ooc ‡ not exactly as fucked up as you'd think
Okay, so I wasn't actually going to post this up anywhere, but recent events have made it so I've changed my mind. Yeah, I essay on the characters I play. A lot. Rather than this being reflective of my super-awesome understanding of the character however, it just reflects my love of essays.
To start off, let me state that Hijikata Toshirou is not a nice person. They call him the DEMON Vice-Commander for a reason, and no, Kagura, that reason has nothing to do with the bed. He kills people. He follows orders from a corrupt government that he couldn't give a damn about and probably personally dislikes. He doesn't empathize, especially not with bad guys. You want sugar and optimism, go to Kagura or Shinpachi or Kondo. You want angst, go to Takasugi or Itou. But this is Hijikata territory.
Now, on to his relationships. Yes, Hijikata has them. Stop snorting.
THE SHINSENGUMI
Kondo Isao: This is probably one of the most, if not the most important relationship Hijikata has. On the most basic level, Hijikata is Kondo's Vice-Commander. Kondo is his superior in rank, and can order Hijikata around.
Those who know Gintama though, will know there's more to them than that. Kondo is the one person that Hijikata has pledged his eternal-undying-be-with-you-long-time loyalty to, the one person Hijikata will do absolutely anything to protect. He'd buy Don Perignon from Otae-san, watch 29-hour marathons of gorilla documentaries, abandon all his morals and sell his soul if it meant Kondo would stay safe and happy. He’ll put up with Kondo’s antics, his breaks of logic, and weird notions about male lactation all for this reason.
Why does he do this? Hijikata admires Kondo in an open and complete way he doesn’t do with anyone else. Back in those good ‘ol days when Hijikata was a long-haired pretty-boy samurai, Kondo was the one who gave him unconditional kindness and support in a time when he didn’t really believe in anything at all. Kondo gave him something to believe him: Kondo himself. He admires the man’s spirit, his kindness, and his belief in noble and good things. He admires the man’s courage to do those noble and good things. Hijikata trusts Kondo to do right, except when left alone in a bathroom, which is a whole other story.
Bottom line: You mess with Kondo, you’ve got some serious shit coming your way.
Okita Sougo: Kondo, Sougo, and Hijikata mostly grew up together in the same dojo. They’re the three who really started up the Shinsengumi and made it what it is today-a scary yet respected, theoretically no-nonsense badass police force that literally makes people shit in their pants. That means they should all be good friends, right? Happy Golden Trio?
In reality, their relationship is more like an Unhappy Bloody Love Triangle. Sougo tries to kill Hijikata at every available opportunity, and gets more and more creative as the series goes on. Hijikata will scream at him and ask what he’s doing, but every single time Hijikata continues to just react with anger and pissiness rather than, uh, MAYBE BEING A LITTLE WORRIED THAT HIS OLD BUDDY’S TRYING TO OFF HIM? Sougo says that he wants Hijikata dead so he can be Vice-Commander and have Kondo all to himself. When Hijikata was unjustly fired and had his soul eaten by a sword, Sougo outwardly didn’t seem to care much at all. Now that’s said, please don’t hit me for my next line.
Sougo is Hijikata’s best friend. Sad, but true. Kondo’s not going in the friend category ‘cause he a little too important, so that leaves Sougo. Hijikata genuinely cares about Sougo, though you’ll never catch him saying it, ever. Most of things Sougo says and does pisses him off, but in the end of the day they have known each other longer than anyone else except Kondo, and they’ve learned how to deal with each other and dodge each other’s weapons. Hijikata’s comfortable with Sougo. He knows where he stands. He trusts Sougo not to do anything catastrophically stupid (note: being in the Shinsengumi gives one a very loose definition of “catastrophe”); he respects Sougo’s great skill as a warrior. Sougo would never betray Kondo and also is trying to protect the guy. On deeper levels, he and Sougo share the same views on many things, and though on some things they disagreed, they know each other hella hella well. Hijikata would die for Sougo. He can’t say that for many people.
I should also add here that Hijikata also has something of a guilt complex in regards to Sougo. This will be elaborated below, under Mitsuba.
Bottom line: They love each other, really. You just have to dig way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, WAY deep ever to find it.
Itou Kamotarou: Not going to give away any major spoilers, but I should at least delineate their relationship ‘cause Itou’s in Rivelata.
Hijikata dislikes Itou. I don’t say “hate,” just seriously “dislikes.” Most of this dislike is founded on lack of trust. Hijikata doesn’t trust people easily, fortunately for Kondo and the rest of the Shinsengumi. He’s not stupid, and a fairly decent gauge of character. He can tell Itou isn’t as loyal to the Shinsengumi as some of the others are: mostly he can tell by the way Itou treats Kondo. Itou is a good swordsman-smart, too. But none of that is anything but a potential threat so long as he isn’t loyal. Hijikata understands the man’s ambitions, and his talents. He just doesn’t trust them.
Without any concrete evidence, Hijikata isn’t going to openly accuse or try to off Itou-not in front of Kondo, who naturally believes in everyone’s goodness. He’s probably mentioned his feeling to Sougo at one point, though he’s not naive enough to think the other will do anything. For now, all he can do is watch Itou, drop thinly-veiled threats to try to deter the man from action, and hope that he’s wrong. It would hurt Kondo greatly if Itou betrayed them, not to mention the Shinsengumi in general, so he really, truly wishes he were wrong. Sometimes he even thinks that Itou could be one of them, eventually moved by their sense of camaraderie, but he’s too cautious to just dismiss his instinct just like that.
On an inner inner inner level, he’s also jealous of Itou receiving Kondo’s attention. He’s used to being the “brains” of the Shinsengumi. He doesn’t like how Kondo takes Itou’s advice over his. Currently in denial about this though.
Bottom line: Haetsex.
Yamazaki Saguru: Will probably elaborate on this later, but for now? WATCH OUT, TENIPURI-BOY. VICE-COMMANDER’S WATCHING YOU.
Bottom line: Hijikata hates badminton. That is all.
THE YOROZUYA
Sakata Gintoki: Out of all of Hijikata’s relationships, this one is the absolute most complicated. Why? ‘Cause it is seriously, seriously fucked up. I think Mina Lightstar put it best:
Sakata Gintoki and Vice-Commander Hijikata Toshirou have a strange relationship. Sometimes, they get drunk together; other times, they try to take off one another's heads with their swords. It's a thing.
Basically, Gintoki and Hijikata piss each other off. They are seldom together without arguing and trying to one-up each other. Their fights are very immature and very embarrassing for their friends/people to watch. Occasionally, they will do weird things like save each other’s ass and back each other up in fights and discuss whether the soul is actually part of human anatomy. During these times, they seem like friends. Most of the time, they’re not. Others have said that their personalities are somewhat alike, though there are some fundamental differences in ideology. Trying to work them out would give anyone a headache, but here’s my shot on Hijikata’s side:
Gintoki is one of the very few people Hijikata respects. Very much, grudgingly so. Don’t get me wrong: Toshi doesn’t approve of the vast majority of the things Gintoki does, doesn’t agree with his “soul first” policy, and is constantly trying to arrest/shoot the guy’s friends. That said, he respects Gintoki’s kindness and probably to some extent his ideals, though Toshi is very much in denial about this both in his head and out. He doesn’t actually mind that Gintoki’s stronger in battle: it’s just a pride thing that he wants to beat the guy. Toshi’s pretty much given up on the goodness of the world-he’s very much jaded, and obviously has thrown his own romantic ideals away to do what he does. Gintoki hasn’t. In Toshi’s mind, this difference of ideals is almost like a battle, except that secretly...he wants Gintoki to win. He wants Gin to prove him wrong, prove that there is good in the world and something about it worth protecting the way Gin tries to do. He wants Gin to remain happy and the way he is with his stupid little family and stupid friends, but as I said, he’s very much in denial and probably doesn’t know this himself. But, Hijikata’s chosen what he’s chosen. The Shinsengumi’s still priority.
Hijikata may never be Gin’s friend in the conventional sense, but he will always be there, in a sense, either trying to kick Gin’s ass or offer badly-concealed support, waiting and watching to see if he falls.
Bottom line: So what if the animators ship them together? They’re not having sex, yo. At least, not until Gin stops calling Hiji “Oogushi-kun.”
Kagura and Shinpachi: China-brat and the first megane boy. Hijikata, in his own little way, attempts to help them. Mostly though, he leaves them alone. They’re not his responsibility, and he doesn’t think on them a lot.
Bottom line: They’re the yorozuya’s people: Gintoki needs to take care of them.
THE DEAD GIRLFRIEND
Okita Mitsuba: Both Hijikata and I like this character, so I’m giving Mitsuba her own section. Basically, for those who haven’t read/watched the Mitsuba arc, this spicy-hot (in more ways than one) chick is Sougo’s sister. Also, she was/is Hijikata’s only canon love interest.
More to be added later D:
Bottom line: Tabasco sauce + Mayonnaise = 1 Dead Body + Senbei Crackers.
THE KIHEITAI AND KATSURA
Bottom line: Criminals. Wanted by Bakufu. Will do everything he can to arrest, though he doesn’t really care about them one way or another. Doesn’t care if (for example, Katsura’s case) they’re actually good people. Arrest, now.
SO HOW DOES THIS APPLY TO RIVELATA?
Hijikata’s mental state as of 04/29/08:
Yorozuya’s brain has hit the fan. More than anything else that’s happened so far, to Katsura or anyone else, this has pissed Hijikata off. Can’t tell that anything’s different with Takasugi (LOL), but Gintoki’s mind-shit-ness and sudden indiscriminate killing has seriously, seriously made him mad. He’s mad at Gintoki, too. He knows he doesn’t really have a right, that these books are what’s driving the guy out of his mind, but deep down, he expected better of Gintoki. He’s disappointed that Gintoki’s ideals really have failed him, that he’s now nothing more than a bloodthirsty killer shacking up with Bardo who apparently still has the capacity to fanboy over Ichigo.
By the way, Bardo? Currently person/cat/BL-thing Hijikata hates most. No, Sougo, this has nothing to do with jealousy. Kondo, put those Man-love Manuals away.
To start off, let me state that Hijikata Toshirou is not a nice person. They call him the DEMON Vice-Commander for a reason, and no, Kagura, that reason has nothing to do with the bed. He kills people. He follows orders from a corrupt government that he couldn't give a damn about and probably personally dislikes. He doesn't empathize, especially not with bad guys. You want sugar and optimism, go to Kagura or Shinpachi or Kondo. You want angst, go to Takasugi or Itou. But this is Hijikata territory.
Now, on to his relationships. Yes, Hijikata has them. Stop snorting.
THE SHINSENGUMI
Kondo Isao: This is probably one of the most, if not the most important relationship Hijikata has. On the most basic level, Hijikata is Kondo's Vice-Commander. Kondo is his superior in rank, and can order Hijikata around.
Those who know Gintama though, will know there's more to them than that. Kondo is the one person that Hijikata has pledged his eternal-undying-be-with-you-long-time loyalty to, the one person Hijikata will do absolutely anything to protect. He'd buy Don Perignon from Otae-san, watch 29-hour marathons of gorilla documentaries, abandon all his morals and sell his soul if it meant Kondo would stay safe and happy. He’ll put up with Kondo’s antics, his breaks of logic, and weird notions about male lactation all for this reason.
Why does he do this? Hijikata admires Kondo in an open and complete way he doesn’t do with anyone else. Back in those good ‘ol days when Hijikata was a long-haired pretty-boy samurai, Kondo was the one who gave him unconditional kindness and support in a time when he didn’t really believe in anything at all. Kondo gave him something to believe him: Kondo himself. He admires the man’s spirit, his kindness, and his belief in noble and good things. He admires the man’s courage to do those noble and good things. Hijikata trusts Kondo to do right, except when left alone in a bathroom, which is a whole other story.
Bottom line: You mess with Kondo, you’ve got some serious shit coming your way.
Okita Sougo: Kondo, Sougo, and Hijikata mostly grew up together in the same dojo. They’re the three who really started up the Shinsengumi and made it what it is today-a scary yet respected, theoretically no-nonsense badass police force that literally makes people shit in their pants. That means they should all be good friends, right? Happy Golden Trio?
In reality, their relationship is more like an Unhappy Bloody Love Triangle. Sougo tries to kill Hijikata at every available opportunity, and gets more and more creative as the series goes on. Hijikata will scream at him and ask what he’s doing, but every single time Hijikata continues to just react with anger and pissiness rather than, uh, MAYBE BEING A LITTLE WORRIED THAT HIS OLD BUDDY’S TRYING TO OFF HIM? Sougo says that he wants Hijikata dead so he can be Vice-Commander and have Kondo all to himself. When Hijikata was unjustly fired and had his soul eaten by a sword, Sougo outwardly didn’t seem to care much at all. Now that’s said, please don’t hit me for my next line.
Sougo is Hijikata’s best friend. Sad, but true. Kondo’s not going in the friend category ‘cause he a little too important, so that leaves Sougo. Hijikata genuinely cares about Sougo, though you’ll never catch him saying it, ever. Most of things Sougo says and does pisses him off, but in the end of the day they have known each other longer than anyone else except Kondo, and they’ve learned how to deal with each other and dodge each other’s weapons. Hijikata’s comfortable with Sougo. He knows where he stands. He trusts Sougo not to do anything catastrophically stupid (note: being in the Shinsengumi gives one a very loose definition of “catastrophe”); he respects Sougo’s great skill as a warrior. Sougo would never betray Kondo and also is trying to protect the guy. On deeper levels, he and Sougo share the same views on many things, and though on some things they disagreed, they know each other hella hella well. Hijikata would die for Sougo. He can’t say that for many people.
I should also add here that Hijikata also has something of a guilt complex in regards to Sougo. This will be elaborated below, under Mitsuba.
Bottom line: They love each other, really. You just have to dig way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, WAY deep ever to find it.
Itou Kamotarou: Not going to give away any major spoilers, but I should at least delineate their relationship ‘cause Itou’s in Rivelata.
Hijikata dislikes Itou. I don’t say “hate,” just seriously “dislikes.” Most of this dislike is founded on lack of trust. Hijikata doesn’t trust people easily, fortunately for Kondo and the rest of the Shinsengumi. He’s not stupid, and a fairly decent gauge of character. He can tell Itou isn’t as loyal to the Shinsengumi as some of the others are: mostly he can tell by the way Itou treats Kondo. Itou is a good swordsman-smart, too. But none of that is anything but a potential threat so long as he isn’t loyal. Hijikata understands the man’s ambitions, and his talents. He just doesn’t trust them.
Without any concrete evidence, Hijikata isn’t going to openly accuse or try to off Itou-not in front of Kondo, who naturally believes in everyone’s goodness. He’s probably mentioned his feeling to Sougo at one point, though he’s not naive enough to think the other will do anything. For now, all he can do is watch Itou, drop thinly-veiled threats to try to deter the man from action, and hope that he’s wrong. It would hurt Kondo greatly if Itou betrayed them, not to mention the Shinsengumi in general, so he really, truly wishes he were wrong. Sometimes he even thinks that Itou could be one of them, eventually moved by their sense of camaraderie, but he’s too cautious to just dismiss his instinct just like that.
On an inner inner inner level, he’s also jealous of Itou receiving Kondo’s attention. He’s used to being the “brains” of the Shinsengumi. He doesn’t like how Kondo takes Itou’s advice over his. Currently in denial about this though.
Bottom line: Haetsex.
Yamazaki Saguru: Will probably elaborate on this later, but for now? WATCH OUT, TENIPURI-BOY. VICE-COMMANDER’S WATCHING YOU.
Bottom line: Hijikata hates badminton. That is all.
THE YOROZUYA
Sakata Gintoki: Out of all of Hijikata’s relationships, this one is the absolute most complicated. Why? ‘Cause it is seriously, seriously fucked up. I think Mina Lightstar put it best:
Sakata Gintoki and Vice-Commander Hijikata Toshirou have a strange relationship. Sometimes, they get drunk together; other times, they try to take off one another's heads with their swords. It's a thing.
Basically, Gintoki and Hijikata piss each other off. They are seldom together without arguing and trying to one-up each other. Their fights are very immature and very embarrassing for their friends/people to watch. Occasionally, they will do weird things like save each other’s ass and back each other up in fights and discuss whether the soul is actually part of human anatomy. During these times, they seem like friends. Most of the time, they’re not. Others have said that their personalities are somewhat alike, though there are some fundamental differences in ideology. Trying to work them out would give anyone a headache, but here’s my shot on Hijikata’s side:
Gintoki is one of the very few people Hijikata respects. Very much, grudgingly so. Don’t get me wrong: Toshi doesn’t approve of the vast majority of the things Gintoki does, doesn’t agree with his “soul first” policy, and is constantly trying to arrest/shoot the guy’s friends. That said, he respects Gintoki’s kindness and probably to some extent his ideals, though Toshi is very much in denial about this both in his head and out. He doesn’t actually mind that Gintoki’s stronger in battle: it’s just a pride thing that he wants to beat the guy. Toshi’s pretty much given up on the goodness of the world-he’s very much jaded, and obviously has thrown his own romantic ideals away to do what he does. Gintoki hasn’t. In Toshi’s mind, this difference of ideals is almost like a battle, except that secretly...he wants Gintoki to win. He wants Gin to prove him wrong, prove that there is good in the world and something about it worth protecting the way Gin tries to do. He wants Gin to remain happy and the way he is with his stupid little family and stupid friends, but as I said, he’s very much in denial and probably doesn’t know this himself. But, Hijikata’s chosen what he’s chosen. The Shinsengumi’s still priority.
Hijikata may never be Gin’s friend in the conventional sense, but he will always be there, in a sense, either trying to kick Gin’s ass or offer badly-concealed support, waiting and watching to see if he falls.
Bottom line: So what if the animators ship them together? They’re not having sex, yo. At least, not until Gin stops calling Hiji “Oogushi-kun.”
Kagura and Shinpachi: China-brat and the first megane boy. Hijikata, in his own little way, attempts to help them. Mostly though, he leaves them alone. They’re not his responsibility, and he doesn’t think on them a lot.
Bottom line: They’re the yorozuya’s people: Gintoki needs to take care of them.
THE DEAD GIRLFRIEND
Okita Mitsuba: Both Hijikata and I like this character, so I’m giving Mitsuba her own section. Basically, for those who haven’t read/watched the Mitsuba arc, this spicy-hot (in more ways than one) chick is Sougo’s sister. Also, she was/is Hijikata’s only canon love interest.
More to be added later D:
Bottom line: Tabasco sauce + Mayonnaise = 1 Dead Body + Senbei Crackers.
THE KIHEITAI AND KATSURA
Bottom line: Criminals. Wanted by Bakufu. Will do everything he can to arrest, though he doesn’t really care about them one way or another. Doesn’t care if (for example, Katsura’s case) they’re actually good people. Arrest, now.
SO HOW DOES THIS APPLY TO RIVELATA?
Hijikata’s mental state as of 04/29/08:
Yorozuya’s brain has hit the fan. More than anything else that’s happened so far, to Katsura or anyone else, this has pissed Hijikata off. Can’t tell that anything’s different with Takasugi (LOL), but Gintoki’s mind-shit-ness and sudden indiscriminate killing has seriously, seriously made him mad. He’s mad at Gintoki, too. He knows he doesn’t really have a right, that these books are what’s driving the guy out of his mind, but deep down, he expected better of Gintoki. He’s disappointed that Gintoki’s ideals really have failed him, that he’s now nothing more than a bloodthirsty killer shacking up with Bardo who apparently still has the capacity to fanboy over Ichigo.
By the way, Bardo? Currently person/cat/BL-thing Hijikata hates most. No, Sougo, this has nothing to do with jealousy. Kondo, put those Man-love Manuals away.