By Hideaki Sorachi. Released in Japan by Shueisha, serialization ongoing in the magazine Weekly Shonen Jump. Released in North America by Viz.

I’ve mentioned before how Gin Tama likes to snap back and forth between goofy comedy and gripping drama. But what makes it even more interesting is when it manages to do both at the same time. The big story in this volume is a good case in point.

If you recall, at the end of last week the majority of the cast (basically the non-Shinsengumi) were transported to the Dragon Palace island, only to instead find a machine that made Gin and Katsura into old men. This is milked for as many ‘old people gags as you can think of, with creaking joints, forgetfulness, grumpiness in general. It gets even better when, over the course of the plot, the others get ‘aged’ as well – Kagura and Kyuubei being my particular favorites. “Have you seen my eyepatch?” “You’re wearing it!” And yet it *also* manages to show off that old people can be totally awesome as well, and should not be belittled.

The villainess in this is, as you might have expecrted given the story Gin Tama is mocking this time around, Princess Otohime, whose insecurity and jealousy have led to her deciding to make everyone old and ugly so that she can be the most beautiful. Her confrontation with Otae is epic, and allows Otae (once she’s gotten over being insulted) to show off her fierce and proud side, something we haven’t seen as much of recently given Sorachi found she’s far more fun to write as a psycho. But Otohime is not Ito, and does not need to die for her sins – this time around, we get everyone saving her and showing her that sacrifice is not the way to go in order to redeem oneself.

After this, we get a chapter devoted to re-introducing Tama, the robot girl last seen as a severed head back in Volume 17. She now has a body, and is employed being Otose’s maid and rent collector. Unfortunately, she’s still a robot, and so has trouble figuring things out when people tell her to take a day off and relax. Gin, who is not comfortable with treating her as a real person, reluctantly goes around town with her and tries to define “cutting loose”. It’s sometimes easy to forget that Gin is a survivor of horrible combat, and we occasionally see his reluctance to let new people (or robots, in this case) into his heart. Luckily, by the end Tama seems to have figured out what she wants to do with her free time, and Gin seems a little happier as well. (If you’re happy and you know it, clap your hands! BOOM! BOOM!)

The last chapter is simple a starter for the next big arc, as we see Gin, Shinpachi and Kagura brought in to try to get a yakuza warlord’s son out of the room where he’s shut himself for the past several years. It looks like it’s going to be an amusing look at NEETs in Gin Tama’s society, but ends up proving to be more sinister.

So, another great volume of Gin Tama, combining crude comedy (“Zura, our target is the howitzer’s anus.”) with heartwarming drama, and still finding time to hammer repeatedly on Shonen Jump’s three big mottos, Friendship, Perseverance, Victory. And yes, Otsu is on the cover but doesn’t actually appear – the covers are clearly just random characters by now. (But not Yamazaki.) Can’t wait for the next volume.

By Hideaki Sorachi. Released in Japan by Shueisha, serialization ongoing in the magazine Weekly Shonen Jump. Released in North America by Viz.

Poor Gin Tama. Not only does it not do well in the North American sales charts compared to its other Jump brethren, but it doesn’t even get respect among those who illegally scanlate the latest chapters from Japan! Determined to put out such titles as SWOT or Medaka Box as soon as the raws become available, uncaring scanlators leave Gin Tama alone for months at a time, only coming back when there’s a big battle.

Luckily, there is an answer! You can buy the manga from Viz, thus supporting the artist and publisher! And as your reward, Kyoko Shapiro and Lance Caselman will translate all the difficult puns that give you headaches whenever you look at them! It’s win-win! (I also note that Kyoko Shapiro, late of Aurora Press and now translating for Viz, has one of my favorite names ever.)

Meanwhile, back in Gin Tama, this volume starts out by quickly resolving the cursed sword arc that took up the majority of Volume 19. The traitor has been ferreted out, and the hired gun sent by Takasugi turns out to be no match for Gin’s pure stubborn awesomeness. Gin is almost the perfect shonen hero, bellowing out that he’s never fought any battles for a country or its people, but only to protect his friends, so nothing has changed.

Speaking of shonen awesomeness, I’ve noted the tendency Gin Tama has to sometimes kill people off, something usually avoided by other Jump titles. And here we have a traitor to the Shinsengumi, one who tried to have their captain killed. He can’t be allowed to live, even if he has seen the error of his ways and realized how foolish he was. So they give him a sword, and let him die honorably in battle, cut down by Hijitaka. It’s a beautiful thing.

The rest of this volume is, naturally, far more comedic and lighthearted, as Gin Tama returns to its gag manga roots. Whether it be mocking Jump artists’ tendency to imitate Dragon Ball Z, having Yamazaki (who, surprise, isn’t dead – see my review of Vol. 19) take an exam to see if he is fit to infiltrate the exclusionist rebels, or have everyone get shipwrecked while on a journey to the Dragon Palace, it’s loud, brash, and very, very funny. Again, if you can’t tolerate a manga whipsawing between low comedy and epic shonen drama, be wary of Gin Tama. Even a 2-part ‘serious’ story starring Kagura’s father turns out to have been a setup for one giant punch line.

My favorite chapter was one focusing on Kagura, who is generally cast as the role of comedic bruiser so often that we forget she’s also a teenage girl. She’s noticing the females around town have very girly umbrellas, and decides to trade in her superpowered one for a frilly model. Of course, these frilly umbrellas are not much use in typhoons. What follows is a quiet but heartfelt chapter that emphasizes Kagura’s good heart and tendency towards loneliness and self-doubt, something she’s usually very good at covering up.

Gin Tama is the most diverse manga currently running in Shonen Jump, offering something for almost everyone. Not as full of itself as Bleach, nor as completely loopy as Bobobobo-Bobobo, Gin Tama strikes a nice balance that I admire, and continually makes me wonder what will happen next. This volumes ends on another cliffhanger, with Gin and Katsura transformed into old, decrepit men! What can possibly happen next? The preview seems to suggest it will involve a lot of dressing up as giant turtles…

By Hideaki Sorachi. Released in Japan by Shueisha, serialization ongoing in the magazine Weekly Shonen Jump. Released in North America by Viz.

The last volume of Gin Tama took a situation that appeared to be very serious – Hasegawa’s marriage troubles and his arrest and trial – and played it completely for laughs. So it’s no surprise that this volume takes the utterly stupid premise of Hijikata getting a possessed sword that turns him into a raging otaku and taking it deadly serious. So serious that the plot takes up the entirely of the volume, and won’t be finished till 20 comes out.

The reason for this, of course, is that Hijikata going on about 2D versus 3D and taping old sentai anime is funny, but Hijikata being terrified of violence and crawling on the ground pleading for his life is grounds for treason, especially in the Shinsengumi. As you may expect, he was completely set up, but that doesn’t make the scenes of him when he’s under the sword’s control any easier to read about.

As for the others, things happen exactly as you’d expect. There’s a new Shinsengumi returned from negotiating with the government for more money in the budget, and he’s exactly as suspicious as you’d expect. There’s Yamazaki, finding out the truth long before anyone else and them getting murdered, in the best ninja tradition. (If Yamazaki is genuinely dead, I’ll show more sorrow next review, but I seriously doubt that he is.) Okita is acting like a giant jerk and convincing the enemy he’s on their side… when of course he’s entirely on his own side. And Kondo once again appears to be blissfully ignorant of everything, but reminds us once more why he’s Captain.

Into all of this is added our three heroes, who are used more as a spice than anything else. Gin’s reaction to Hijikata being possessed by the sword is really underplayed, as you can almost feel the disgust at the sword’s possession roiling through him. Shinpachi and Kagura don’t do much except panic (him) and become a giant blunt instrument of violence (her), but their reaction are fun to see, and prevent this from being too serious.

As for our villains, turns out they’re both affiliated with Takasugi, who we hadn’t seen in a while. The main villain I found rather dull (the one weak point of the book), as his was a very standard shonen (if I get power, I will gain acceptance and stop being so lonely) plot. The assassin, however, is another too cool for his own good character (that’s him on the cover), and you knew he’d be the one to fight Gin the moment you saw him.

All of this ends in a giant melee battle, the results of which we will not see for another volume. But Gin Tama remains one of the most perfect shonen titles out there, balancing truly stupid comedic hijinx with a serious look at friendship, community, and what it means to carry a sword. Highly recommended.