#gintama meta

[yu-sigao]

I just finished Gintama and I'm still in awe. It's been a day and I still don't know how to collect my words of how deeply this anime struck me.

Utsuro was a beautiful villain. The way I interpret him is that he is almost pure yin - cold, dark, destructive, and all consuming, like, well, an 虚 ("utsuro", void.) But in East Asian cosmology, while yin is death, it is also fertility. It is the feminine component of the universe and required for land and animals to reproduce. So within a field of yin, there will always be a seed of yang.

This seed of yang is of course, Yoshida Shouyou. Just as yin inevitably grows yang, Utsuro talks of Shouyou's emergence as inevitable in episode 328.

"The one that hated humans, the one that feared humans, and the one that longed to be human... They were all me. It was inevitable that he would appear to stop them. The only Utsuro that stood up to Utsuro."

He even usually wears white compared to the black of Utsuro's cloak. Shouyou is warm, kind, nurturing, and active; it's said he never stopped fighting against Utsuro, even if at first he lost. And arguably that fighting is what got him killed. Utsuro slays him internally as Gintoki slays him externally, and when his body is burned in fire - a classic symbol of yang - Utsuro reemerges. The seed has sprouted, grown, withered, and returned back to fertilise the earth. Yang flows back into yin.

What I find interesting is the decidedly feminine metaphors that Oboro and Utsuro himself use to describe the formation of his different personas. He is said to have "given birth" to countless versions of himself (again also from episode 328), which further strengthens the association between Utsuro and yin.

This is not the first time a birthing/maternal metaphor has been used in Gintama. Consider Shouyou's speech to a child Gintoki:

"There's no difference between a monster and the child of a monster. They are both inhuman beings that are only born within a bloody pool of sin. And a monster's sword cannot cut another monster. So, Gintoki, stop trying to grow stronger by imitating me... You have to grow stronger than me by using your own sword, the sword of a human." - (episode 317.)

If in this metaphor, Utsuro is the parent and Shouyou is the offspring, then what does that make Shouyou? Shouyou subtly implies he considers himself a monster. Is this true? If you view Shouyou as a parental figure to Gintoki, Katsura, and Takasugi, then what does that make them?

Gintoki was called a corpse eating demon as a child, and by the time he was fighting in the Joui wars and forced to execute Shouyou, he had not shed that reputation. He instead became known as the Shiroyasha - white demon. Clothed in the colours of yang like his master who longed to be human, but a monster nonetheless. And a monster's sword cannot cut another monster. That is why when Gintoki kills Shouyou, Utsuro is born, and the cycle starts anew. It is only after 300+ episodes of character development that he becomes human, and can put an end to Utsuro.

"The people here must be what you were to me. Just as the eternal monster from that day became human by meeting you... Meeting you kids, the little monster with sad eyes from that day has also become human, hasn't he?" - (Shouyou to Gintoki in Gintama: The Final.)

But the cycle is never over. A baby implied to be Takasugi's reincarnation is born in the Altana gates at the end. At first I thought this was a cheap trick, and that Sorachi only did this to keep fans happy, but it does fit the theme of eternity and neverending cycles.

Gintama, to me, is about cycles, and the difference between productive and unproductive cycles. The Naraku's name refers to a sort of Buddhist hell, and they dress like Buddhist monks. The relevance of the Buddhist theme of reincarnation in regards to Utsuro's story should be obvious. But instead of a march towards enlightenment, Utsuro's numerous lifetimes are more like an ouroboros eating it's own tail. He did unto others what was done unto him, escalating into a plot to destroy Earth, which got him nowhere but perpetuating pointless samsara. He destroys himself as he begets himself, experiencing moral degradation and isolation as he shies away from even his other selves.

Or a cycle can be like making a philosopher's stone, which is what Gintoki experienced: a process of continuous refinement that produces objects of further and further purity. To use Buddhist terms, enlightenment is an ongoing process. The work of becoming human takes as long as your life will. And Gintoki is made human by his relationships with Shinpachi, Kagura, and every single person he met over the course of the story, while Utsuro remained so focused on himself, he destroyed his other selves.

Utsuro recognises his mistake upon his death:

"Humans are hollow beings. But because they know that, they take root in the heart of others, never fading, even after death, and continue to live forever, is it?" - (Gintama: The Final)

His hollowness and eternity did not have to mean all this pain. He denied the version of himself, Shouyou, that went against his omnicidal death wish, and was life giving instead. In giving life, Shouyou became mortal, and was given death. In death, Shouyou became more influential and powerful than Utsuro, having touched the heart of people who would come back to defeat him. The immortal becomes mortal becomes immortal. Yin flowing back into yang flowing back into yin.

In the end, everything goes back to where it started, yet everything is new again. The Yorozuya are back, and Edo is still Edo, even as Tokyo looms on the horizon. I can only hope for the baby we see at the end, that if they are immortal, they will have a kinder life than Utsuro/Shouyou did. That they will be more human than monster. The monster's child became human, after all.

[sweettsubaki]

Sakata Gintoki, king of static characters who doesn't really change throughout the series (yes I know it's the definition) but impacts his environment so much you could almost believe he does.

[zeravmeta]

loses 10 years of my life and has 20 added in an endless loop thinking about how gintoki is always primarily described by his inhumanity first and foremost because for all that he is an idiot goofball he is also a survivor of one of the bloodiest massacres in his series ever since he was a child and even surrounded by family and friends he has no qualms whatsoever with all the blood on his hands and equally has no problem further spilling blood to protect what he loves <- primary indication of humanity in gintama is using a sword to protect vs using a sword to kill and the measure of ones soul (and even gain one) is in how they weild a sword

[s2pdoktopus]

There's a whole ass AU behind the stupid drawing based on a stupid conversation with @tamanone. Something about Tatsuma and Takasugi forming a boy band and a meta humor about their voice actors having been in a band together. And them guesting in an Otsuu concert. There are a lot of stupid thoughts involved. And then tamanone described a stupid cute scene (Tatsuma serenading Takasugi in the backstage with Otsuu's Omae to p-chan nondakure) that I can't do any justice. I tried tho.

[nullians]

Rewatched Fuyo arc and gintama mutuals you are encouraged to remind me to make the [Silver Soul + The Final movie] recreation AMV out of only the shots available from it. I’m so convinced it’s doable in like 70% at its essence and ugh. Anybody wanna be put down like a dog after realising the parallels

[teatitty]

Gintoki is functionally the same at the end of Gintama as he was at the start but the character or progression he has is that he goes from being a lonely stray with very few personal connections to regaining a sense of community and family, having a shitton of connected personal relationships, all of which matter and impact his daily life

[banapricot]

It's quiet in the wake of the fire, of Shoyo's arrest, of their home being destroyed. The muffled sobs peter out, and they're left to sit in their misery, not knowing what to do when the little they had has been cruelly ripped away from them. 

Then Kentaro starts crying. Wailing, really, like babies do, and it snaps Gintoki back to reality.

His legs nearly give out when he stands, and his arms ache from being pulled too harshly, but he makes his way to Takashi, who's overwhelmed by the screeching infant they must have carried out of the temple. They shove Kentaro onto him with obvious relief, and on a normal day - a better day - Gintoki would complain about always getting stuck on babysitting duty. Instead, he rocks the brat back to sleep and realizes they’re going to have to dump him in some orphanage. 

Already one person he can’t look after for Shoyo.

[forgloryforhonor]

throwing toyako - takasugi x gintoki x shimura

lesson 574 gintoki -> takasugi -> save shinpachi

lesson 701 takasugi -> otae -> gintoki

they even did that one-eyed thing

it came full circle

[shinobi98]

This is unironically Yamazaki's villain origin story in the Popularity Poll Arc in Gintama

[nig0i]

Chapters: 1/? Fandom: 銀魂 | Gintama (Anime & Manga) Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Additional Tags: Meta, Analysis, not fanfiction, Symbolism, Posts one part a day Summary:

An analysis on Gintama's symbolism. Featuring: the sky, the Sun, the Moon, the dragon, and many more.

this has been months in the works!!

[pencilcult]

how come does this "high-end literature" book im reading for english class seem to do its meta thing worse than how gintama does meta

[sweettsubaki]

Me every time someone goes through my tags especially those that go back to over 10 years when I know I don't hold the same opinions I did before on a few things:

"please don't like those please don't like those please don't like those but also please don't judge me for them"

[rosencrantzsguildenstern]

you should never go from reading gintama meta to taking biology notes i'm in my class right now like damn..... stem cells are kinda shouyoucore

[teatitty]

Joui 4 headcanon after months of silence: they were all equally feared on the battlefield of the Amanto War for entirely different reasons. Gintoki's the only one who got folkloric status because his signature bright white clothing and hair cut an easily memorable image amidst so much bloodshed and dark palette's, but if anyone time travelled back to that period or spoke with people who knew the four of them during that time, you'd learn that Katsura, Takasugi and Sakamoto were all equally terrifying opponents to go up against

Here's my breakdown that matters to nobody but myself. Gintoki is a tank player. He can take hit after hit after hit and still get back up and deal just as much as he takes, hence his demon moniker, but if you think he's the only one to take down hoardes by himself you'd be wrong because Katsura was deadly efficient, always aiming for quick kill strikes and moving with a fluid grace few could match

In contrast, Takasugi and Sakamoto were similar fighters, being quick and agile on the battlefield with their core differences being that Takasugi had a similar defence stat as Gintoki whereas Sakamoto's unmistakable laughter sounded so deranged and manic to the minds of already paranoid soldiers that it could strike paralysing fear into most mobs

[davekat-sucks]

imisshomestuck popping off with the jake meta, damn

i agree completely, but also this paragraph

"Unhappy endings are better because of that. Fuck that. That's not why people read stories. People read them to see the ideal, to feel the potential of a character and then later see their faith and hope be rewarded. Reading a fictional story shouldn't be like gambling where you hope the writer ends up closing a characters story well and having them turn into the best version of themselves. Why do so many writers have the idea that reality always ends up being shitty and disappointing! Stories should too! It's like that stupid Mad at Disney song. We should all be bitter and nihilistic. The 1990s nihilism trend did a number to these mother fuckers. They think that trying is pointless and flaws are weights around our ankles that make it impossible to win the race of lie."

yes holy shit im so fucking TIRED of nihilism in stories, yet it seems its all i can find in everything nowadays (example: GOT, that was ass and im tired of pretending otherwise, all the good interesting main characters dying triggered my homestuck ptsd). and i fucking hate how this garbage webcomic has ruined my perception of character interaction for me forever because nothing comes even close! and all i get in fanworks is davekat uwu shit or discourse! im so fucking pissed! i hate hussie, hiveswap, the epilogues and hsbc and this idiotic fucking nu fandom!

someone send some book/shows/manga recs plz

in exchange i can give some too, if you like homestucks minimalist art style give alex toths works a try, his artbooks in particular are great. invader zim, irkens is where hussie stole the trolls and alternia from. also emily the strange, the maxx (1993), sam & max. for manga, lupin iii is fun.

There is only such much nihilism I can take before it becomes annoying that we get it, everything fucking sucks. Worse if said media tells me that I'm an idiot for even caring for watching/reading the series in the first place. At this point, it makes one question then who the hell you are writing for at this point if you slap the audience in the face and purposely make yourself feel like shit. As for series: Smiling Friends, Mashle: Muscles and Magic, Crayon Shin-chan, Gintama, Sgt. Frog/Keroro Gunsou,

[lirirub]

Creo que al inicio, los que han estado pidiendo desesperadamente un personaje masculino de cabello largo se volverán absolutamente salvajes, comenzarán a ahorrar protogemas religiosamente, prepararán sus bolsillos para hacer la inversión más grande de su vida, porque, ¡maldita sea, un personaje masculino con cabello largo y sedoso, nada menos!

Entonces, después vendrán los críticos a dar sus análisis sobre el personaje y su kit de habilidades: Un soporte hydro, al parecer (Que repetitivo, dirán muchos. ¡Necesitamos más DPS Hydro! Añadirán los main Hydro, hartos de que al parecer Hydro es sinónimo de sanador dentro del juego). Vendrán los detractores, tal y como con Bennett y Kazuha lo van a hacer trizas, luego lanzaran sus restos al barro y comenzarán a burlarse de todo aquel que esté ahorrando para este hilarante personaje de largo cabello sedoso, que, según sus propias predicciones, será olvidable y no va a proporcionar nada sustancioso al meta (Cabe destacar, que para este momento, solo estarán las filtraciones, de, repito este punto muy importante, este personaje masculino de cabello largo y sedoso)

Comienzan a verse videos por Youtube, posibles builds para el personaje, ya que, según las filtraciones, puede escalar tanto con HP como con ataque porcentual; así que comienzan los debates, ¿Un Katsura híbrido, quizá será mejor utilizarlo solo como un soporte para personajes DPS o será factible utilizarlo para crear grandes ráfagas de daño? Los main Ayato y los main Nilou est��n temblando en sus sillas, esperando este bono de daño que proporcionará Katsura para hacer números más grandes sin comprometer las composiciones elementales que tienen en la manga. Los fans absolutos del estilo de juego, también tiemblan en sus sillas, tienen a Beidou y YunJin en sus equipos, haciendo counters que destrozan por completo la vida de sus rivales, están sedientos, esperando obtener a este nuevo personaje para añadir a su colección, los que planean utilizar a Katsura para subir sus videos de Youtube con cifras que rondan el millón, comienzan a guardar sus mejores cáliz de bono de daño hydro, sus arenas de vida o ataque, definitivamente muchas Yelan y Nilou se van a ver desprovistas de sus artefactos una vez este personaje masculino de cabello largo y sedoso sea jugable. Así como ocurrió con Shenhe, con Kazuha y tantos otros en su momento, muchos deciden simplemente ahorrar para otros personajes, encogiéndose de hombros, a pesar de que este personaje masculino tenga este cabello largo y sedoso tan único.

Entonces, ¡finalmente llega el gran día! Y todos los que han lanzado en el banner se ponen manos a la obra. En los próximos días, comienzan a verse más videos, capturas y esquemas en las redes sociales sobre Katsura y resulta ser (Como no podría ser de otra forma) Es que su estilo de juego es absolutamente divertido:

En realidad resulta ser un personaje autosuficiente, sus ataques y animaciones son prolíficas (Vamos a mencionarlo una vez más, pero ver su cabello largo y sedoso ondearse con cada ataque que realiza le ha ganado un puesto entre los mejores cabellos Pantene dentro del fandom, en este punto Zura está compitiendo entre los primeros puestos a mejor waifu de Genshin) El asunto con Zura, es que tiene mucho sustento, dado a la pasiva que aumenta su velocidad de movimiento y disminuye su consumo de estamina, es sencillo esquivar y dejar un par de ataques básicos aquí y allá mientras se elimina el enfriamiento de "Retribución táctica", así mismo, dado que su definitiva sana, suele armarse con mucho HP, da un bono de ataque e incluso infunde con hydro que desata buenas reacciones elementales, Katsura es casi inmortal.

Aún así, tiene algunas desventajas, debido a estas infusiones hydro, Katsura es utilizado como buffer y sanador para otros DPS hydro o en equipos de sobreflorecimiento, dado que el daño producido por las semillas dendro puede ser contrarrestado por su ultimate, así que, los niveles de recarga de energía deben ser altos, equilibrados con una tasa decente de HP y ataque. Así que, tarda un tiempo tener a Katsura armado correctamente.

Al inicio, muchos creen que la tercera pasiva: "Alboroto Shintoukei", es un desperdicio, ya que, teniendo características de sanador y counter, pues... cualquiera podría pensar que nunca se le daría uso. ¡Pero! Es en abismo donde esta característica comienza a brillar; cuando resulta ser que en medio de la batalla del piso 12, los jefes atacan al mismo tiempo, y terminas sin uno de los miembros de tu equipo, el bono de daño y las mejoras en "Retribución táctica" se activan, de repente, en unos segundos la vida de los enemigos disminuye, finalmente el combo es rematado con las bombas de daño hydro de su ultimate. El abismo se completa. Katsura resulta ser una máquina imparable. De repente es Tier SS dentro de las estadísticas del juego.

Zura but in genshin

Or at least some thoughts about how his gameplay could be if there ever is a crossover

I wrote this and Im working on a story quest for gin but i doubt it will ever be completed so Ill post this that is somewhat finished

Very very rough, I wrote this thinking about fitting his character and personality, not balance, so it'll may be too op or too weak, and also I don't understand very well how this kit thing works (like scaling and shit)

I thought about him like a support, good for quick swaps, like his role as a general possibly can be, but also as a capable dps when the conditions are right (Like the difference between Katsura and Zura)

Also happy b-day, ya dumbass

Katsura Koutarou

A genius general and a accomplished intellectual, the only thing vaster than his intelligence is his lack of common sense.

Auto Attack - Shouka Bladework: Elegant Style. The charged attack is a stab that acts kinda like polearms charged attacks, but the rest is standard sword character.

Skill - Tactical Retribution; Counter like Beidou/YunJin. It lowers the physical and elemental resistance/defense of the enemies that were hit by it by 15%. Damage scales with attack

Burst - The General's Game; Katsura deploys a AoE. Standing inside the AoE will heal and also boost his and his teammates attacks, scaling with his HP stat. Enemies standing inside the AoE will have their physical and elemental resistance/defense lowered, also scaling with his HP (The maximum value is 50%, also counting the debuff from Tactical Retribution). If Shintoukei Rampage is in effect the healing, buffs and debuffs are replaced by hydro damage that scales with attack. (It's uno)

Passive 1 - Zura janai!; if the skill is pressed just as Katsura is attacked, Katsura will counter the attack with full charge

Passive 2 - Runaway Koutarou; Katsura running speed gets a buff when he enters combat, sprinting and running stamina costs are also lowered.

Passive 3 - Shintoukei Rampage; When his teammates are down, or he is alone in a team, his Attack gets a 150% buff, Tactical Retribution releases fully charged with a tap, Tactical Retribution's full counter also gains 25% more damage, and The General's Game now has bombs that deal hydro damage. But the buffs and debuffs are erased.

Constellations

C1 - After using Tactical Retribution, Katsura attacks are imbued with hydro for 5 seconds. (It can generate elemental particles)

C2 - When used as a perfect counter, Tactical Retribution has a 25% chance of recharging immediately.

C3 - Increases the level of The General's Game by 3.

C4 - Shintoukei Rampage gives an extra 50% attack buff when Katsura has less than 40% of his HP.

C5 - Increases the level of Tactical Retribution by 3.

C6 - When Shintoukei Rampage is in effect, Katsura buffs and debuffs aren't erased anymore. (The healing still is)