Gin Tama Mini Review (manga)
January 15th, 2008 by Nothayama
PG-16 for violence, but I’ve yet to see anything worse than 13+ material; official series website (manga)
Gin Tama is a comic with a really interesting premise. The story takes place in an alternate history that’s not so much hard science fiction as eclectic fantasy: around the end of the samurai-dominated Edo period, aliens invaded Japan. The invaders simultaneously boosted technology to modern levels and turned humans into second-class citizens on their home planet – ladies in kimonos bemoan the current joblessness reported on their television sets, and dudes with katanas ride mopeds down the street in pursuit of green tentacle monsters from outer space. It’s weird, but it works.
If only the rest of the series could live up to the promise. Gin Tama doesn’t do anything really wrong, but it doesn’t do anything really right either. The characters seem interesting enough at first – quirky badass Gin, cowardly everyman Shinpachi, and cutesy strongwoman Kagura avoid the annoying clichés they could have easily become, but it seems like it’s only because their characterizations are too shallow to illicit any kind of emotional response, annoyance included. The constant jokes are totally inoffensive, but only mildly amusing. The plot’s too weird to work as a serious adventure story, and the ease with which Gin fights off his enemies removes any sense of danger or excitement from the proceedings. The worst offense, however, is that the whole story is permeated with an air of disinterest and unimportance. Jokes don’t feel funny, serious moments don’t feel vital, characters who should care about each other brush each other off at even the most serious of moments. If the characters themselves don’t seem to care about what’s going on around them, why should we?
Volume three is sitting on the table right next to me, but I just can’t bring myself to do more than skim absently through it. Volume two ended on a cliffhanger that left a few of the main characters in mortal peril, but I’m having a lot of trouble caring. I imagine this series worked a lot better in serialization. I can see it being a fun, relaxing diversion between chapters of the comics I actually bought the magazine for. On its own, 200 pages at a time and for the same price as a volume of One Piece or Death Note, it quickly loses its appeal. There’s also an anime for this series, but I’ve yet to watch it.
Initial impression: Worth a try if you can find it in a library or discount bin or if you’re lucky enough to have a really big manga budget and a lot of time for reading. Otherwise, there are probably better things to spend your money on. (NotHayama)
One of the things that made Gin Tama popular in Japan was its slightly offensive sense of humour. Naturally, Viz decided to remove that from the translation.
I guess that would explain the Viz book’s high age rating for no apparent reason, then. What kind of offensive, I wonder?
I dunno about the manga, but the anime made me laugh so hard that I once passed out. Literally.
anime was a lot better. though after a while, all the characters seem to have the exact same extreme personality. just watch it for humor.
All I’m going to say is that I thought the anime was better. You’re right about the manga, I think it’s more middle-school humor than its rating.