#bansai? made me cry.

[hows-itgoagain]

gintama making me violently sob over and over again i hate this fucking show (it’s genuinely a masterpiece and everyone should watch it)

[kyuuxmizu]

I went to watch both events for the Gintama Ato no Matsuri!!

The afternoon event via live-viewing in the cinemas

The evening event inside the actual venue, Ryogoku Kokugikan~

IT WAS HONESTLY THE BEST DAY OF MY LIFE!!!

(2023 is also my 15th year as a Gintama fan so what better way to celebrate than attend the matsuri!!!!)

Hihi we used the penlights inside the live-viewing theater too.. hey most of the ppl in our row were using it too okayyy😂😂 It was so much fun!!!

ofc nothing beats the experience of watching it LIVE inside Ryogoku~🥹🥹

3Z Anime announced!!!! Everyone was like majiiiii????

They kindly asked us not to post any spoilers on social media until the evening event ends, so I kept mum about it XD

Upon arriving at the Ryogoku, my friends and I took pics of our matching Sonjuku ita-bags!! 🥹🥹 (Mine is the Takasugi one hehehe)

So many ppl!!

Then I went to pickup my preordered goods, which I'll post later!! XD

Outside Ryogoku~

Inside Ryogoku~

With my sibling wearing our matsuri shirts and sukajan~

We won the tickets during the Advance reservation lottery so we got pretty good seats~ マス席 in the first floor and facing the front! My friends were seated on a different row T^T

On to the event~ (A lot of screaming and crying XD)

I already knew most of what was gonna happen since I watched the afternoon event so I thought my hype would be dampened??? But the emotions just kept flowing!!!!!!!!!! 😭😭😭 (Tho ngl I wished they unveiled the 3z anime in the night event instead... I was expecting another bomb to drop actually hahahah xD)

The atmosphere inside Ryogoku... everyone's so passionate!!! You could feel the love not only from the fans but also from the seiyuu and bands as well!!! Aaaa I love Gintama and it's fandommm 🥹🥹💞💞

Never watched One Piece but the hype inside the venue and Kitadani's energy was so high it made me sing along too, idk how I managed to do it cuz I barely know the song😂😂 they went all out with this even parodying the OP of One Piece and the seiyuu mimicking the strawhat pose😂

Then the 生アフレコ went a trip down the memory lane🥹🥹 Makes me wanna rewatch everything all over again 😭

I started getting emotional when ChicoHani started singing ヒカリ証明論 (Kiheitai tapos Bansai death scene talaga..mashaket po mga mamshie...😭)

And サクラ舞う暁に..it's my fave ChicoHani song okayyy Chico shouting Matsuri ja Matsuri jaaa🌸🌸🌸 So fun to sing along with the crowd!!! Almost everyone switched their lights to pink!! one brain cell~ XD

Their surprise was the Samurai Heart cover!!! 😭😭😭

ChicoHani's gntmと出会わせてくれた song, Pride Kakumei!!! When the Honeyworks guitarist shouted "saikou da saikou" waaaa the hype!!!!! Crowd went crazy!!

Otsu-chan so cute I didn't expect the fox at all (Gintama always subverts expectations so true even for events like these x3)

Toshi always up for anything riding the Thousand Sunny Sadaharu-Eli ship hahahah And Sakaguchi-san!!! 🥹🥹

Then 生アフレコ again~!! XDDD

Surprise was KUROKO's special appearance (with Suzuken as Murasakibara and Nakai-san as Imayoshi!! Chiba-san's side comment: なんかイチャイチャする 😂😂😂😂)

SuzuKen funny he said he could hear Kensho Ono from the Kuroko mascot hahahah

plus GINCHAAAN (for the evening event)

It was so adorable how Sakaguchi-san took a pic of Gin-san and Sugita on stage... He really loves Gintama, ne (The whole cast loves Gintama!! that alone makes it so special)

Sugita's side comment: he wants Oguri Shun to join too hahahaha

DOES so cool!! Everyone switched their lights to red when DOES started their set list~

It's also no secret that Wataru-san loves Gintama sm, he mentions it in his SNS accts frequently🥹🥹 ワタルさんかっこ良かった...有難う! Crowd shouting Wataruuuu Bravo!!! XD

The SPYAIR covers gosh 😭😭😭 I almost cried listening to the Wadachi cover 😭😭😭 (I did cry when I rewatched it through Abema haha 😭😭😭)

From the band's message in the end, it was apparent that SPYAIR really wanted to attend but alas they have no vocalist yet 😭😭😭

The highlight of the event for me was Yama-chan's surprise appearance 🥹🥹 LITERAL CHILLSSSSS I mean... THE KOICHI YAMADERA...

Apparently, Yama-chan never attended events like these and Ato Matsuri was the first one. That alone just made me.....🥹🥹🥹😭😭

is Gintama that special he agreed to make an appearance 🥹🥹😭😭

Or did Higuchi-san (producer) really splurge their budget on him ahahahah

We were joking that they must have spent most of the special guest budget on Yama-chan that's prolly why no other guests appeared 😂

And gosh that man has range.... I also learned that Yama-chan voiced Donald Duck from Kingdom Hearts..!!! That's why his animal and nature dubs (from the special Matsuri manga) are on point 😂😂😂😂

He can sing too (He sang JPN version of Prince Ali and Circle of Life) and had a duet with Hirano Aya (Nobume VA) for the Yakuza game 😭

Koyasu-san was a no-show as usual (I had high hopes since he attended the Isekai Oji-san seiyuu event at Anime Japan last year) He had a voice message tho, saying his ponpon was in pain (basically he had a stomachache) 😂😂

And then there's Sugita's closing message 😭😭😭

That even though gntm has ended 4 years ago, he hasn't forgotten about Gintama

That he'll be Sakata Gintoki until he dies..no, even if he dies 😭😭😭GURL I GOT SO EMOTIONAL!!!

Then he says "Chinko"!! how very Gintoki!!!😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

And finally the Ginpachi-sensei anime which will be part of a series of projects for Gintama's 20th anniversary (which will last until 2026!!!) I am so excited 😭😭😭😭

AAAAAAA MY HEART AND WALLET ARE READY

As Suzuken said 終わらないね銀魂ァァ

Thank you so much Ryogoku~ See you again in the next Gintama Matsuri!!!

[longtimewish]

Actually I wanna do a rank of the final arcs for real (spoilers ahead!)

Shogun Assassination: 9/10. The arc that made me start Gintama. I wish I could watch it again for the first time because some moments just don't land the same anymore; the first time I watched 305 I was SOBBING, on rewatch it didn't hit me that much. STILL is the best reveal that Sorachi has ever done, truly peak writing. Because Gintoki's past ends up stealing the arc I had forgotten how awesome Zenzo, Sachan and Shigeshige's storyline was, the second you get them away from Gin they become the coolest supporting characters of the show lol.

Farewell Shinsengumi: 10/10. Literally a perfect arc. Sorachi's best serious arc, I caught up with Gintama when the second episode dropped and following it weekly not knowing what was going to happen permanently altered the chemistry of my brain. This was the real turning point of the story because it showed us that the characters couldn't simply go back to the previous status quo and had to finally face the consequences of their past. The Okikagu and Ginhiji moments seemed straight out of a fanfic at some points (I still cannot believe that Sougo saving Kagura from falling off a cliff even though he was risking his own life - with her even YELLING at him to drop her so he wouldn't fall too - is something that canonically happened). Katsura allying with Kondou and Matsudaira was one the best things to ever happen in the series. This is the third time I watch this arc and Nobume and Isaburo's story still makes me cry. I Just. Love this arc so much.

Rakuyo: 8/10. My problem with this arc is that it is an arc, because there are like three separate plot lines that have nothing to do with each other and could have easily been divided into two arcs. I loved Kagura's development and finally fully learning about her past; Kamui is still the most underwhelming character of the show for me but well his presence was necessary so I'll forgive all the screen time he had. The Joui 4 should've been on the final arc, loved their moment but in retrospective it's incredibly random that the arc about Kagura's family is outshined by Gintoki's high school reunion.

Silver Soul (first cour): 6/10. On rewatch I realized I completely misremembered this arc. In my memories this was a serious arc with comedy moments, when in reality is totally a comedy arc that gets serious at the end. My biggest problem with this part of the arc is that right after establishing Utsuro as the series' final boss, Sorachi introduces as this arcs' villains the Liberation Army, a faction that not only we never have heard of before, but also that has NOTHING to do with Utsuro. So every fight against these bad guys do NOT get our heroes closer to defeating the Main Bad Guy, which makes this whole part feel like a side quest. My second problem was Baka Oji's backstory because what the fuck was that. Takasugi just having the uniform he used as a teen laying around is always going to be funny for me.

Silver Soul (second cour): 6/10. Bansai is unironically one of my favorite side characters and I will be forever mad at his ending :))))). If I already thought that introducing the Liberation Army at the end of the story was a mistake, Sorachi's insistance in showing us the bad guy's sad backstory proved me it was the WORST mistake of the arc (Hideaki you have a fantastic cast of characters teach us more about them instead!!! I don't care for this guy and I won't feel sorry for him!!!!). The fight against Utsuro, however, was very good (gotta love the power of love and friendship defeating evil). Time skip is def the highest point of this arc, I still remember how insane was waiting weekly for the manga to see what had been of a character, truly a time to be in the fandom. However after all the character are reintroduced the quality drops again because for some reason we are delivered some of Gintama's most unfunny and repetitive jokes for like four episodes straight?? (with the exception of the "trial" segment of the last episode, that was funny as hell).

Semi-final: 6/10. First episode SUCKS, truly a low point in Gintama's humor. Second episode, however, was peak comedy and the Shinsengumi's last moment at the centre stage, so I really enjoyed it.

The Final: 8/10. Does anyone remember what a MESS was the publication of these chapters in the manga?? To be honest back then I was a bit disenchanted with the story, waiting months for a bit of a fight wasn't that exciting. So I'd never truly appreciated that this part is actually good, definitely the movie format improved it for me. Also shout out to Gintama for having the gayest final battle of all time, I was never a Takagin girlie but WOW there was just no heterosexual explanation for that scene. The final chapter just being a series of gags about endings didn't do it for me in the manga BUT I think in the movie it was done better and left me a better impression this time. Also I want to kiss on the mouth the anime studio person that added the five seconds Okikagu interaction that basically confirms that their relationship has permanently changed and that now they are actually closer than they were before.

During 2015-2018 I was utterly OBSSESSED with Gintama, like it lived rent free in my mind 24/7, and while I did follow the manga and read the ending when it dropped I hadn't watched the The Final movie (that's been out since 2021 I think??). Anyway flashforward to the last two weeks, my bestie who also had Gintama brainrot and me started a rewatch of the final arcs and yesterday we reached to the ending and WOW this shows is still one of my fav pieces of media of all time and watching it gives me an immense joy that can get me through really bad days huh

[nijiro-no]

Some random scenes with Kiheitai chibs bc I really needed to draw them after last week’s chapter ;;

“Nothin’s changed

‘cause we know the fact that the Kiheitai was born to destroy the world 

That the Kiheitai was born in order to save one girl

And that both those things are who we are.”

[thefatedmeeting]

HHH i made this last september when we thought it was gonna end and i’m posting this now because... soon it IS gonna end this time for sure... probably ... seeing recent events

i made this little (long) text... i am very emotional abt it... thank you if you read it

i don’t have enough words to express my love for this series, honestly. i have been keeping up with it since 2013-2014 and it was an absolutely wild ride full of laughter, incredulity, tears and a lot of feelings in general... with all the flaws and plot mistakes and retcons, i just can’t bring myself to dislike the end and sugi’s death, which i think is the tying up sorachi has been trying to find in this MESS of jump giga and the app and whatever else. i feel this in my bones, dude.

i love sugi as a character and although i wish he hadn’t died (like i still can’t believe how shochan and isaburo and bansai did) and this ultimately doesn’t solve gintoki’s struggle (to choose between his friends or shouyou), but... if this makes sense, it was like sugi had the power of choice this time around. it was A SERIES OF UNFORTUNATE AND TERRIBLE CHOICES but it wasn’t just gintoki who was choosing this time... it was everyone (coughs i did miss zura in the end scenes though where he at btich). and i think as a tie-up, it’s meant to say something like... gin can’t move on from his traumas if his traumas are still chasing him - in the form of utsuro/shouyou and... sugi, in a way. oboro died as well in the same way. i don’t appreciate this kind of writing very much as i don’t like characters being killed for these reasons but i sort of understand what was being said, i think...

and tbh ever since shogun ass arc - the string of events, the pacing, the plot... even though it all couldve been much better... sorachi has never said he would do it perfectly, in fact he had always said just how stupid he is in regards with writing endings (god. big mood though). i was very frustrated at first because we, himself included i think, believe gintama deserves the kind of ending that ties ALL loose ends and makes you feel all happy and warm (i still thing the second one will happen... i hope so), but i kind of understand him a bit better now that i have started writing my own original things; he has been trying to tie up the loose ends a lot - loose ends that he brought himself, but i have to say it is TONS TONS better than bleach or naruto’s het bad endings that were brought up last minute... at least utsuro has been around since like 2015 or something and ruining everything consistently lmao

but now that it’s ending (or.. i feel it is ending sdfsdf), more than ever i just feel how much it has helped me, this series? like i was in the end of high school when i got hooked into it? this fuckin kid that didn’t know anything about being a grownup or about having initiative in her own choices and was severely anxious and depressed, and just recently having found out about their sexuality?! i was very lost.

if this makes sense, gintama just felt like. it felt like gintoki came to life and personally slapped me, grabbed my shoulders and said: “CALM DOWN. it’s okay to struggle. you will find your way, sooner or later, but things will come to you if you hope they will... and when you manage to get up and work towards them, you will know how worth living your life is”. and that’s like. exactly what i needed. it didn’t feel like a hug, but it felt comforting like it was one. it felt like a little gesture, like a small pat on the back, like someone ruffling my hair, while i was crying and lost. felt a little like hope. and i repeat, i can’t find enough words to express how thankful i am to this series... i hope i find a way to write this to sorachi at some point.

i am as reluctant as sorachi is to part with this series and i honestly don’t think i ever will in a sense; i feel it’s so close to my heart that all the lessons, all the chapters i read have been engraved in my soul in a dirty gross silver, in true gintama fashion, i won’t ever forget the little things that helped me grow up to the adult that i am today, and that i’m still learning to be. 

i want to keep on drawing and writing for it - i cant help it because it’s the way i best express myself. though i haven’t been able to do so lately because of work and uni and my life that has been leaving me LOVED and HECTIC and LAUGHING and NUTS and CRYING and LOST and then FINDING myself again, rinse and repeat, like it’s its own version of this manga... 

i am ready to read the last chapter. but it’s not really goodbye for me... so i say, “see you later”. because i will always return to it when i need it, and when i miss my little family of stupid nonsensical characters i know i will find them. i hope they will find me too.

love you, gintama, with all of my heart and soul. thank you for everything, and see you later. take care-

-i’ll be calling you!

[suchine-toki]

hi! 7,8,12,32,23

Hey!

7. Mention 5 things you hate about Gintama.

1. UtsuroTo be specific, the fact that Shouyo is one of his personalities is what I really dislike. Utsuro as a different character, as a villain, I’m fine with him. You could’ve kept a connection between him and Shouyo by making Utsuro his master or something along those lines, so the whole student/master theme prevails. Oh and Utsuro’s soundtrack. Sounds cliche to me, with the organ… Like an old vampire movie.

2. The last arc has been too longI’m glad of the many moments we’ve had and which we’ve been waiting for a long time to see, but there are other moments that feel too dragged. The pace has been weird with the characters just running around to one place to another.

3. The fights against armiesIt’s not new, but lately, there’ve been a lot of fights against mooks/elite mooks, and whenever faced to a handful of enemies, the characters just swing their swords, they struggle a bit but that’s all it takes. Gintoki and Katsura vs Harusame is so great because there’s a great choreography. Same with Gintoki and Jirocho vs Shinra.

4. AltanaThere where some hints, but I think it was introduced too late, considering it’s a key aspect of the story.

5. Bansai died and Henpeita got to liveWhat can I say, it’s an injustice.

8. Mention 5 things you love about Gintama.

1. GintokiI’ve never felt so emotionally invested with a character. He’s such a rounded character, with a lot of good traits and bad traits. He had a very tough life and had to endure things that could’ve made him the villain of the story. Instead, he chooses to use his knowledge to help others. He fights against himself and struggles to be a better person, something I find very relatable and inspiring.

2. The tone of the seriesEvery arc in the series balances the funny and dramatic aspect brilliantly depending on what Sorachi wants to achieve.

3. The variety of the cast and their dynamicsIn Gintama, you've groups of people of different ages and lifestyles. However, these factions are not static, and see them working together in different circumstances is great.

4. The characters feel aliveThey’ve strengths and weaknesses, likes and dislikes, and you see them reacting realistically to various situations depending on their personality over the course of the series.

5. The love that’s put into the animeNot much as of lately really, but overall you can tell the studio cares, and that shows. Great openings and endings, great ost.

12. What character do you feel more related to?

This one is complicated. If I’ve to pick someone, Katsura comes to my mind, because he wants to overthrow the government he’s into politics, he seems collected but really isn’t and the daydreaming thing. Zura doesn’t procrastinate and is a cinnamon roll, unlike me lol. Love u Zura

32. Name five characters you love.

Can I cheat a little here? I’ll name five males and five females:Gintoki, Takasugi, Katsura, Sakamoto, Shinpachi, Gorilla.Kagura, Tsukuyo, Sacchan, Otose, Nobume.

23. What moment is the saddest ever for you?

Definitely chapter 519. The slow build-up during Gintoki vs Takasugi fight that led to the reveal of Gintoki killing Shouyou. It made me cry. I don’t remember crying at any other point of the series, and I’m sure that’s been the first and last time I cried with any manga. Curious how the comedy series made that.

[razberryyum]

Gintama live action 2 movie review Part 3 of 3...SPOILERS!

Again, you should probably read Parts 1 & 2 first cuz now it’s like you’re starting a movie when it’s already 2/3rds over...which you literally are....

That image looks good whether it’s in black and white, animated color or live action.

I ship GinHiji no matter what form they are in, so this moment, where they’re like THISCLOSETOGETHER, of course made me happy.

Ok, I don’t think I’m crazy but this ass pounding scene went on longer than it did in the anime. It was unbelievable, especially how into it Tosshi was. They didn’t include a few of the other abusive moments between Gintoki and Hijikata, but this prolonged scene made up for it.

This happened. I don’t know why cuz I didn’t understand what they were saying, but bless Director Fukuda for finding creative ways to include Zura into the Shinsengumi Crisis Arc. I hope he continues to do that in future movies. 

This happened too. Actually in addition to the Evangelion parody, there was another reference to another famous anime when they were in Gengai’s warehouse, but I just didn’t include it. I’ll leave at least one surprise for those of you still planning to watch the movie (you should. Seriously watch it. Totally worth your time and honestly, why are you even spoiling yourself by reading all this? Of course I appreciate that you’re doing that, but please don’t think this is enough so that you don’t have to watch the movie anymore. WATCH IT DAMMIT)

Kagura the Queen saving everyone’s ass. She is really so awesome in the movie, Hashimoto Kanna did her proud. 

 Baby Itou was adorbs in the manga, anime AND in the movie.

The movie proving Shinsengumi drinking parties are the bacchanalian feasts that we all assumed them to be. 

I wanted to take a moment to just say how freaking amazing Nakamura Kankurou was as Kondou. He really was a perfect Kondou. Man went all out in the dramatic moments, totally brought tears to my eyes. I pretty much cried every time Kondou cried. My only lament is that he didn’t have any scenes with Otae. There was a point during the Snack Smile Host portion where he was on a tank screaming about Otae, which I’m sure was him confessing his love all over again, but I would’ve really liked it if they actually interacted cuz the short scenes they had in the first movie were so adorable.

Obviously I loved the movie, but if I really had to point out a flaw, I would say the Bansai fight scenes could have been better scored and his fight with Gintoki could have been better. First, the music in his fight scenes...it was pretty bad. Like, weird, generic 80′s electrical guitar shit. I think they were trying to go for rock and roll, but it ended up putting a damper on what were otherwise really well-choreographed fight sequences. I wish they would’ve just used Otsuu’s music. They didn’t need to explain why, we fans would’ve known immediately. And then his showdown with Gintoki was kind of weird because they inserted a lot of bad CG because of his strings...which were ridiculously thick, as you can see. There were some Matrix slo mo too which...I’m just not a fan of after the first Matrix. I also thought they should have kept the fight near the train instead of bringing it back to Edo since it lacked the heightened sense of urgency in the original scenes where Gintoki was trying to save everyone on the train. But on the bright side, Edo looked freaking amazing....reminded me Xandar in Guardians of the Galaxy.

I cried. I cry every time we get to this moment, but this time, I felt especially sad because I kinda wanted this Itou to stick around for the next movie.

I am so damn glad live action Yamazaki got his opportunity to shine on the big screen because Tozuka Junki was so delightful in Mitsuba-hen. Btw, one big bummer of the bluray set is even though it had a second special features disc, it DIDN’T include the special episodes that were shown on dTV. I was hoping they would be nice enough to include them since the had a whole extra disc, but nope. It was like cast appearance and character profile stuff. Nice of course, but still wasn’t what I was really wishing for. I wish someone would sub those and put them online like they did with the Mitsuba-hen eps.

They were sitting back to back in the manga/anime...I can’t decide if this is better, the same, or worse. It’d be nice if they were at least sitting closer cuz they were closer when they were sitting back to back. I know, I’m insane. Whatever, I loved this movie. I want a third one. And a fourth and a fifth. With this cast and Director/Screenwriter Fukuda. 

So, please, Gintama gods, give it to us. And let it cover either the Yagyuu Arc, Vacation Arc or the Baragaki Arc. Or basically any arc that can build upon these last two movies and yet be self-contained AND most importantly, include the Shinsengumi boys and Zura. I would love the Popularity Poll arc to be brought to life, since then Tsukuyo can be involved, lest anyone think I’m purposely excluding her, I’m not, it’s just the Yoshiwara arcs don’t include the Shinsengumi or Zura at all, and I don’t know how they can reasonably add all of them in, even though I would LOVE to see live action Kamui and Abuto too. And the Courtesan of a Nation arc is too involved. Maybe we can do that for the fourth movie. Gods I wish the live action can be an entire series. I could watch this cast act out every chapter of the manga. It’ll be costly, no doubt, but it’d be nice. Omg, except for one dude, wow I almost completely forgot about him because I kind of want to. Live action Takasugi is NO GOOD. I know Domoto Tsuyoshi was (is?) popular, I know he has lots of fans, Sorachi-sama is probably one of them, but holy crap is he miscast as Takasugi. It was actually physically HURTING me to see his scenes with live action Bansai (Kubota Masataka) because Bansai was so perfect in comparison. I mean, everything was just wrong with LA Takasugi...down to the fact that when he first appears in this movie, we see his ugly bare feet and legs first. It was such an off-putting entrance and yet, somehow fitting. I wish they would just recast him since, from what I heard, he didn’t even want to be Takasugi to begin with. But otherwise, everyone’s wonderful. I really hope we’ll get an American release, if not theatrically (though I wish it would be) then at least VOD or BD/DVD so that I can finally understand what everyone is saying through subs.

Anyway, that’s my long-ass review of the second live action movie, Gintama 2: Rules are made to be broken. Thank you for reading, please see it legally when you are able to so that Fukuda-san and his team can make enough money to make another one. 

[randomshipshere]

OP: With Gintama ending (maybe), I figured I should make a negative list before a positive one. I mean no hate with this list, but let’s face it. When it comes to a comedy show, it brings out flaws that can either be appealed as endearing or annoying. Of course with this list, I won’t be putting in the obvious disliked characters like the Tendoshuu or Sada Sada. But the characters that do have their good points, but their bad points stick out to me more. Though for petty reasons.

11 Gintama Characters I like the least

11. Seita

- Seita is a good kid, but then he did that annoying trope of refusing to leave a dangerous situation despite being completely useless there and was more useful elsewhere. During that whole sob speech, I kept yelling, “LEAVE! LEAVE! What the hell do you expect to be able to do for Gintoki?! Take your mother away! Gawd dammit!”  

10. Katsura Kotaro

- It’s mainly because his jokes fall flat for me, and to be honest, he’s not all that interesting of a character. If anything, he’s the least interesting of the Joui4. I mainly see him as this third-wheeler to Gintoki’s and Takasugi’s intense bromance rivalry (when Takasugi and him aren’t at each other’s throats which happened like twice), and Sakamoto has better charisma to be entertaining. Basically compared to the potential BL hardcore and Vine turned Youtube star, he’s a meme. To be fair, he does have quite the sad backstory and has shown to be quite the badass, but...He’s mostly a meme.

9. Kozenigata Heiji

- There is a list of characters that had an arc centered around them, but didn’t leave a strong impression on me to form any real judgement. He was part of that list until he suddenly became an essential character after the Shogun Assassination arc. And he’s a fine character who gives something to the diversity of the Gintama cast, but his slow unnecessary monologues grate on my impatience, and honestly, his arc was kinda funny, but mostly bland. 

8. Mahha Noriko

- She only showed up for one episode, so should’ve been part of the list, too, but she just left me feeling so annoyed, and it got worse when I found out that she was an OC from a fan of the show who won a contest. The reason for this reaction is because I have seen people create interesting OCs that I would love to see be part of a show. Mahha has no good creativity in her design, in her personality, character or anything really. She’s just this motivated yet dumb inefficient amanto who’ll die if she doesn’t go fast, but looks like she’ll die just from her loud, fast-addicted stupidity instead. I definitely wish someone else’s OC was picked because this girl is a hot mess.

7. Nameless Future Robot Doraemon reference from Episode 164 Part B

- It’s most likely because I never watched Doraemon before, but this was by far the worse half of an episode I had ever watched that wasted my time. A lot of Gintama episodes are made for laughs without much of an ending, but this one just didn’t make the cut with me. I did not cry, cringe, laugh or felt anything other than boredom.

6. Tae Shimura

- I have a lot to say about why she ranks so high on this list, but to cut this short and bitter-sweet, I do not like her because of Shinpachi. Some if not most people overlook this, but on the very first chapter of the series, she was an incredibly selfish and reckless person. Yes, she was the one who grew up fast, took care of Shinpachi, and I understand her reasons to protect a worn down dojo, but it came with so much abuse, depression, and sacrifices on Shinpachi’s part reluctantly. It is important to uphold old traditions and protect what made your parents happy, but when it includes hurting your younger sibling for the sake of your own pride and then abandoning them for your own nostalgic happiness, it became unforgivable to me. She has changed and the living conditions improved, but all the drama and suffering could’ve been avoided if she had chosen her brother instead of her honor.

5. Okita Sougo

- Straight-up Asshole in the Correspondence Arc, Shinsengumi Death Game Arc, Excalibur Arc and then tolerant asshole in everything else. In Shinpachi’s words

4. Gedomaru 

- If I have to think of which character makes me cringe when I see them appear, Gedomaru takes that spot because I really don’t like her type of over-the-top dark humor that comes across needlessly violent and abusive. Instead of laughing, I’m taking pity on her victims. She’s a demon with a sweet spot for those she comes to care for, but not the demon I can stand to be around.

3. Takasugi

-  When it came to creating this list, I knew I had to add Takasugi, and the reason does lie heavily on the fact that he stabbed Sarutobi, piece of shit, and that he blamed Gintoki for something he reluctantly did, and it took losing his sensei twice along with losing more than half his crew and Bansai to understand this. I’m sure the reasons were deeper and more complex but in conclusion, despite how grand he makes himself out to be, he’s basically a pathetic selfish asshole.  

2. Prince Hata & 1. Jii

- Gedomaru makes me cringe when I see her, but I can still watch the episode fine. These idiots just flat out make me skip any episode involving them or skip big parts to get away from them. And the reason why is not because of Prince Hata’s character. In fact, I like his character and find his design funny and his younger version cute BUT HIS VOICE!!!!! I never thought I could hear a voice that could grate on my nerves and the episode special of him dubbing was not funny! Jii can go fucking die. Die under a huge dick you piece of trash.

[sparda3g]

Gintama Chapter 642 Review

There was a time that I thought one day, I will show my face and do a live reaction of reading a chapter. I know it's campy to many, but I thought, "I do get compelled by its greatness and react like a mad man. Maybe I should do one." If there was ever a time, it would have been for this chapter without a doubt. Not only this chapter is beautiful (that's right, I said it) and arguably the best chapter of the arc, I can say that Gintama has earned the best War Arc in Shounen.

It's not about how hard you can force people to care about something that are hard to grasp. It's not about being too dark so you can please the blood-thirsty audience. It's not about deaths. It's not even about pleasing the audience for their own personal needs. It's about what is perfectly right for your story, your writing, and your passion. It's about the soul that you put into a moment and even if it may end up displeasing your fans, it is your work that brought the fans in the first place.

The entire chapter is just one trip of heartache that wouldn't stop and even after all the pain going through; it is simply a wonderful gem that was worth fighting through. The final monologue about fighting to live to the very end was essentially the final farewell that Takasugi can't hear, but can feel it. It was Takechi and Bansai's swan song and I thought it was a trick that Sorachi is pulling. I just want to believe in a trap to force us to believe that they will die. I want him to pull Fairy Tail. I don't care. I know what I just said earlier but out of all series, this one I cared the most.

Once the action resumes, it was like listening a depressing soundtrack in the background; it's heading to that path of no return. Gintama is known to create a true final stand moment that can easily toy with your emotion on whether they will make it or not. It happened many times before and some were lucky enough to live, but others weren't. Because of that, I believe every second of it that Bansai was going to die. I was cheering for him like I was actually there. Seriously, if I live record my reaction, I was acting like a football fan watching the Super Bowl.

When the door blows up in front of Bansai and an army with far too many to count appear, I wanted to cry. If asspull can exist for one moment, it would be for this moment. This battle becomes downright tragic. After so many enemies he killed, he ended up with tons and tons of more enemies to fight but he can't stand up. I thought this was it and it was just depressing to see him like that. What follows up is one of the beautiful and saddest moments I have read in years.

Nizou shockingly appears behind Bansai, which confused me to think that he was alive. The encouraging word about stepping stone is not only fitting but is a powerful message to Bansai's character. After all these years, Bansai believes that the dead would remain hidden and wait for them to join them. Bansai always see life as a stepping stone, but now after these long hard fought battles, he finally sees the true light; the answer he sought for many years. Kiheitai will never die because they will always be there.

That scene is so powerful because at first I was confused to think Nizou was alive. The one panel has Bansai talking to no one besides him, and it finally hit me with a brick; he's at the death door. I honest to God whimpered when I learned that he's truly dying and I couldn't flip the page. Yes, that double page is wonderful to look at, but the thought of his death is coming killed my motivation to read. The fact he got the message about living in a different way, while best fitting to his character, is deeply touching. It's his way to say that death isn't the end and if that's the case, then his death is fine to happen.

To add tons of salt to the wound, Takechi and his men were ready to take down the device to postpone the weapon activation, but no, Sorachi wants to rip your heart out, because their cannon no longer operate. That one guy had me tearing up when he told Takechi that they have one more bullet to use and they know they made the decision. It is the only option.

The presentation...what can I say. It's possibly the best work Sorachi has done this year so far. One of my favorite of the arc is Bansai's final stand with all of the dead Kiheitai members. It's so tragic yet beautiful. I can't believe majority of them have died. I think Takasugi and Makoto will be the only survivors and that's downright depressing. The action continues to be top notch, even if it's not as much as last chapter. The sequence of the final stand is outstanding and it left me breathless.

The ending is what I was afraid of the most and without any pun intended they at least go out with a bang. The most unsettling moment is watching Bansai using his string to stand up like a corpse being pulled up like a puppet. I was a bit broken up from seeing that image. But he's not ending on a whimper because in his final move, he has bombs to kill everyone with him. At the same time, Takechi is about to crash to the device to postpone the weapon; it all leads to one final word:

Shinsuke...Perform a miracle.

What can I say? This chapter is wonderful, tragic, and perfectly shows why this series isn't easy to read on what will happen. It may bring many laughs, but it's not afraid to break many hearts. It's stunning to watch their final stand, it's beautiful to watch Bansai's development coming to the perfect circle, and it's heartbreaking to see them go.

Rest in peace, Bansai...Takechi...thanks for all the great moments.

[whxtscolor]

＜VOC. CRV2 DATA LOSS＞   [CA GUARDIAN CHALLENGE]

He thought things were bad enough as they were.

Of course, he forgot that in this city, there’s always room for things to get worse.

At first he doesn’t want to believe it. The note the scientists had given him, it had to be some kind of messed-up, cruel prank the were trying to pull on him. Kick a dog while he’s down, right?

There’s no way they could’ve taken all his vocal data from him, right? How would they even be able to do that in the first place?

But he rises from his place in bed, attempts to use his voice in song, and--

nothing comes out except silence that feels almost deafening in the moment.

No… No.

No, this-- this can’t be happening, can it? Perhaps, he wants to believe for a moment, this is all a bad dream. He’s still in slumber mode, he’s still going to wake up and everything’s going to be fine, everything--

He knows damn well that’s not the case.

Panicked, feeling like he’s going to overheat out of fear and horror and a thousand other emotions at the same time, he takes a look at the notice he’s been given once more, and suddenly everything worsens again once he realizes that they’ve only given him three days to scour the entire city for something so valuable.

That’s a dauntingly impossible task, isn’t it…?

They’re literally asking the impossible out of him. They want to ruin him, don’t they?

He leans against a wall, shaking in what can only be silent, fearful sobs, and it’s almost impulse for him to tear up the note, for him to destroy it and pretend this isn’t happening… but if he did that, he’d never be the same again.

God, he-- he has to calm down, doesn’t he? Think clearly, or at least clearer, try to figure out something… Kaito looks again at the note, taking in the words as calmly as his overwhelmed mind can muster up. It… it never said he couldn’t ask for help, did it. He doesn’t have to do this alone, does he?

Inhale, exhale… the thought eases his nerves slightly (slightly, because there’s barely any reason to not be overcome with fear in the face of potentially losing his voice for good). He’s not sure exactly who he should ask, though. A few names come to mind, but--but he needs more. He needs more help, he needs all the help he can possibly get in this situation.

...In that case, there’s only one thing he can do, right?

His hands are shaking to no end, but he goes back over to his dresser where his phone lies, picking the device up and going into the text message app, typing out his distressed cry for help as carefully as he can. It takes some time; the shaking brings about some typos that thankfully the autocorrect feature is able to fix with relatively no problem, but eventually, after he’s proofread the message five times, he exhales and hits send.

to: all contacts from: KAITO

[ txt ] i’ll start out by apologizing for sending a big text like this, but i really need some help.

[ txt ] i’m an android made for singing. these scientists, they’ve um

[ txt ] taken my voice data away and hidden it somewhere, you see

[ txt ] somewhere in the city. the whole city, actually, and i’ve no idea where

[ txt ] and i’ve only got 3 days to find it

[ txt ] i know a lot of people don’t know me and that’s okay

[ txt ] but please if you’re willing to help me look for it

[ txt ] meet me in front of the sugar sugar sweets store in sector 6 two hours from now okay???

[ txt ] thank you for reading this

He hits send, and… and then what?

What’s next?

For a moment he just stands there, back against the wall and his eyes fluttering shut as he tries to ease himself further into a calmer state--until he feels something against his leg and jolts, startled.

But it’s just Daifuku and Hozu, the cat and the Snubbull, peering up at him with curious eyes. Kaito simply stares back down at them for a moment, before kneeling down to gently rub the both of them on the tops of their heads. He can’t offer kind words right now (he can’t offer any words, really), but he stands up again and nods to himself, trying to affirm to himself that maybe he can do this.

He doesn’t entirely believe it, but he has to try.

The journey across sectors, from his home in 4 to his storefront in 6, feels like it takes three times as long as usual, despite his utter sense of urgency that isn’t normally present on a regular day’s basis. Perhaps it’s the fear that every ticking second that passes is wasted time, time lost that he could’ve been spending on trying to figure out where his voice went--

But he makes it. With time to spare, and for a moment he just stands at the doors to his precious store, resting his head against the glass and peering inside as if that were going to reassure him that things would be okay.

As time ticks closer and closer to the meeting point he’d set up in his text, a number of faces start pouring in. He feels an immediate sense of relief when he sees Daylen and Hozuki arrive, knowing full well they’re both reliable and he trusts them fully with something like this. Callie, IA and Flammelle arrive too; friends of his, and greets them all as best he can with his non-verbal cues. Somehow he never realized exactly how much he relied on his voice.

And, to his surprise, he even sees unfamiliar faces. There were some passerby that he’d asked for help along the way who showed up, but two of them--he’d find them to be Yuan and Bigby, and he thanked them as best he could through the use of his phone, typing out a message on the screen of the notepad it came equipped with (a handy little app in a time like this).

He waits--10 minutes or so, before swallowing hard and tapping his fingers across the screen as quickly as he could.

‘Thank you for showing up here,’ he shows his message to them once he’s done typing each time, ‘I really appreciate your help.’

‘I guess you might know since you’re here, but I lost my voice, so I have to talk to you all like this.’

‘Those scientists said they hid it somewhere in the city. I can’t search the whole place by myself,

So I really need help. If you can search wherever, anywhere you can think of that’d seem like a good place for it, it’d be really important to me.’

There’s a brief pause, before he types out a list of places he frequents. Maybe it’d be best to look places like that before anywhere else; it seemed a bit silly to place something like this somewhere where he’d never think to find it… or was that what the scientists wanted in the first place?

He deeply hopes that isn’t the case, but after suggesting that they split up, and keep in contact via phone calls or messages, the search officially begins.

Kaito isn’t sure where to head first, himself. He silently decided to himself that he’d check his home and the shop last, because it seemed like putting it somewhere that obvious would be against what the scientists seem to go for all the time. Judging from what he’s seen in his stay in this place for so long, it definitely felt like they were trying to make things as difficult as possible.

So he spends the day scouring sector 6 (and the closer parts of sector 5) as best he can; entering shops, asking questions (has anyone seen anything odd? Like a disc where it doesn’t belong?) and getting permission to take a look for himself.

Hours pass, and he finds nothing. And all the messages he’s received from his search companions suggest they’ve found nothing as well.

Before he realizes it, the sun has well beyond set--he hadn’t even really paid attention to the fact that the streets had gone dark, street lamps had turned on… What feels like a lump in his throat forms as he sends a message to the search companions thanking for their help, but to please go home for the time being. It’s late, after all.

There’s no way he’s going to stop on his own, though. He can’t afford to--maybe it’s only been a day, but that doesn’t matter, the sooner he finds it the better. He doesn’t want it to be down to the wire here, even though his hope is slowly dwindling the more he searches to no avail.

Think, think, he tells himself, there has to be something you’re missing. Somewhere you haven’t thought of, maybe it’s somewhere important to you--

Important to him. Not just places he frequents, but places that have meaning to him.

That makes sense, doesn’t it?

He skitters into a nearby cafe that’s still open at this time of night; he orders a drink only out of courtesy to not be rude here, but he hardly feels up to drinking anything right now. Grabbing a napkin and borrowing a pen from the barista, he settles down at a table and tries to focus himself in order to figure things out. Perhaps a better search plan was in order. Perhaps the one he’d come up with before was too erratic to work properly.

But there weren’t that many places that held sentimental value to him. His home--but that’d be the least likely possibility in the entire city. If they put it right there this entire time, he wouldn’t know what to think.

...Still, he couldn’t rule it out.

There was Hozuki’s parlor, and Daylen’s mansion, but both places had been searched already and nothing had turned up. Maybe a second search was in order, specific places-- like the room where he first learned to defend himself in the mansion, for example. Perhaps it’d been tucked away somewhere unseen in there.

The last place Kaito could think of… his own shop. Sugar Sweets. But there were many places in there, many different things that’d happened, and it wouldn’t hurt to scour the whole shop he supposed, but… there had to be something more specific he could narrow it down to.

More specific… what important things exactly had happened in there? He’d drawn in a crowd for new year’s, but that wasn’t exactly the sort of thing he’d initially had in mind when he thought of ‘important.’ What else…?

Ah, no. He’d first met Bansai there, although that wasn’t important at the time back then, it was still something of value in his mind despite all the current circumstances, and-- and… wait.

Wait. Their first conversation started with--

He jolts upright, causing almost frightened looks from the few other patrons in the place, before he ran to the counter, tipped the barista and thanked them for letting him borrow the pen, and bolted out the door.

It felt like a stupid thought, something that surely wouldn’t work, but he had to check just in case. It was better to feel safe that he’d looked than sorry that he didn’t, after all.

His feet carry him as fast as he can possibly run, up to the front doors of the sweets shop he so lovingly cares for. Kaito fumbles for a moment in his pockets; he knows he has the key on him, he always does, and he finds it--then jams it in the door’s lock, quickly opening it and bolting over to the place he’d thought of in his stop for ideas.

Turning on the lights doesn’t occur to him right now; he simply uses the flashlight app he’d put on his phone, making his way over to the small display boxes of tic tacs that were nearly full on the shelf, and starts digging through them relentlessly.

The box gets emptied out--he can worry about putting them back in later--and… and…

There’s nothing there.

For a moment, he just stands there, light still pouring onto the empty box, and he feels his spirits sinking immensely. He was wrong, wasn’t he? He was entirely wrong. For a moment he’d gotten his hopes up that it’d be there, but he--

He moves his phone away, and something glinting from under the box as the light shifts catches his eye.

Kaito stops, a look of sheer confusion forming on his expression. He didn’t have anything under there, did he? Not that he could recall, but-- wait.

A sharp inhale is taken, as he carefully removes the box from the shelf. Underneath, he finds a disc.

A disc that has a neat, simple label with the words “VOC. DATA” upon it.

He--

He actually did it.

He actually… did it?

It takes a moment for the android to process this situation. The box falls out of his grip, as his eyes stay locked onto the disc before him, a dumbfounded look on his features slowly shifting into one of sheer joy.

There it was. There was the disc he was looking for.

Carefully, as though it were a fragile piece of glass that would break with simply the wrong touch, he removes it from the shelf, and an excited exhale escapes him. Oh, god, he genuinely thought he’d never be able to find it, and here it was, right in front of him, in one of the most oddly-placed positions he could’ve thought of, but it was still there.

But--shoot, he needs somewhere to put it so it doesn’t get damaged on his way home. Kaito takes a quick glance around the shop, before settling on one of the plastic bags intended for candy; he carefully inserts the disc into the bag before tying it off so it wouldn’t happen to fall out at any point.

Shaking hands then reach for his phone, sending a simple message to those he’d been searching for the disc earlier with:

[ txt ] I FOUND IT

-------------------------------------------------

He’s quick to hurry home.

It takes, once again, what feels like far too long, and for some reason the fear that he’ll be double-crossed somehow and have the disc explode in his hands or something exists within him. The scientists wouldn't be that cruel, would they?

Time ticks by, until finally he’s in sector 4 again, and his shaking feet carry him home as quickly as he can muster. He bursts through the door, startling the poor cat and Pokemon lounging in the living room, but he has no time to stop. He runs through the house to the room he’d designated as the ‘office,’ something that really only had a desk, computer, and a few other things, but that’d do.

Without hesitation, he hooks himself up to the computer with a cord plugged into the back of his neck, before inserting the disc into the computer gingerly. At first, nothing happens, and Kaito starts to feel another lump forming in his throat, the fear that this was a trick, or maybe he’d gotten the wrong thing, or--

----DATA LOADING----

No, wait, that’s something. That’s definitely something! Leaning closer into the screen, hopeful eyes watch the percentage upload counter go from 1%, to 25%, 50%, 90%...

Footsteps patter in the background as the counter reads 100%, before blinking another message to him.

----DATA LOAD COMPLETE----

He’s hesitant, for a brief moment. What if it didn’t work? What if he did something wrong?

Opening his mouth, he takes a needless deep breath, and …

“Ah--”

...Something comes out.

“Ah… Ah! A-Ahahaha!”

Awkward, fumbling laughter spills out as he falls backwards, the cord falling out from his neck as he flops onto the floor, tears threatening to spill out of sheer relief and joy.

A purr catches his attention; Daifuku gently rubs her head against Kaito’s, and Hozu offers him a curious expression as if questioning what he was so happy about so suddenly.

One shaking hand moves to wipe the tears from his face, before he sits upright and offers both hands to rub their heads again.

“S-Sorry, it’s just…

you wouldn’t believe what’s happened to me.”

[sem-voids]

finished my gintama reread. chapter 702 is still that bitch that leaves a hollow void inside my heart. takasugi shinsuke my beloved 😭

funnily enough, every time i reread gintama, i develop new faves. during the first time, it was katsura. in fact, it was katsura who made me want to watch gintama because he was voiced by my favorite seiyuu akira ishida. then i read the manga and my favorite was sougo. then the second reread, it was kagura. third it was toshi and now, it's takasugi.

there were things that did not age well and actually made me uncomfortable. the treatment of the okama and some of the female characters in general doesn't sit right with me. also some of the moments with the plastic surgery stuff and how it's used as an insult. along with the afros... so maybe this is my last reread.

all in all, gintama still has splendid emotional beats that coaxes a lot of tears from my eyes. the four devas scene with otose and gin running towards her only to arrive at the grave with otose fallen over and the flashback to their first meeting still made me cry. damn it. i really am weak for this found family shit. also i didn't expect bansai's death to hit me this time. that was good too.

[razberryyum]

A Gintama chapter a day keeps the ending away...Lesson 643

MY 7 FAVORITE MOMENTS IN LESSON 643:

I didn’t cry during the last chapter because the whole Nizou thing threw me for a loop, but I definitely cried a bunch during this chapter. It wasn’t even because there was any upsetting imagery...in a way, Henpeita and Bansai’s fates were arguably still up in the air, even though I was so sure they were both dead already...but rather, I started thinking about Takasugi’s life afterwards and what was left for him if he did lose both of those guys. True, Matako was still by his side, but that doesn’t erase the fact that the Kiheitai as it was up to this point was already mostly destroyed with the loss of Henpeita and especially Bansai whom, whether I ship TakaBan or not, was undoubted the person closest to Takasugi.  His death really hit me starting from this chapter.

1) The sight of his lonely back was what caused my tears to start running.

2) The intensity in his eyes gave me chills...literally, if looks could kill, those guys would be even deader than they already were.

3) Bless Sakamoto for finally doing what I wanted SOMEONE to do...

4)...and that was to shoot this mother f-er. That felt so damn good!

5) More of the cavalry arriving! Still loving the Dragonia look on Elizabeth.

 6) How could I NOT have thought they were both dead??? Total tears. Especially since I was thinking he will arrive at NOTHING because almost everything that he valued was now DEAD. This was really...upsetting.

7) Really cool angry intense moment for Takasugi, but still, all I felt was sadness.

SHIPS TALLY:

Technically ZuraEli and TakaMata cuz they appeared together but this chapter made me too sad to even want to ship.

Disclaimer: Gintama is not only about shipping. Gintama is hilarious, clever, exciting, poignant, heart-breaking, loving, brilliant, and just so freaking amazing.  It is only due to Sorachi-sama’s generosity that I can enjoy Gintama on yet another level, the shippy level, and I am forever grateful for that. GINTAMA IS LIFE AND LOVE. 

10/11/2018

[razberryyum]

A Gintama chapter a day keeps the ending away...Lesson 646

MY 7 FAVORITE MOMENTS IN LESSON 646:

1) First time I read this chapter, I started crying a little at this moment. I was moved by the bond between Shoukaku and Batou, and of course Henpeita and Bansai, but most importantly, I realized that I would finally have to kill any remaining hope I had of Bansai still being alive at that point. A very small part of me was still hoping he had survived somehow, but by this moment, I realized that that was no longer a possibility anymore. Too much had been made of his death already for it to not be real. I was really so so sad.

2)  I loved this because it was reminiscent of the Joui Wars, except this time around, Takasugi was leading an army of Amantos.

3) This chapter had really cool fight sequences, starting with Takasugi vs. Enshou.

4) Ugh, my boys looked so wrecked but I was so glad that they were together, united, fighting against the same enemy. 

5) Just more cool fighting that I loved...though I really disliked Enshou’s weapon. It was like a deadly flashlight-light saber thingy which caused so much damage.

6) I cheered; I was hoping he’d get both of his hands chopped off. He cost Bansai his life, not to mentioned endangered all the lives of everybody else I loved and cared about; any sympathy I might have felt for Gunsmoke was loonnnnggg gone.

7) I seriously wanted Takasugi to just chop off his head in the next chapter, like right at the beginning. Of course that could have put an end to most of the war, which I kind of dreaded at the same time since at the time I worried that would move us closer to the end of everything, but I still wanted Enshou dead.

SHIPS TALLY:

Shoukaku x Batou: I did appreciate the obvious close bond they had with each other and I thought their pact was really touching. 

Disclaimer: Gintama is not only about shipping. Gintama is hilarious, clever, exciting, poignant, heart-breaking, loving, brilliant, and just so freaking amazing.  It is only due to Sorachi-sama’s generosity that I can enjoy Gintama on yet another level, the shippy level, and I am forever grateful for that. GINTAMA IS LIFE AND LOVE.

10/14/2018

[sparda3g]

Gintama Chapter 644 Review

This arc just keeps on giving and I don't know when I want to stop. This arc has gotten so extraordinarily that I don't want it to end at all. This chapter continues to give us the great thrills and chills, only to end with a sheer hype for the highly potential epic battle.

I know Sorachi hasn't let us down with these hyped characters and scenarios that certified them as badass and downright awesome. This arc has reached to the point that no one is joking around anymore. Even the Peace Lover Sakamoto is no longer in that mode. It's all or nothing.

The extended scene of Takasugi's roar cry is a satisfying addition. It not only makes him a total badass, as if he wasn't already, but the magnitude he is going for his fallen brethren is striking. One guard tells him that destroying the core could kill everyone in there, but Takasugi replies, "So what," and proceed to cut it anyway. I just love that shot of him saying that with blood tear. It has that tragic aura that surrounds him. It's all for their sacrifice and nothing will stop him.

Sorachi is at it again with the thought of "did they survive" scenario. This one is different from Bansai and Takechi because those two did have a wonderful send off. This one is more of playing fans' emotion, though I have to admit, I am deeply concerned on Takasugi and Matako's survival. Even if it breaks logic, I just hope they're fine.

Sakamoto is perhaps the main highlight when it comes to speech because this guy is scaring me as of late. I remember it was hinted that he can be cold in Mutsu's backstory, but it was halted. Now, we're seeing him in his dark glory. I got chills when reading his lines. It's either surrender now or everyone will get killed one-by-one, and he wouldn't mind doing so. I couldn't do his speech justice but it's bone-chilling without a doubt. It's the mix of his cold stares and dark tone words that made this scene epic.

Speaking of epic, I hate to say it but Enshou is alive and his performance already convinced me that he's not a pushover at all. In fact, I am highly impressed; it has to do with how Sorachi captures the hype very well. For starters, I knew that it wasn't the end of him, but his response to Sakamoto is easily a nerve wrecking scene for the fans. 

I honestly thought Sakamoto took the hit and got heavily wounded. Unfortunately, that spot belongs to Mutsu. Enshou's dialogue does give that sinister vibe with a mind that has nothing to lose or rather refuses to lose at all. The two worst types of people to come across in war are a person who refuses to surrender at all and a person who has nothing to lose. I can't help but think his line about his wife dying for him twice is haunting, which links to Mutsu protecting Sakamoto. Innuendo pairing moment?

This chapter gives more hype boost to Enshou and it's very convincing on how strong he is. I like the fact Sorachi has this showing without telling display going with Enshou and his saber skill. You immediately can tell that he is quite masterful at using the saber. He even can split the saber into fire balls and shoot at them. That was brutal to see that guy getting his face melted.

If that wasn't enough, his exchange with Katsura and Elizabeth shows how swift he can maneuver. The action is pretty good and Katsura manages to hold up well, but clearly, he needs a helping hand. Elizabeth helping out is always delighted to see, but it's not enough. Everything you see here is convincing enough on how strong Enshou is, and I can't wait for the next intense battle.

The cliffhanger is so much hype. Not only Mutsu was taken out, but so as Elizabeth; protecting Katsura from bullets was hard to watch. It’s not them getting badly wounded that got me excited (I’m not that sadistic…), it’s what leads to next. Katsura and Sakamoto are so pissed off now, and Enshou is so hellbent to win the war, even if they have to crash the ship to Earth; all to make this major boss battle incredibly hyped. I already know what Katsura is capable of but seeing Sakamoto in action got my full attention.

Sorachi has been on his A-game with the artwork as of late. I love how he puts that high tension feeling moment with Enshou waking up and aim to kill Sakamoto with that saber. I don’t think Mutsu and Elizabeth are dead, but their action is greaty appreciated. I can’t forget the intensity from Takasugi as well; just awesome. Enshou’s performance is all show; enough to let you know his skills and capability is top notch, and I can’t wait for the next chapter.

This chapter is like a buildup in a way for the major boss fight with Enshou. It also has great moments with Takasugi dead set determination to win for everyone, Sakamoto being straight-up badass, and the tensed action display that leads to pure hyped battle for the next chapter. Kill or be killed. Time to end this!

[razberryyum]

Gintama anime ep 318/manga chaps 555, 556, 557, & 558

Dear Gintama gods and Sorachi-sama,

To spare you the ordeal of reading even more lengthy letters from me when I had already written to you previously about each chapter, I will instead share with you what I am especially grateful for in each episode during this new season. I am as always thankful for your tolerance and most importantly for granting us the gift of Gintama. Please don’t let this be the last season of the show.

I am thankful for the following:

- Kagura, for always having her priorities straight. 

- A good cry…since that is what this scene granted me. I got weepy when I first saw it in the manga, got weepy all over again seeing it in the episode. Hurt my heart like crazy.

- the inclusion of Sadaharu’s leave letter. OMG, getting weepy again. I should be used to this by now but nope, this scene with the leave letters still kills me.

- a CLEAR view of Bansai without his sunglasses which was NOT a part of the original chapter. Very happy about that change. He actually reminds me of Hijikata. Too bad the glasses went back on almost immediately.

- our little girl all grown up and ready to protect her two families. SO. PROUD. OF. HER. [Hysterical Sobbing]

- Nobume. She’s just so sweet. I want her to officially be a permanent part of the Yorozuya family by marrying Shinpachi. I will ship ShinNobu until the end of time and I don’t give a damn if it’s a borderline crack pairing. Just hearing him call her name in that sympathetic tone of his made me so happy. 

- Takasugi’s carefree, smiling face. I still hope we will get to see that one day.

- these badass losers. Look at how awesome they are! So proud of them!

- NobuNobu’s very punchable face. At this point, the only remotely attractive quality about him.

And finally, my favorite manga to anime scene, and I promise I will really limit it to just ONE scene:

Yours truly,

A silly fangirl with yaoi dreams

(^3^)