#but I think it was relevant to say it

[suchine-toki]

Hey can i ask u something? I just finished rereading gintama again and read the final chapter, and kinda stumbled to ur blog. Do you think in the end Takasugi kind of ressuracted, reincarnated, or not? It's really bothering me since he is my fav character and besides lackness that i felt towards his story, his 'death' chapter was delivered... so great, and i dont think ressuraction was needed:( isnt that mean he becomes immortal, again?

Hello! Thank you very much for your question. Sorry for the late reply, I didn't see your message because I was on hiatus due to the end of Gintama lmao

I consider the death scene very beautiful, and it shows that there was a lot of love behind it. In fact, Sorachi himself admitted that he cried while he was drawing it (didn't we all?). However, I think when Takasugi's death is judged only by the scene itself and not also by the context, you miss the forest for the trees. (I previously talked about his death in this post.)

Other people and I have discussed the ending as such, so I’ll now address the circumstances surrounding the end of Gintama before delving into Takasugi’s possible resurrection. I'll try to analyze what happened from other angles, including information both inside and outside of the series, like the fanbook released some time ago.

The prolongued ending

Damn Manabe you could've done a better job. And I blame you for all the Utsuro crap, even if it wasn't your idea, you should've stopped it!

Weekly Shōnen Jump, where Gintama was published, has a system in which it’s announced half a year in advance when a series is about to end, to give it a conclusion in that time. Nevertheless, Sorachi exceeded this deadline, and for three years was unable to finish the series. Faced with this, they moved it to Jump Giga, where he would’ve three extra chapters with more pages and more time as it was a monthly publication. But once again he was unable to finish it and ended up concluding it through the Gintama App.

Even though at the time we all laughed at it, in hindsight the series did suffer from this. Especially if we consider that Sorachi's intention was to defeat Utsuro in Weekly Shōnen Jump and then use the other magazine just to have an epilogue. Even in the last chapter uploaded to the application they made him cut four pages. This denotes that it was a turbulent period, and the end was extremely hasty.

I think what happened in the end was Sorachi's attempt to squeeze ideas into a short amount of time. Takasugi and Zura weren’t present to defeat Utsuro, despite foreshadowing it. Thus, because he didn’t pay enough attention to the relationship between the members of the Shouka Sonjuku, the second part of Silver Soul arc emerged, in which Utsuro/Shouyo was revived and there was a greater focus on the connection between Takasugi and Gintoki. I explain this to emphasize that there wasn’t enough planning to properly develop and conclude what happened to Takasugi.

Takasugi's fate

The last page of the manga referring to what happened to Takasugi strongly suggests that he revived, due to the presence of a newborn baby in one of the dragon holes (places where altana veins sprout), along with dialogue from Sakamoto expressing, essentially, the high probability that Shouyo intervened to save him from death when his corpse was sucked into the terminal’s altana.

However, in the fanbook, a page is dedicated to what happened to Takasugi. Sorachi is frank, revealing he intentionally left it vague to avoid giving a clear answer that might disappoint fans. Also, once again he alludes to the fact that he didn't have more pages to delve into what happened, so he opted to just put more jokes, thinking that was enough.

In said fanbook, Sorachi chats with his former editors about various topics, including Takasugi's death, which he repeatedly avoids talking about. He says it's weird having to explain everything. Nonetheless, the others insist with questions. Among the most important things to salvage, he clarifies Takasugi’d already been sort of dead when he lost Shouyo, and he was just looking for a way to die. He also indicates he doesn't consider that Takasugi needed to be saved because he already was. Instead, he was going for the image of saving the Kiheitai beyond whether or not the baby was Takasugi. This gives me the impression that Sorachi didn’t actually plan to revive him.

I fundamentally disagree with the above point of view. Although I'm not a fan of resurrections, I think his rebirth would make sense, given that it's an element already introduced in the series. Also, I believe it's necessary because it didn't make sense to kill him in the first place, both for consistency on a character level and on a series level.

Now, regarding his possible immortality, I really wish he isn’t. Since it was never explained how that or the altana worked, I can't say for sure. But, considering the dialogue of the master protecting his disciples, it wouldn’t be logical for Shouyo to sentence Takasugi to live an immortal life. What would make the most sense is for Takasugi to live in a normal body with his own memories, experiencing both suffering and happiness, just like everyone else.

Regarding his growth as a normal human or abnormally by the altana, it’s even more difficult to discern. I think if he kept his memories, it would make sense for him to grow at an accelerated rate just like Shouyo, until the altana runs out at some point.

Deliverance from sin?

Goddammit Manabe it's all your fault!

Since the concept is used on several occasions, I would like to comment on what is meant by “salvation”, a term closely related to religious beliefs. The perspective I’ll take in this part is that of Shinto and Buddhism, the predominant and deeply connected religions of Japan.

In both cases, the most common path after death is reincarnation. In Shinto, the concept of salvation is based upon the belief that all living things have an essence, soul, or spirit known as kami. This lives among us rather than in Heaven or Hell. Buddhists believe in reincarnation after death, known as rebirth. Depending on the actions a person has done during their life (karma), they’re more or less likely to be reborn as a lower or higher being. If one has a multitude of good actions, one is likely to be reborn as a human.

In Buddhism, anyone who understands Buddha's teachings can attain salvation. This includes the understanding that since suffering is a part of life, one must find ways to overcome it. In this regard, I don’t consider that Takasugi has been “saved” in the more traditional sense of the word, quite the contrary. As referenced, the true way to find salvation isn’t to die to stop suffering, but to continue living despite it, as Gintoki has shown.

From now on

Sorachi explains he’s aware that the people who liked Takasugi aren’t as happy with how he ended up, and hints he knows the ending could’ve been better. This, coupled with the fact that he's been inactive for so long after Gintama ended (despite declaring his intentions to start another series) makes me think there might be more Gintama content in the future.

Could it be wishful thinking? Absolutely. But it’s true that Sorachi is interested in making money, and what better than to return to his star series with a question that interests many fans? Maybe it's something he didn't plan on doing. Do I take it? Without a second thought.

The next Gintama festival will take place on March 19, 2023. Perhaps nothing will happen. But hope is the last thing that dies. Being a successful franchise, I think it's very likely that in the near or distant future they’ll release more material showing what happened to Takasugi.

TL;DR: I think it would be more consistent with the character and the series for him to be resurrected, keeping his memories, possibly growth-accelerated by the altana until it finally fades from his body. This would allow him to keep a mortal body. But no one can say for sure what will happen.

[kaibascorpse]

some of you people are so obsessed with having an acceptable group to ‘punch up’ at that you would rather pretend a marginalized group are Basically The Oppressors™ than listen to their valid criticisms about the fact that ‘punching up’ very rarely hits the intended target, and the majority of the actual damage of that act is suffered by fellow marginalized people in your own community. there is a significant difference between venting frustrations about privileged groups and just outright attacking anyone who (you assume) experiences that axis of privilege regardless of - and in many cases outright denying - their actual lived experiences. it goes far beyond just ‘venting frustrations’ when what you’re really doing is trying to find a moral justification to bully people you don’t like, and when your own desire for catharsis and moral superiority leads to ignoring the voices of the vulnerable people you hurt. you’re not ‘punching up’ - you just like punching people for the sake of punching.

[uptownthots]

I think if you consider yourself someone who genuinely cares about dismantling bioessentalism and the speaking out about harm it does to society you HAVE to acknowledge that bioessentalism is one of the oldest tools in the patriarchy's toolbox and not something twentieth-century TERFs invented

[buggachat]

Sometimes I think about how Adrien, throughout the series, constantly grapples with his fear of abandonment. Gabriel conditioned him to believe that any love he receives is purely transactional, and that to earn affection he has to prove his utility. Adrien is constantly trying to prove his worth to his father for scraps of affection, and Chat Noir infamously crumbles on-screen any time he feels as though he is replaceable to Ladybug. It's a constant insecurity of his, like everyone will just dump him like a sack of potatoes the moment they find out how useless he is.

Meanwhile, all Marinette wants to is ensure that Adrien is happy. Because she loves him. She doesn't give two shits about how """useful""" he is. She holds him and tells him that she will never abandon him (both as Ladynoir and as Adrienette), and her fantasies are about saving him, not about him being "useful" to her. Throughout their relationship, Adrien is forced to disappoint Marinette constantly for reasons outside of his control (amok commands), and yet Marinette is still there for him.

At Adrien's lowest point, when he is forcibly torn away from everyone who had ever showed him genuine care, locked away in an all-white room and at his most "useless", right after disappointing Marinette and unable to even join the final battle or contribute in any way, she still saves him. She still loves him. Because he doesn't have to prove anything to her. Because he is loved and cherished for who he is, not for what he does, and that love is not conditional. Adrien's "happy ending" at the end of the first arc wasn't about him finally proving how useful he can be, because he never actually cared about being useful — he just saw it as the only means to feel loved and needed. Instead, in the end, he found out that he was loved and needed no matter what.

[hinamie]

so just know, I'm healing / even though it don't feel like it

insp

[the-tortured-fangirl-department]

Thinking about how Jason was the one to start the cycle breaking by defending Apollo

[yurtletheturtlehenderson]

these stupid shows won't let me rest

[uncanny-tranny]

Love disabled people who just lie about their disabilities to nosy, intrusive questions. Sorry, yeah, I lost my arm in the wash one day. It's funny how that happens! Oh, I got back pain from saving nineteen children from a burning fire department <3

[gorgynei]

barbie is not an "anti man" movie at all. it's so obvious to me that the kens were written like idiots not to call all men idiots (well... maybe a little) but instead to show how easy it is for someone to get taken advantage of. it's important to remember that while the barbies and kens are played by and written as adults, they function in the real world and overarching narrative as adolescents that don't know very much about the world.

reading ken as a young boy, he's initially nice to the girls around him (if insecure, lonely, and feeling pretty disrespected) but as soon as he steps into the real world, he sees all these men who feel very secure in their masculinity and self-assured, and he wants that for himself. he falls into the trap of the patriarchy much like a lot of young boys in real life fall into extremist right wing ideologies. but ken's insecurity never really goes away, it just gets covered with faux fur and headbands and country music. it's why he cries and admits to barbie that leading was hard. he never really wanted to hurt the barbies at all, he just wanted to feel confident and accepted by everyone, but especially barbie.

ken was never the problem by himself. he wasn't made into the world hating women. he was manipulated and turned into a misogynist by society.

[shalom-iamcominghome]

I've been doing a lot of reflection as of late, especially after this past class.

This past class was about the Torah and Tanakh in general, and the way the rabbi talked about the commandments (specifically the ten commandments) has made me really reflect on how I interpret them, specifically the fifth commandment, or honoring your mother and father.

This is a commandment I have wrestled with for a long time - in fact, it brought me away from g-d at multiple times. I was severely abused when I was incredibly young by my mother, and I used to feel insulted at the implication that I were to honor her while she got to live a better life. It was hypocritical, in my eyes.

But this rabbi surmised that this particular commandment was because parenthood is an act of creation, something that is like the g-d from which we come from. My realization is this: I don't think we're necessarily meant to take even these commandments literally.

I this particular commandment is more of a call to honor creation - creation is a gift, and like any gift, many people simply will not like it and will discard it. The person who abused me created me, but she did not honor creation. She didn't honor me, but I can still honor it.

I have started to honor creation much more. I'm too young, too unstable, not mature enough to be a father (though I fantasize about it), but I create all the time. I create relationships, I create with my hands through crochet. I create memories, I create my world. And I can honor who I am and where I came from that made me who I am. I've been learning one of the mother tongues of my family (Italian, since part of my family originates there) and it was judaism that inspired me to do this.

I don't think g-d wants me to honor my abuser. I think He wants me to remember the Holy action of creation. When I am a father, that act of creation will be Holy, and indeed, I am already joyful about the thought.

I have seen many people struggle with this particular commandment, but I think this perspective helps me personally. I don't think I ever have to forgive my abusers (plural), and I don't think I am commanded to simply because they happened to be family. I am commanded to recognize the holy, to elevate the mundane. In doing so, I will remember g-d. Through creation, I honor g-d and everything he has done for us, for me, and for our collective people.

[thoughtlessthinkythoughts]

Thought I may expand on later: When we joke about Gwen being a Bouchard, we need to remember that this doesn’t actually connect her with Jonah.

It connects her with the posh pothead idiot that was og!Elias.

Which I actually think is relevant. Because what we know about Elias’ upbringing was that he was specifically raised to believe he’s better than everyone else while also being raised in a cold, disapproving environment where he had to live with the constant fear of being a disappointment. Better than everyone else AND never good enough. And I’m pretty sure Gwen is the result of having a radically different reaction to that kind of upbringing.

[joshuamj]

In Stars And Time? More like In Ace And Gender

+ some alts

[helimir]

Some top tier Caduceus quotes I've been thinking about in these Downfall times. Something about how so much of Ludinus' position seems to rest on revenge. Showing Bells Hells the squabbling of the gods as they debate what to do about Aeor, and asking 'You can just watch bad people get away with it?'

It doesn't matter if the gods were wrong for their choices. Killing them won't bring back Aeor and it won't stop the violence that Ludinus and the Ruby Vanguard have visited on the world. I just don't see what it's for.

[contagious-watermelon]

i think part of the reason that aromantic awareness is lagging so far behind that of asexuality is that romance is viewed as straight-up ubiquitous, whereas sexuality is thought of as a choice people make. (e.g. purity culture & making the choice Not to have sex; dating as a given while hooking up is notable)

hence, asexuality may be misconstrued as synonymous with celibacy, but aromanticism isn't (can't be) construed as anything because nobody can conceptualize its existence at all. a fish doesnt even know it's wet...

[valtsv]

Posts spreading awareness about Palestine are more important than being scared to reblog terfs.

i think it's entirely possible to spread awareness and also want to avoid platforming terfs. those things aren't mutually exclusive.

[anoant-haikyuu-dump]

Ukai doodle with the chunky brush