The manga has been licensed by
Viz Media in North America. In addition to publishing the individual volumes of the series, Viz serialized its first chapters in their
Shonen Jump manga anthology. It debuted in the January 2007 issue, and was serialized at a rate of one chapter a month. An
original video animation (OVA) of
Gin Tama by
Sunrise was featured at
Jump Festa2006 Anime Tour in 2005. This was followed by a full
anime series, which debuted on April 4, 2006 in
TV Tokyo and finished on March 25, 2010. A sequel titled
Gintama' premiered in Japan on April 4 2011. An animated film premiered in Japan in April 2010. The website
Crunchyroll is streaming the series on its site, while Sentai Filmworks licensed the series, with distribution from
Section23 Films on DVDs. Besides the anime series, there have been various
light novelsand
video games based on
Gin Tama.
In Japan, the
Gin Tama manga has been popular, selling over 29 millon volumes as of December 2009. The anime and its DVDs have been featured, at various time, in Top Ten of their respective media, while TV Tokyo has announced that the first
Gin Tama anime was responsible for high sales overseas along with the anime adaptation from
Naruto. Publications for manga, anime and others have commented on the
Gin Tama manga. Positive response have focused on the comedy and characters from the series, while negative responses concern the manga's artwork.
Plot
The story of
Gin Tama takes place in
Edo (known today as Tokyo because of its name change in 1868), Japan, which was conquered by aliens called Amanto in the late
Edo period. The
samurai of Japan fought the aliens, but after their defeat the Amanto placed a ban on carrying swords in public. The plot is focused on an eccentric
samurai,
Gintoki Sakata who helps a teenager named
Shinpachi Shimura save his sister
Tae from a group of aliens who want to make her part of a
brothel. Impressed with Gintoki, Shinpachi becomes his apprentice and works with him as a
freelancer in order to pay the monthly rent where Gintoki lives, as well as to know more about him. The two of them rescue a teenage alien girl named
Kagura from a group of
Yakuzawho wanted to use her
superhuman strength to kill people. Kagura joins Shinpachi and Gintoki to work as freelancers and the three become known as "Yorozuya". While doing their job they encounter the police force
Shinsengumi several times, who normally ally with Odd Jobs Gin in their work since they commonly involve dangerous criminals. They also come to meet Gintoki's former comrades during the Amanto's invasion, including the terrorist
Kotaro Katsura who maintains a friendly relationship with them despite his ambitions to destroy the
bakufu. On the other hand,
Shinsuke Takasugi acts as a major antagonist throughout the series, as he wants to destroy the bakufu in a more violent way than Katsura does.
Although the series' story is commonly
episodic, there are also a few
story arcs which are developed through several chapters.