Gintama 5
Episode title: Make a friend you can call by his nickname, even when you’re old men
Source of subs: Shinsen-Subs
Episode summary:
The Yorozuya are having a regular morning when suddenly their arguments are interrupted by a loud crash. A postman crashed his scooter in Otose’s store and got injured. He asks the Yorozuya to deliver a package in his stead because the package seems important and the man would be fired if it was not delivered.
Turns out it was a package for the Dog Star’s embassy, that is, for Amanto.
Gintoki says that it is not a good place for the Yorozuya to be. An embassy guard confronts them and Gintoki gives him the package. The guard refuses to accept it since there had been embassy bombings lately. He throws the package, and it explodes. The Yorozuya try to run away, but get caught.
Unexpectedly, they get helped by a mysterious monk who had been sitting at the embassy entrance.
Gin-san recognises the man and calls him Zura Kotarou, and gets punched.
Gintoki: ‘Hey, why are you uppercutting me after all this time?’
But there is no time for a touching reunion, they have to run away from dogs.
Gintoki: ‘Hey, what are you doing here?’
Meanwhile, the Shinsengumi are observing them.
They are planning the capture of the famous terrorist Katsura.
Hijikata: ‘He’s got some guts, though, to think of driving out the Amanto this late in the game.’
Hijikata is especially excited and looking forward to a fight.
The Yorozuya are hiding at the Ikedaya hotel and watching TV, where they are shown as criminals who assaulted the embassy. Shinpachi is in shock and doesn’t understand how this situation could happen. However, he is glad that Katsura helped them, and assumes Katsura is Gin-san’s friend.
Shinpachi asks Gin-san what kind of person Katsura is. Gin-san says Katsura is a bomber. Katsura protests.
Katsura: ‘Don’t call me that, Gintoki.’
He proclaims that they are not terrorists, but Joishishi.
Meanwhile, the Shinsengumi are planning a large-scale operation to capture terrorists. They already have the Ikedaya under observation.
During that time, Katsura explains his views to the Yorozuya.
Shinpachi tells the history of the Amanto invasion and is surprised that there is still resistance to the Amanto rule.
Gintoki understands that they have been set up because the postman who was supposed to deliver the package is among Katsura’s men.
Gintoki: ‘So it was all your doing, Katsura?’
Katsura admits that everything was his plan to get Gintoki to fight alongside him.
Katsura: ‘Lend me the strength of the fearsome White Demon once again.’
There is a flashback back to the war days, and we find out that Gin-san and Katsura were comrades.
Katsura (surrounded by enemies): ‘Is this it?’
Gintoki: ‘Don’t be stupid.’
Gintoki: ‘Stand up.’
Gintoki: ‘Let’s do it, Zura.’
Katsura: ‘It’s not Zura, it’s Katsura!’
Katsura: ‘Sakata Gintoki! Will you fight with us again to drive out the Amanto?’
Shinpachi is surprised to hear about Gin-san’s past and asks whether Gintoki really fought in the war. Katsura confirms it.
Gin-san and Katsura start arguing.
Gintoki: ‘I love the thrill of a real fight. That’s why I hate all the sneaky trickery you’re pulling. Our fight is over. And yet you come time and time again, pestering me about it. What are you, my mother-in-law?’
Katsura: ‘ Are you some kind of idiot? Mothers always pester their sons. You just don’t have anyone who does it to you on a daily basis.’
Gintoki: ‘Hey you, if I didn’t have a natural perm like this, I’d kick your ass.’
Gintoki: ‘You’re the pitiful one. You try to trick a guy into fighting with you.’
Meanwhile the Shinsengumi start the attack.
Katsura tries to convince Gintoki to join him.
Katsura: ‘Some will must exist within you yet. Gintoki... Don’t you have any rage toward the Amanto and the Shogunate, who took so many of your comrades’ lives?’
Katsura: ‘Our next target is the Terminal. We will destroy that pustule of a tower they call home and eliminate them from all of Edo. But that will only be the first step. We could drive them off the entire Earth if we had your strength, Gintoki!’
Gintoki: ‘Good lord, what the hell are you on?’
Katsura: ‘Now that you’ve assisted us, there’s no way to escape it.’
Katsura: ‘There’s nothing to think about. Your place has always been here with us!’
The Shinsengumi barge in on the conversation.
Everybody runs.
Shinpachi: ‘Who the heck are they?’
Katsura: ‘They’re a special police branch responsible for eliminating rebellious elements.’
Gintoki: ‘Who’re you calling “boss”?! You’re the worst of them all!’
Hijikata confronts Gintoki and is impressed with Gin-san’s combat skills. Okita breaks up their fight with a bazooka shot, and is disappointed that he didn’t hit Hijikata.
The Shinsengumi cornered everyone. Gin-san’s hair has suffered some damage.
Katsura plans to use a bomb to get out.
Gintoki objects.
Gintoki: ‘Katsura, just stop this.’
Gintoki: ‘This will just soil your record.’
Gintoki: ‘What’s the use of fighting a futile fight? Do you really intend to lose even more of your friends for something like that? I’ll pass on that. As long as I’m alive, I’ll live by my own rules. I’ll live as I see fit and protect that which I hold dear.’
Katsura seems impressed.
Kagura accidentally switches the bomb on. They manage to get rid of the bomb in a very amusing escape scene.
Katsura observes it. He remembers the flashback again.
Katsura: ‘Live beautifully, eh? What’s beautiful about that?’
After the ED we get a class 3Z moment, in which Katsura’s hair is under threat.
Ginpachi-sensei: ‘Zura, I told you to cut your hair. Rip it out.’
Ginpachi-sensei: ‘Then I’ll just cut it off.’
Ginpachi-sensei: ‘All right then, let’s continue.’
So, as sensei said, let’s continue with the episode discussion.
Episode discussion:
If we disregard the fillers, this would be the first time we see Katsura in the series. And I can’t help thinking that at first he was intended to be a more Takasugi-like character, what with his speeches about revenge and getting rid of all the Amanto.
I am almost sorry that later in the series we hardly ever get to see Katsura’s serious side, he is mainly a comic relief (unless it’s Benizakura arc), even though there usually are some meaningful interpretations of his actions. In later arcs he never planned anything as large-scale as bombing the Terminal.
But on the other hand, it is obvious that later in the series Katsura is a much happier man. Despite him having his comrades, it seemed in this episode that he does not really want to live, he has no real reason to live, so that’s why he is prepared to risk his life for his ideals and has not really considered that his death would not make anything better. So basically, if he is happier, I don’t mind him walking around with a giant duck and cosplaying XD
Talking about cosplay, in this episode he was in monk’s clothing. The clothes are apparently not new, since the hems are rather frayed (difficult to see it in the resized screencaps, but screencap 10 shows it a little). And I don’t mean to sound like a pervert or anything, but those clothes really are not the best for vigorous activities - look at the amount of bare leg that kimono is revealing (screencap 5)! On a completely unrelated note, this is one of the rare cases where Katsura has his hair tied in a low ponytail, usually he just leaves it free. I don’t think it has any significance, it’s just an observation.
Katsura’s meeting with Gin-san and in fact the whole episode was rather confusing, when it comes to timelines of the events. When they first meet at the embassy, Gin-san is indignant and being hit after all this time, implying that they haven’t met for a long time. Later, however, he describes Katsura as a bomber, so that means he was aware of what Katsura is up to nowadays, and they kept in touch. Unless Katsura used bombs in the Joi war already.
But later Gin-san is surprised that Katsura is behind all the latest bombing incidents, so that means he did not know after all. But Gin-san mentions that Katsura has repeatedly asked him to join his terrorist group. So that means they have met after war. But Katsura says that Gin-san disappeared after the war was lost, so that once again implies that they have not met after the war... My theory is, they must have met after the war, but probably not lately, which is why Gin-san is not pleased to see that Katsura’s methods have become much more radical.
But regardless of whether they have seen each other after the war or not, they still behave like old friends - their arguments sound like continuation of older arguments and they make a good team. Well, they would make an even better team if Gin-san joined Katsura. I really must commend Gin-san’s power of will - he could resist Katsura’s passionate and earnest speech about joining the Joi. I was definitely very impressed by what Katsura said, and I am not surprised Katsura managed to gather some followers of his cause, even though it is considered hopeless by the Shinsengumi and by Gin-san. People can’t resist Katsura’s charisma and outstanding leadership qualities!
This episode was actually quite sad, when you consider the attitude other characters take towards Katsura and his goals. Hijikata says that a former hero is just a criminal nowadays, and Gin-san thinks that the war is already over and Katsura is fighting a pointless battle. I think Katsura is aware of that all himself, but he can’t live differently.
The flashback already showed that for him there are things more important than his own life, so he can’t just go on living without a noble goal. So it is quite possible that despite all the talk about war, Katsura already knows it is impossible to reach his goal and make all the Amanto disappear. And that is what really makes his character so tragic and gives depth to his personality, he just stubbornly continues fighting a losing battle because he believes that his way of doing things is correct and he follows his ideals.
Talking about that flashback, was it just me, or did you want to give Katsura a hug, too? I felt really sorry for him, and glad that Gin-san was there at that moment, because otherwise Katsura would have definitely killed himself then and there. For a samurai it is not such a big deal, probably, they considered it an honourable way to die in a difficult situation, but still, it is not that easy to kill oneself in cold blood simply because that is the honourable thing to do. I think that scene really made me respect Katsura.
By the way, I think this episode perfectly illustrates the differences between Gin-san’s and Katsura’s view on life, and at the same time is a great insight into their relationship. When you think about it, Katsura really set Gintoki up in this episode, he made Gintoki seem like a criminal and left him with pretty much no choice but join their terrorist group. Yet Gin-san is not angry at that - he is, however, angry that Katsura dirties his hands with endangering innocent people and risks his life for a cause that Gintoki considers lost. It is obvious that Gintoki does not want to lose Katsura and he disapproves of Katsura’s current way of doing things.
Their heated argument when Gin-san grabbed Katsura by the kimono front was a really intense scene (and did you notice how Katsura’s men were so protective about him, immediately yelling ‘Hey, what are you doing to Katsura-san?’ They all love him xD). The whole conversation between Gin-san and Katsura then was really deep. Honour vs. survival, and obviously Katsura thinks that honour is more important. However, he said it himself that he is using underhanded means, so in a way, he is already betraying his ideals.
So the conversation with Gin-san opened his eyes to the fact that one does not necessarily have to follow someone else’s code of behaviour, it is important that one has a moral core of beliefs that one has created for oneself, living according to someone else’s rules is not the honourable thing to do.
Oh, and this was the only time I can think of where Gin-san actually called Katsura by his name. Well, maybe since it was still only the beginning of the series, Sorachi-sensei did not have such strictly defined conventions about who addresses whom in what manner. But it could also mean that in this particular case the situation was too serious for Gin-san to fool around and call Katsura by his nickname.
This conversation really showed how important traditions are for Katsura. He mentions changing with the times as Gin-san’s worst transgression, so apparently being unchanging and unwavering is what Katsura values most.
That explains his interest in all the outdated things that we witness later in the series - apparently, according to Katsura, older things are better. Which is why he is trying to return the country to the previous state, practically, he wants to turn back time. And that is, of course, impossible, so in the end it was a good thing that he had that conversation with Gin-san and it somewhat opened his eyes to the fact that Katsura’s current way of doing things was not good.
So all in all, this episode was extremely important for Katsura’s character development later in the series. I’m sure there still are more things one can say concerning this episode, so opinions are welcomed!
Source of subs: Shinsen-Subs
Episode summary:
The Yorozuya are having a regular morning when suddenly their arguments are interrupted by a loud crash. A postman crashed his scooter in Otose’s store and got injured. He asks the Yorozuya to deliver a package in his stead because the package seems important and the man would be fired if it was not delivered.
Turns out it was a package for the Dog Star’s embassy, that is, for Amanto.
Gintoki says that it is not a good place for the Yorozuya to be. An embassy guard confronts them and Gintoki gives him the package. The guard refuses to accept it since there had been embassy bombings lately. He throws the package, and it explodes. The Yorozuya try to run away, but get caught.
Unexpectedly, they get helped by a mysterious monk who had been sitting at the embassy entrance.
Gin-san recognises the man and calls him Zura Kotarou, and gets punched.
Gintoki: ‘Hey, why are you uppercutting me after all this time?’
But there is no time for a touching reunion, they have to run away from dogs.
Gintoki: ‘Hey, what are you doing here?’
Meanwhile, the Shinsengumi are observing them.
They are planning the capture of the famous terrorist Katsura.
Hijikata: ‘He’s got some guts, though, to think of driving out the Amanto this late in the game.’
Hijikata is especially excited and looking forward to a fight.
The Yorozuya are hiding at the Ikedaya hotel and watching TV, where they are shown as criminals who assaulted the embassy. Shinpachi is in shock and doesn’t understand how this situation could happen. However, he is glad that Katsura helped them, and assumes Katsura is Gin-san’s friend.
Shinpachi asks Gin-san what kind of person Katsura is. Gin-san says Katsura is a bomber. Katsura protests.
Katsura: ‘Don’t call me that, Gintoki.’
He proclaims that they are not terrorists, but Joishishi.
Meanwhile, the Shinsengumi are planning a large-scale operation to capture terrorists. They already have the Ikedaya under observation.
During that time, Katsura explains his views to the Yorozuya.
Shinpachi tells the history of the Amanto invasion and is surprised that there is still resistance to the Amanto rule.
Gintoki understands that they have been set up because the postman who was supposed to deliver the package is among Katsura’s men.
Gintoki: ‘So it was all your doing, Katsura?’
Katsura admits that everything was his plan to get Gintoki to fight alongside him.
Katsura: ‘Lend me the strength of the fearsome White Demon once again.’
There is a flashback back to the war days, and we find out that Gin-san and Katsura were comrades.
Katsura (surrounded by enemies): ‘Is this it?’
Gintoki: ‘Don’t be stupid.’
Gintoki: ‘Stand up.’
Gintoki: ‘Let’s do it, Zura.’
Katsura: ‘It’s not Zura, it’s Katsura!’
Katsura: ‘Sakata Gintoki! Will you fight with us again to drive out the Amanto?’
Shinpachi is surprised to hear about Gin-san’s past and asks whether Gintoki really fought in the war. Katsura confirms it.
Gin-san and Katsura start arguing.
Gintoki: ‘I love the thrill of a real fight. That’s why I hate all the sneaky trickery you’re pulling. Our fight is over. And yet you come time and time again, pestering me about it. What are you, my mother-in-law?’
Katsura: ‘ Are you some kind of idiot? Mothers always pester their sons. You just don’t have anyone who does it to you on a daily basis.’
Gintoki: ‘Hey you, if I didn’t have a natural perm like this, I’d kick your ass.’
Gintoki: ‘You’re the pitiful one. You try to trick a guy into fighting with you.’
Meanwhile the Shinsengumi start the attack.
Katsura tries to convince Gintoki to join him.
Katsura: ‘Some will must exist within you yet. Gintoki... Don’t you have any rage toward the Amanto and the Shogunate, who took so many of your comrades’ lives?’
Katsura: ‘Our next target is the Terminal. We will destroy that pustule of a tower they call home and eliminate them from all of Edo. But that will only be the first step. We could drive them off the entire Earth if we had your strength, Gintoki!’
Gintoki: ‘Good lord, what the hell are you on?’
Katsura: ‘Now that you’ve assisted us, there’s no way to escape it.’
Katsura: ‘There’s nothing to think about. Your place has always been here with us!’
The Shinsengumi barge in on the conversation.
Everybody runs.
Shinpachi: ‘Who the heck are they?’
Katsura: ‘They’re a special police branch responsible for eliminating rebellious elements.’
Gintoki: ‘Who’re you calling “boss”?! You’re the worst of them all!’
Hijikata confronts Gintoki and is impressed with Gin-san’s combat skills. Okita breaks up their fight with a bazooka shot, and is disappointed that he didn’t hit Hijikata.
The Shinsengumi cornered everyone. Gin-san’s hair has suffered some damage.
Katsura plans to use a bomb to get out.
Gintoki objects.
Gintoki: ‘Katsura, just stop this.’
Gintoki: ‘This will just soil your record.’
Gintoki: ‘What’s the use of fighting a futile fight? Do you really intend to lose even more of your friends for something like that? I’ll pass on that. As long as I’m alive, I’ll live by my own rules. I’ll live as I see fit and protect that which I hold dear.’
Katsura seems impressed.
Kagura accidentally switches the bomb on. They manage to get rid of the bomb in a very amusing escape scene.
Katsura observes it. He remembers the flashback again.
Katsura: ‘Live beautifully, eh? What’s beautiful about that?’
After the ED we get a class 3Z moment, in which Katsura’s hair is under threat.
Ginpachi-sensei: ‘Zura, I told you to cut your hair. Rip it out.’
Ginpachi-sensei: ‘Then I’ll just cut it off.’
Ginpachi-sensei: ‘All right then, let’s continue.’
So, as sensei said, let’s continue with the episode discussion.
Episode discussion:
If we disregard the fillers, this would be the first time we see Katsura in the series. And I can’t help thinking that at first he was intended to be a more Takasugi-like character, what with his speeches about revenge and getting rid of all the Amanto.
I am almost sorry that later in the series we hardly ever get to see Katsura’s serious side, he is mainly a comic relief (unless it’s Benizakura arc), even though there usually are some meaningful interpretations of his actions. In later arcs he never planned anything as large-scale as bombing the Terminal.
But on the other hand, it is obvious that later in the series Katsura is a much happier man. Despite him having his comrades, it seemed in this episode that he does not really want to live, he has no real reason to live, so that’s why he is prepared to risk his life for his ideals and has not really considered that his death would not make anything better. So basically, if he is happier, I don’t mind him walking around with a giant duck and cosplaying XD
Talking about cosplay, in this episode he was in monk’s clothing. The clothes are apparently not new, since the hems are rather frayed (difficult to see it in the resized screencaps, but screencap 10 shows it a little). And I don’t mean to sound like a pervert or anything, but those clothes really are not the best for vigorous activities - look at the amount of bare leg that kimono is revealing (screencap 5)! On a completely unrelated note, this is one of the rare cases where Katsura has his hair tied in a low ponytail, usually he just leaves it free. I don’t think it has any significance, it’s just an observation.
Katsura’s meeting with Gin-san and in fact the whole episode was rather confusing, when it comes to timelines of the events. When they first meet at the embassy, Gin-san is indignant and being hit after all this time, implying that they haven’t met for a long time. Later, however, he describes Katsura as a bomber, so that means he was aware of what Katsura is up to nowadays, and they kept in touch. Unless Katsura used bombs in the Joi war already.
But later Gin-san is surprised that Katsura is behind all the latest bombing incidents, so that means he did not know after all. But Gin-san mentions that Katsura has repeatedly asked him to join his terrorist group. So that means they have met after war. But Katsura says that Gin-san disappeared after the war was lost, so that once again implies that they have not met after the war... My theory is, they must have met after the war, but probably not lately, which is why Gin-san is not pleased to see that Katsura’s methods have become much more radical.
But regardless of whether they have seen each other after the war or not, they still behave like old friends - their arguments sound like continuation of older arguments and they make a good team. Well, they would make an even better team if Gin-san joined Katsura. I really must commend Gin-san’s power of will - he could resist Katsura’s passionate and earnest speech about joining the Joi. I was definitely very impressed by what Katsura said, and I am not surprised Katsura managed to gather some followers of his cause, even though it is considered hopeless by the Shinsengumi and by Gin-san. People can’t resist Katsura’s charisma and outstanding leadership qualities!
This episode was actually quite sad, when you consider the attitude other characters take towards Katsura and his goals. Hijikata says that a former hero is just a criminal nowadays, and Gin-san thinks that the war is already over and Katsura is fighting a pointless battle. I think Katsura is aware of that all himself, but he can’t live differently.
The flashback already showed that for him there are things more important than his own life, so he can’t just go on living without a noble goal. So it is quite possible that despite all the talk about war, Katsura already knows it is impossible to reach his goal and make all the Amanto disappear. And that is what really makes his character so tragic and gives depth to his personality, he just stubbornly continues fighting a losing battle because he believes that his way of doing things is correct and he follows his ideals.
Talking about that flashback, was it just me, or did you want to give Katsura a hug, too? I felt really sorry for him, and glad that Gin-san was there at that moment, because otherwise Katsura would have definitely killed himself then and there. For a samurai it is not such a big deal, probably, they considered it an honourable way to die in a difficult situation, but still, it is not that easy to kill oneself in cold blood simply because that is the honourable thing to do. I think that scene really made me respect Katsura.
By the way, I think this episode perfectly illustrates the differences between Gin-san’s and Katsura’s view on life, and at the same time is a great insight into their relationship. When you think about it, Katsura really set Gintoki up in this episode, he made Gintoki seem like a criminal and left him with pretty much no choice but join their terrorist group. Yet Gin-san is not angry at that - he is, however, angry that Katsura dirties his hands with endangering innocent people and risks his life for a cause that Gintoki considers lost. It is obvious that Gintoki does not want to lose Katsura and he disapproves of Katsura’s current way of doing things.
Their heated argument when Gin-san grabbed Katsura by the kimono front was a really intense scene (and did you notice how Katsura’s men were so protective about him, immediately yelling ‘Hey, what are you doing to Katsura-san?’ They all love him xD). The whole conversation between Gin-san and Katsura then was really deep. Honour vs. survival, and obviously Katsura thinks that honour is more important. However, he said it himself that he is using underhanded means, so in a way, he is already betraying his ideals.
So the conversation with Gin-san opened his eyes to the fact that one does not necessarily have to follow someone else’s code of behaviour, it is important that one has a moral core of beliefs that one has created for oneself, living according to someone else’s rules is not the honourable thing to do.
Oh, and this was the only time I can think of where Gin-san actually called Katsura by his name. Well, maybe since it was still only the beginning of the series, Sorachi-sensei did not have such strictly defined conventions about who addresses whom in what manner. But it could also mean that in this particular case the situation was too serious for Gin-san to fool around and call Katsura by his nickname.
This conversation really showed how important traditions are for Katsura. He mentions changing with the times as Gin-san’s worst transgression, so apparently being unchanging and unwavering is what Katsura values most.
That explains his interest in all the outdated things that we witness later in the series - apparently, according to Katsura, older things are better. Which is why he is trying to return the country to the previous state, practically, he wants to turn back time. And that is, of course, impossible, so in the end it was a good thing that he had that conversation with Gin-san and it somewhat opened his eyes to the fact that Katsura’s current way of doing things was not good.
So all in all, this episode was extremely important for Katsura’s character development later in the series. I’m sure there still are more things one can say concerning this episode, so opinions are welcomed!