In an effort to avoid discussion of Shouyo once more, I’ve decided to discuss Gintoki’s present and his less desirable traits for the purpose of this post.
In my first entry of this blog, I described Gintoki using a decent array of less-than-pleasant terminology, including but not limited to: greedy, selfish, crude, lazy, and dead-beat. I have yet to really dive into this beyond his general aimlessness post-Joui War, and think this is a perfect opportunity to talk about the Kintama Arc of Gintama, a comedy arc in the second half of the show that does address a few overarching issues.
The Kintama arc begins with Gintoki returning to Yorozuya after a “break” (a third-wall breaking joke that has more to do with the show coming back from a break, since time doesn’t exactly pass in Gintama unless it’s for the serious arcs or backstory purposes). There, he finds all of his friends hanging out with a guy named Kintoki, the exact inverse of himself.
Then, the episode’s intro plays, and it’s the same as it has been, except all images of Gintoki are replaced with Kintoki, and the title screen announces the show title Kintama, instead of Gintama. Like Gintoki doesn’t exist and the show isn’t about him anymore.
(fun fact: “gin” in Japanese means “silver” - hence Gintoki’s silver hair - and “Gintama” technically means silver soul, although it is a single syllable off from being the Japanese word for testicles. “Kin” in Japanese means “gold” - hence Kintoki’s gold hair - and “Kintama” is the Japanese slang term for testicles.)
What Gintoki finds is that Kintoki showed up in his absence, and filled his role at Yorozuya. More than that, Kintoki has become a better Gintoki. Everyone loves him. He pays Shinpachi and Kagura, he pays Otose the rent on time and offers to help her clean up around the bar, the people of the Kabukicho District all love him and he’s getting good business and making more money, women love him, etc.
Another important fact is that everyone else has seemingly forgotten that Gintoki ever existed. They don’t recognize him, and all their memories of him have been replaced by Kintoki.
What follows is a distraught Gintoki arrogantly disbelieving Kintoki’s existence, challenging everyone that this is just one big joke, and picking a fight with Kintoki, whom everyone is quick to defend. Gintoki’s personality, his nature, is rejected immediately by everyone around him in favor of this Kintoki who has taken over his life.
Gintoki tries to fight it for a while, tries to jog everyone’s memories of him, even tries to do some good and make it back into their good graces, but nothing works. Kintoki is nicer than him, is more well-liked, is funnier, and everyone keeps choosing him. Even beyond that, the third-wall breaking of the show goes so far as to demonstrate that the show has always been Kintama, that the protagonist has always been Kintoki, because he doesn’t have the terrible flaws Gintoki has.
Kintoki eventually reveals to Gintoki privately that taking over Gintoki is his plan, and that he can take care of Gintoki’s family and community better than Gintoki can, that he is a better protagonist than Gintoki, and all he wants to do is help. He tells Gintoki that if he really cared about everyone he should leave them all alone since they’re so much happier this way.
“Nobody’s looking at you. Nobody needs you. Because I’m here. There’s no place for you here.”
And faced with defeat, Gintoki finds himself believing the words.
“Yeah, he’s right. I’m the one who isn’t needed in this world. I’m the one who doesn’t belong in a prime-time anime. I’m burned… completely burned out. Not gold, not silver. I’ve been reduced to white ash.”
Because, despite how much he “mistreats” those he loves (particularly Otose, Kagura, and Shinpachi), he cares about them more than anything - more than himself. He wants nothing more than their safety, than their happiness, and if Kintoki is what they want then he will let them make that choice, even if it ruins him.
There, at his lowest, he finds refuge in the two individuals who he learns still remember him and haven’t been fooled. His (Kagura’s) dog, Saddaharu, and Tama, the sentient robot who works for Otose in the bar whom Gintoki saved and gave a normal life early in the show.
Tama gives him a call to action, which I believe perfectly captures the meaning and message of Gintama, not just this single arc.
“True, your luster may not have been as bright as gold. You only shined on occasion. You were always arguing and fighting. You had wavy hair. You were lazy. You were the king of sexual harassment. You never paid the rent. You paid your people late. Still, you were brighter than the fake flint of gold plating. When you were angry, your entire soul was enraged. When you laughed, you laughed with all your heart. Your silver was much more beautiful… Try to remember what color your soul is.”
And Gintoki replies,
“I haven't forgotten. I will never forget. My soul has been colored by every one of you fools. It’s a dirty silver!”
And while this arc still has the message that Gintoki is more than his faults, I’m particularly intrigued by how it accepts them as part of Gintoki’s character.
It’s discovered that the crazy mechanic Gengai created Kintoki to fill the hole of Gintoki’s absence, and each failed version got closer and closer to functioning while the people around him were more and more interested in creating a robot that was perfect than one that filled Gintoki’s void. Thus, Kintoki was created: a robot intentionally without Gintoki’s flaws. Kintoki was formed by Gintoki’s loved ones quite literally spelling out Gintoki’s flaws and telling Gengai to remove each and every one so it would make their lives easier.
When Kintoki is eventually ousted as the protagonist of the show and everyone has their true memories back, it is done by both reminding everyone of their terrible memories of the things Gintoki has done and how there’s no way Kintoki had ever done them, and by Gintoki selflessly throwing himself into harm's way to save someone he cares about who doesn’t remember him at all. His family apologizes to him for ever forgetting, and the overall message of the matter is that a Gintoki without his flaws is not a Gintoki at all, but something incredibly undesirable, and they wouldn’t trade him for anything.
In this way, identifying his emotions throughout this arc - specifically when he’s at his lowest - is particularly difficult. Because Gintoki never really regrets his behaviors or his words. It’s part of who he is. And Gintoki is comfortable with his flaws, so it wouldn’t be anything resembling embarrassment either.
It would be easy to say guilt, but that also doesn’t quite sit right due to the fact that Gintoki never explicitly regrets the things he says and does and never apologizes for it after the fact, either.
For similar reasons I almost hesitate to call Gintoki’s lowest point in this arc shame, but that feels like the closest I can get. Shame not due to regret or anything of the sort, but of generally feeling like the people he cares about are better off without him. Shame at not being good enough for them, for them preferring a better version of himself.
There’s no hint of growth idealism rooted in his shame. Gintoki doesn’t feel this way because he could be better, he feels this way because he can’t/won’t/shouldn’t. It’s about the things that define him on a fundamental level, and he genuinely believes that his family is simply better off without him and want something that isn’t him.
Of course, this isn’t true.
Gintoki’s family loves him, cherishes him, and recognizes his flaws all in one.
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