Thank you for buying the 27th volume!

It’s normal not to have a single day of rest due to work between the end of the year and the beginning of the new one, but it was during that busy period that I worsened the situation by catching a cold. So I had to go through a bloody experience, surpassing that of the famous curse and the hell of making a self-contained work for Jump SQ. For a fortnight straight I had a fever of forty? I couldn’t think of anything funny. I even started thinking about my own funeral, afraid it might be covered on the news, and thought, “Maybe he’d read the Ayapan* news…”. Work wasn’t progressing and the deadline was looming, and my assistants also came down with a fever. With no other choice, I took antipyretic suppositories over and over again. Taking advantage of the short time when the fever broke, I proceeded with the storyboard and gave instructions to my assistants. Then, when the fever came back up, another suppository and off to storyboard. In short, it was like being in hell, my anus was slimy… I, Sorachi sensei, have been working since New Year’s Eve in tears, with a slimy anus, in order to give a smile to you who now hold this book in your hands. Seriously, I find it strange that the staff of Jonetsu Tairiku do not interview me. If I don’t have passion, who else? Who can better represent the continent? It would be enough to consider me a slimy continent! It would be enough to frame my slimy condition for thirty minutes, and insert Mr. Taro Hakase’s violin performance for the last suppository! What do you say, gentlemen of TBS?

*Nickname of journalist Aya Takashima.

CONTACT WITH THE READERS: QUESTION CORNER 70

QUESTION FROM MISS NATSU, SAITAMA PROVINCE

Good morning, Sorachi sensei! The dog in my house eats its own p_op. How can I make him stop? I’m seriously troubled by this problem.

ANSWER:

There could be many causes: stress, education, environment… but whether you throw it away immediately or not is less important. Furthermore, you must always take him for a walk, at least once a day. Usually the dog will poop during a walk, so just have him do it then. Let the dog learn the pattern. Walk = poop! And of course you have to pick it up. If this doesn’t work either, ask a vet for advice. By the way… when did the pet advice corner start?

CONTACT WITH THE READERS: QUESTION CORNER 71

QUESTION FROM MR. PALE PINK SAMURAI OF KANAGAWA PROVINCE

Sorachi sensei, I’m writing to you for the first time. I can’t draw Gin-san’s eyes when he has them like a dead fish. Tell me if there’s any secret!

ANSWER:

You should leave some distance between the eyebrows and the eyes. Then you draw the eyelids heavy, and the irises only showing for the lower half.

When you shorten the distance between the eyebrows and the eyes, making the eyelids narrow…

It becomes Gin-san with a serious look.

CONTACT WITH THE READERS: QUESTION CORNER 72

QUESTION FROM MR ‘UH AH AH AH! I’LL MAKE YOU LOOK LIKE A STRAW DOLL!(S)”, FROM GUNMA PROVINCE

Happy New Year, Sorachi sensei! Despite the fact that I’m a damn brat who doesn’t know you personally, I ask you a question! Why does Yamazaki speak as an equal to Unosuke Harada, the commander of Team 10?

ANSWER:

BECAUSE THEY’RE FRIENDS.

CONTACT WITH THE READERS: QUESTION CORNER 73

QUESTION FROM MR. “HUH? IS SPONGEBOB A SPONGE?”, FROM THE TOKYO METROPOLITAN AREA

Sorachi sensei! What’s the point of the sash wrapped around Kagura’s older brother’s face? Does he have some kind of inferiority complex?

ANSWER:

It’s to protect themselves from the sun. When they don’t feel safe with an umbrella, the Yato use it to cover their skin. When he first appeared, Umibozu also wore it.

Having said that, just because I realized that Shueisha won’t even give me a day off even if I get a forty-degree fever, I realized one thing from this time’s bloody experience… next time I’m going to try hard to get a forty-one-degree fever! Until the next volume!

New topic: “Despite the author’s efforts despite a fever of 40 degrees, editor Saito, with a fever of 38 degrees, did not go to pick up the plates”.

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Thank you all for buying the 26th volume!

In my studio there were originally three of us, myself and two assistants, but after five years the number of staff increased without my noticing and now there are seven of us… Since we are all men, when we are locked in the same room for three days, the amount of p_bic hair on the floor is not negligible, it is everywhere!

More than assistants, they are machines to produce p_bic hair. So far, more hairs have been lost than lines drawn on the boards! I vacuum them, or use a roller sticker, but they are popping up everywhere and I don’t know what to do about it, and they are increasing every year… As we get older, we don’t just lose hair!

Hair protects important parts of our bodies, but it falls out, and that really scares me. It is as if our bodies are condemning them to death. Their “children” (the penises) have no intention of defending them, even if they remain completely unprotected… I wish they would fall off too!

We don’t need that pen, the one in the right hand is enough! It is enough to let the hair grow on our right hand! This is how a mangaka lives!

CONTACT WITH THE READERS: QUESTION CORNER 65

QUESTION FROM MR. “IN THREE YEARS MY SAVINGS WILL AMOUNT TO ONE MILLION YEN”, YAMANASHI PROVINCE

I can’t hunt Rathalos and Rathian in the mayor’s emergency quest in Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G. Is a crossbow or a sword better? Help me!

ANSWER:

The moment you ask me whether it’s better to use a crossbow or a sword you deserve to be slapped on both cheeks! Listen to me, a hunter who switches weapons depending on his enemies is like a mediocre ramen joint that also has a curry dish on the menu. If you’ve decided to serve ramen, you must defy fate armed only with ramen, no matter who comes in, Kirin or Lao-Shan Lung.

You have to stay true to your initial intuition, therein lies the ethics of a ramen restaurant manager, indeed of a hunter! Of course, any weapon will do, but the best weapons are the conviction and pride of a hunter! That way you can defeat any enemy.

That said, the weapon to use is neither a crossbow nor a sword… but ramen noodles!

CONTACT WITH THE READERS: QUESTION CORNER 66

QUESTION FROM MR. “MAKE KAISHU KATSU APPEAR IN GINTAMA!”, TOKYO METROPOLITAN AREA

Hello! I have a question for you right away! Watching the credits of the anime, I found the words “collaboration: Yu Saito”. This is the current editor of Gintama, right? (When Mr. Onishi was in charge of the work, it said “collaboration: Kohei Onishi”). How do they collaborate in the creation of the anime? Tell me!

ANSWER:

In no way! Every week, and at Shueisha’s expense, under the guise of a meeting, they drink together with the anime staff!

CONTACT WITH THE READERS: QUESTION CORNER 67

QUESTION FROM MISS MOA, TOKYO METROPOLITAN AREA

Good morning, sensei! I have something that embarrasses me as a woman that I would like to consult with you about. The other day, I was watching TV with my older brother, and I turned to him and… he seemed to be touching himself there…! I panicked and thought: “What?! Just like the famous Mr. Onishi?”. Of course, I can’t tell my parents. Also, since my brother follows Gintama, both the manga and the anime, he should know about Mr. Onishi’s story… Yet he didn’t notice his own action! I think that’s why he can’t find a girl… What should I do, sensei?! I would be ashamed to point it out to him, you tell him something!

ANSWER:

Hey! Listen to me carefully, big brother! Before you touch yourself, wash your hands properly!

CONTACT WITH THE READERS: QUESTION CORNER 68

QUESTION FROM MS. OKITA-KUN LOVE PURIN, CHIBA PROVINCE

I have a question!

To write “Yorozuya” in Japanese, you would only need two ideograms: yorozu, meaning “everything” and ya, meaning “shop”. Why did you add the ideogram koto, which means “things” or “facts”?

ANSWER:

It was originally planned with two ideograms, yorozu and ya, but it might have seemed to be a “shop where they sell everything”. Instead, it’s an “odd jobs”, which is why I chose to add koto.

CONTACT WITH THE READERS: QUESTION CORNER 69

QUESTION FROM MR. “IS IT TOSSHI? IS IT REALLY TOSSHI?”, FROM NIIGATA PROVINCE

Hello, Sorachi sensei! Here’s the question: what does Sadaharu eat? Regular dog food or something special?

ANSWER:

When you feed a dog the same stuff as humans, the poop gets stinkier, so I give it dog food, like a bag of it at every meal. Also, there are many things that are bad for dogs and not for humans. It’s fine to pamper your pets, but pay attention to these details! Especially grandparents who might secretly give your four-legged friends some incredible stuff, like squid tentacles!

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Thank you very much for purchasing the 25th volume! Finally, the summit at Lake Toya was held! Inside I was hoping to sell a little more, but it didn’t turn out that way… even though the manager of a certain gift shop by the lake sent me this letter: “Thanks to you, the wooden sword is selling well!”. That is, fans of the work are buying the sword used by Gin-san! I was laughing my head off imagining a situation where the VIPs from the countries gathered for the summit, for example Bush, would show interest in the sword by saying, “What’s that? Beautiful blade!“, and once he learns about Gintama: “Cool! Cool Japan animation!“. And since he would repeat “cool” a lot of times, it would seem that in Japan he had only said that one word. Well, it’s true that the summit was against global warming, but in reality he would almost always have been referring to Gintama with the word “Cool“. In other words, even though Bush had come to stop global warming, he would have been warming up to the work in question! But it didn’t work out that way… except for the swords, which apparently sold quite well. It is said that Bush’s secret service bought them in great secrecy, taking advantage of work breaks. However, they didn’t take the ones marked “Lake Toya”! No! Apparently, they all went away happy and had ‘secret service’ engraved on them! Not only did they not advertise Gintama, but they also showed that they weren’t worthy of being agents, since they clearly revealed that they were part of the secret service!

The parenthesis on the Lake Toya summit ends here!

Anyway, it was not so good, I expected more from Bush… I should have put my trust in Sarkozy. I haven’t been able to show you the postcards sent by readers lately, but I will publish them in abundance from the next volume onwards… Goodbye!

New topic: “Surely Obama would have worked harder”.

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Thank you for purchasing the 23rd volume! About the haunted spa hotel saga… Strange things have happened to me since I started drawing it. My editor started thinking about a curse, and I was laughing under my breath saying. “Imbecile! People who are afraid of curses can’t draw manga, because mangaka kill a lot of people in their work. If any ghosts appeared, I’d use them as assistants, and even have them paint all the parts completely black!” Then, just as I was about to start preparing the boards, I suddenly came down with a fever of 39 and a bout of diarrhea that was not inconsiderable: I was secreting poop like laser beams! So I didn’t know what to do, and then my assistant phoned me and said: “I’ve got a fever. I don’t want to harm you, so please allow me to take time off work. I said, “By any chance… do you have laser beams?” He said, “Huh? You too?!” Then I phoned the other assistants and: “Excuse me, but I actually have laser beams…”. “Me too!” “Me too!” “Same here.” …in the Gintama studio, six out of seven people, including me, had laser beams, and they all got a fever the day before they started work! Don’t you think that’s great? Anyway, although we suffered, we managed that week, but we were trembling at the idea of a curse. After all, we had laser beams, which means… we all shit our pants! For six adults in their mid-twenties to poop their pants is an astronomical probability! That can’t happen. It happened to me twice… I barely made an effort to pee, and the laser beams went off. I was trying to resort to Mera*, and it was Merazoma**. It’s only natural that the MP becomes zero. I finished the boards with a zero MP. You can’t think of anything but a curse!

*First power level fire formula in Dragon Quest.
*Third power level fire formula in Dragon Quest.

So, consulting with each other, we concluded that Hideyoshi seems the most suspicious! Having drawn him as someone with poop-stained pants, ours were also soiled… or rather, we were the ones who soiled them. Anyway, listening to other people’s stories, I found out that someone was in danger of being run over by a tipper truck because of a flat tyre on his scooter, someone else had mysterious hives… In short, some pretty impressive episodes popped up, one after the other. So there was a lot of commotion, because everyone started saying that amulets had to be bought back. Since everyone in the studio started to lose their cool, I calmed my staff down, as well as myself, by saying: “Calm down! If you blame everything on the curse, you’ll never finish it! The curse is a kind of autosuggestion, so hang in there!”. I was actually scared… but I plucked up my courage and went to my desk. The fever still wasn’t going down, but I turned my life energy into MP. Then Editor Saito called me: “This is a big mess! I’ve been asking around, and it looks like Oiwa is the one to worry about, not Hideyoshi. This is no joke!” No one knows why he, who had no problems at all, became more afraid than anyone else and spread terrible rumours one after the other, causing panic in the studio. In the end he said, “Since I’m a bit scared, I’m going to get exorcised right away.” …

Hey, wait a minute! We should go. Nothing’s happened to you. You’re perfectly healthy. Your feet stink. Why are you going to get exorcised without bringing the author who’s drawing in spite of the fever? And what are you getting exorcised for? The smell of feet? He didn’t even wait for us to finish work, and he really went alone…

SORACHI’S Q&A: HANGING OUT WITH THE READERS 64

QUESTION FROM MR. DOYO, IBARAKI PROVINCE

Sensei! There’s one thing that’s close to my heart: in the original Japanese, Gin-san and his friends often use the word teme to refer to themselves. Why? Is there any reason?

ANSWER:

Teme is a deformation of temae. This word, temae, is also used to call the person in front of you with contempt, but it can also be used to show humility, as if to say “A modest guy like me” …

SORACHI’S Q&A: HANGING OUT WITH THE READERS

LETTER SENT BY MISS “I HATE CHOCOLATE, BUT I HAVE A SWEET TOOTH” (LEFT) AND PACHIMITTSU (RIGHT)

FOR THEM… I FEEL ONLY GRATITUDE!

That said, the special “We have all been cursed” ends here. Luckily for Saito, who went to be exorcised, the priest of a Shinto shrine said: “No problem! You have too much imagination!” So we stuck the amulet he brought us in the study, and the case of the curse was solved! Although I would have preferred Saito to be affected… too bad!
You too, don’t blame others by bringing up a bill just because something negative happened to you! And don’t forget to train your anal sphincter muscle!

See you in the next volume! Goodbye!

New topic: “Editor Saito be cursed”.

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Thank you for purchasing volume 22 of Gintama!

I’m writing this space on Christmas Eve. Do you want to know why I’m doing it now that there’s a TV set next to me showing Akashiya* dressed as Santa Claus? Because I am lonely. I’m doing this because I’m lonely. Actually, I’m supposed to draw a self-contained episode for SQ, but I’m so lonely that my hand is shaking and I can’t stop the tears. It’s Christmas and I’m so hungry. But I can’t go and buy a ready meal from a convenience store, otherwise the shop assistant will think: “Ah! It’s Christmas, but this guy eats a ready meal from a convenience store by himself…”. If someone thought that about me, just at Christmas time, I wouldn’t be able to go and buy even a single umaibo snack! So, since I have no other choice, I’m working alone in the warmth of the kotatsu, eating a weird little steamed cake prepared for the Jump Festa by my editor. It couldn’t get any worse. The label on the cake was that of Gintama. I repeat, it couldn’t have gone any worse. A thoughtful cake… what does this little Christmas present mean? I don’t want a steamed cake to care about me! This thoughtfulness irritates me. On nights like this, I get annoyed by the kindness of a person, let alone a cake! Having said that, please give me your support again this year, even though I am behaving in this way.

*Sanma Akashiya, famous Japanese comedian.

SORACHI’S Q&A: HANGING OUT WITH THE READERS 60

QUESTION FROM MR. “SINCE YOU CAN’T SEE THE GINTAMA ANIME IN SHIZUOKA, I SEE IT ON DVD”, FROM SHIZUOKA PROVINCE

In this space, may I also ask you a question related to the anime? Who writes the subtitle of each episode? You can’t really tell even by looking at the overlays. Anyway, it has nice handwriting!

ANSWER:

It’s written by a man named Wakanabe, a Sunrise director. Apparently, he used to do calligraphy exercises, but he drinks so much he can’t draw a straight line anymore. He’s the very middle-aged man I once wrote about who said he could make love to Joe Odagiri.

SORACHI’S Q&A: HANGING OUT WITH THE READERS 61

QUESTION FROM MRS ‘A LITTLE ADVICE FROM A BUSYBODY’, SHIGA PROVINCE

Hello, Sorachi sensei! I’m a 49-year-old housewife, but I’m a big fan and I follow all the episodes of both the manga and the anime. There’s one thing that’s been on my mind since the beginning: the kimonos the characters wear are too short, aren’t they?

ANSWER:

Look at the young people walking around the city these days, ma’am! They all wear trousers that sag down, don’t they? It’s the same thing. In the world of Gintama, it’s fashionable to wear kimonos that are a bit short… You should have told me earlier!

SORACHI’S Q&A: HANGING OUT WITH THE READERS 62

QUESTION FROM MR “SOMEONE FIND ME”, AICHI PROVINCE

How are the questions to be published in these spaces chosen? Do you select the ones that seem suitable, sensei? Or is it just random?

ANSWER:

I choose them from those sent in letters and postcards, but I’m more likely to choose them from postcards. I read both, but when I don’t have a lot of time, postcards are faster.

SORACHI’S Q&A: HANGING OUT WITH THE READERS 63

QUESTION FROM MISS “HIDEAKI’S SISTER (HAVING NO OTHER CHOICE)”

Good morning, Sorachi sensei!

My parents got divorced because of my father’s infidelity. The other day, he sent me a letter saying he’s remarried and has a son named Hideaki. I don’t need to explain where the name comes from. He makes me laugh in many ways, and I feel a slight homicidal instinct towards him… what could you do for me, Sorachi sensei?

ANSWER:

HIDEAKI, GROW VIGOROUS…!

“I’ve read volume 21, which is the last of Gintama, and I really enjoyed it. I was almost thinking of sending an email with the subject line ‘AT HOME DO IT AS MUCH AS YOU WANT’, but let me say one thing… Onishi doesn’t touch himself there at all! He scratches or grabs his belly! Please understand the situation!”

This is the message in the New Year card sent by Onishi’s wife, in which she protests what I wrote. She tries so hard to convince me that her husband doesn’t touch his cock… Poor thing! Maybe she doesn’t know what her husband does outside the house. Men have a completely different face when they’re not in the family. Madam… I understand that you can’t, or rather you don’t want to believe it, but your husband touches a lot of things outside the house at will…

New topic: “Hideaki Sorachi’s very stupid advice”.

I will give advice on any issue. Marital problems, family problems, mother-in-law and daughter-in-law problems, etc…

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Thank you for buying the 21st volume! So, it’s been decided that Mr. Onishi, the Gintama editor I’ve always made fun of in these extra pages, will be working on something else. Please give him a round of applause as he is a hero for taking care of me for so many years despite all the letters that wanted him dead. I too have continued to insult him, but after more than a five-year period together I feel a bit sad. As a student, I was the type who couldn’t adjust to a new class, so I pretended to sleep on the desk for about a week. The sense was “It’s not that I don’t have any friends, I’m just sleepy”. So I’m very anxious. Just the thought of having to start all over again with a new editor, like in my school days when I was hoping someone would talk to me, gives me a kind of blockage. If he were as introverted as I am, I wouldn’t know what to do. If we both bent over the desk, we couldn’t have meetings….

I was thinking about things like that, but the other day I had a chance to talk about work with three of us: me, Onishi and my new editor Saito.

The new editor Saito is three years younger than me: he said he used to play rugby as a student, so he is a sportsman. He is also a dynamic and friendly person, with short hair and not at all introverted. I don’t think I’ll have any problem, if I ever bend over the desk he can try to tackle me… or so I thought, but then he said: ‘I used to play rugby but my hobby was reading comics for girls. I joined Shueisha to work for Non-no magazine (women’s edition)’. What kind of sportsman is he?!

According to Onishi, he’s a slightly effeminate otaku rugby player who loves special effects, anime and video games. In short, he belongs to the same category as me: an introvert. During the meeting, he was constantly picking his nose (I don’t know if it’s just a habit of his or if he felt awkward). He did it with such force that he almost looked like a miniaturist! Since he sticks his fingers in himself, he’s an introvert, right? Anyway, the fact that he likes cartoons is good, since he’ll be dealing with the Sunrise staff because of the Gintama anime. So I praised him by saying that maybe he’ll be able to compare himself on an equal footing with those who talk by quoting Gundam. But he replied, “Ah! I like anime, but I’ve never seen Gundam… I like Aoi Hiiragi.” A useless being!

Given the situation I feel anxious about the future. However I’m not the only one, the same goes for Onishi, who will have to take care of One Piece! During the meeting he didn’t speak much, and I noticed that he was very pale and had dry lips, terrified at the idea of meeting Oda sensei. Well, I understand, because of the fear it took me three years before I was able to talk to sensei. The first time I saw him from afar during the New Year’s party, Onishi urged me to go and greet him, but the aura he emitted was too much for me. Since I was about to faint in front of his energy, I ran away with a nonsensical excuse, like “He won’t know Gintama anyway… which will probably end soon.” … But fortunately the work survived, and in its second year, at Jump Festa, I met him again. I was told: “This time go and say hello!”, but I replied: “One moment! If I go now, I’m sure he’ll ask me why I didn’t go, because at this rate I wouldn’t have greeted him… and while we were talking, I passed Oda sensei in a corridor and greeted him with such impetus that my voice came out a bit falsetto: “Thank you for your work!”. Sensei replied, “Ooh, hello!” …

He mistook me for a Jump Festa staff member (laughter), and left without stopping. Then, this year, on the occasion of One Piece‘s 10th anniversary, I was finally able to offer him my sincere congratulations!

However, Onishi’s fear was more than natural, but his condition was terrible. Explaining the work to be done to your successor is the last task of an editor, but the second half of the meeting had turned into a kind of pep session for Onishi. Saito’s first job for Gintama was to push Onishi. Anyway, to avoid any misunderstandings, I’d like to point out that Oda sensei is a wonderful person, a really nice guy, like Luffy. It’s just that the aura he exudes is no small thing, and we caterpillars squirm scalded. That’s all. However, if sensei doesn’t have any problems, Onishi has a lot of them, so I can’t help but think that the head writer has lost his mind. Since this is the last chance, I’ll be frank: I think the rookie mangaka who have worked with Onishi may agree with me when I say that he touches his crotch during meetings.

Well, he doesn’t do it often, but he talks by touching it with a hand stuck in the zip of his trousers. Once I asked him what he was doing, and he said, “Well, my tummy itches.” And yet he was obviously touching his crotch! He was holding meetings on Gintama by fiddling with his kintama (i.e. testicles). If he did that in front of Oda sensei, a scandal would break out and he wouldn’t get away with just a Gum Gum punch! If Onishi was able to get away with a line like “I was putting in second!”, it would be a different matter, but he’s not that talented… they’d rip off his gearbox.

SORACHI’S Q&A: HANGING OUT WITH THE READERS #59

QUESTION FROM MR. SILVER WORLD

How many members do the Shinsengumi have? In the 33rd lesson it was written that eighteen individuals is more than half. Since the Shinsengumi is made up of ten teams, excluding espionage officers like Yamazaki, it appears that there are only two or three members in each team. Is it really 35-36 in total?

ANSWER:

They periodically recruit new personnel as the organization grows. In volume 19, Kondo was trying to go to his homeland because of this.

Currently, a team consists of about ten people.

Well, I used a lot of pages, but all in all I just wanted to say: “Onishi, thank you for taking care of me!”.

In these six years we’ve argued several times, and I’ve said and written rude things to him, but it’s thanks to him that I’m able to have wonderful experiences as a mangaka! I thank him for coming all the way to Hokkaido to drag me to Tokyo when I was still a beginner. If it weren’t for him, I wouldn’t have been able to do it… I considered this city a den of demons. That time, before leaving, amidst the half-laughs of both of us, he shook my hand and said, “Let’s climb the pyramid together!” This memory sustained me on the threshold of a weekly publication. Unfortunately, I didn’t make it to the top, and I won’t be able to in the future either, although I will work hard to become a mangaka he can brag about by saying, “I was the one who raised him up!”.

Thank you for taking care of me.

But don’t touch your crotch again!

New topic: “Do this all you want at home.”

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Thank you for purchasing the 20th volume of Gintama! In the 169th episode, an editor named Konishi will play an active role. To tell you the truth, I drew it at the request of Mr. Yoshida (a member of the editorial staff and the organizer of my editor Onishi’s wedding banquet), who asked me, “Could you do something for the occasion, Sorachi?” Mr. Yoshida, who was in charge of Death Note and D. Gray-Man, is handsome and very good, and he started working in the same year as Onishi, but he doesn’t seem to care about manga that he doesn’t follow. So he casually said to me, “In Gintama, could you draw an episode describing the moment when Onishi asked for his woman’s hand in marriage…?”. When I told him my reasonable objection (“Well, wait a minute! I don’t have a problem with that, but they’ll all think it’s a self-referential story made just to get a laugh out of the editors! The readers don’t have the slightest interest in Mr. Onishi!”) he simply replied, “But in Gintama it’s acceptable!”.

Seriously, among those born in ’78, there’s no decent guy.

On top of that, he asked me to do it all in my spare time while I was doing the current story (I was drawing the Shinsengumi Crisis saga at the time), because he wanted to make the episode public during the wedding banquet. It was almost obstructionism at work!

Seriously, it’s a good thing for you that I don’t own a Death Note, dear people born in ’78!

SORACHI’S Q&A: HANGING OUT WITH THE READERS #57

QUESTION FROM MR. “A BIG FAN OF YOROZUYA! IS THE SHINSENGUMI… NORMAL?”, FROM GUNMA PROVINCE.

Nice to meet you, Sorachi sensei! To tell you the truth, I noticed something just now: Shinpachi likes Otsu, and Kagura likes Izenka*… What kind of songs does Gin-san like? Or does he only like the weather lady? Since I can’t think of anything, please let me know!

ANSWER:

Gin-san basically doesn’t listen to any kind of music, at most he hums songs from commercials.

What I’m about to say has nothing to do with this, but Okita has a weakness for rakugo**. It’s perfect, isn’t it?

*Japanese folk music style.
**Comedy monologues in which a narrator tells a story.

SORACHI’S Q&A: HANGING WITH THE READERS #58

QUESTION FROM MR JUNPEI MASUDA OF KANAGAWA PROVINCE

Hello, Sorachi sensei! My name is Junpei Masuda, and I really like Gintama. So I’m going to be a mangaka like you! I’m not very good at drawing yet, so I don’t have a chance right now… I usually draw Naruto characters, but I never improve, so I’d like to become your student.

ANSWER:

I think you’re missing the point… Listen, Junpei… maybe it’s better to… ask Kishimoto sensei?

After all, for the proposal story, I completed the storyboard late because of the busy work schedule and the care I had for the bride, so I didn’t have time to finish the boards for the ceremony.

I thought, “Wow, I’m going to take advantage of this situation and make sure this project never existed!”, but on the day of the wedding, Onishi’s father said to me with contempt, “What’s Gintama? I don’t understand it…” And so the desire for revenge was born in me. Devising a method to entertain the readers and at the same time cause harm to the Onishi family, that episode was made! If you re-read it with this anecdote in mind, it will look different! I hope the Onishi family members all read it together and feel uncomfortable…

New topic: “I pretended it was nothing with a smile, but some tears came to my eyes”.


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Thank you for purchasing the 19th volume! I’ve started playing Monster Hunter (PSP), despite having abstained until now for fear of not being able to work. I was told that you get so into it that you can’t go back to the real world. But after answering “I’m a guy who’s all about work, it’s impossible for me to get totally lost in a video game with no plot, where you just have to defeat monsters. There’s nothing dramatic about it, such as a father being killed or becoming a slave, or finding out that your son is a legendary hero, etc., right? So, I’ll definitely be able to return to the real world!” I went hunting as if I were taking a test of courage. A few weeks later, I realized I had become a respectable Hunter, so much so that I downloaded a “Special Event Quest” at a shop in the Yodobashi Camera, bringing my PSP around the kids.

Lately, all I’ve been doing is drawing or hunting. In the last week, in addition to completing a chapter, I made a helmet. Drawing manga also means getting lost in fantasies, so except for times when I go to the toilet, take a bath, or eat, I’m never in the real world… Which is very problematic. By now I can’t tell if I’m a Hunter or a mangaka. My editor’s face has begun to look like Yian Kut-ku’s*, and you can’t imagine how many times I’ve wanted to stab him with a big sword…

*A bird wyvern in the Monster Hunter game series

FREEWHEELING: INTERVIEW WITH HIDEAKI SORACHI OF OVER 40,000 CHARACTERS

INTERVIEWER – Onishi (Editor)
INTERVIEWER – Hideaki Sorachi (Author)

Published in the June 15, 2007 special issue of Akamaru Jump.

HOW DO YOU SPEND YOUR DAYS OFF?

Onishi: Do you go drinking on your days off?

Sorachi: …After finishing the boards, at most I go out to eat with my assistants.

Onishi: Do you handle alcohol well?

Sorachi: Like a normal person, not very…

Onishi: You don’t like it too much or hate it, right?

Sorachi: It’s not that I don’t like it, I just get enough of the pleasant feeling of intoxication.

Onishi: What do you drink?

Sorachi: There’s nothing I prefer.

Onishi: Does that mean you drink different things every time?

Sorachi: I start with beer. After that, it depends on the situation.

Onishi: Like normal people (laughter)

Sorachi: Why? (laughter) It’s natural!

Onishi: You haven’t been playing video games lately, have you?

Sorachi: Hmm… There’s none I like too much so far.

Onishi: Which have you finished in the last few years?

Sorachi: Are you going to publish something like that?

Onishi: We’ll publish everything we can. Come on, even if it’s not a fun game, tell me which one you finished.

Sorachi: I don’t want anyone to know.

Onishi: What do you care?

Sorachi: Don’t publish it, you know! (laughs)

Onishi: I can’t accept your request.

Sorachi: Huh?

Onishi: Impossible to accommodate you!

Sorachi: But who knows how my words will be interpreted!

Onishi: You’ll just have to re-read everything at the end, before publication!

Sorachi: Yeah, right! Are you telling the truth?

Onishi: Of course! So what video game do you like?

Sorachi: Well, honestly, since the serial publication started, I can’t really get into any games.

Onishi: And you haven’t finished any?

Sorachi. Um, Yakuza…

Onishi: So you play!

Sorachi: It was about a year ago, when I ate some bugs (during the making of Gin Channel!*).

Onishi: You don’t play role-playing games?

Sorachi: Sure! I play them a lot!

Onishi: Like Dragon Quest, or Final Fantasy…

Sorachi: I did Dragon Quest, but I wasn’t that impressed.

Onishi: How about Final Fantasy?

Sorachi: I don’t play FF.

Onishi: So you’re a Dragon Quest lover!

Sorachi: In FF, the protagonists speak for themselves…

Onishi: You mean you find it hard to enter its world?

Sorachi: Yeah. I’m the kind of guy who puts his name to a hero.


BEGINNINGS AS AN ASPIRING MANGAKA

Onishi: Your blood type is AB, right?

Sorachi: If you’re not egocentric, you can’t draw manga.

Onishi: You’re right! To meekly follow the opinions of others is to accept what others say and believe them blindly. But if you see things from a different perspective, or with cynicism, you can create something new. Did you study hard as a student?

Sorachi: Of course, I studied like everyone else! I prepared properly for my high school and university entrance exams.

Onishi: So you were working hard…

Sorachi: You thought I didn’t study at all?

Onishi: I didn’t mean that, but I rather thought you were reading or drawing.

Sorachi: No comic books. In primary schools, I drew something, but my father mocked me by saying, “What is this?!”. I was very shocked by his offensive words…

Onishi: Like, “The main character is called Ken? Hmm…”.

Sorachi: It was a fantasy. I only drew fantasy comics.

Onishi: With a pen?

Sorachi: No, in a notebook with a pencil… Then I hid them, but he found them…

Onishi: What grade in primary schools was that?

Sorachi: Maybe third or fourth grade! But to tell you the truth, even in high school, I drew… I scribbled in my notebooks.

Onishi: But no finished works?

Sorachi. I thought I could never become a mangaka. When I was a kid, I told my parents about my dream, but they said, as so many do when they encourage their children to study, “If you’re not smart, you can’t become one!”.


*Guide on Gintama characters

Onishi: And you gave up because of that?

Sorachi: How should I put it… I wanted to, but I couldn’t say it in front of my friends because I was ashamed. So I said I was going to become an architect, just to ignore them.

Onishi: I get it!

Sorachi: I was studying drawing, saying I was going to study CG!

Onishi: What do you mean by “studying drawing”?

Sorachi: Actually, I just drew… because my course of study had almost nothing to do with drawing. I went to a school that was more related to advertising.

Onishi: So you were studying drawing comics?

Sorachi: But I was going to make at least one bet.

Onishi: When did you first submit artwork to a magazine?

Sorachi: When I was in my 3rd year at university…

Onishi: Was it a story about a ramen joint?

Sorachi: There were monsters in it.

Onishi: I don’t remember if the owner did anything… Was he the one who subdued the monsters?

Sorachi: Yeah!

Onishi: So while you were in college, did you submit that work to a magazine…?

Sorachi: I was sure I’d win some prize, but it went straight through the paper shredder. I’ve never said it publicly, but everyone thinks I won a prize with my first work. Even my parents don’t know that I failed.

Onishi: Why are you hiding it?

Sorachi: Well, I might as well have said it.

Onishi: Don’t you have character notes somewhere? It would be fun to publish them for readers!

Sorachi: Those characters didn’t have much charm.

Onishi: You were only delving into the plot, or the worldview that the story was imbued with, weren’t you?

Sorachi: I was just putting on airs!

“I THOUGHT (SORACHI) WAS LYING ABOUT HIS AGE” [ONISHI]

Onishi: You were putting on airs… about what? For example, about making monsters?

Sorachi: I don’t talk about that kind of thing, but I was boasting.

Onishi: Was the main character just cool?

Sorachi: Well, even though he was cool, he was basically like Gin-san. He ran a ramen joint, and saved the evil spirit of a cat. It was a self-contained work, and I had to do everything myself. Since it was the first time I’d drawn backgrounds and I had to use a ruler, which was very annoying, I thought I’d give up being a mangaka… “It’s impossible for me to do this.”

Onishi: But you finished that manga, right?

Sorachi: Yes…

Onishi: And you thought you had some kind of award in your pocket?

Sorachi: I was sure of it.

Onishi: Were you shocked?

Sorachi: Since it was a hassle to get a work done, I gave up drawing. However, when I was in my fourth year of college and looking for a job, I tried to submit another manga to a contest, and I won a prize! It took me about four months to complete…

Onishi: You mean it took that long from storyboard to completion?

Sorachi: Yes! It was just like now: working until the deadline. For that contest, you just had to send the manga in the mail by the end of every month. I’d get down to the last one, I wouldn’t make it in time, and then, since I had another month, I’d correct anything that didn’t convince me. But gradually the number of things that needed to be corrected increased, so I didn’t make it in time for the next deadline. So I’d start correcting things again…

Onishi: Understood.

Sorachi: But I think it was all good. In the end, I was my own editor… even though four months was still too long for a manga!

Onishi: I thought you were lying about your age. I was convinced you were at least thirty, judging by the atmosphere of your stories.

Sorachi: Some people even thought I was a woman.

Onishi: I couldn’t believe it until I met you in person.

Sorachi: You thought I was lying?

Onishi: Well, I wouldn’t have been surprised if I’d found a man in his mid-forties.

Sorachi: And that’s why you thought I was a liar?

Onishi: As for Dandelion, the work that was sent had a different content… I don’t remember what happened to the old lady.

Sorachi: She was torn to pieces. There was nothing moving about the manga. Among the fan letters, there are many that say, “I was moved by the scene where the old man and the old woman got together!”, but at the beginning, there wasn’t even such a scene. She was hit by a car… But in order to publish, I had to rethink everything from scratch.

Onishi: Including the drawings.

Sorachi: I don’t know what happened, but it was decided that the manga would be published in a magazine, so I was asked to correct at least the scene of the old woman, because “it wasn’t possible to print a manga like that”. At first, I had no intention of bringing the two old geezers together… We had a fight right from the start, don’t you remember? Right from the start! (laughter)

Onishi: Then, before Shirokuro, you came up with Samuraida. There was a middle-aged man wearing a suit. It was a story where the characters just talked, right?

Sorachi: It wasn’t a suit, it was a prison uniform.

Onishi: Anyway, the final boss was a bald man of a certain age, right?

Sorachi: Yeah! But that manga remains the prototype of Gintama, of the story about the arrival of extraterrestrials in the Edo era. In that sense, it wasn’t a useless work.

Onishi: Well, yes!

Sorachi: I thought it was funny, and you trashed it as if to say, “I’m disappointed in you.” ….

Onishi: Well, you could hardly structure the next work, so I made you promise to fax me at least six pages of storyboard every day.

Sorachi: But I couldn’t do that, because it would take me a day to write a single line. Anyway, we used to phone each other, you’d ask me how many pages I’d done and I’d say: “All done!”, even though it wasn’t true at all. (laughter) So I’d improvise the three missing pages on the spot and send everything by fax. (laughter) Anyway, if I hadn’t done as you said, I wouldn’t have been able to do this work.

Onishi: No.

Sorachi: Yes.

Onishi: If I hadn’t gone this far, you wouldn’t have made it.

Sorachi: I feel like hell, I was always afraid the phone would ring. I was even having auditory hallucinations! (laughter) Seriously, when I would hear electronic sounds, I would weigh, “Ah, a phone call!” (laughter). I had a slight nervous breakdown.

Onishi: And after Shirokuro…

Sorachi: You asked me to do a storyboard for a serial, if I remember correctly…

Onishi: Well, if I thought it was good, I would have presented it at the meeting, but if I didn’t think it was great, I would have suggested publishing it as a self-contained manga.

Sorachi: Exactly! You told me to draw a story about the Shinsengumi, but I refused because I didn’t want to. Then I took up that idea again, since I had no other options, so I drew a manga… but only up to a point.

Onishi: At first, the story wasn’t about extraterrestrials, but about monsters, right?

Sorachi: No, that wasn’t my idea!

Onishi: Really?

Sorachi: You were the one who wanted monsters to fight the Shinsengumi, but I didn’t want to, so I chose extraterrestrials.

Onishi: But we said the other day that “maybe it was better to choose monsters”! (laughter)

Sorachi: Other than monsters… I thought it would be better to choose the Shinsengumi as the main characters. (laughter) I actually didn’t want to submit that story for serial publication yet, but since you said it might not be accepted, I thought it wouldn’t be a problem.

Onishi: To tell you the truth, I was convinced it wouldn’t… (laughter)

Sorachi: (laughter) You’re always sincere afterwards! You did the same for Shirokuro, too!

Onishi: If I really meant what I said, you’d never submit a story of yours!

Sorachi: That’s why you criticized a lot of things in Shirokuro too! But actually, by making changes, a work always gets better.

Onishi: Maybe you’re right, but…

Sorachi: Since I’m sure I can draw a more entertaining manga, I don’t want to interrupt the conceptual phase. And anyway, it was better to elaborate the story more before starting the serial publication, wasn’t it?

Onishi: In the end, the result would have been the same.

Sorachi: Or maybe the Shinsengumi would have become the main characters.

Onishi: Same result.

Sorachi: I doubt it…

“WHAT IS A DEADLINE? (LAUGHTER) [SORACHI]

ABOUT THE MEETINGS

Sorachi: I think one thing, though. The other mangaka respond properly to interviews because they think about questions on a daily basis.

Onishi: I guess that’s what you’re saying.

Sorachi: They also answer by thinking about what they’re not supposed to say, right? They’re amazing!

Onishi: But in a way, I think mangaka like you are to be envied. Because they don’t need to adapt to others.

Sorachi: Oh, no?

Onishi: No! They don’t even need to bow their heads to someone, or go to work in some office every day…

Sorachi: That’s the best thing about it.

Onishi: Just stick to the deadline, and they can keep drawing at their own pace.

Sorachi: Are you trying to tell me to meet the deadline…?

Onishi: Yeah!

Sorachi: What’s a deadline? (laughter)

Onishi: What do you mean?! (laughter)

Sorachi: What do you mean by “deadline”?

Onishi: It’s the limit for printing the magazine in time…

Sorachi: In that sense, I’ve never violated any deadlines.

Onishi: You’re on time because you have someone covering for you…

Sorachi: I’m talking about the one you impose on me at the beginning, Onishi! If the date beyond which the work will no longer be published is called a deadline, I think you should never exceed it, so don’t worry!

Onishi: Really…?

Sorachi: How will this interview be published in Akamaru?

Onishi: With a header. And I appear as the interviewer, as well as your editor…

Sorachi: But not everyone is that interested in something like that, right?

Onishi: In what?

Sorachi: In Gintama itself. Even if I talk for six pages, no one’s going to care, right?

Onishi: I think everyone is interested in you.

Sorachi: Really?

Onishi: Because everyone wants to hear your story! From questions and answers like the ones on the Gin Channel, it seems like you’re putting on airs, as if to say, “I’ve given it some thought before answering.”

Sorachi: Are you saying a confusing interview is better?

Onishi: Exactly! As in everyday chit-chat.

Sorachi: I’ve never seen an interview like that.

Onishi: You often see very long interviews in music magazines! You get asked about everything, starting with the history of your background!

Sorachi: That sounds unpleasant. I’d come across as obnoxious, and people might think I’ve gone overboard and that our story doesn’t matter…

Onishi: Well, those who want to read it, read it, and those who don’t… don’t.

Sorachi: The fact remains that they think I’ve gone overboard.

Onishi: But you like other mangaka’s interviews too, right?

Sorachi: I do. Other people’s, though.

Onishi: See? And that’s the same thing.

Sorachi: I like other people’s interviews because they’re done properly. Their answers are useful to me, too.


“SACCHAN, KYUBEI AND TAKASUGI ARE REALLY HARD TO HANDLE” [SORACHI]

Onishi: You’re referring to the interviews with a headline like “I WANT TO DRAW HUMAN BEINGS” right? (laughter)

Sorachi: The ones that start with a big advertising slogan… Ooh! Will this interview be like that?

Onishi: Well, not that serious… So how do you produce a work?

Sorachi: At first, I consult with my editor that’s you…

Onishi: We devote four to five hours a week to this little meeting, don’t we?

Sorachi: The other day about seven!

Onishi: Really? But we chatted about this and that, didn’t we?

Sorachi: If I’m not mistaken, our meeting started with an argument, don’t you remember? “You’re late!” that’s how you started, then we talked about this and that… that’s why it took seven hours! My meetings are pretty long for a mangaka! Other people take about one or two hours, right?

Onishi: I guess it depends on the person. In your case, at the beginning of the week you and I meet, then we have phone meetings every day…

Sorachi: And when we come to an agreement, I feel like cheating on him.

Onishi: Yeah, you hardly ever accept my opinions! (laughter) Even when we’re on the same page…

Sorachi: Most of the time, the ideas we share turn out to be failures.

Onishi: Maybe that’s where it all ends, and it’s like you’re letting off steam at that moment.

Sorachi: It occurs to me that because I had fun in the meeting, there’s no need to make that idea fun in the manga. Instead, when I draw something completely different from the line we’ve decided on, the manga comes out hilarious.

Onishi: I think it’s a matter of motivation. I guess it’s better when there’s something you want to draw, even if it betrays the agreement you made.


HOW DO YOU MAKE THE CHARACTERS?

Onishi: How do you come up with fun characters?

Sorachi: To put it simply, I basically try to make them earthy.

Onishi: Rather, you try to bring them to the readers’ side.

Sorachi: Exactly! The characters in the manga seem to float on air, so I try to make them sink into real life.

Onishi: That means you want to tell people, “These aren’t special at all just because they appear in a comic book!”, right? Show them picking their noses too, eating cheap snacks, etc… You mean that, right?

Sorachi: I think about the smallest details, as if they were people close to me. When I start to know what I would find in the dustbin of the character in question, I succeed. However, in Gintama, it didn’t happen often, there are some characters that I still don’t fully understand, for example Sacchan. Also, Kyubei and Takasugi are really difficult to handle.

Onishi: You still don’t fully understand them?

Sorachi: Ah! This discussion isn’t bad, huh? It can be used for a title, right?

Onishi: For example, “I haven’t been able to fully understand my characters”! (laughter) Who’s the easiest to handle?

Sorachi: I’d say Zura.

Onishi: Zura? Well, he’s funny!

Sorachi: I get a kick out of drawing him, because when he becomes dumb, he’s more powerful than anyone else. And since he’s a serious character, I like to deform his character, so when I do that I get excited. That’s a speech for an interview! (laughter) I also like Chief Matsudaira, but I don’t really understand his feelings.

Onishi: Did I mention that a Gintama fan once protested to me in tears?

Sorachi: Why was that?

Onishi: It was a girl who said she was a fan of Gin-san. When I told her that he talks out of his ass, she said, “That’s not true! Cut it out!” …

Sorachi: Crying?

Onishi: More like angrily… She yelled at me, “What do you know about Gin-san?!” …

Sorachi: My goodness!

Onishi: Well, she was right…

Sorachi: How wonderful! As I was saying, Gin-san’s already become independent, so there’s nothing we can do for him.

Onishi: What’s your favourite episode in Gintama?

Sorachi: The one about sukiyaki (100th lesson). And you, Onishi?

Onishi: The ones where Katsura appears.

Sorachi: What about the “sentimental episodes”?

Onishi: I have the impression that for this kind of stories there aren’t always enough pages available, a sentimental atmosphere really sticks with the readers.

Sorachi: I’d choose the episode about the kappa (18th lesson), where I was able to put in some jokes at just the right point… I also like the one about fireworks (56th teaching), but there, after all, the members of Yorozuya didn’t do anything.

Onishi: As a third anniversary event, we held a vote in the magazine.

Sorachi: I’d also mention the episode on Mayora Thirteen (65th lesson). However, I never have enough pages, I always think that if I had more pages I would be able to conclude the story better. So I have some regrets for each episode, I’m never completely satisfied.

Onishi: How about the chapter where the characters go to observe the cherry blossom (17th lesson)?

Sorachi: Well… I think there was a better way to end that story, too. To tell you the truth, I would have liked to have all the characters appear.

Onishi: You’re right!

Sorachi: Thinking about it now, we hardly ever discuss Gintama properly, even though we often talk about other manga or crime cases.

Onishi: Yeah! We get too involved, so there may be a lot of things we don’t understand.

WHAT ELSE WOULD YOU LIKE TO DRAW?

Onishi: Besides Gintama, what kind of story would you like to draw?

Sorachi: A manga with a school setting.

Onishi: Why?

Sorachi: I feel like once I get too old, I won’t be able to publish that kind of manga anymore. Besides, I enjoy drawing noisy scenes! And just by being in a classroom, a character might stand out.

Onishi: So the next work will be about school!

Sorachi: But to be funny, you can’t just put everyone in a school…

Onishi: If I remember correctly, among Miyazaki’s films, the one you like best is Kiki’s Delivery Service, right?

Sorachi: That’s right! But I never found Kiki cute.

Onishi: So what do you like?

Sorachi: The development of the story… and the description of the urban character!

Onishi: But narratively, it’s an ordinary work.

Sorachi: Huh? But it’s a lot of fun, isn’t it?

Onishi: There’s no fighting and no airships crash!

Sorachi: That’s true! However, I also like Laputa – The Castle in the Sky.

Onishi: You don’t like superheroes?

Sorachi: No.

Onishi: Do you like works that depict ordinary people who live by being busy?

Sorachi: It’s true that in Miyazaki’s anime I like the secondary characters, but not the main characters. Except for Sheeta. What do you like about this work, Onishi?

Onishi: It makes me feel emotions!

Sorachi: Your answer sounds stupid (laughter) But do you like the rendering of the scenes or the simplicity of the story?

Onishi: For example, the fact that the castle moves!

Sorachi: Yeah, you can feel the romance in Laputa! And in this interview, there’s also an exchange about Miyazaki’s anime! (laughs) Seriously, if I thought about drawing manga, it was because of Laputa. When I see the final scene, where it flies away, I feel very sad. I feel like saying, “Don’t leave me!”… I don’t know if you can understand.

Onishi: Did you, by any chance, draw the sequel yourself?

Sorachi: (laughter) No. For television works, and for manga, there’s always an end. And the readers definitely feel a sense of abandonment. They’ll feel like saying, “Wait a minute!” … Rather than being dumped like that, it’s better to switch sides. Maybe I draw for that reason too, it’s the only way to resolve such a situation, don’t you think?

Onishi: My way of resolving it is to wait for the next work.

Sorachi: Which will also end (laughter). There’s no choice but to become an author! Also, there’s one thing to add: the more funny movies you see, the more you feel an emptiness in your heart… isn’t that right?

Onishi: Why?

Sorachi: Because all you can do is “watch” them!

Onishi: Well, that’s normal!

Sorachi: Wouldn’t you like to be in a position where you can think, “I want to make a movie too!”?

Onishi: Normal people don’t think like that! Only you have that idea!

Sorachi: Of course I’m not capable of making something great, but I want to stay in this business forever.

Onishi: So you want to be a director after all?

Sorachi: No, not really… it’s more of a desire to create something. The more I see films, the more sad I get. Maybe that’s why I’m a mangaka.

Onishi: I don’t think everyone feels that way. You usually enjoy watching them.

Sorachi: Don’t you feel like enhancing that feeling in some way? Doesn’t hearing, “Ooh, I have to go back to the office tomorrow!” … doesn’t it make you feel empty inside? Isn’t it great to think that you can create something better the next day?

Onishi: (laughter) Yeah, but normal people don’t think like that.

Sorachi: Don’t they think, “I’d like to create something moving too!”?

Onishi: No. But it’s because you think like that that you became a mangaka, right?

Sorachi: The more you see funny works, the more excited you get…!

“YOU DON’T TALK TO OTHERS MUCH, DO YOU?” [ONISHI]

WHAT ARE YOUR FUTURE GOALS?

Onishi: Any plans for the future?

Sorachi: I’ll be happy if I can continue drawing.

Onishi: Until what age?

Sorachi: Until I die.

Onishi: Really?

Sorachi: Yeah! Hmm?

Onishi: Well, do you want to retire at a specific age…?

Sorachi: No.

Onishi: Do you want to keep drawing forever?

Sorachi: Yes! But without being cornered like that, even if it’s impossible.

Onishi: More like…

Sorachi: Impossible. The next work will be a failure. (laughter) Maybe I’ll eventually open a cafe, and that’ll be the end of my career.

Onishi: (laughter) Why a cafe?

Sorachi: Well… There’s no particular reason… A situation like this comes to mind: “I used to draw manga…”!

Onishi: A cafe run by Hideaki Sorachi, the former mangaka! Basically, a manga cafe? (laughter)

Sorachi: No! It would just be a place where you could talk to the owner!

Onishi: You don’t talk to other people much, do you?

Sorachi: A place where aspiring mangaka gather.

Onishi: In Hokkaido?

Sorachi: I don’t want to go back there anymore. But I’d like to continue making manga, or screenplays… After all, there’s nothing else I want to do…

Onishi: Would you still like to continue creating stories?

Sorachi: Yeah! Something similar to what I’m doing now.

Onishi: What if you eventually die drawing a storyboard? (laughter)

Sorachi: That would be fine. While I’m writing the storyboard, I offer a lot, but when the readers say the manga is fun, I’m really happy. I’d say drawing is my only hobby.

Onishi: By the way, you never get sick.

Sorachi: I do get sick, but I get treatment.

Onishi: When did you ever get sick? (laughter)

Sorachi: Several times! You didn’t know? The episode where Zura attends a driving school (125th lesson) has an eccentric story… Well, it was due to a fever.

Onishi: (laughter)

Sorachi: That time I was about thirty-eight, and had a big cough. I drew the storyboard in a state of confusion. Seriously, it was risky, I had a strange feeling. Right before the deadline, everyone feels tense… or maybe only I do since I’m up against the wall.

Onishi: You had to struggle!

TELL ME ABOUT WHEN YOU WERE A CHILD!

Onishi: What were you like as a child?

Sorachi: I don’t want to brag, but until primary schools, I was everyone’s favourite.

Onishi: Did you make the others laugh?

Sorachi: Yes! I was the centre of my class!

Onishi: You used to give funny answers to teachers’ questions, right?

Sorachi: I wasn’t that skilled. And then in middle school, I met a whole different level of kids from all over the city, and my popularity disappeared.

Onishi: Without standing out, you’d like to be the centre of attention, right?

Sorachi: I’m shy, but I like making others laugh.

Onishi: It’s as if you want to say, “Look at me!” …

Sorachi: Not really. I’ve always wanted to be funny anyway.

Onishi: Which is like saying, “Hey, look at me!” …

Sorachi: Um… It’s an unpleasant expression.

Onishi: It’s because you want to express yourself that you draw manga, right?

Sorachi: Thinking about it now… is that why? If so, I’m drawing out of a desire that’s pretty disgusting.

Onishi: Disgusting…? Basically we all have the same desire, the desire to get recognition, and that desire leads to a concrete result. Some people become mangaka, and some become criminals. It’s not really for that reason, however we often talk about criminal cases.

Sorachi: That’s right, we comment on a certain guy’s character, for example.

Onishi: Exactly! We get hung up on the characteristics of the likely perpetrator.

Sorachi: The meeting ends in about fifteen minutes, and then we talk about these things.

Onishi: Let’s get right off topic.

Sorachi: Rather… I have the impression that this interview is questionable.

Onishi: No problem, it’ll be published secretly anyway.

Sorachi: Our reputation will suffer a lot, won’t it?

Onishi: Since it’s going to come out in a corner of Akamaru unbeknownst to everyone, there’s no need to worry!

Sorachi: But someone in writing is always to be feared. The readers will take everything literally.

Onishi: Then it’s enough to say honestly everything the criminals feel can teach the mangaka something.

Sorachi: They don’t have to be criminals.

Onishi: They’re hiding a deep wound in their hearts.

Sorachi: Yeah…

Onishi: So imagining why they’ve gone to such lengths is like creating characters after all.

Sorachi: You’re right! The character who hasn’t strayed from the path of righteousness despite his past experiences is the perfect manga protagonist.

Onishi: Exactly! Finding a reason that justifies behavior that seems strange or bizarre at first glance is a mangaka’s job. When asked, “Why does he do that?”, instead of saying he’s eccentric, you have to come up with a proper explanation.

Sorachi: In that sense, parents are always important. I have great faith in mine.

Onishi: In the end, it always comes back to this point: “If I do something like this, my parents will suffer!” … It’s not a matter of logic.

Sorachi: Yeah.

Onishi: There’s a lot of things we go through when we have that thought.

Sorachi: Now that those of our generation have become parents, maybe that way of thinking has changed a bit? Crimes have always existed, so we all have the opportunity to commit some crime? It’s just that the problems have changed… but what are we talking about?

Onishi: We’re discussing modern society.

Sorachi: Are you going to publish this too?

Onishi: Yes, if it’s interesting!

Sorachi: I’d rather readers didn’t read this conversation.

Onishi: It’s only natural that you feel that way… We’ve gotten a little off topic. When you were in primary schools, did you do anything else besides draw comics?

Sorachi: I was lively, I was good at sports!

Onishi: If I remember correctly, you were in the basketball club in junior high, right?

Sorachi: Yes, but I became less and less agile and realised I wasn’t good at physical activities. I started to find a lot of people who stood out more, so I thought, “Great! It’s time to go the comedy route.

Onishi: That’s a great path to follow in life!

Sorachi: I’m glad I did.

Onishi: You mean it’s because of that that you’re doing your job now?

Sorachi: Yes!

Onishi: Were you ever scolded by your parents? And how they did it.

Sorachi: Huh? Are you asking me?

Onishi: What do you mean? Who do you think I’m interviewing? (laughter)

Sorachi: I was scolded a lot more by my teachers than by my parents.

Onishi: Why was that?

Sorachi: Because I was joking around too much…! I happened to get beaten up because I took a shortcut during the marathon.

Onishi: Really?

Sorachi: We used to call the PE teacher “Gori”. As I was trotting after cheating, I saw him coming towards me. So I changed tactics and told him I had a stomachache, but he had already found out and punched me in the stomach with all his might.

Onishi: You tend to show great courage on unexpected occasions…!

FOR THOSE WHO ASPIRE TO BE MANGAKA

Onishi: Say something to the kids who want to become mangaka!

Sorachi: Well, it’s not good to just read comics.

Onishi: Then what should they do?

Sorachi: Since they want to become mangaka, it’s clear they like comics. So, they need something else.

Onishi: Yeah!

Sorachi: They need to do the activities of some circle, like everyone else… Because they need to know about normal life too, right? For example, they need to know how other high schoolers live, but… while maintaining a cynical outlook.

Onishi: “Normal life, but with cynicism” … Is that what you mean?

Sorachi: That would be insolent, not to publish it!

Onishi: Well, just don’t write it arrogantly.

Sorachi: No, don’t publish it!

Onishi: Just add a sentence like “It’s not for me to say, but…”!

Sorachi: I don’t want to be like that!

Onishi: I hope to even create a series of interviews like this.

Sorachi: What?! Did you like it?

Onishi: Everyone likes interviews with mangaka, but it’s rare to find them… I think so.

Sorachi: Then I’d better say something useful, right?

Onishi: It doesn’t have to be “useful”. As in, everyone wants to read the diary on Social Mixi, right? Anyway, lesser people don’t like it.

Sorachi: (laughter) Do you get angry reading your friends’ diaries?

Onishi: People who don’t reply to my emails often update their pages. It doesn’t take that long to reply to an email! (laughter)

Sorachi: But Mixi has nothing to do with this! (laughter)

Onishi: (laughter)

Sorachi: Going back to the question I asked earlier, people who want to become mangaka usually tend to study only as a drawer, and of course that’s important.

Onishi: But it would also be good to observe people…

Sorachi: If you ask me, “If you draw, can you automatically become a mangaka?”, I’d say no.

Onishi: You’re right! You have to be able to describe “people”, to delve into human nature.

Sorachi: On second thought, if the person who draws a manga initially doesn’t want to be a mangaka… It would be more interesting.

“YOU HAVE TO BE ABLE TO DESCRIBE ‘PEOPLE’, SO IT IS IMPORTANT TO HAVE A PERSPECTIVE TO DELVE INTO HUMAN NATURE.” [ONISHI]

ABOUT GINTAMA…

Onishi: What developments should we expect?

Sorachi: Hmm? Are you talking about Gintama?

Onishi: Yes.

Sorachi: If I revealed it, that would be the end!

Onishi: You can’t tell us anything at all…?

Sorachi: I’d like to finish this work before I get to volume 30.

Onishi: Volume 30?

Sorachi: Otherwise, the desire to collect all the volumes will disappear, won’t it?

Onishi: I don’t think so, for example Kochira Katsushika-ku Kameari Koen-mae Hashutsujo.

Sorachi: For a work like that there’s no problem, but for a frivolous manga like Gintama it’ll be harder. Frankly, it already is. I think it’s good to close Gintama at about the 18th volume!

Onishi: But there are a lot of fans asking you to continue forever!

Sorachi: Since each episode is so confusing, if it goes past thirty volumes it’ll feel like Sazae-san.

Onishi: Sazae-san‘s episodes aren’t confusing, and everyone watches them!

Sorachi: Not at all! Since it’s broadcast on Sundays at that time, everyone watches it out of inertia.

Onishi: That’s not true! When I was a kid, I used to look forward to it! And since they were showing three episodes, I’d think, “One more, how lucky I am!”.

Sorachi: But I didn’t want to watch it anymore because I thought, “Tomorrow it’s back to school…”.

Onishi: I used to watch them.

Sorachi: When it’s time for Sazae-san, don’t you start feeling melancholy?

Onishi: Well, that’s true… Then how about the Gintama anime?

Sorachi: It made me happy! At first, I was told that proposals for an anime were coming, but I was never presented with any concrete plans. So I couldn’t see the possibility. Then, looking at the audience’s reaction at the JF-AT ’05 (Jump Festa Anime Tour 2005), I realized that Gintama is really appreciated and that made me happy, I almost cried.

Onishi: It may be that mangaka generally don’t realize it. Because the editors have contact with various people, they have control over the situation, but the illustrators are always locked up at home.

Sorachi: I don’t really know if my work is popular or not.

Onishi: You might be able to tell from the copies of the monographs that are printed,

Sorachi: But it’s always about numbers that you can’t actually check. However, when I went to JF-AT ’05, and saw the audience’s reaction, I felt happy… Gintama is liked!

Onishi: I get it!

Sorachi: I have one more thing to say. Maybe it’s not appropriate to use the term “inept people”, but it seems like my work makes you think… “Even if I’m inept, I can go on living!”. Anyway, I personally don’t think I’m drawing incompetent people… or it means I am too…

Onishi: Maybe that’s what readers like. The message they read between the lines is “there’s no such thing as an incompetent person”.

Sorachi: Hmm, I don’t think my work is that refined.

Onishi: True, but it sends a message like that! Even though there are lots of superhero stories in children’s magazines, in your manga a lot of characters throw up or pick their nose…

Sorachi: But I’m not the only one who does that! Everybody does it, don’t they?

Onishi: What are you talking about?

Sorachi: Don’t the others humiliate their characters?

Onishi: Yes, but there’s always a limit!

Sorachi: I humiliate them too much?

Onishi: Yeah! If Luffy was a peeping tom, he’d back off at some point.

Sorachi: But Luffy was a peeping tom at the end of the Alabasta saga!

Onishi: Really? Gin-san would be more obscene anyway, because he’d be more realistic!

Sorachi: (laughing)

Onishi: More than just looking like a cheerful dirtbag…

Sorachi: He’d impress everyone, and with another misstep, he might lose his fans… Even though he’s made some missteps now…

Onishi: Do you read the letters sent by your fans?

Sorachi: Of course! That’s my only pleasure!

Onishi: Ok…

Sorachi: That’s normal! I draw with all my might because I can see what the readers are saying! If I don’t get any letters, it’ll be hard to keep working.

Onishi: Have you received any unusual messages?

Sorachi: A letter from a prisoner. It looks like it was written in solitary confinement. “Gintama saved me.” … I’m happy that my manga can be useful to someone.

Onishi: Do you often get letters from abroad, too?

Sorachi: Yes.

Onishi: I wonder if foreigners understand Gintama‘s gags?

Sorachi: I’m very pleased that my work is published in the North American edition of Jump, because there are some amazing authors there! There’s also Rurouni Kenshin, who’s a big hit.

Onishi: It seems like samurai and ninja always enjoy a lot of popularity.

Sorachi: Americans still have a misconception about us. If I remember correctly, in the American edition of the film Godzilla, in the scene where the beast comes out of the sea for the first time, you see fishermen in the ship eating sushi while watching a sumo match. There’s still a bizarre description of Japan.

Onishi: Anyway, the Japanese see sumo matches and eat sushi. This information, in itself, is correct…

Sorachi: But I’d say you wouldn’t do that on a fishing boat! (laughter)

Onishi: It can also happen the other way around, in the sense that the Japanese may have a misconception about Americans.

Sorachi: Of course…

Onishi: We’d imagine them eating popcorn in front of a baseball game, or holding a hamburger.

Sorachi: And the Americans would say, “Not in this situation!”?

Onishi: Probably.

“I DRAW WITH ALL MY STRENGTH PRECISELY BECAUSE I CAN VERIFY THE REACTIONS OF THE READERS!” [SORACHI]

SAY SOMETHING TO YOUR FANS…

Onishi: That’s it! And finally, say something to your fans!

Sorachi: Don’t ask me a question like that… I get tense! (laughter) Ask me something similar but in a more natural way.

Onishi: What can we expect to see in the future?

Sorachi: Do we have any special episodes planned? The ninja saga, then…?

Onishi: I don’t remember what the Ninja Saga is…

Sorachi: A series of episodes where Sacchan and Zenzou have more significance. There was also the saga of the great war in Kabukicho!

Onishi: The Four Devas of the district will appear.

Sorachi: I’d also like to expand on Otose, and then the saga of Mutsu and Sakamoto. There will also be a story about Kagura’s older brother. However, it’s hard to believe that no one seems to expect a serious story, they all want me to go on with gag after gag… It’s difficult for me.

Onishi: I think there can be serious stories too.

Sorachi: What should I do to make a serious story funny? Maybe my drawings aren’t right? They’re not serious…?

Onishi: That’s not it.

Sorachi: So most of this interview is impossible to publish, right?

Onishi: Is that right?

Sorachi: Are we going to have trouble? (laughter)

Onishi: Maybe…

END

So, the Monster Hunter special ends here. Almost all the extra space was taken up by the interview published in Akamaru magazine, but not because I deserted the job. I want to stress that I wasn’t just hunting, I was busy with various things: illustrations for the novel, work for Akamaru, eliminating the Yian Kut-Ku… I distinguish work from hunting, I’m a professional! The next volume will be like the others, so I’m asking my comrades who are willing to go and defeat the Yian Kut-ku with me to send me messages without any hesitation! I’ll be waiting for you in a tavern!

New topic: “Someone destroy my console”.

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Thank you for buying the 18th volume! The other day, I was reprimanded by the company that manages the building where my flat is located, who accused me of making too much noise and disturbing the neighbours. He added: ‘Your flat is frequented by a Chinese woman, isn’t it? I heard it from your neighbours…’. Well, the noise at night was definitely my fault because I did not take into account that I have a different pace of life from ordinary people. I apologize, from now on I will be careful not to make noise when I work at night. I’m really sorry. But where did the Chinese woman come from? For a moment I couldn’t figure out what she was talking about because my head was in the clouds after a night of work, so I thought, “A Chinese woman? Ooh, that must be Kagura!”. Only she doesn’t come to my flat at all. If people thought (wrongly) that I was a man of international activities, it would be better, but the lady’s gaze was that of someone staring at something really obscene. She was convinced that I practiced Shaolin martial arts with a Chinese woman every night!

CONTACT WITH THE READERS: QUESTION CORNER 54

QUESTION FROM MR. STUPID REPRESENTING SEVENTH GRADERS, NAGASAKI PROVINCE

Sorachi sensei, I apologize for asking you this question out of the blue, but you make fun of seventh graders too much, don’t you?

I won’t be a seventh grader anymore soon, but this fact is close to my heart.

Anyway, even though you make fun of them, I really like Gintama and you! Get on with it!

ANSWER:

Well, I don’t know what girls are like, but seventh graders are really terrible! They’re the dumbest beings in the world, seriously, probably dumber than golden retrievers! Being the most delicate period of adolescence, you tend to lose your way due to various torments. I’ve had a period like that myself, and everyone grows out of it. But it’s also the most fun time of life, so go ahead and become wonderful adults!

CONTACT WITH THE READERS: QUESTION CORNER 55

QUESTION FROM MR. “I WONDERED WHETHER OR NOT TO SEND THIS POSTCARD”, TOKYO METROPOLITAN AREA

Good morning, Mr. Sorachi! After asking myself several times, for at least six months, whether or not to send this postcard… I have decided to do so!

Does Count Hedoro belong to the Dakinis or the Shinras, who are considered mercenary tribes? And if not, to which people does he belong?

ANSWER:

He belongs to the Dakini, famous fighters like the Yato and the Shinra.

CONTACT WITH THE READERS: QUESTION CORNER 56

QUESTION FROM MISS “THIS WEEK MY OLDER BROTHER HID SOME EROTIC MANGA IN MY ROOM”, HIROSHIMA PROVINCE

While I was cleaning my room, I found a large envelope that I’d never seen before. It contained volumes of the erotic manga A Woman Who Fights Back. It’s no joke! Why did you hide them in my room? If our parents see them, I’m the one who’ll be accused, and maybe we’ve already seen them! Sorachi sensei, what should I do? I’m ashamed to ask my older brother, “What are these?”, and I’m also afraid that the relationship between us might get worse. Seriously, what should I do?! Give me some advice, sensei!

ANSWER:

First of all, forgive him! And don’t hate him! It’s normal for a healthy guy to have ten or twenty erotic books. I’m sure S_zawa, who you like, has some too. As for why he hid them in your room, the most natural thing is to think that your mother was going to get rid of them. Your brother momentarily hid the erotic books in your room to save them from the evil clutches of that woman! But since you came back at that very moment, he couldn’t go back and retrieve them… I think so. In this case, the most important thing is how to return the body without hurting your brother. He fears more than anything that you will read his erotic books. The best thing to do is to give him back the envelope and pretend you don’t know what’s in it, perhaps saying: “I found this in my room. Is it yours by any chance? What’s in it?”. If you don’t succeed, destroy everything and avoid telling your parents anything!

…Under the circumstances, when I think about what consideration my neighbours might have for me, I get very anxious. However, I have to think about the saying ‘He who sows the wind reaps the whirlwind’.
Thinking about it now, in the summer I used to rehearse out loud the dirty jokes to be inserted, without closing the window. And maybe there were some Chinese words in between. Maybe I said “ni hao”, it’s likely… Taking advantage of this space, I apologize to my neighbours.
You too, be careful in your dealings with your neighbours, and continue to live modestly!

New topic: “I apologize to all those who have anything to do with my building”.

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Thank you for purchasing the 17th volume of Gintama! Thanks to your support, we were able to celebrate our third anniversary, and even my editor Onishi was able to get married! I suspected he was having an affair… He once came to my house for a business meeting and had a pink umbrella. He hid it outside so I wouldn’t see it! So, given my great perspicacity, I deduced that he was getting married soon. Naturally, I avoided indelicate sentences such as: ‘What does that umbrella mean? Are you from some woman’s house?!”. I pretended that nothing had happened, except that inside I felt an unpleasant sensation, like the one you get when you discover your older brother’s porn magazines. During meetings we talk about nonsense as well as work, but never about love life. As if to say: ‘Since I’m shocked to hear something like that, I don’t want to hear it, on the contrary… let him die if he talks about it!’. Since our relationship was similar to that of Kakarot and Vegeta, who think they’ll kill each other if they let their guard down, I felt a certain disgust when I found out the news. So when he informed me of his marriage by saying, “Kakarot, I’m now twenty-eight years old, I’ve decided to get married,” I replied, “Congratulations! I’ll tell Krillin too!”. However, I felt nauseous inside: “reeeetch”! I felt like throwing up everything, from the rice balls to the senzu  beans prepared by Chichi and eaten the day before. On top of that, Vegeta was blushing! That Vegeta! I wanted to shout, “Spare me!” Then, I don’t know why, Kakarot blushed too. So Vegeta and Kakarot had a big meeting, all red-faced, in a slightly tense atmosphere. You can’t imagine how many times I shouted inside: “Dear readers, give me streeeeength!” …

CONTACT WITH THE READERS: QUESTION CORNER 51

QUESTION FROM MR. SAKURA SAMURAI, CHIBA PROVINCE

I’m writing to you for the first time, Sorachi sensei! Gin-san belongs to the category of people who immediately throw away a Jump magazine after reading it? Or is he in the other category, that is, those who throw it away only after accumulating a few copies?

By the way, I’m with those who follow the work in monographic volumes.

ANSWER:

It is Shinpachi who throws away copies of the magazine after accumulating so many. And he doesn’t collect monographic volumes, by the way. Kagura only has a few for studying Japanese. Zenzou, on the other hand, keeps all the copies of Jump he has ever purchased in a special archive… but his father has sold most of them.

CONTACT WITH THE READERS: QUESTION CORNER 52

QUESTION FROM MR. SAMURAI MAYORA & SWEET TOOTH OF HYOGO PROVINCE

Sacchan is an assassin, right? It is said that she was part of the Shogunate’s spies, but how strong is she realy? Also I want to ask her if “realy” is spelled that way?

ANSWER:

No, that’s wrong.

And, in fact, Sacchan is really strong.

CONTACT WITH THE READERS: QUESTION CORNER 53

QUESTION FROM MR. ORANGE, KAGAWA PROVINCE

I’m writing to you for the first time, Sorachi sensei! I’ll come straight to the point. I have a question: in Gintama, are there no foreigners? In the manga world, are earthlings only Japanese? Let me know!

ANSWER:

There are, there are. It’s just that Edo is the only place where there’s such a large terminal, so there’s flourishing trade with the Amanto and it’s more developed than anywhere else. Consider it the gateway to Earth.

That said, the special “Farewell to Bachelor Onishi” ends here, although we still don’t know how it will end since there was no ceremony. Until the last moment, you don’t know how the relationship between a man and a woman evolves! It is very common for the bride to run away on her wedding day… In fact, I hope so! That would be fun. I hope she runs away at full speed, even though they loved each other so much. By the way, about the umbrella thing, if the situation were to escalate into sentences like “Hey, what’s with the pink umbrella?! It’s not mine!”, what will they do?! Rather… I was the one who told it, and in any case I really saw it, but it’s none of my business! Until the next volume!

Topic: “Best wishes, Onishi”

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