#there sure are some controversial arcs in gintama

[vulpiximisa]

Rewatched the Love Incense arc today, was thinking about how Hotaru didn’t really get punished for what she did. Like she used illegal aphrodisiac drugs on people to prove a point or Something but it’s Okay, because she was a heartbroken courtesan and she was going to undo the drug effects after she killed herself.

Like, yeah things turned out “okay” for the most part. It’s implied that Gin helped separate the women from the men so nothing actually happened aside from men being put in Chasity belts and Kondo losing his balls and minor cases of “falling in love” (ala our main crew). And finding Gin in bed with the old lady was supposed to be a gag, but like, what if some people really were affected by the drug and it caused lasting psychological damage and etc.

Like yes I cried when it turned out the carpenter really had hoped to wait for her, and that she can find love again. But did she get not punishment? No banishment, no fines? Just jail time for a bit and then a reward?

[iamkokonut]

Random rant about Tsukuyo

so I just learned tsukuyo is a controversial character, i didn’t see much on western social media like Reddit or tumblr (or maybe I didn’t dig deep into it?) but she’s wildly hated in chinese media which’s a huge surprise to me lol because lawbin is exactly the opposite (wildly hated in western but popular in Asia)

Not sure about Japan because she’s popular in the poll but I saw people say that arcs that involved her didn’t sell too well, I guess 50/50? If I see those two vol., I’ll just get those two arcs for myself (*^^*)

I saw a lot of people lover her and saw a lot of people hate her…

Some of them say because of crazy shippers which I can understand…so sad tho because I think tsukuyo is a great character

I have knew since long ago that if I like something I shouldn’t go search for it or shouldn’t step foot into the fandom because once you involved you’ll see a lot of hate and arguments. it didn’t happen to me just once, it’s the fourth time this year that what I like is somehow hated by people ╮(╯▽╰)╭ and always triggers me that to like them more

But some part of me glad that Gintama ended long ago, so if I mute enough, I can enjoy it without others opinion ♪(´ε｀ )

Actually I found Tsukuyo is somehow similar to Robin, people complaining about their character development but I actually like their character development…

Anyways just a random rant of today, I like tumblr because I can rant whatever I want ⁄(⁄ ⁄ ⁄ω⁄ ⁄ ⁄)⁄

[midnight-in-town]

Can you ecommend me any good mangas for these days? If you have also hardly anything to read I can recommend you Fire Punch, Monster and Jiro Taniguchi's works. Stay healthy. Je te souhaite une belle journée

Hey Anon. :)) Sure I can, but aside from recommending you all the series I’ve ever posted or reblogged about, I can’t do much if you don’t tell me what genre you’re looking for? :3 

As for me, I’m good, thank you so much! I have a lot to read (I haven’t read Fire Punch but I know it’s good and I already read Urasawa Naoki’s Monster). (^3^)/ 

First of all, if you’re into animes, here’s a list of anime originals that I can recommend. As for new manga to read, my blog is full of different titles, but again it will really depend on what you enjoy reading?  

I’ll try though, by sorting them into categories and linking to summaries. :) 

The Shonen™ holy trinity + TG

a.k.a Kuroshitsuji, Shingeki no Kyojin, Ao no Exorcist and Tokyo Ghoul. These are titles that you must have seen on my blog if you pass by sometimes, because they’re some favorites of mine. 

They’re not similar stories but still, in my opinion, they are titles that I would recommend to someone if they told me that they enjoyed at least one of these four (see here why).

Anyway, they’re all good series with a mysterious plot & plot twists, a good cast with lots of character development. Also TG is over but the other three are still on going. Check the summaries and don’t hesitate to ask if you’re interested!

The Seinen Must-Read

Yet another batch of favorite titles that I’d recommend if you read either of these three: Berserk, Vinland Saga and Blade of the Immortal (I’m putting Urasawa Naoki’s Monster in this category too).

Please watch out for graphic violence sometimes, but these are famous and popular series, known for their incredible writing & artstyle and they’re truly a delight to read. 

10/10 would recommend, just make sure to check the trigger warnings first, if there are some things that you really can’t read about. 

My weekly series

These are the weekly series that I enjoy checking out: none over, but all very very good and I’d 100% recommend!

Check their summary and see if they can be your next manga to read: Beastars, Golden Kamuy, Chainsawman.

Special rec: if you read & enjoyed Tokyo Ghoul, then you’ll most likely enjoy Beastars. :))

The hilarious series that actually have a serious main plot 

You know what I mean: the kind of series that makes you laugh like crazy with short funny arcs and that you don’t necessarily expect to have a real plot at first, but when it turns out that they do… well, it is very powerful . x)

These series are Gintama, Katekyo Hitman Reborn, Cuticle Detective Inaba and Beelzebub.

I’ll add Spy x Family on the list too, which is a year old by now, but which is of the same type and very enjoyable. :) 

The slice of life series

Best rec of this category gotta be Chihayafuru without a doubt, but if you enjoy the slice of life & chill genre with sometimes comedy and romance, I also have other titles: Yotsubato, Gokushufudou, Koi wa ameagari no you ni, Shimanami Tasogare, Amaama to inazuma and Barakamon.

I don’t know why but these are series I usually read during summer haha, must be their vibes or something. x))

The hidden gems

Don’t know why I’m grouping them together (again, must be a vibe thing because it makes a lot of sense to me, despite the very different plots), but I sure recommend them: these series all have a mysterious plot, some action, slow-building romance, amazing worldbuilding, hella beautiful artstyle… in short I love them. :D 

=> Akatsuki no Yona, Witch Hat Atelier, Song of the long march, Otoyomegatari

Special mention: Blade of the Immortal that I mentioned above could actually fit in this category too (same vibes++), it’s just slightly more violent sometimes.

Did anyone ask for lots of action, as well as sword & gun fights in modern settings?

Because if that’s what you’re seeking, it’d be calling for these series: Gangsta., Black Lagoon and Until death do us part. 

For real, if you’re looking for good & dynamic plots, some adrenaline rush and complex characters, these are the series for you!! Bonus: sexual tension or romance are a thing. 👌👌

The psychological thrillers

a.k.a series that mostly deal with uneasy, difficult and controversial themes like sexual & child abuse, depression, suicide tendencies, murder, etc. ://

Please only check these series out if you feel comfortable with their summary, because they can be disturbing: Oyasumi Punpun, Killing Stalking, Sensei no shiroi uso.

Also don’t hesitate to stop reading if it turns out that they’re not your thing!

Others a.k.a series I read when I was younger so I don’t remember them so well, but I do remember enjoying them

Who knows, maybe they’ll be stories you’ll want to check out, haha: The Breaker, Zombie Loan. :))

TL;DR

…That’s about it? Nah, I’m probably forgetting some titles here and there, but you already have a good list to focus on. Most of these series have a tag on my blog anyway, so feel free to look around. ;)

Also please note that I’m sleep deprived because I worked all night, so I apologize if this is too much and it doesn’t make sense ^^” but I hope you’ll find something worth your time amidst all these titles. :3

Merci d’être passé Anon, je te souhaite une très belle journée également! ^3^ Porte toi bien!!

[babyybitchhh]

{FFA} Well.. Yeah. There was a lot of controversy involving Shinra's comments towards the characters. You already know that Shinra calls people names while he's fighting them? When he fights people, regardless of who he's fighting, he calls them names. One of those obvious names he's used is gorilla. He called Obi, Maki, Beni, just about any strong fighter in the series a gorilla. Some fans started saying that he's racist. Which led a few people becoming anti Fire Force for that reason.

WHAT

😂

That’s insane, why do people take this shit so seriously? They’d better not watch Gintama then because not only does Sorachi (the mangaka) refer to himself as a gorilla throughout the series it’s also a recurring joke to call Kondo one too. There was one episode (arc? I don’t even remember now) where he was being coerced into marrying an alien that was, for all intents and purposes, a gorilla and none of the other characters saw what the problem was.

“A gorilla marrying a gorilla is the normal thing to do, right?”

Something like that.

I’ve also seen on here where people were being attacked for calling characters “rat” under the guise that it’s racist and I ... sure, if you were calling them that because of their race I could see the problem but when it’s coming from the fact that the character exhibits rat like behavior then, well ... I think we’re just looking for excuses to be offended at that point. 😅

All I’m saying is that it doesn’t have to be that deep. Sometimes words are just words - particularly when they’re normal, every day words and not an inherently charged racial slur like the N word is. That doesn’t have a harmless connotation like gorilla or rat ... more so given that in every instance I’ve ever seen of this, the accused was actually a fan of that character and wasn’t even saying it maliciously.

Tbh we all need to chill out a little bit 🤷‍♀️

[sparda3g]

Update: Wall of Text Update (Sorry for That)

Ah the Weekend. How I needed this. It’s been a busy yet rewarding week. Learning Gintama isn’t really ending pretty much uplift my spirit. Shueisha pulled a Redemption Arc. I’m so proud of them. But seriously, it was Sorachi’s fault in that regard, but I’m sure he will pull off Metal Gear Solid 4 ending scene one day. But enough about that.

With that series out of the way (until December), this means I have more time to do other materials and not stress out on the release. Plus, it did release around the weekend. Kind of hard to stay in mood of writing, despite how fun it is. Thankfully, it was Gintama, because others would have probably delayed due to cooldown. No offense. So what to expect this upcoming week and beyond.

New Topics

As I am slowly working on the remaining reviews, I will start thinking of more topic to discuss/share with everyone. Actually, I already have few in mind, so expect something more than just reviews. Plus, there’s one post that I owe to that fan about my impression, so I don’t want to look like a liar now. In two weeks, depending on “that” series, there’s a post that may be “controversial” to some. It depends how you accept other’s opinion. Something tells me I’m going to lose followers. Besides, it’s not going to be the only, so expect more of a trend.

Hype Ranking

I’m going to bring back my hype ranking system. I am reading many new ones, so slowly, I will put them in the list. After all, it’s going to look less with two series out of the picture. There was going to be more, but I am lagging behind on things. Perhaps I should try a day or two of reading manga only. Not to say I will call a day off at work; that would be a bit too much. Perhaps I can catch up.

News Update

I will write the news that I see fit to address in my page as well as sharing my own small comment. It’s been a while since I last address one. I have to do with something about videos addressing the news. I probably have to revamp. Coming soon. Speaking of videos, regarding with my YouTube Channel, I will discuss more of its future content next week.

Reviews and Beyond?

After the next The Seven Deadly Sins chapter release, the review will go back to normal. Actually, it more or less has. I guess I did want to write more than my brain told me. Next time, short reviews will be actually short, like 2-3 paragraphs. But when that time comes. Will there be a new series to review? As of now, I am going to take the chance to rest up, though I think it is better this way.

Writing reviews aren’t easy, even if it’s something from your head. Although, it’s probably due to exhaustion with many other things in mind. If I can relax a bit, I can recover my motivation. Plus, Gintama was my top 3 that takes the wind of me in writing since there’s a lot to say. Sadly, Attack on Titan exists and that one don’t let pages fly by without inserting crap load of info. That one takes me 3 hours. Perhaps I should use an outline to keep my mind intact. Haha…

That said I am debating against myself. There is one series that I would like to talk about. With each chapter, I have been practicing in my head on how long it will take me to write and what interest I can talk about. I don’t want a review to be a summary without any inserts of my opinion. If you can tell from The Seven Deadly Sins (earlier chapters) and My Hero Academia, it’s hard for me to squeeze in anything else. They’re straightforward. Nothing wrong with that, but hard to review if you ask me.

In any case, you won’t see a new series to be reviewed for a while. Maybe until December, but no promises. What series? I won’t say but I can only say it’s underrated. It’s fitting to replace Gintama, which was seen underrated to many. Actually, it still does, especially compare to mainstream ones in USA. Who knows how it will change whenever there’s an anime for it. I wouldn’t mind if it explodes in popularity; as long as the quality remains the way it is, if not better, then I’m all good.

Twitter for Updates

If you haven’t noticed, I have a Twitter account and I do at times tweet on certain things. I will be using that more often for update on the videos, posts, and other things I can think of. Don’t worry, I won’t go so controversial to pull a tweet and delete tactic. If you want to follow me, it’s @sparda3g. Don’t worry, I won’t leave tumblr hanging. It is the place I built in terms of foundation. Let’s just say I’m opening houses.

If you have any suggestions, feel free to contact me through ask or message. I believe I covered everything that I wanted to say. I do think I want to redo my blog page. But one step at a time. Enjoy your weekend!

[animebw]

Binge-Watching: Samurai Champloo, Episodes 5-10

In which I state a controversial opinion and consider why Shinichiro Watanabe’s works don’t always click with me. In a lot of words, naturally.

Watanabe’s Weakness

I have a controversial opinion to share: I don’t think Cowboy Bebop is a masterpiece.

Oh, don’t get me wrong, it’s very good. I can easily see how it became such an influential, well-regarded piece of entertainment. Yet I wasn’t as swept away by it as its reputation would seem to suggest. I have immense respect for what it’s able to do, but I wasn’t able to connect with it as deeply as everyone else was. And I’ve wondered for a while exactly why that was. Was it because I didn’t come to it at the start of my anime-watching lifestyle, so it wasn’t a formative experience of the medium for me? Was it, in some sense, maybe too perfect at being what it was trying to be that it wasn’t able to surprise or delight me as much as I wanted? Sure, those answers seem like potential factors, but they don’t feel like the whole story either.

But now, watching Samurai Champloo, I think I’m able to figure it out. Because the problems I’m having with Champloo are pretty much the exact same problems I had with Bebop.

See, here’s the thing: Champloo and Bebop are incredibly similar shows. They’re episodic series taking on classic genre fare (Westerns, Science Fiction, Samurai flicks) and imbuing them with Watanabe’s signature moody, introspective sensibilities, heavily stylized with an eclectic soundtrack that’s as essential to the piece’s overall effect as any character or story beat. The mere fact that Spike and Mugen share a dub VA is proof of how akin they are. And the style itself is excellent in both cases, making for unique and interesting watching experiences. But the problems- for me, at least- come in the story department. Namely, I just don’t always find the individual episodic adventures all that interesting.

And look, episodic series are hard to get right. For every Cardcaptor Sakura and Nichijou, there’s a Myriad Colors Phantom World and Daily Lives of High School Boys. Telling a story with a limited throughline and the need to have an entirely new scenario every week means you need to be constantly thinking of new situations to thrust your characters into, without repeating yourself or feeling like you’re running out of ideas. The problem I have with Champloo and Bebop, though, is a much simpler problem: they use a lot of plots and concepts that have been done to death in other episodic shows. The antagonist working for bigger antagonists who has a change of heart and helps the heroes escape? Seen it. A young criminal who robs to help the people he cares about, despite putting his own morals on the line to do so? Seen it. A mysterious killer who takes down the strongest fighters in the middle of the night? I just got done Gintama’s fantastic Benizakura arc, and this one doesn’t measure up. Jin’s dark past about having killed his master? Pretty standard.  Yet another “women as temptress” archetype who tries to poison Mugen? Are we running out of stock villain ideas this early? Hell, even the “amusing European Foreigner” trope is a classic of the wandering samurai story; Carried by the Wind had one of those 8 years prior to Champloo.

This, I think, is my problem with Watanabe’s work: he creates some of the most eclectic, original-feeling worlds for his stories to inhabit, and then he proceeds to tell the most conventional stories possible within them.  And what’s weirder is that the show also cannibalizes Watanabe’s previous work for story ideas. A criminal in a bad situation ending up dead thanks to his mistakes while staring meaningfully at one of the central protagonists? That was Bebop’s first episode. Fuu’s abandonment issues? Faye Valentine would like a word. For all the creativity and imagination he puts into the shows he makes, he just can’t seem to share that imagination with the stories he chooses to tell.

Off-Kilter

Of course, the real problem with stories that don’t quite grab you is that the less you’re invested, the more you notice the tiny little cracks that exist in every piece of media but you ignore when you’re fully invested. In general, Samurai Champloo’s style is impeccable, fusing kickass swordplay with interesting cinematography and an excellent soundtrack. But the few moments where the whole production doesn’t quite click become more noticeable when you’re not being distracted by your investment in the characters and story. There are a couple of episodes that have a random narrator for some reason, and I didn’t get the point either time. Their omniscient perspective didn’t add anything to the story, and neither of the narrators were that important characters in their respective arcs. There’s a point in episode 7, where Fuu is talking with the criminal’s mom, where the animation gets... weird. Like they were trying to have fluid and smooth character animation, but only did it halfway so it ended up looking like they were lagging with a bad internet connection. At another point, Mugen and Jin break the fourth wall to comment on an episode’s ending cards, and it felt for a moment like I had stepped into an off-puttingly bleak arc of Gintama. I do love that the record-scratch scene transitions have returned, because add so much character to the proceedings. But all these little touches distract more than they immerse.

And, unfortunately, it must be said that the show’s frustrating treatment of its women isn’t getting any better. Fuu still spends a lot of time being captured or put in danger, often forcing her into uncomfortable sexual situations, like the creepy artist stripping her further for his painting and her being forced to take her clothes off for the border agents. But no worries, the show makes sure we get to see her boobs jiggle as her sash is forcibly removed, because that’s obviously the best way to get us into her headspace and the immense discomfort she’s certainly feeling. Blegh. Look, I’ve seen anime that have way worse track records with this sort of stuff, but for a show that’s aiming to be as ostensibly mature as Champloo, this juvenile nonsense is distracting on top of just being skeevy.

What Works

None of this is to say that Samurai Champloo is outright bad, because there’s too much obvious care and effort put into it to dismiss it outright. Hell, Bebop, for all its flaws, is still a very strong 8/10 for me thanks to how much it was able to do right. And while it’s still to be seen how Champloo will shake out on the end, it’s far from an unpleasant experience. One of my favorite bits is how often the show will pull the whole “villain threatens somebody to keep them from doing the heroic thing” shtick, and then 9 times out of 10 the heroes do the thing anyway and prove that the bad guys are all bluster. This kind of awareness of the genre it’s working with is always welcome. I also really liked the European Foreigner episode, despite having seen its kind before; he was such an endearing dork (”Is this wabi-sabi?”), and the fact that he turned out to be gay and that wasn’t treated as a joke, but as a sympathetic character-building moment, makes me even angrier that the show can’t extend that courtesy to its women. There’s also some great moments of stylized animation: Fuu’s yellow-green dream was really damn beautiful, and the one episode that ended with everyone literally getting high off maijuana smoke had me cackling. Also, I’m pretty sure Masaaki Yuasa directed that tripping-out sequence, and that’s flipping awesome. For all the flaws popping up, Champloo is still doing a lot right, and I hope it can push beyond its weaker aspects in time.

Odds and Ends

-”Give me as much as this can buy.” Me at food stalls

-Yeah, if I saw a hand reach out from behind the collection box, I’d be freaked out too.

-”I cannot hand over the embodiment of a warrior’s soul to-” aaand Mugen just takes his swords from him while he’s talking. What a legend.

-”This girl’s stomach is a cosmos unto itself!” Fuu, you’re awesome.

-”It may be we are bearing witness to the moment that the human stomach evolves and takes itself to a new level.” So, can we get this announcer guy to show up in Gintama at some point? Because he’d fit right the fuck in.

- Fuu’s chubby cheeks are killing me.

-”I always have room for free food.” Again, me.

-I have no idea how accurate that Dutch is, so I’m just going to assume it’s at least decent.

The flying squirrel is the real hero of this story.

-Get you a backup beatboxer to your declarations of war.

-Okay, the apple slices landing on the pigtails was a nice touch.

-D’aww, they’re both telling him not to die in their own ways. Nice.

And that’s all for tonight. See you next time as the journey continues!

[midnight-in-town]

What are your fav characters in Gintama and why?

Copy pasting my list for my ten favorite characters from this post. :) I could ramble for hours about more than just my ten favorite characters, which is why I’ll talk about just them:

Gintoki

Who doesn’t love him? He might not be the absolute favorite character of everyone but I guess everyone ends up falling for him in many different ways through reading/watching Gintama. Frankly, I find he is unique as a protagonist in general, but also especially as a Shounen one: it’s not about being stronger, Gintama is the story of a guy who was empty after the war ended, but who slowly managed to rebuild his life thanks to the help of others. That’s why the series is so different from all the others of the same genre, in my opinion. 

Zura

Again, I’m pretty sure Zura is a favorite of 98% of Gintama readers/viewers and there are so many reasons for that. He’s not just about comic relief, he’s just…so much more that it’s hard to put it into words. To be honest, I’m quite fond of the Joui 4 and how they changed and all went down a different path after the war ended, but Zura is…

Zura is…

…he remains our pretty darn important general and I love how he seems to always be the missing link between everything: past and present, friends or foes, war and peace.

Tsukuyo

I find it hard not to like Tsukuyo when I like Gintoki and I find that Tsukuyo parallels Gintoki on so many aspects. I really am fond of all the recurring women in Gintama in the first place, but I have an even softer spot for her because of her personal story, her skills and how she developed throughout the story.

No shit, this girl went from living only for her older sister figure…  

…to acknowledging that she wanted to go support the man she loves, no matter if that meant she was going to die. From someone who had supposedly thrown away “being a woman”, that’s an amazing step forward, but then again Sorachi is a genius with his characters. 

Otose

Seriously, has there been a more generous character in the whole cast? I don’t think so and I’ll forever be grateful to her for taking Gintoki in when he was at his wits’ end, without hardly really ever asking for anything in exchange. She’s absolutely amazing and that’s why so many characters look up to her, why so many love her and would do so much for her. She might be old but she’s a true badass. 

Elizabeth

I think Eli is the character everyone frowned at upon seeing him at first, then went “????” about him until a point where we all accepted that we might never learn about the enigma behind the character, but that it was okay because he was amazing anyway. Well, I can say that I’m happy that we actually find stuff during the last arc x) but all in all, he’s like Zura, one of an amazing kind and that’s why I like him so much. 

Kyuubei

One of a kind as well and I think Sorachi did pretty amazing with her character, especially considering the controversy about such topics IRL. All in all, Kyuubei is great and her strength of character comes from accepting who she wants to be and her feelings, and that’s how everyone else respects how she sees herself as well as the woman she fell in love with. 

Hijikata

I was initially tricked into thinking he was a cool character. Then it was revealed he was also mostly a dork, but I was already fond of him and nothing could make me change my mind afterwards. He’s got a great development from a very early point, that’s why I think he is one more absolute favorite characters of the series’ fans and of mine as well. :3 (also the dekobokko arc, just… wonderful)

Mutsu

Ex-space pirate, businesswoman, Yato, constantly deals with and cleans up after Sakamoto’s shit, badass and beautiful => do I need more reasons to love her? xD

Sakamoto

Okay, so you know how Sakamoto actually is the only one out of the Joui 4 who has no relation to Utsuro? Well, I personally love how he still naturally found his place amongst Zura, Gin-chan and Takasugi, as if it was as easy as breathing. His laugh can be annoying sometimes and he sounds more stupid than Zura at some other times, but that guy is like a breeze of fresh air and I’ll forever be grateful to him for what he taught Nobunobu and for never giving up on his friends. 

Jirocho

Badass, with badass skills, badass backstory and a lot of feelings, so I just love him, okay? Some things can’t be explained rationally, he’s just too amazing and too beautifully written for me not to love him as much as I do. I wish he and Otose would just remarry each other once the war is over again.

There you go! Obviously I love many (if not all) other characters, but you already have my personal opinion on my ten favorite ones, so I hope it answers your question ;) Have a nice day!