I’ll start from 3. Or rather, 5.
No, what am I saying?!
Better to start from 10, as per tradition.
Thank you for purchasing volume 74! I think by the time this volume is released, we’ll be well into August, if not beyond. I’ve been saying for a while that the work is coming to an end, and I can’t seem to get it done. For about three years now. But no problem now, I’ll definitely get it done this year. Even if my right hand were to be modified into a Psycho-Gun, by the end of the year I will definitely be able to write the word “The End”. Except that my hand might actually turn into a Psycho-Gun, so it would be best to have the work completed by the end of the summer. I should at least try. It’s just that earlier this year I told the entire editorial staff that it would be finished by August. But August is practically here, and my hand is still holding a G pen instead of the Psycho-Gun. By now, even the cicadas have started to get tired of singing, and I’m crying because I just can’t see the end.
CONTACT WITH THE READERS: QUESTION CORNER 273
QUESTION FROM MR. “I MEMORIZED JUGEMU BUT NOT ENGLISH WORDS” FROM GUNMA PROVINCE
While watching the Gintama anime, my mother said, “A friend of mine also has naturally wavy hair, and when it gets wet it gets even more wavy. Why doesn’t that happen to Gin-chan when he gets wet in the rain?” You might say, “Does this even seem like a question to ask?”, but since I started thinking about it, it’s become a real obsession, so please answer me!
ANSWER:
CONTACT WITH THE READERS: QUESTION CORNER 274
QUESTION FROM MR. “SOUR LEMON”, OSAKA PROVINCE
Good morning, Sorachi sensei! There is something I would like to ask you. Did you attend a school or any training courses to become a mangaka? I would definitely like to know.
ANSWER:
I didn’t attend any manga school. It’s just that I was looking for a job while I was attending university, but I didn’t want to work or study, so to escape from reality I started to dream about a future as a mangaka. It was never my intention to make manga an object of study or work. If you’re forced to draw manga for an educational course or as homework, you probably end up thinking of it that way – in which case it wouldn’t even make sense to take refuge in manga. Of course I make an effort. For me, drawing manga is not an imposition, but a choice. I do it simply because I want to do it, and since I want to keep this approach I don’t take courses or anything like that. For this reason, even now that I’m a professional, I still don’t consider it a job and I don’t meet the deadlines for weekly magazine publication.
CONTACT WITH THE READERS: QUESTION CORNER 275
QUESTION FROM MR. “MY DAD IS A PILOT”, FROM FUKUOKA PROVINCE
I think among the female characters in Gintama, there are many who are tall. Do you happen to like tall girls? Is that right? I guessed right, didn’t I? I caught you, didn’t I?
ANSWER:
Having a stocky and big body, like Tetsuya Takeda’s* to be precise, I have a soft spot for slender women, but also for more compact ones. In the case of Gintama, the first female character I came up with was Otae, who is quite tall, and then I simply ended up basing everyone else on her model.
*Famous Japanese actor and singer.
CONTACT WITH THE READERS: QUESTION CORNER 276
QUESTION FROM MISS AKI KATSUKAWA, KYOTO PROVINCE
I would like to ask if there is any food that Takasugi likes besides Yakult. If so, please let me know.
ANSWER:
Since Takasugi is always stressed and lives with his eyebrows furrowed, he instinctively seeks out foods that are delicate to his stomach, such as Yakult, yogurt and similar lactic-ferment based stuff. Sakamoto, on the other hand, is crazy about burgers, curry rice, ramen noodles, and the like.
CONTACT WITH THE READERS: QUESTION CORNER 277
QUESTION FROM MR. YAMAMOTO, YAMANASHI PROVINCE
Here is my question: between Mimawarigumi and Shinsengumi, who has the most members?
ANSWER:
The Mimawarigumi. Although, after the Isaburo revolt, its men were “incorporated” by the Shinsengumi, by way of allies.
CONTACT WITH THE READERS: QUESTION CORNER 278
QUESTION BY MISS RAMEN KANA, FROM KANAGAWA PROVINCE
I have a question about Gin-san’s kimono designs. In volume 63 you said that you were inspired by clouds. Is there a theme you took inspiration from for the pattern of the kimono you have him wear two years later? I’d be happy if you could reveal it to me.
ANSWER:
To be honest, regarding the designs on the kimono that Gin-san wears two years later, I entrusted all decisions to my assistants because I did not have much time. I merely communicated to them a vague idea I had in mind. They could be inspired by the letter G, Gin-san’s initial. They give the impression of something silly and I find that all in all they suit him. Yes, I quite like it.
That being said, the volume 74 special “Hideaki Sorachi’s done it again” ends here.
Yep, I messed up big time. I’d like to take a step back in time to go and beat up the me who at the beginning of the year declared in a firm tone that the work was coming to an end. I’d like to tell him not to underestimate the speed at which time passes for a man in his late forties. While waiting for the instant ramen noodles to be, ready, after pouring the boiling water into the tray, August has already arrived. But after making a statement like that various things are set in motion to get to the finish line, and come this point there is no backing out. I have no choice but to try. Maybe I’ll succeed thanks to the techniques I’ve learned in the meantime on “Jump”, the famous magazine known all over the world, as well as thanks to my tenacity.
I declare it here, in front of everyone: “I, Hideaki Sorachi, by the end of the summer I will modify my right hand into a Psycho-Gun!
New topic: “Therefore, please forgive me for various things.”
Yorozuya Shinigami 