Manga Review: Gintama by Hideaki Sorachi

Manga Review: Gintama by Hideaki Sorachi

Quote: “If you’ve got time to fantasize about a beautiful ending, why not live beautifully until the end?”- Sakata Gintoki.

I am a picky reader of super popular manga(s). But Gintama was my rebound manga, after disastrous ending of Bleach. I needed something funny.

And girl did I have fun? After One Piece, it's Gintama that has made me laugh so much that I got a tummy ache and made me weep because of sad moments.

The story is set in Edo invaded by Aliens, about a dead-fish-eye samurai, Sakata Gintoki, a protagonist who is not a teen but an aimless pachinko addict twenty-something man, running an odd jobs business with his two apprentices Shinpachi and Kagura, is one of the greatest manga ever created.

Initially when I began reading,the one-shot narrative style kept me invested, but I never realised when Baka Sorachi shifted to short arcs to full-blown major action arcs that kept me awake for months! It has everything; history, comedy, tragedy, tragicomedy, science-fiction, parody, action, all knit together so well.

From day to day affairs of Kabuki-Cho, we slid into the plot of space pirates, revolutionaries, drug rackets, to assassination plan of the Shogun, and plays on true Bakufu history parodying historical figures and events mercilessly.

The blurb of the manga claims it has no storyline or purpose, but through crass poop-penis jokes to literally trolling popular manga and their tropes, to recurring gags, the story evolved! And when we reached the Finale Arc everything connected.

It has one of the best drawn and written female characters, a violent ravenous brat for a leading girl, practically being raised by an irresponsible mad dog who is helped by cautious fanboi.

Each woman that came into the story were not sexualised for the sake of fanservice, they were real woman with their own flaws and issues, from maimed prostitute to mohawk wearing mechanic girl to cute Yakuza girl to widowed ramen shop owner, to a robot learning her feelings, to old scary hag who ran Kabuki-Cho, each woman has a piece to offer often more than the men!

And reading Gintama was like I was interacting with a fellow Geek who had read extensively and followed every popular trend that was happening and knew what to mock about it! From Final Fantasy to complaining about Bleach's cancellation to the Dragon BallZ hangover of an entire generation he trolled them all! From Star Wars to Barack Obama look-alike he didn't even leave western cultural trends or tropes that he could lay his hands on.

Sorachi's merciless parodies didn't even spare himself, he drew himself as Gorilla used the criticisms his readers had sent and made a chapter on it. His jealousy as mangaka showed up every now and then when he praised fellow mangaka and created mock names like Zuffy from One Park, or called Bleach Peroxide and of course, his iconic Death Note was called Death Nut or made Gintoki steal Kakashi's and Sebastian's hairstyle.

This manga was a geek fest, written by a man who understands life and adventure at its truest self: you live one heartbeat at a time. My favourite part in the series would be the silent panels in which a happy Kagura venture out into the rain with her new yellow umbrella, a gift from Gintoki, and Gin being a daddytoki who doesn't interfere but remains ever protective of her.

Gintama was meant to be a fling but it turned into a long-lasting friendship. And I respect Sorachi for never compromising with his bushido to deliver the ending we all loved and he deserved, despite Jump cancelling him.