Of Swords and Parasols

Somehow, I ended up not having volume 22. Thankfully, Gintama has little continuity, and few lasting changes. It's too busy making puns, being weird, and parodying other shounen.

Speaking of other shounen, mixed somewhere in these volumes is a brilliant parody of Bleach training sequences. This prompted me to check to see if I remembered certain Bleach spoilers re: Ichigo's mother correctly. I did. No one who reads Bleach is allowed to complain about Clamp or Kaori Yuki being depraved or twisted again.

( spoilers )

Oh, poor Kagura. That may have been the worst possible introduction to the concept of slash ever, right up there with learning about sex by walking in on your parents. The anime’s adaptation (Kagura comes in near the end. Warning for almost everything you can think of except for mutilated bodies and actual sex):



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Maybe it stood out because this is my first time reading two volumes together, but there seemed to be an even stronger emphasis on family in these volumes. Admittedly, the idea of family-real or surrogate-is always a pretty heavy focus of Gintama, and it’s an ofdd but endearing interpretation of family, but these volumes were even more direct about it than usual.

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Also, am I the only one to read both series who think Hijikata looked concerningly like Samurai Deeper Kyo’s Kyo in the amusement park story?

I continue to be torn between wanting a plot, and thinking that a plot will just get in the way. This volume had some fine cosplay disguised as crack. Or is that crack disguised as cosplay. Beach samurai, a biker gang, fake exorcists, and forced crossdressing that managed to not annoy me.

( spoilers )

I just realized that no one in this book particularly cares that Kagura is an Amanto who could rip their arms off with little effort. Somehow, I find that sweet.

( Does anything in this series qualify as a spoiler? )

In the mid-19th century, aliens, called Amanto, came to Earth. Twenty years later, they pretty much rule the world (or at least Edo) and the samurai have been outlawed and forced to turn in the swords and take whatever menial job they can find. Shinpachi, the son of a samurai, is working hard as a cashier to pay off his father’s debts to the Amanto when a former samurai named Gintoki who works as an odd jobs man causes him to lose his job. (An Amanto made him spill his treat. He got upset and bashed the Amanto with his wooden sword, then left Shinpachi holding it. It didn’t go well.) As a result, his sister, Otae, is forced to work in a floating nightclub. After she beats Gintoki up for making Shinpachi lose his job.

They rescue her, of course, and Shinpachi becomes Gintoki’s assistant. Later, they’re joined by Kagura, an alien girl (who looks like a petite human teen) who is super strong, almost invincible, and a bottomless pit. She’s also part of the race of the galaxy’s most ruthless killers. Thanks to Katsura, a friend of Gintoki’s from when both were part of a rebellion to overthrow the Amanto, they also cross paths with the Shinsengumi. This is because Katsura is now a terrorist.

Otae is a vicious badass. Kagura is a greedy badass who scares men twice her size while managingt o be teeny and cute. The two named members of the Shinsengumi-Okita and Hijikata-are clearly psychotic. Gintoki wants to be one of the “I angst over my tragic past and failed cause” characters, but knows this isn’t that kind of manga, so he just wants his sugar and his Shounen Jump. And possibly for teenagers to stop moving in with him. Shinpachi is kinda there.

Thanks to Cali and the youtube videos we’ve been watching, I think I’m kind of brainwashed into liking it. But you know, I remember reading scanslations of the first volume a few months ago (to see if I wanted to get it) and thinking it was great, and then being surprised when a few people I was pretty sure would love it said they read the first volume and didn’t like it. Having read the US release, I realize: the Viz translation isn’t nearly as funny, and a few bits don’t really make sense. I also don’t remember Kagura’s sounding almost like a Yakuza in the scans. Phooey on you, Viz. Still, it was fun, and I’m told the Viz translation does get better. I’m also half convinced that Gintoki is the great-great-great-great-great-grandson of Samurai Deeper Kyo’s Hotaru.

ETA: Curse you, LJ, and your stupid updates making rich text not work on this computer, so that I can't make sure I got coding right, or use the other way if I don't remember the code!

Aside from Adventures in Laundry, I spent most of today  clearing out the reading backlog of some manga scanslations I'd DLed to see if I wanted to check them out.  I'll save any, you know moderately intelligent commentary for when I do have the ones I'll be checking out in hand, but for now.

The "HELL NO!"

Real Fake Princess:  Wuxia-ish series about a chinese princess who was raised by a retainer of the royal family and is returned to her proper life when they started looking for her, only to fall under the suspicion of a handsome noble who thought it was a trick.  Heroine is ok, if a bit generically spunky, hero was a hateful cretin with control issues.  I had him pegged as redeemable up until he pinned her to a bed, waved scissors in her face, and told her that if she didn't cut her hair, he'd have her foster brother stabbed through the heart with the scissors.  Maybe if he died and she met a nice, sweet boy...

The "maybe later"

Muhyo and Rouji's Bureau of Psychic Investigations:  A strange, morbid little wizard/lawyer and his more upbeat assistant who investigate supernatural cases.  I like a lot in this genre and most of the series take a bit to take off for me, so I'll probably check it out eventually(like, after I meet someone who likes it) but for now, it's just a little too odd for me.

The "MORE PLEASE!"

Chikyuu Misaki:  EEE!! CUTE CUTE AND MORE CUTE!!  But not in a sickening way.  Basically:  girl and widowed father move into her grandfather's home after she inherits it, and in the local lake, she finds a cute little lake monster who turns into a mute little boy when he kisses someone, and she decides to take him in.  There's also her deal with her father having a new girlfriend, kidnappers, a kendo(I think) girl, a femme fatale, and Wolverine's long lost twin.

Gintama: Aliens!  Samurai!  Shinsengumi! Basically, aliens took over Japan a while back and put the samurai out of business.  Our Hero, Gintoki, is a former samurai and rebel who now takes up odd jobs.  Along the way he acquires a sidekick who's name I didn't bother to remember who is the son of a samurai, and Kagura, a petite alien girl who's seemingly indestructible and eats nonstop, and later his old rebel buddies try to recruit him, and the Shinsengumi shows up and havoc ensues.  I am in love with everything about the book but the sidekick.  He will no doubt grow on me, but right now, I want him to be gagged.  Also, it is entirely possible that Gintoki and Samurai Deeper Kyo's Hotaru were separated at birth.  They're both stupid and spacey and smart in the same ways, and I think it's because they're busy sharing a single brain between them.