Gintama

Episode 304

After taking the holidays off, Gintama returns with the Shogun Assassination Arc's most emotional entry to date. In addition to featuring a number of impressive fight sequences, episode 304 takes us on our first extended trip into Gintoki's childhood. In many respects, this is one of the series' most important episodes to the overall plot, making it the perfect installment to headline the new cour.

With the Odd Jobs crew distracting Takasugi and Kamui, Shigeshige is free to tend to the thoroughly battered Zenzo and Sa-chan. While Shinpachi and the Oniwaban keep the Yato and Kiheitai at bay, Gintoki and Kagura finally butt heads with their seldom-seen nemeses. As Kagura engages her brother in combat, we learn that the seemingly emotionless Kamui actually had something resembling a human side at one time. Not only did he go out of his way to hide his violent tendencies from he and Kagura's terminally ill mother, he ultimately left home because he couldn't handle seeing her in such a state. Also, despite beating his little sister to a bloody pulp, the deceptively pleasant killing machine doesn't seem interested in finishing her off. Had Kamui appeared more than twice prior to this arc, this revelation probably would have packed more of a punch, but it was interesting nonetheless.

Meanwhile, Gintoki and Takasugi begin their (very) long overdue faceoff. Even though the various opening and ending sequences create the impression that he's a frequent presence, this is actually the first time in over 200 episodes that Takasugi has thrown down with his former comrade-in-arms. When Takasugi points out that he's amassed enough power to topple an entire nation in the years following the Joi War, Gintoki contends that the countless bonds he's formed during that time period are infinitely more valuable. (Never mind that the silver-haired samurai treats his "friends" like garbage 90% of the time.) Oddly, the real meat of this episode isn't the ensuing swordfight between these two war heroes—but rather the strategically-placed clips that detail their first meeting. The choice to show the flashbacks in widescreen letterbox is stylistically appropriate, but it seems unnecessary. Viewers are capable of discerning which scenes are flashbacks based on the ages of the characters, but I suppose the goal may have been to give the episode a more cinematic feel.

Before meeting Gintoki and his adoptive father/mentor Yoshida Shoyo, Takasugi and Katsura (before he was known as "Zura") attended a prestigious military academy. Although this school was primarily attended by boys from wealthy families, Katsura was allowed in as a special exception due to his enviable intelligence. (Granted, when many of us think of Katsura, intelligence is the last thing on our minds.) Katsura seemed very poised and astute as a child, which is odd given his current personality. (Did he incur a severe head injury during the war?) There's a slight nod to his trademark wackiness toward the end of the episode, but young Kotaro is a far cry from the perpetually clueless space-case we've grown accustomed to.

Young Takasugi was considerably stronger and smarter than many of his peers. True to character, he wasn't afraid to rub this in their faces at every opportunity. When a group of jealous classmates attempted to ambush the gifted young noble, Gintoki (who had been napping in a nearby tree) intervened, delivering the same line from when he rescued Shinpachi during their first meeting: "Blah, blah, blah. Are you bastards in heat?" However, before the headstrong youth can send the bullies packing, Yoshida Shoyo appears on the scene and delivers super-powered love-taps to each of the troublemakers before doing to the same to Gintoki and dragging his adoptive son home.

Intrigued by this mysterious duo, Takasugi began visiting Shoka Sonjuku (Shoyo's dojo/temple school) on a daily basis in the hopes of besting Gintoki in combat. After countless defeats and lots of training, Takasugi finally managed to take down his opponent. However, despite finishing his business, Takasugi is in no hurry to leave the school, implying that the daily matches with Gintoki were simply an excuse to drop by. Although his father threatened to disown him if he continued visiting Shoka Sonjuku, Takasugi (with Katsura in tow) decided to continue training under Shoyo.

It's interesting to learn that Takasugi was less skilled than Gintoki when they first met. Shonen Jump series often feature protagonists who engage in intense training as they face down successively stronger villains. (Goku's lucky he didn't have to face Majin Buu right at the start of Dragon Ball.) However, Gintoki has never once trained since the series began. (Gintama is often billed as an "action comedy," but there generally isn't much action in the comedy-focused episodes.) In fact, he's actively avoided it, writing it off as a shonen manga cliché. Despite being one of the laziest characters to ever grace the pages of Shonen Jump, he and his insanely powerful archenemy are pretty evenly matched skill-wise. This serves as yet another example of this series' refusal to play by the rules.

Although episode 304 doesn't offer much in the way of laughs, the pulse-pounding action and genuine sense of heart more than make up for the lack of silliness. The informative peek into the past and the fluidly-animated face-off between the show's "hero" and master villain ensure that this episode is not to be missed. For casual viewers who were put off by this series' lack of an overarching narrative, now is the perfect time to revisit Gintama.

Rating: A+

Gintama is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

Amy is a YA fantasy author who has loved anime for two decades.