Gintama 24

[denshi_no_ultra]

A classic Katsura episode, a must-watch-until-know-it-by-heart for every Katsura fan :D

Episode title: A Cute Face Definitely Hides Something

Source of subs: Shinsen-Subs

Episode summary:

Comments

[juneaddams]

I cried at the epilogue, haha. This is easily one of my favorite oneshot episode ever. I rarely see transgender characters portrayed with depth and compassion in the media, let alone in a JUMP series, so the issue of acceptance, and what family truly is, and seeing people for who they are, these are resonant themes and I can't help but applaud Sorachi for bringing this so early in the series' run. It says a lot about him as a mangaka

[denshi_no_ultra]

That theme is not personally important for me, but I approve of Sorachi-sensei tackling such serious topics, it really shows that Gintama is not all about silly jokes.

That's a great way to put it, Katsura really sees people differently, and it allows him to notice what really matters. ZuraVision, that sounds like a good name for a tag, I might use it sometime ;)

Yeah, but Gin-san stole Seita's wallet first XDD Although Seita started it. And then Gin-san and Katsura were both quite nice to that baby that was left at Yorozuya... I suppose you're right, they would defend a bullied kid.!

I know, right! It made me all warm and fuzzy to know that despite everything, Katsura still has such a good friend! And that was indeed a great moment, the two of them can be completely awesome and unselfish when the situation calls for it.

[daylight_broke]

"Katsuratastic" is my new favorite word of the day.

Wow, this was an epic post. I can tell you put a lot of thought and love into this epic post. When I began to watch Gintama, I thought Katsura was flawless. But then I watched episode 24 and I frowned in disapproval at him when I heard him call Saigou a monster. But I admired how Katsura was willing to see the error of his earlier prejudice against Saigou after he spent some time being Zurako.

I agree with you that Katsura is fantastic with children. He looks good holding babies, especially in episode 203 when he held his baby gorilla that was fathered by Police Commander Kondo.

[denshi_no_ultra]

Lol, I didn't come up with it, somebody in the comments here did, but it is a cool word :D

Thank you, I really did my best :D

Well, you know, I disapproved of that too, at first, but then I thought - he is a human being after all, and everyone has their prejudices and dislikes. What matters is that he was able to overcome those and see what Saigou's real personality is like and appreciate it.

Haha, he is good with babies and with animals, so a baby gorilla would be the double impact or something XDD

And by the way, where is your userpic from? It's strangely intriguing...

[daylight_broke]

My current userpic is from the music video of the song "Comforting Sounds" by the rock band Mew from Denmark. I have to admit it's not one of my favorite songs by Mew, but I still think it's a relaxing song.

The lead singer, Jonas Bjerre, has a unique voice because it sounds gentle and angelic. In my opinion, the 35-year-old lead singer must also be a vampire who drinks virgin blood because he looks unnaturally young.

Unfortunately, the beautiful high quality music video of "Comforting Sounds" seems to have disappeared from Mew's official youtube channel--but here's a low-quality video:

The icon was made by iconzicons and can be found in this link: http://iconzicons.livejournal.com/84307.html

PS. You don't have to watch the whole video for "Comforting Sounds."

[denshi_no_ultra]

He really does have an interesting voice... Although the music is not really my kind of thing.

[novelvision]

Feels like forever since I've commented here, but this was indeed one of my favorite Zura episodes because it really showcases both sides of him, especially in showing how he's also human and has his own prejudices.

That doesn't disappoint me however since I'm of the opinion that it takes a strong person to admit that they discriminate and do something about it rather than accepting or rejecting without question, and we see this important facet of Katsura's character pop up again in the Benizakura arc where Katsura mentions that he feels he has no right to avenge Shouyou-sensei because even Gintoki doesn't. By far, I'd say this is what I like most about him because acceptance of change is still something he struggles with and for his failures to understand sometimes, what matters is that he sincerely tries to appreciate every person he knows.

Also, it's possible that the early interaction between Zura and Saigou may have been a reference to their mutual dislike of each other in history. :'D

[denshi_no_ultra]

But whenever you comment, you always say such insightful things! :)

I completely agree! That is what makes him such a great person - he is by nature old-fashioned and dislikes change, but when he understands that his attitude is wrong, he will try to improve it.

Wow, that's a really interesting theory, I really don't know much about history, but I bet Sorachi-sensei does, so he might have intended it like that :)

[novelvision]

He must be very knowledgeable to be able to screw up history like he does! Actually, most of what I know about the real Katsura can be read here, and it serves as an interesting comparison between both Katsuras since it's mentioned that the two share a lot of traits!

[denshi_no_ultra]

Wow, thank you for the link, it looks like a really interesting resource!

Maybe Sorachi-sensei does know a lot about history, but I still prefer to see Katsura in Gintama as a separate, independent character, not simply the anime version of the historical personality. They might have similarities, but not to the extent that one can say that Gintama's Katsura is just a copy of irl Katsura.