The Gintama franchise revealed a key visual for the 20th-anniversary celebration, which has been going on since the beginning of the year. Two new projects are in the works to mark the anniversary: 3-nen Z-gumi Ginpachi-sensei (Class 3-Z’s Teacher Ginpachi) anime and a theatrical cut of the Thorny Arc which will include new scenes.
Gintama is based on a manga by Hideaki Sorachi, which ran from 2003 to 2019. It was serialized in the Weekly Shonen Jump from December 2003 to September 2018, and then in Jump Giga from December 2018 to February 2019. The final few chapters came out on the Gintama app (May to June 2019).
The Gintama TV anime adaptation has been animated by studios Sunrise (now also known as Bandai Namco Filmworks) and BN Pictures over the years. It started with an OVA by Sunrise (made for Jump Festa 2006). BN Pictures took over the animation with the fourth season, titled Gintama°. In addition to the TV anime, which ran for 367 and ended in 2018. In addition to the TV anime, the series also has multiple OVAs, movies and specials. The latest installment was a movie, titled Gintama: The Very Final, which premiered in 2021.
VIZ Media licensed the manga in English as Gin Tama. Anime Planet, the manga and anime tracking website, describes the plot as:
It is the Edo period, an era when samurai are still of great importance – at least they used to be, until all sorts of aliens called the Amanto decided to take over the government and revolutionize Japan so it wouldn’t be so uncivilized. In Edo, now a city where anachronism is the rule rather than the exception, Gintoki, a former samurai, tries to make a living doing odd jobs. During the course of his work, Shinpachi, a would-be samurai; and Kagura, an absurdly strong girl, join him. Of course, he has them work for free, how else would Gintoki be able to buy Shonen Jump and strawberry milk, let alone pay for unimportant things like rent if he has to support someone other than himself?
In addition to the key visual, the Gintama franchise also launched a new website for the 20th anniversary.
Source: Official Website
© Hideaki Sorachi/Shueisha/TV Tokyo/Dentsu/BNP/Aniplex
