aw, thank you! I've always wanted to say I love your tumblog with all the Kagura love in it. bbgirl is a big damn hero / my ultimate bias.
The thing about Gintama that makes it so endearing is that it is absolutely about community and camaraderie. Gintoki isn't a hero because he has the most power-ups and the flashiest energy blasts, but because he inspires people to stand up and change things.
Yes, exactly! Whereas classic shonen sheries believe in the exceptional individuals among us, "the chosen one" so to speak, Gintama believes in the community and the idea that no matter who we are, we can contribute something to a cause we believe in. Even if we are a madao! And yet it manages to not be naive about things either, cause there's always going to be bad stuff with the good stuff, and sometimes the best endings we got is more bitter than sweet, but.../going off-tangent again.
And this is sort of off on a tangent, but how in the world does Sorachi get the tone and tone switches so perfect? He's a wizard.
He and Sunrise are like a wizard duo. Sometimes I feel like Sorachi's recipe is that he doesn't care at all about 'packaging'. At a time where a show has to be summarized in like, a line, and have clearly defined demographics, he (and Sunrise) are just like, idgaf. And whether he intends it to be a reflection of life or not, it perfectly fits the way we live - since none of us live in intense state of dramatic seriousness all the time, and even the most serious person we know likely have their own dumdum moments.
(You know what I find absolutely winning, though? That his editor once opposed his idea of a genderbent!Okita Souji-based female lead citing that ladies were not historically allowed in the Shinsengumi, and she would be "too violent". In response, he created Kagura and later on Nobume. He got everything he wanted in the end.)
*blushhhh* Haha, thanks! Kagura is my absolute favorite. I don't think there's any other character like her, not even talking about just animanga, but in general!
Gintama really has this perfect blend of wisecracking cynicism about little things (I'm thinking of that chapter where the school boy basically wrote a novella about madao meeting him and his mom, and it was all very emotional, and in the end you find out his mom wrote the entire thing!) and bright eyed faith in the power of emotional ties. It's so refreshing. I actually stopped being able to feel interested in animanga for two years because a particular series made me lose complete faith, and Gintama basically restored it. This series is magical.
The way I think about it is, if you were to anthropomorphize the various popular Shonen Jump series, a lot of them would be like teenage kids - lots of energy, really brash. But Gintama would be someone in their 20s, with a great sense of humor, but extremely principled and aware of exactly who they are. If that makes sense, haha. Also, because Gintama sells itself as primarily comedy, it doesn't have to suffer from the constant power-ups that other fighting shows need. By the end of a lot of series, the characters and situations are pretty much unrecognizable, and not in a good way. Gintama has, for over 400 chapters now, managed to stay completely true to its core appeal. ♥
Uhhhh, Sorachi's ladies are the finest I have ever seen in a manga. I honestly cannot think of a single other series that actively upsets gender roles this consistently. Every single female character is tough and a terror if anyone messes with her! Even Soyo-hime, who would have been the easiest character to just portray as a "moe" girl, has a mischievous, sadistic side. I have so many feelings about this that I really need to write up a post about it some day.
That chapter got me misty-eyed. I mean, I feel like it says something about Sorachi-sensei that his favorite character (according to Q & A) is Madao because in other series, a character like him would never be the story's hero.
The way I think about it is, if you were to anthropomorphize the various popular Shonen Jump series, a lot of them would be like teenage kids - lots of energy, really brash. But Gintama would be someone in their 20s, with a great sense of humor, but extremely principled and aware of exactly who they are. If that makes sense, haha.
yes basically this, this made so much sense. ♥
It's a unique quality of Gintama that the characters can grow in a really organic way and remaining familiar and, like what you said, it's not about power-ups or giant!relevations! It's a lot more subtle and ninja-like, that sometimes I don't realize how far these characters / relationships have grown-the Shinpachi and Kagura that Gintoki carries on episode 13 have grown so much now, and they have taken charge in so many ways that it makes me think of what Tsukki said re: students growing strong enough to carry their master. And the relationship between Shinsengumi and Yorozuya is so much stronger now that Gintoki dares "out" himself as Shiroyasha in front of them and they actually protect the secret for him;;
Ditto re: the ladies. I love that they're all independent and interesting and diverse in age / personalities, from wise, sarcastic oldies like Otose (who are usually invisible and/or male in other shows) to little bb Soyo-hime to frail but secretly S Mitsuba. Shonen mangaka can get so very clumsy writing ladies, you almost feel like they're all consulting the same Manual to Writing Girls. sob.
(And yessss please write up that post! FYGL is always hungry for good meta)
ps: making a wild guess since two of my Gintabros are survivors of this show and your experience sounds so much like theirs. Is the 'particular series'...Bleach?
ps: making a wild guess since two of my Gintabros are survivors of this show and your experience sounds so much like theirs. Is the 'particular series'...Bleach?
*flails* How did you knowwwww? It definitely was Bleach. I don't know if you read it, but I stopped after the Hueco Mundo arc, where the conclusion basically had Orihime commit the most disappointing kind of character fail imaginable. I'm still bitter at Kubo Tite to this day. >____>
A friend of mine, @gruskek, told me Bleach had strong, easy-to-root characters in the beginning, but it's been on a steady downward spiral since the first arc is over, that it's becoming painful to see the characters now (though ironically, the art is better than ever? but what good is pretty art if the story suffers). From other people I also heard that old fans are just tuning in from time to time in hope of seeing it to the end, but end up feeling very disenchanted. There are like at least 4 people I know in the gintafandom in various state of love/hate relationship with Kubo Tite rn.
I've never seen it (horror stories from fans kind of stopped me from trying), only gifs and occasionally bits of ship war peeking through (sob).
Bleach's ship wars are insane and a little beyond comprehension. People write like 4000+ word essays with captioned pictures and consult the original Japanese dialogue to defend their points. It was like literary academia... except snarkier and with shipping. It made my head hurt.
Bleach definitely peaked early on. I didn't like the first arc that much, but the second arc was very strong. The problem was that the third arc was seriously an exact repeat of the second: a girl who is close to the main character gets taken away/kidnapped, everyone has to mobilize to save her. Which is not necessarily problematic on its own, but to repeat it twice, right after the other, is sort of saying something about how he perceives female characters, I feel like. Or at least the automatic way he approaches writing stories about his main female characters. Also at the end of the third arc, the girl who'd been kidnapped, Orihime, not only failed to develop, but actively failed on a moral and emotional strength level. Why he decided to tear his own character down this much baffles me to this day. Neverrrr going to read that series again, ugh.
The thing about Gintama that makes it so endearing is that it is absolutely about community and camaraderie. Gintoki isn't a hero because he has the most power-ups and the flashiest energy blasts, but because he inspires people to stand up and change things.
Yes, exactly! Whereas classic shonen sheries believe in the exceptional individuals among us, "the chosen one" so to speak, Gintama believes in the community and the idea that no matter who we are, we can contribute something to a cause we believe in. Even if we are a madao! And yet it manages to not be naive about things either, cause there's always going to be bad stuff with the good stuff, and sometimes the best endings we got is more bitter than sweet, but.../going off-tangent again.
And this is sort of off on a tangent, but how in the world does Sorachi get the tone and tone switches so perfect? He's a wizard.
He and Sunrise are like a wizard duo. Sometimes I feel like Sorachi's recipe is that he doesn't care at all about 'packaging'. At a time where a show has to be summarized in like, a line, and have clearly defined demographics, he (and Sunrise) are just like, idgaf. And whether he intends it to be a reflection of life or not, it perfectly fits the way we live - since none of us live in intense state of dramatic seriousness all the time, and even the most serious person we know likely have their own dumdum moments.
(You know what I find absolutely winning, though? That his editor once opposed his idea of a genderbent!Okita Souji-based female lead citing that ladies were not historically allowed in the Shinsengumi, and she would be "too violent". In response, he created Kagura and later on Nobume. He got everything he wanted in the end.)
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Gintama really has this perfect blend of wisecracking cynicism about little things (I'm thinking of that chapter where the school boy basically wrote a novella about madao meeting him and his mom, and it was all very emotional, and in the end you find out his mom wrote the entire thing!) and bright eyed faith in the power of emotional ties. It's so refreshing. I actually stopped being able to feel interested in animanga for two years because a particular series made me lose complete faith, and Gintama basically restored it. This series is magical.
The way I think about it is, if you were to anthropomorphize the various popular Shonen Jump series, a lot of them would be like teenage kids - lots of energy, really brash. But Gintama would be someone in their 20s, with a great sense of humor, but extremely principled and aware of exactly who they are. If that makes sense, haha. Also, because Gintama sells itself as primarily comedy, it doesn't have to suffer from the constant power-ups that other fighting shows need. By the end of a lot of series, the characters and situations are pretty much unrecognizable, and not in a good way. Gintama has, for over 400 chapters now, managed to stay completely true to its core appeal. ♥
Uhhhh, Sorachi's ladies are the finest I have ever seen in a manga. I honestly cannot think of a single other series that actively upsets gender roles this consistently. Every single female character is tough and a terror if anyone messes with her! Even Soyo-hime, who would have been the easiest character to just portray as a "moe" girl, has a mischievous, sadistic side. I have so many feelings about this that I really need to write up a post about it some day.
Reply
The way I think about it is, if you were to anthropomorphize the various popular Shonen Jump series, a lot of them would be like teenage kids - lots of energy, really brash. But Gintama would be someone in their 20s, with a great sense of humor, but extremely principled and aware of exactly who they are. If that makes sense, haha.
yes basically this, this made so much sense. ♥
It's a unique quality of Gintama that the characters can grow in a really organic way and remaining familiar and, like what you said, it's not about power-ups or giant!relevations! It's a lot more subtle and ninja-like, that sometimes I don't realize how far these characters / relationships have grown-the Shinpachi and Kagura that Gintoki carries on episode 13 have grown so much now, and they have taken charge in so many ways that it makes me think of what Tsukki said re: students growing strong enough to carry their master. And the relationship between Shinsengumi and Yorozuya is so much stronger now that Gintoki dares "out" himself as Shiroyasha in front of them and they actually protect the secret for him;;
Ditto re: the ladies. I love that they're all independent and interesting and diverse in age / personalities, from wise, sarcastic oldies like Otose (who are usually invisible and/or male in other shows) to little bb Soyo-hime to frail but secretly S Mitsuba. Shonen mangaka can get so very clumsy writing ladies, you almost feel like they're all consulting the same Manual to Writing Girls. sob.
(And yessss please write up that post! FYGL is always hungry for good meta)
ps: making a wild guess since two of my Gintabros are survivors of this show and your experience sounds so much like theirs. Is the 'particular series'...Bleach?
Reply
*flails* How did you knowwwww? It definitely was Bleach. I don't know if you read it, but I stopped after the Hueco Mundo arc, where the conclusion basically had Orihime commit the most disappointing kind of character fail imaginable. I'm still bitter at Kubo Tite to this day. >____>
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I've never seen it (horror stories from fans kind of stopped me from trying), only gifs and occasionally bits of ship war peeking through (sob).
Reply
Bleach definitely peaked early on. I didn't like the first arc that much, but the second arc was very strong. The problem was that the third arc was seriously an exact repeat of the second: a girl who is close to the main character gets taken away/kidnapped, everyone has to mobilize to save her. Which is not necessarily problematic on its own, but to repeat it twice, right after the other, is sort of saying something about how he perceives female characters, I feel like. Or at least the automatic way he approaches writing stories about his main female characters. Also at the end of the third arc, the girl who'd been kidnapped, Orihime, not only failed to develop, but actively failed on a moral and emotional strength level. Why he decided to tear his own character down this much baffles me to this day. Neverrrr going to read that series again, ugh.
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