control… This is behavior worthy of a respectable mangaka, indeed worthy of Yutaka Mizutani**. In the case of “I”, he thought his was like Terawaki, but he turned out to be more of a Hiroshi Tachi***, aka a more dangerous companion. The one from “I” left riding a Harley, but it’s either Hiroshi’s fault or the Harley Davidson’s, certainly not mine. If his companion had been Hiroshi, “I” would have had to play the part of Kyohei Shibata****, but he tried to be Yutaka Mizutani. That’s why there was tragedy.

In other words, I had nothing to do with it, it was just inappropriate timing. The same goes for the cat, Pu, who left at the worst possible time. It was also painful for me to have a grieving “I” draw cats saying, “I don’t want to think about the cat anymore!”. Chappy, my parents’ dog, came to mind and I cried. After all, Pu had been close to him for a good eighteen years, only that companion… didn’t he mistake him for someone else again? Was it really Yasufumi Terawaki?

*Japanese actor who took part in the TV series Aibo, meaning “Comrade”.
**Another Aibo actor.
***Japanese actor who took part in the teledrama Abunai Deka, or “Dangerous Cops”.
****Another actor from Abunai Deka.

Crying, “I” drew the cats with the secondary roles. Of course, I was more lenient in checking his work, I wanted to free him from pain as soon as possible. I could no longer reject his drawings, indeed there was no need to do so. Since he had always stood by his cat, I told him to draw some respectable cats dedicating the work to his companion who had ascended to heaven. So, the result is this…

Dear “I”… how should I put it… it looks like they all have a slightly protruding jaw. In fact… they look more like Ken Shimura when he says “Aiin” than your comrade Yasufumi Terawaki… Or do they?

CONTACT WITH THE READERS: QUESTION CORNER 86

QUESTION FROM MR OKITA & KAGURA LOVE

Both Kagura and Kamui have a lot of appetite, but is it just them or all of Yato?

ANSWER:

They’re all gluttons. The Yato are endowed with great strength, but they also consume a lot of energy, so they have a different idea of energy supply than earthlings. However, the two of them are the ones who eat the most.

MY GOODNESS, WHAT QUALITY!

And so, the “Hemorrhoid nodule Note” special ends here… Dear FBI gentlemen, you now understand that the series of tragedies in question happened not because of the hemorrhoid nodule Note, but because he had the wrong partner, right? When Hiroshi Tachi is his partner, he must be Kyohei Shibata, while when Ken Shimura is, he must be Cha Kato. I guess this mistake crashed into his anus and caused a big explosion… But Pu’s death was no one’s fault. Since he lived for a good eighteen years, we can say that he passed away peacefully. Only in the end, he was drawn with a face that seems to say “Aiin”. But listen, dear “I”, it’s true that cats all look like they have slightly protruding jaws and look like Ken Shimura, but that time when you tearfully completed your job as an assistant, you were a respectable mangaka! So you don’t have to grieve! You’re not alone, just run and look ahead together with your companion, namely Pu, who’s watching over you from his ass, who is not Terawaki, nor Hiroshi, nor Shimura…

New topic: “Let’s pray for Pu with folded hands”.

Previous Next