#takagin

[suchine-toki]

"Takasugi displays an unwavering determination to kill Utsuro because he created this rotten world (hint: that made Gintoki cry) (...) Because he would have chosen Gintoki over Shoyo, too, and it can be rationalized (...) It is only through Kiheitai that Takasugi finds the true skin that is his true self: an undying, strong love to live for one person."

"Even if Gintoki has found a 'place' in Edo, it didn't mean the man crying from the past, whose stupid face was etched into his left eye, had stopped suffering (...) But now that Takasugi knows he just wants Gintoki to not suffer alone, he can think clearer."

"Takasugi's feelings to be by Gintoki's side are reciprocated just as much by Gintoki (...) Gintoki wants Takasugi to get closer to his true, empty heart (...) Takasugi's choice to sacrifice himself conveyed how it was important to someone in this world that Gintoki was wholly happy."

Shinsuke Takasugi Character Discussion PART 2 - Putting a Name to the Irrationality, that is Love

A continuation of Part 1. Be sure to read that first and the warnings if you're interested! Heavy, I say HEAVY Takagin.

To further nail in how important Gintoki is to Takasugi as a reason to live, what wakes Takasugi up from his coma is Matako's tears. Her tears reminded him of hazy memories of the sky crying, how those tears were coming from someone who was trying to be strong, and he hates it. Because of that, he has to wake up, live and do something about it.

And in his dying breath we hear at his most honest that Gintoki's tears have haunted him all this time. Pretty much implying the above monologue was about Gintoki's tears.

(This was probably my favourite moment in Gintama ever. This is probably the first time someone wanted Gintoki to smile, and not Gintoki fighting for someone else's smile.)

It isn't only about wanting to win against Gintoki. It's also about wanting him to be happy, and to not have to suffer all alone. Takasugi's form of love may have taken the form of power first due to his violent upbringing, but the more time they spent together being just humans, that love probably became more human too, morphing into what love really is. Wanting your loved one to be happy, and to be the closest to their everything, whether it be their happiness or their suffering.

And once again, on Rakuyo, as if to nail it in isn't Shoyo he was obsessed with but Gintoki - Takasugi displays an unwavering determination to kill Utsuro because he created this rotten world (hint: that made Gintoki cry). He is easily able to separate Shoyo and Utsuro, unlike Oboro. Even though Shoyo gave his life up for Takasugi to live, and Takasugi should have felt as responsible and guilty for it as Oboro does about his own sin.

Back to their clash in Iga - if you've forgotten, my interpretation here was Takasugi begging an answer for his irrationality of choosing Gintoki over Shoyo. After calling Takasugi out for projecting when he wasn't the one who killed Shoyo in the first place, Gintoki clarifies why he made the 'choice', that it wasn't a choice in the first place but something he was doing out of duty as a student of Shoka Sonjuku. This reinforces how his actions still follow Shoka Sonjuku's principles, and stating the obvious shows how Gintoki can see that Takasugi was afraid of losing his place in Shoka Sonjuku because of his irrationality. Gintoki allows Takasugi to escape from that irrationality by spelling out his own reasons to him. Seeing a rational, honourable reason for Takasugi to be 'chosen' over all the corpses they ran over for Shoyo, Takasugi can finally say "I haven't been expelled, after all" in relief. Because he would have chosen Gintoki over Shoyo, too, and it can be rationalized.

Instead of dragging out and accepting those emotions as Takasugi's path the same way Shoyo would have done, Gintoki does what he knows best - straightforwardly taking on Takasugi's anger and making it about himself. This manages to quell Takasugi's anger at himself, his irrationality, by letting him escape through Gintoki's more honourable reasoning for choosing him, and this peels the fake layer off Takasugi: not being able to forgive himself for irrationally choosing Gintoki over Shoyo.

It is only through Kiheitai that Takasugi finds the true skin that is his true self: an undying, strong love to live for one person. Because Takasugi never grew up with a loving family, the concept of love never came naturally to him. Now that Gintoki has lifted the confusion that blinded him and threatened to take his home in Shoka Sonjuku away, the world becomes clearer to Takasugi - just exactly what it was he was angry at the world for (hint: Gintoki's tears). As Bansai remarks on the look on Takasugi's face after Gintoki's words in Iga:

And with those eyes more focused on the present and the true anger that drives him to destruction, he finally notices how blindly Kiheitai clings to a leader who couldn't actually do anything for them, who simply enticed them with sweet words that came from a place of nihilistic destruction and gave them a delusion of certainty. How raking up their corpses in his fit of despair and rage only increased the burden on Takasugi's shoulders, because this isn't what he wanted. He wanted destruction, but it was as the solution to the tragedy he had to witness, to forgive himself for betraying his ideals and to quell the anger he couldn't put a name to (hint: at himself and Gintoki's tears). Instead, his actions only led to more demise and tragedy. Now that the self-hatred he directed at Gintoki was gone, Takasugi was fighting with the anger he couldn't place a finger on, and with such ambiguity, the burden of these corpses become too heavy for him to bear. But Kiheitai's unwavering loyalty at a pathetic, terrible person like him is what pushes him forward, for their sake, and all these piled up emotions make him realize too late--

--He had always been running away from himself. The loyalty Kiheitai he thought was only reserved for the Takasugi who gathered them together with his charisma, stayed on even for the Takasugi who lost sight of a purpose. There was something even the Takasugi had that keeps people spurring on - just being him - and because these people clearly loved him, he wanted to respond.

Now that he was properly attuned to the emotions of the people in his present, it grants him a clarity of mind to face the past as a human too, not as a detached hero focused on achieving a single goal for a delusion of certainty. This is his true battlefield, as much as it is Enshou's.

What he wanted as a hero would have been to save Shoyo for Gintoki and everyone's sake. But what he wanted as human, all this time, was to be the closest to the person most precious to him, the person who gave him a reason to live in a world that meant nothing to him--Gintoki. Just like how he gave Kiheitai a reason to live.

And his anger to destroy the world all came from his anger at witnessing Gintoki's tears. Not Shoyo's death, not Gintoki's irrationality--the anger was all born from his own powerlessness at not being able to do anything for that mysterious cloudy sky. He already never understood Gintoki's burden and pain as a child, and that distance between them only grows and grows. Gintoki was now more alone than ever, and Takasugi was running away from his desire to keep chasing after him and be there for him, because it felt like there was no longer a way to do that anymore. At the start, Takasugi could focus on Shoyo and protecting him to feel close to Gintoki, but now that he was gone, it felt like there was nothing he could do to be closer to Gintoki's heart anymore. Even if Gintoki has found a 'place' in Edo, it didn't mean the man crying from the past, whose stupid face was etched into his left eye, had stopped suffering. The pain was still there, yet Gintoki lives as if it never existed and surrounds himself with the comfortable smiles and laughter which that broken man could never possibly muster. It was too unfair. To that unfair world, Takasugi wished to destroy it all.

But now that Takasugi knows he just wants Gintoki to not suffer alone, he can think clearer. What it is that he has to do and see through till the end. How he wants to protect what Gintoki cherishes - just like he was focused on Shoyo in the past, but this time also facing the man Gintoki Sakata truly is: an idiot who loves the world no matter how much it hurt him. So, Takasugi uses himself to get rid of Utsuro to protect the world Gintoki loves, and through that, stopping him from having to point a sword at Shoyo ever again.

On Takasugi's deathbed, these feelings clearly reach Gintoki. This time, Gintoki wasn't cutting someone down to protect things others held dear - he was cutting someone down because that someone wanted to protect the things Gintoki held dear. (edit: gintoki only realizes this after takasugi admits it was for him, though)

Even though both Shoyo and Takasugi smile at Gintoki before he cuts them down, Gintoki can only smile back at Shoyo, but isn't able to muster that smile with Takasugi.

Takasugi's feelings to be by Gintoki's side are reciprocated just as much by Gintoki. It's just that Gintoki can't express it, because he has lived his life finding meaning in protecting others. To the point that even his decision to cut Shoyo down wasn't from a place of emotional attachment, but rather wanting to protect what Shoyo held dear. This is why Gintoki isn't as burdened by his emotions and self-hatred as Takasugi is, because he lives on through the emotions of other people who love him. That is his purpose of living, as someone who was born with nothing from the start and had to survive on his own with no future in sight by scavenging. It was people that filled his empty heart that he was born with.

But the person who filled it the most was undoubtedly Takasugi before Yorozuya came along. Takasugi was chasing after that void of a human more than anyone. Always wanting to win against him, no matter how much Gintoki beat him down. As much as the words 'come back tomorrow' were important to Takasugi, those words were just as important to Gintoki. Shoyo was home, but just like Otose is home now for Gintoki - both of them were the guiding figures who led him to find a forever place to belong - Takasugi and Yorozuya, both of whom will be chasing him forever. No matter how far he grows from them and himself by devoting himself to protecting people. Like how parents are home to their children, but it is that unconditional loving, safe home that lets children grow and find the love that will be their purpose of living.

Gintoki can smile cutting down Shoyo because he knows he would have successfully protected what Shoyo held dear. Cutting down Takasugi on the other hand, wasn't protecting anything. There was no reason for Takasugi to do this - he could have just died peacefully, knowing very well Gintoki would definitely kill Utsuro and protect Kiheitai in his stead no matter what. But this steadfast idiot still had to come along and die by his hands. He could've just died out of his sight, damn it.

And then he admits, he couldn't leave Gintoki alone to suffer on his own again. Takasugi coming back to life and dying was all to make sure Gintoki wouldn't have to suffer too much by killing his teacher again while protecting the world as Gintoki wants to.

If Gintoki didn't care for having Takasugi by his side to the same extent, I personally think Gintoki would have just been more angry that he had to cruelly cut down someone whose feelings and motivations weren't returned. Takasugi could have done this for someone else's sake like Kiheitai, not him, and it'd have been requited love - but no. Gintoki doesn't even think of these things because it's requited between them. Gintoki wants Takasugi to get closer to his true, empty heart. One of his biggest happinesses was just being with Takasugi after all, as he says himself--

But this idiot had to go and get himself be killed by Gintoki. Yet Gintoki smiles, because those feelings from Takasugi were as clear as day - for Gintoki to not suffer alone, to be happy as always, and Gintoki had to respond to that as he always does to all of Takasugi's challenges.

Although the person who was probably closest to Gintoki than anyone was gone, Takasugi's death was probably what made the most peace with the suffering Gintoki has gone through until now and reached the far away Gintoki more than anyone ever could. Especially because it ended in his death, Takasugi showed Gintoki how adamant he was that Gintoki didn't suffer alone, how important it is to him that Gintoki is happy. Edo accepts and loves the Gintoki in the present as he is, but it is Takasugi, Shinpachi and Kagura who chase and love Gintoki as a whole. Takasugi's choice to sacrifice himself conveyed how it was important to someone in this world that Gintoki was wholly happy. If the past hurts, it hurts, but because Gintoki refuses to share the burden with anyone else and simply keep living protecting the present, Takasugi will selfishly share Gintoki's burden and protect his happiness as a whole.

I think this ending was such a perfect wrap for Gintama and Gintoki's character arc, giving so much closure to the heavy past he carries on his shoulders through pure, obsessive love that was sloppily conveyed. The sloppy nature of it is befitting for Gintama.

Although death scenes are sad, I thought Takasugi's death scene was the only possible moment of happiness for two idiots who couldn't express their emotions well. Both are satisfied - Takasugi being able to finally do something for the person he loves, Gintoki being loved by someone who is no longer living through him but is his own person now. No more cryptic talk about alter-egos, the you who is me - just stop making that stupid face, I won't let you run away again, wait for me in hell.

This was really difficult to write and explain, but for now this is what makes sense to me about Takasugi and his relationship with Gintoki. I'm still keeping my eyes peeled for an alternative interpretation, because the relationship between two men can't possibly be this romantically implied in a Shounen Jump series. I'll be sure share any future interpretations I can come up with as I rewatch the show again, because it really is a bold, weird move to base someone's character entirely on love lol.

[suchine-toki]

(◔◡◔)🌈

[joelletwo]

[ID: takagin fanart of them as bright-eyed sweet-smiling joui teens laying together and gazing into each others eyes, sugi fondly calling him gayass, shown to be a frantically crossed out thought bubble from a much more haggard adult takasugi, grimacing as a much heavier gintoki lays on his chest and deadpannedly calls him gayass]

the guy that u could be if u were a totally different guy and so was the guy ur obsessed with (despite him being the guy he actually is)

[fluff269]

kissing booth ft. gintoki and his ships/harem

[shiiroyashas]

[ginrise]

I must admit, I'm forever gonna be stuck in this chapter.

While I have my own criticism of how the final arc played out, this chapter truly encompassed the complexity and love in their relationship. And for that I'm forever stuck here.

[girlfatherfigure]

Anyway i rewatched this movie and just remembered how completely Not Over this fight i am hello. Was gonna gif it but actually gifs don’t even do this scene justice just fucking watch it

[youandwhattoaster]

[averagelonelypotato]

takasugi and gintoki in the very final

[kraniumet]

[sankatsuka]

Gintoki Sakata Discussion: Takasugi's Influence on Gintoki - What it Means to Truly Protect Your Soul

This is DEFINITELY overthinking it and stretching it beyond canon, but nevertheless I wanted to share my recent thoughts... Spoilers for the entire story, of course. Also, warning for Takagin/Gintaka.

Edit 22/2/2024 (marked with *): Small section added for more evidence on how Gintoki was never a naturally straightforward person.

Maybe it was Takasugi who ironically inspired Gintoki to be who he is today: the man who never gives up, even if he's beaten down and everything seems hopeless - he will stand back up and protect everyone and everything around him. Just like how Takasugi senselessly was as a dojo challenger.

When Gintoki was younger, he was never like this. He was just fighting for his survival. When Gintoki first meets Shouyou, Shouyou points out how Gintoki was just wielding the sword to protect himself in a harsh, bloody environment.

This is why Gintoki doesn't give up when sparring Shouyou. He needs to be as strong as possible to keep protecting himself. Gintoki brings up how he has never lost to an adult - as if he wants to beat Shouyou simply so he can never lose ever again (so he wouldn't end up dying).

And then, Shouyou mentions how monsters are something born from a bloodstained karma. Gintoki is naturally drawn to bloodshed and death, because losing meant death in the environment he used to grow up in. So he needs to be strong and be capable of killing others so he can survive in such a place. You can just see it in the fear in Gintoki as a child standing on a pile of corpses.

(It's probably why Gintoki carries his sword around with him everywhere as a child, too. So he feels safe at all times.)

This all goes to show how Gintoki would have never had anything he would want to fight for as a child. He would just fight to be with Shouyou who was the only one he could trust or to protect himself. That's why this personality to want to protect everything within his sword's reach was definitely never innate.

Then comes Takasugi, whose Gintoki's first impression of is an irrational kid who would challenge a poor temple school with no actual reason other than wanting to win. You can see how Gintoki is clearly confused by him.

And even after losing many times, he just wouldn't give up on coming back. Gintoki even tells him to give up - he had no reason to keep getting hurt and beat up like that. It wasn't like he had to fight for his survival like Gintoki, he was clearly a privileged kid.

It is only when Takasugi wins and laughs that Gintoki no longer expresses this confusion and disagreement with Takasugi's actions. It's shown in how Gintoki suddenly tells Takasugi to come back, when Gintoki had initially told him to give up.

As if Takasugi's and everyone's smile and laughter after all that ridiculous irrationality made Gintoki realize something that made him change his mind.

Gintoki had a glimpse of Takasugi's way of living - to fight to the very end and keep getting back up for what you want, even if it was silly and stupid. In the end, you'll be rewarded with your own laughter and the people around you laughing along to your sincere, honest spirit.

It was a pointless, dumb way of living, but everyone was still laughing like that and happy. So maybe there was actually some worth in living dumbly and straightforwardly like that.

This may even be why Takasugi's laughter always stuck with Gintoki, even as he cut him down. Because it defined his life - that you should live by facing the present - just as much as Shouyou's words to use a sword to protect your soul stuck to him.

It was Shouyou who first taught Gintoki that what you truly want to do couldn't be the desperate instincts driving you, but rather something deeper down that should feel genuine - the soul. Then it was Takasugi who came along who seemed to demonstrate what living as your soul really was like - to do what you felt like doing in the moment, no matter what the people around you would say.

Even Shouyou encouraging Takasugi's pursuit suggests how this was Gintoki's lifelong answer. And only Takasugi could have demonstrated it best for Gintoki to imitate (instead of imitating Shouyou, as Shouyou had warned him against).

It truly feels like Takasugi is the humanity Shoka Sonjuku cultivated (Katsura did already know what he wanted, after all).

Takasugi's straightforwardness could have inspired Gintoki to tap into his own dull feelings deep down that he carries as he lives his everyday life. If those simple feelings for Takasugi were to grow stronger, then could there be such a thing for Gintoki too? Instead of being drawn to the joy of beating someone stronger than him, Gintoki could realize he seems more inclined to just living for some reason--

Even with no ambitions, he was still fine with just sitting around doing nothing. No matter how mundane, monotous and boring his everyday was without the excitement of a dream, Gintoki was still living for some reason. Maybe his joy in life was right there then--

--It was people. We see throughout the story that Gintoki is solely motivated to fight for the people around him.

Gintoki's actions have always, always been motivated by a desire to protect the people around him. He loves them: simply seeing them laugh when they want, cry when they want and fight to live as their truest selves. So isn't it fine for him to just want to fight for something as simple as that? Just like how Takasugi only fought for the petty reason of growing stronger.

This could be why Gintoki can now confidently say that he just loves the world as it is, even despite all the tragedies that's happened in it that made him suffer.

Not only did Takasugi potentially inspire Gintoki's present way of life, but Takasugi may even be the embodiment of what Gintoki found himself loving most about the world - that imperfect humanity of simply living, chasing what you want, getting lost, failing and suffering, but celebrating those small victories when you finally get there and laughing with everyone. This soul is what Gintoki always wants to protect within Edo, too.

After all, the mundane moments they shared in Shoka Sonjuku and Takasugi's laughter are the only things running in Gintoki's head as he resolves himself to cut Utsuro-Takasugi down. Gintoki truly loved them all.

If this wasn't the case, Gintoki would have never told Takasugi to come back. If Gintoki's motivations was never just the joy of seeing people be themselves, he would have set out and pursued whatever his soul wanted from being inspired by Takasugi's straightforwardness. He wanted to see Takasugi again, because he wanted to see that sincere, straightforward soul once again.

It could be why Gintoki is the one who disagrees with the way Takasugi does things in the present more than anyone.

If it was Takasugi who taught him that happiness of being sincere and straightforward with chasing what you wanted, and given that same spirit was exactly what Gintoki realized he loved most and wanted to protect - Gintoki would fight with all his heart for Takasugi to be that person Gintoki loved again.

It's also a nice touch that Gintoki says "I, the you who is me" when declaring he would never give up to Takasugi, as if implying how Gintoki took that lesson of straightforwardly never giving up from Takasugi himself.

Just as much as Gintoki's acceptance of Takasugi helped him, Takasugi's straightforward passion helped Gintoki just as equally.

*More evidence that Gintoki was never the person he is now is what he chooses to do after the war. Unlike Katsura and Takasugi who went off to pursue their goals, Gintoki's first instinct was to wander around and detach himself from people out of fear of losing people again. Gintoki seems to be more naturally a coward, and only when he lets people in does he find the courage to once again embrace the straightforwardness that Takasugi demonstrated.

After the events of the story that help Takasugi come to terms with himself, Takasugi's straightforwardness is later emphasized as his strong point that resonates with people. It wouldn't be a surprise then if he was the natural source of this straightforwardness in Gintoki, especially when the latter has always been defined as an empty person.

Takasugi and Gintoki are opposites who complete each other, to the point that even outsiders who only briefly meet them together no longer cared about how one of them was a terrorist. One way of seeing it is Takasugi represents the strong, unrelenting humanity that Gintoki realized he loved and wanted to live for, and Gintoki represents the impossibly white soul that the outcast Takasugi found as a place to belong to.

It was important for them to find each other: for Gintoki to realize he wasn't empty and was always capable of emotions, and for Takasugi to realize he wasn't wrong for who he was which the world made him feel.

It's why their life-defining events most often involve the other: Takasugi's laughter was a pivotal point in Gintoki's life where he finally grasped a real reason to fight in his empty everyday, while Gintoki's tears was a pivotal point in Takasugi's life which forced Takasugi to face his biggest enemy: himself.

Ironically enough, their ways of living now could even be said to be a a reflection of their love for each other: Gintoki facing the present because he loved that part of Takasugi and wants to be in the present with him, and Takasugi facing the past to feel closer to Gintoki who is obviously incomplete without the emotions of his past.

Naturally, there is no present without the past, and it feels like Takasugi decided to live in the past to represent it for Gintoki (but probably more because he's too scared to face the present because of his self-hatred and blame, but to be fair Gintoki is afraid of facing the past too even though he should). It's why I liked that the story ended strongly with Takasugi's death, because its impact really conveyed how there was someone who was always chasing Gintoki's entirety - he definitely had a place in someone's heart. He would still be loved no matter what, even if he always felt he was a monster different from others for how he grew up and thus would never properly have a place to belong.

You can see I really, really love Takasugi... From inference and parallels alone, Takasugi has always demonstrated so much importance to the narrative, but it's never laid out beyond how he's the one who lost himself and now has to redeem himself.

Gintama feels like a story about the two of them, not just Gintoki. Especially if Takasugi was the one who originated Gintoki's straightforward way of living, and given how Takasugi seems to literally be the human sword Shouyou prophecized to cut down Utsuro in the end.

It's really because Gintoki avoids thinking about the past and Takasugi hates himself for his emotions that we have to infer how much these two affected each other... But I do enjoy things not being shoved in my face, the avoidance really makes it a lot more emotional.

[suchine-toki]

Top 10 Gintaka moments

(Arranged chronologically because it was too difficult to choose. Spoilers ahead.)

1. Takasugi's laugh

After many encounters challenging the dojo, Gintoki sees Takasugi laugh for the first time, which becomes a core memory of his, a symbol of how things used to be and what he wants to preserve (ch. 517).

2. The promise

Surrounded by enemies, Takasugi asks Gintoki why he decided to join the war, to which Gintoki replies that, like him, it was not for a noble cause. At this, Takasugi recognizes that the two are good-for-nothing warriors, but asks Gintoki to take care of their sensei in case he dies. Likewise, Gintoki asks Takasugi to stay alive (ch. 516).

3. Gintoki's tears

Right after their sensei's death, Takasugi furiously runs towards Gintoki until, for a split second, he sees him crying. This becomes the last thing he saw with his left eye, a core memory that reminds him of the pain and grief they experienced (ch. 520).

4. Reunion at the festival

After 10 years of not seeing each other, Takasugi sneaks up behind Gintoki and threatens him with his sword, commenting on how easy it was and that he has become weak. He also tells him about his plan to kill the Shogun, claiming that within him there is a black beast that seeks revenge. At the same time, he confronts Gintoki for looking away from the past, making him unable to understand his feelings. To this, Gintoki responds that it's a shame that he underestimated him, which can be read in both a physical and emotional sense. It's assumed that they separate without another word (chs. 30-31).

5. They were the same

During a conversation with Nobume, Oboro asks her if Gintoki and Takasugi look like their sensei, to which she answers no, that the true resemblance was between them, since both had eyes full of sadness. As she says that, Gintoki and Takasugi can be seen passing each other, but only the former turns around to check that the latter is gone. It's worth mentioning that Gintoki warned Takasugi to be careful if he saw him walking down the street in chapter 97, but in the end he decided to not do anything (ch. 398).

6. Confession and realization

After their fight, with both of them on the floor, tired and full of injuries, Takasugi opens up to Gintoki about his suffering. He confesses to him that his face was the last thing he saw before losing his left eye, how devastating it was to see him cry, and the enormous survivor's guilt he feels, because he understands how much Gintoki loved Shouyo. To this, Gintoki responds that he didn't choose him, but simply knew what was important to theirsensei, thus lifting the burden from Takasugi's shoulders. Not only that, but Gintoki also confesses that, despite everything, he continues to see him as a fellow disciple of the Shouka Sonjuku and a comrade, whose soul he will protect (ch. 520).

7. Sword exchange

After a long coma, Takasugi awakens in Rakuyo and throws his sword to save Bansai. Likewise, Gintoki launches his bokuto to save Shinpachi, leaving them both unarmed. This is when they decide to take each other's sword and protect what is important to the other, reinforcing the message that a sword is made to protect the soul, and on other occasions that it even embodies it. Afterwards, they pass through hordes of enemies in order to see each other again, defending the other from an imminent attack and retrieving their weapon while locking eyes and making snarky remarks (ch. 573).

8. Pep talk

While everyone on Earth seems defeated, Gintoki hears a familiar voice over the radio. Hundreds of kilometers, far up in space, Takasugi tells him that they have everything under control and encourages him to continue fighting. Likewise, Gintoki assures him that on his side they haven't lost yet, and playfully encourages him, asking if he has already been reduced to junk. Despite being injured, Takasugi tells him to be ready when he comes for him, to which Gintoki smiles (ch. 650).

9. Let's rescue sensei

The greatest tragedy in Takasugi's life is not only the death of his teacher, but also that Gintoki had to be the one to kill him. Aware that he has little left to live, he admits that now he can be a little more honest with what he really wants to do. After fighting Gintoki as a way to punish himself, he's now able to recognize that he wishes to fight alongside him, while also wanting to alleviate his suffering by sharing the burden of his actions that day. Upon hearing this, the serious expression on Gintoki's face turns to astonishment at being able to achieve mutual understanding and once again have a common goal that is deeply personal to both of them (ch. 682).

10. Born under the same star

While Gintoki's eyes reflect the despair he feels at having to strike Takasugi's body, he remembers their childhood together. Gintoki fought very hard to protect everyone, but Takasugi fought even harder to protect him, and although Gintoki was definitely not ready to lose him, Takasugi was content with the idea that he had prevented him from killing their sensei once more. Knowing that he has little time left, it's Gintoki's turn to be more sincere. He embraces Takasugi and reassures him, acknowledging that he did indeed manage to protect him and that he wished they could have drunk together more often. But Takasugi tells Gintoki he doesn't want to hear him like this and he asks him not to send him off with a sad face. Mustering willpower, Gintoki smiles and tells him to wait for him in hell, which becomes the last sight from Takasugi's right eye as he smiles back before dying. No longer able to restrain his emotions, Gintoki weeps as he watches the sunset (ch. 703).

Part (1) (2) (3) (4)

[uynumeotp111]

Gintama Parallels "I had enough of your crying face"

[lotus-tower]

i think what we've all (especially me) spent a lot of words saying about takasugi and gintoki essentially boils down to the fact that takasugi is the kind of person who genuinely tried to manically crazymurder gintoki while knowingly violating their mentor's legacy like he really gave it his best effort. but he's simultaneously the kind of person who thinks "no... i can't crawl into his lap even in my deepest fantasies because then he would have to carry my weight... and what if it upsets him"

[gjesse]

im a child of too many divorces

[fluff269]

happy valentine's day!!! 🍓❣️🦋