JUNE 22, 2024
A live report for the stage greeting held to celebrate the release of the Gintama On Theater 2D: Ikkoku Keisei-hen movie, has been released on the official Gintama website.
The stage greeting was held today in Shinjuku Wald 9 in Japan, featuring Tomokazu Sugita (Gintoki), Daisuke Sagakuchi (Shinpachi), Rie Kugimiya (Kagura) and Yuki Ono (Shigeshige) who appeared on the stage. It began with the Yorozuya voice actors beginning their conversation in the traditional, background-only interaction. They were then told by the staff that a guest was joining in, and after the three of them tried guessing who it would be, the shogun, Tokugawa Shigeshige was shown on the screen. Around that same time, his voice actor, Yuki Ono, appeared on the stage dressed just like the Shogun. Gintoki and Shinpachi yelled in unison, “Shogun kayoooooo”, much to the ever rising amusement of the audience. In the midst of the applause, Sugita, Sakaguchi and Kugimiya all joined Ono on the stage. Sugita commented saying “The four seasons have disappeared so much that we can no longer say summer or spring. However, today’s cherry blossoms are in full bloom”, leading the audience to applaud loudly. Ono’s famous line “I’ve missed you, my friends” brought further excitement to the audience as well.
COURTESAN OF A NATION
The talk began with a conversation about the Courtesan Of a Nation arc. Sakaguchi mentioned how it’s been over 10 years since they recorded it. They were all amazed at how time flew by so quickly.
Sakaguchi mentioned how he found the arc the opposite of a happy one, but it had such a beautiful ending that it left a strong impression on him. Days prior, he was asked which story arc was his favorite, and he found himself saying it was Courtesan Of a Nation, as it was an arc that made him feel like something within him had changed.
Sugita commented saying that until that point of the story, Gintoki was trying to avert from the important matters. But with Courtesan Of a Nation, the time came for him to focus on those important and serious matters. And this story arc is one that speaks directly to the mind and soul.” The audience nodded in agreement to that.
Ono commented on how Shigeshige initially debuted as a comic relief character, but that in this arc, he was able to see the true core of the character, and his range and capacity as a person. He was able to feel that “This guy is the shogun”, and that made him happy. He also reminisced about quitting his part-time job around the time the arc was being adapted in the anime.
Kugimiya mentioned that she rewatched it that morning, saying that when you think about it, it’s a heavy story, but yet beautiful story arc when watched with the right mindset. She also talked about how their favorite ramen joint was still 10 years ago, and how they used to go there all the time.
ON THEATER 2D KINTAMA-HEN ANNOUNCEMENT
Next, they talked about the third installment of the Gintama On Theater project, the adaptation of the Kintama arc, which was announced as a surprise at the end of the screening. Sugita reminisced about that period, where the staff called and told him that Yuichi Nakamura (CV: Kintoki), will be the lead voice actor, to which Sugita agreed without worries. Sakaguchi gave a straightman response to that saying “You shouldn’t accept it just like that! (laugh)”. They also talked about how there was a time where Nakamura took Sugita’s position in the studio. While Sakaguchi and Kugimiya had the usual light-hearted conversations despite the atmosphere in the studio feeling different, Sugita was thinking about how to make his reactions funnier, and on how to make Nakamura feel comfortable on set and enjoy himself.
After that it was also revealed that today was Shigeshige and Ono’s birthday. Everyone at the event was enthusiastic upon seeing the high quality “briefs cake” made for the two of them, and sang a song to celebrate the voice actor and his character. Ono expressed his gratitude saying, “I’m sure Sho-chan would have said ‘I’m overcome with emotion.’ thank you.”, leading the audience into giving the biggest applause of the entire event.
There was a question by a fan asking about Sorachi, and his hemorrhoids. Sorachi responded to the question, which was read aloud by Kugimiya, saying: “My hemorrhoids have been cured.”
A photo session was held after the event, but there was little time for it due to the time taken by the exciting stage greeting. The four voice actors gave their final messages, thus bringing the successful stage greeting for the movie to an end.
Yorozuya Shinigami 