#Ayano Otose Terada

[sankatsuka]

Otose, Jirochou and Tatsugorou: Microcosms in Gintama

Back to being delusional and crazy about Takagin... I've always noticed some similarities between Jirochou and Takasugi, but because the narrative kept comparing Tatsugorou and Jirochou to Gintoki (+ the white hair), it was hard to decide what to make of it...

But now I would go on to say The Four Devas arc feels like a microcosm of Shogun Assassination arc. Otose, Jirochou and Tatsugorou could very well be a microcosm to the entire Gintama. I think there's a lot to say about Gintoki and Takasugi's characters based on this.

Warning for spoilers and romantically implied Takagin/Gintaka.

Edit: Added another microcosm I found. Marked *.

I don't even feel like this needs to be explained, but Jirochou and Takasugi have pretty much the same gruff, constipated, distant personalities, except of course Jirochou came from a better family. Not to forget the heights and the similar choices of kimonos. The narrative never makes any points on how similar Takasugi is to several characters, but it definitely is there. Especially if Gintoki often picks a fight with them (looking at you Hijikata and Umibouzu). But I think Jirochou is the biggest culprit for being most similar to Takasugi, often having the same intense sequences with Gintoki.

There are two big similarities in the setting and events of The Four Devas arc and Shogun Assassination arc -

Both involve an attempt at overthrowing the authority;

One takes place in Kabukichou, and the other in the entire Edo.

Whether its coincidence or not, the cast that appear in The Four Devas arc and Shogun Assassination arc don't appear in the other (aside from Yorozuya, of course). If you can believe this was intended as a microcosm, then this means Otose, Jirochou and Tatsugorou have big roles to play in Gintama's overall narative.

So if Jirochou's personality heavily references Takasugi, who represents Gintoki? Or is there a third character to represent Otose?

Nope, my take is that Gintoki represents BOTH Otose and Tatsugorou. The narrative clearly points out the parallels between Tatsugorou and Gintoki, but the ones with Otose are never said. In fact, Gintoki has many similarities to women but the narrative never points it out (aside from Tsukuyo, but even then Gintoki belittles himself compared to her). It's probably because it's weird to compare a good-for-nothing guy to a woman in the first place.

But it wouldn't be weird if Gintoki was meant to represent a son to Otose and Tatsugorou, considering how they never had a child and Otose took him in. In a way, you could say he has a half of Otose and a half of Tatsugorou--

Gintoki has also coincidentally had two occasions where he is associated with halves. The first is in the Soul Switch arc, where the soul in the cat corpse Dozaemon with half of Gintoki's soul embodies the losses Gintoki suffered. The second is in Takasugi's death, where for some reason, he says he wished he could have shared a drink with him, even if it was half the number of times they fought.

These halves can be traced back to Otose and Tatsugorou. Dozaemon was highly characterized by wanting a place to belong and found it in Tae, which very much resembles Tatsugorou who is heavily implied to long for a place as a lone wolf and found it in Otose.

Then, Gintoki's words to Takasugi about sharing a drink seems very much like why Otose opened her snack bar in the first place - so anyone, no matter how different, can have a drink together. Maybe it's coincidence, but if Gintoki chose to say half + sharing a drink, then this could be one half of him speaking (Otose).

Another implication of Otose's half in Gintoki is in the amnesia arc. If it took away all memories, including the bad ones, from Gintoki, then what was left was just his soul as it is. He acts surprisingly more polite and empathetic compared to his usual self that even Tae is captivated. He also naturally cares about everyone's feelings around him, apologizes a lot and chooses to leave Yorozuya so as to not burden Shinpachi and Kagura any longer. Gintoki's base soul has always been someone who cares deeply about people, which we see demonstrated in his own way in the rest of the series.

Tatsugorou's traits in Gintoki are obviously that he's a lone wolf who gets along with everyone, but never gets too close and keeps his past a mystery. Otose's traits in Gintoki are how he easily acts like her proxy, always bringing people together. There is that huge parallel of how the entire Kabukichou came together to protect Otose and the city and to fulfil Gintoki's wish in the end. I would simplify their traits in Gintoki as wanting a place to belong (Tatsugorou) and sharing a kindred spirit (Otose). It's probably why the Gintoki in Hijikata's body isn't so different from the usual - because the soul and some memories that defined it were still there.

There is the argument that Tatsugorou would act like Gintoki without his memories, of course. But Jirochou describes Tatsugorou as chivalrous rather than an idiot who would protect everyone like Gintoki. So I'm inclined to think that Tatsugorou doesn't have the unconditional loving side for everyone that Otose has and acts mostly on his justice. He does get into physical fights for no reason.

Now that I have established Otose, Jirochou and Tatsugorou's traits in Gintoki and Takasugi, the events in their past and the Four Deva arcs has more to say about their characters:

Tatsugorou dying because of Jirochou, and Jirochou making a promise to protect Otose and Kabukichou | Takasugi making Gintoki promise to protect Shouyou, who breaks it and kills Shouyou to protect both

I know, the most obvious parallel is how Tatsugorou died in Jirochou's arms. But I'm taking a more psychoanalytical approach as always, as this event became what changed Jirochou immensely. I would think that Shouyou's death would be the parallel to this, given how it changed Takasugi.

Jirochou and Takasugi (partly) letting their guards down was what caused these tragic events to happen. Jirochou distances himself from Kabukichou and lives out the guilt of having let Tatsugorou die for someone like him, and Takasugi lived on suffering the guilt of having made Gintoki bear the cross of killing Shouyou. Both even feel like they were the ones who killed Tatsugorou and Shouyou.

Not to mention how Takasugi literally threw away his humanity in the Silver Soul arc to protect his teacher, just like Jirochou metaphorically doing so to protect Kabukichou. And Pirako comments how Jirochou really couldn't care less about the city and only did so for one woman. This is the same mindset Takasugi openly fights with in the war, fighting only for Shouyou, but later that reason reveals itself to be Gintoki.

Both Jirochou and Takasugi threw away their humanities to make it up to the man they admired who died protecting them (Tatsugorou and Shouyou), and make the person they love happy through that (Otose and Gintoki).

I would even go as far as saying the Tatsugorou half of Gintoki died alongside Shouyou at that time. There is the symbolism of how all three students created their graves. After all, Gintoki lost his home, something Tatsugorou always wanted for himself. He started wandering around afterwards, distancing himself from people but still protecting them. Even being willing to give up his life for strangers, like Otose sacrificing herself for everyone.

It's as if during this period, he closed the part of him who wanted a place to belong entirely but not the rest of it. He did say he no longer wanted to carry the burden of belonging somewhere with something important--

As he expresses it openly to Kamui 500+ chapters later, he had tried to live on empty and not let people in anymore to protect himself. But when he met Otose behind Tatsugorou's grave only did Tatsugorou's half start to come back alive, fighting once again to belong somewhere.

Gintoki does after all promise to stay somewhere to protect someone, despite having avoided belonging anywhere until now.

Jirochou attempting to kill Otose for his plans of protecting Kabukichou | Takasugi fighting to kill Gintoki to go through with his plans of toppling the Bakufu

Another big similarity here is how both Jirochou and Takasugi are willing to kill someone they love for the apparent greater good. Jirochou critically injured Otose, and Otose was at great risk of dying.

This emphasizes how Jirochou and Takasugi always play the roles of villainous anti-heroes. We learn in the Liberation Army arc that what Takasugi was trying to do was play hero and make a miracle to avenge the dead, even though it was impossible.

Something I also have to talk about is the romantic feelings that this trio captures. Jirochou's feelings for Otose seem to have come about from the way she loved everyone equally, even never giving up on straightening Jirochou up no matter how much he misbehaved.

As I discussed in previous posts, Takasugi's romantic feelings for Gintoki seem to stem from a similar place of unconditional love. It makes me think that gruff guys ware drawn to gentler, unconditional people who can see through their facade, contrast them and express their love for people when they themselves can't. Someone who wouldn't give up on them.

Even Gintoki being the one to keep getting back up to stop Takasugi on his rampage, like Otose had done with Jirochou.

With how the story teases Otose with Jirochou too, I'm inclined to believe that Otose did harbour some romantic feelings for him. But she was more attracted to Tatsugorou, who shared her values of being present with people, unlike Jirochou who distances himself all the time. There is a scene where Otose notes how Jirochou and Tatsugorou communicate with their fists, and she looks from far away as if it isn't a world she is part of. A way to see this, could be that if Otose understood Jirochou better, she may have fallen in love with him first.

Whereas Gintoki already knows how important it is to communicate with your fists, that it's what he uses to wake Takasugi up in the end. The chapter even being titled Fists.

This is what makes both Otose and Tatsugorou's halves in Gintoki important. Without Tatsugorou's traits, Gintoki would have never been able to see eye-to-eye with Takasugi. Gintoki probably knew Takasugi better than Otose knew Jirochou because of this too, which is a recurring theme in the story of how they can just tell each other's thoughts. And without Otose's trait of loving people and never giving up on them, Takasugi would have never found a place and fell in love with Gintoki.

And in Takasugi's final moments, if Gintoki was speaking with the half of him who is Otose - then it could mean that part of him fully reciprocated Takasugi's feelings.

Takasugi plays strong roles to both halves - he was the one who encouraged Gintoki to just do what he wanted honestly and with all his heart at the start (here, just a theory though), and he was the one who fought to his death for his sake fully committing Gintoki's place within Takasugi's soul in the end. It's just that only one half of him could be honest, but it doesn't mean the other didn't love him either.

In the end, Jirochou's conclusion is to properly return to his life, to stop being bound to a promise and pay attention to what really matters now in the present. This is similar to Takasugi's conclusion in the Liberation Army arc: to live life as just a human and to face and accept everything that's happened.

The ending of the Four Deva arcs involve Jirochou reuniting with Pirako, and so does Takasugi's ending reuniting with Matako.

*(Another strong microcosm is in the Invasion arc: Jirocho made his entrance with a speech about the role of men in Kabukichou - how they become cowards when they can't protect one woman, so with that title, they will keep roaring about their chivalry till their death. And this is exactly what Takasugi does both as a terrorist and at his death, playing hero and never divulging the real reason why. Sadly I can't add anymore photos - this speech is in Chapter 622.)

I did talk about Tae being drawn to instances where both halves were showing. I personally think the reason Gintoki and Tae aren't together is because of how they are too similar as people, both being a combination of Otose and Tatsugorou instead of one. Both of them are kind caring people but also terribly cunning, that it isn't an exaggeration to say Tae IS the female Gintoki and vice versa. It's even emphasized in how they coincidentally have many similar character traits (having stalkers and chibi rich kid one-eyed simps, being a useless woman and man). Even the teasing of how Tae seems to return the feelings of many people like Gintoki.

As halves, I do think they would have been together. But as wholes, they probably understand each other better than anyone that they want to care about everyone (hence why they aren't together).

They can only really be with someone who is happy with them just the way they are. Even Kyubei being happy just seeing Tae smile, even if it could be taken in a romantic context of reciprocating Kondo's feelings. Kyutae was heavily implied to be mutual and canon if Kyubei was a man (grrrr). Takagin feels mutual but just won't happen even if Takasugi was alive because of their clashing natures.

Yup, I'm pretty much convinced Takasugi->Gintoki was 100% implied romantic at this point. Pirako commenting how Jirochou was doing all of this for the woman he loved and didn't care about the town, Takasugi having parallels to almost every man canonically in love...

Takasugi saying he can just a bit honest about doing what he wants to do and not entirely. This motherfucker.

(Gin-san is my honest reaction to him.)

#gintama #takasugi shinsuke #shinsuke takasugi #sakata gintoki #gintoki sakata #jirochou doromizu #doromizu jirochou #tatsugorou terada #terada tatsugorou #otose #ayano terada #terada ayano #takagin #gintaka

[gintamawithoutcontext]

#gintama #otose #sakata gintoki #Terada Ayano #anime

[lordichamo]

the return of the icons.....

[Round 1 - Shinsengumi  +Yorozuya ]

[Round 2 - Joui + Mimawarigumi + Kintoki&Tama]

[Round 3 - Diamond Perfume]

[Round 4 - Joui-adjacent (Kamui, Mutsu, Bansai, Matako)]

#gintama #matsudaira katakuriko #terada ayano #otose #abuto yato #taizou hasegawa #catherine gintama #.... really starting to understand the dedicated 'smokers' category on the wiki

[sebfreak]

They met when he was at the bottom. He only ate her food but promised to protect her while she´s still alive. 

#gintama #sakata gintoki #otose #terada ayano #sebfreaks upload #does she see him as her own son? #maybe #we can discuss about it #but we can all agree that their connection is special

[found-family-tournament]

Found Family Tournament Round 1 Part 30 Group 148

Propaganda and further images under the cut

Yorozuya: Kagura, Sadaharu, Sakata Gintoki, Shimura Shinpachi, Terada Ayano/Otose, Tama, Catherine

Lonely Souls: Paloma Josse, Renée Michel

Submissions are now closed!

Yorozuya:

They are the most random found family ever. One is a traumatized war veteran who is now an alcoholic with a business that will do anything you ask for, one is an alien girl from a clan of murderous killers mercenaries that love fighting and who refuses to be the same as the rest of her clan, next one is a dog that is a god, then a thief that was famous thought the whole universe that got caught stealing from the rest of found family and then joined them after they've been kind to her, next a granny who is in charge of a snack bar and who is one of the leaders of the whole city district, one more a robot girl and last one is just a normal average guy. They love each other so much, they help each other every single time they have problems, they save each other lives on constant basics and bicker constantly while they live with each other. Gintoki literally describes Shimpachi and Kagura as the ones who gave his life new meaning, Kagura calls Gintoki her brother in her conversation with her biological brother and sometimes thinks of him as dad. Shimpachi refers to Gintoki multiple times as his brother and even though Gintoki likes teasing him, he has unshaken faith in him. Sadaharu is just a very good doggo that they all love very much and who they treat as part of their family. Otose literally took them all in and she picked up Gintoki when he was at his lowest point and literally strawing to death in the cold. Catherine was thief who wanted to steal from them but got found-familied by Otose and now is working for her and is like a daughter to her, which is even openly stated in the show itself. And Tama is a robot that was saved by Gintoki, Shimpachi and Kagura and who earned what emotions are and who also works under Otose. Otose is like a mother to all of them! Grumpy, sarcastic, gruff mother slash grandma! They constantly bicker with each other, they fight and insult each other but they would go to hell and back for each other. I JUST LOVE THEM SO MUCH!!

Lonely Souls:

Paloma's neglected by her family and feels lonely and misunderstood until she meets with Renee, the guardian of the pricey building Paloma's family lives in, who feels just as lonely. They share various interests and give the other the will to live their life instead of suffering it

#tumblr polls #poll #polls #tournament poll #found family #found family tournament 2023 #tumblr tournament #tournament #Gintama #Yorozuya #Kagura #Sadaharu #Sakata Gintoki #Shimura Shinpachi #Terada Ayano #Otose #Tama #Catherine #The Elegance of the Hedgehog #The Lonely Souls #Paloma Josse #Renée Michel

[indianabananabanango]

Gintama Volumes 3-6

#gintama #gintama manga #kagura #gintama kagura #shimura tae #shimura otae #otose #katsura kotarou #katsura kotaro #kotaro katsura #terada ayano

[gintokisimp]

Jirocho x Otose

#gintama #doromizu jirochou #jirocho #otose #terada ayano #jirocho x otose

[teatitty]

Otose seeing Catherine and Tama as if they were her own daughters always fucking gets me man and everytime there's an episode with Otose as the centre it's like "well here's your reminder that she's everyone's mum/grandmother and knows it" she's the real best lady of the series

#gintama #otose #terada ayano

[suchine-toki]

Living creature: Exists.

Otose: Looks like you need someone to adopt you.

#Gintama #Otose #Terada Ayano #It's all fun and games until you remember she lost her husband young #She probably wanted to have children but never could #cuz she didn't want to marry someone else :( #I can talk #my post

[ougi000]

#Sakata Gintoki and Terada Ayano (Otose) #Otose #Gintoki #Gintama #Fucking Gorilla #Goat #Masterpiece

[tae-shimura-is-my-wife]

Jirocho and Otose started smoking after Tatsugorou died...

#otose #ayano terada #jirocho #tatsugorou #tatsugoro #how i didn't perceived it before? #it cannot be a coincidence #and the fact jirocho uses the same kiseru as tatsugoro #this is kinda melancholic...

[craftydragonperson]

Happy Birthday Terada Ayano Otose 🚬

#gintama #sakata gintoki #sorachi hideaki #Tama #Catherine #hideaki sorachi #terada tatsugarou #doromizu jirochou #otose

[gintamawithoutcontext]

#sakata gintoki #gintama #otose #Terada Ayano #anime

[cave35]

Kujira  World God Only Knows Season Two (TV) as Dokurō Skull Osomatsu-san (TV ) as Matsuyo Matsuno Naruto (TV) as Orochimaru Gintama (TV) as Ayano "Otose" Terada

See more at ANN

#Wakako Matsumoto #Kujira #World God Only Knows Season Two #Dokurō Skull #Osomatsu-san #Matsuyo Matsuno #Naruto #Orochimaru #Gintama #Otose #Ayano Otose Terada #Seiyū

[ukaiknowsbest]

Maybe you can write an analysis about Gintoki's narrative identity next? Especially concerning his constant failure in trying to save his loved ones

Sure thing anon!

I don't know if others have noticed but

Gintoki has a specific history in not being able to save people he loves at some point.

here's the rubric:

he knows what's going to happen

person he loves were in the middle of trying to protect/cherish him(and friends)

he tries to get to them (keyword: TRY)

he fails

person seem to die / on the verge of death / look dead / sure death

person is alive at the end coz someone saved them or they weren't hurt in vital organs.

Don't believe me?

look at this:

CASE 1: ALL RUBRICS ABOVE APPLY

Kagura (Umibozu)

Otose (4 Devas)

Tama (Kintama)

Otae (Silver Soul - Siege of Kabukichou)

this is a Yorozuya / Shimura siblings moment but Gintoki was the first one running up the stairs and jumping to save her.

this pov is where gintoki should be located. Yorozuya failed together.

Sadaharu (Silver Soul - vs Utsuro climax)

Sadaharu kicked him away before being gobbled up by the blast. Kagura was the first one who tried to reach out for Sadaharu too. Yorozuya failed together.

CASE 2:

GINTOKI IS THE ONE WHO KILLS THE LOVED ONE- Yoshida Shoyo and Takasugi Shinsuke

Shoyo (prelude to the series, revealed in Shogun Assassination Arc)

Takasugi (Final)

these two are interesting

in both cases some of the rubric has changed:

he knows what's going to happen / what should happen

person he loves were in the middle of trying to protect/cherish him(and friends)

he gets to them and kills them himself to protect their soul and grant their wish of dying by his hands/ in his arms.

person he loves dies

person is reincarnated

CASE STUDY 3: BE FOREVER YOROZUYA ALTERNATE ENDING

THE ONE WHERE HE SUCCEEDS IN KILLING HIMSELF

THE ONE HE TRIES TO SAVE ACTUALLY DIES - Tae Shimura

Same timeline Gintoki fails to save Otae (and everyone)... like he truly fails. He couldn't find an in-timeline solution. He gives up and keeps trying to kill himself. He sends for his past self to travel to the future to kill himself. It still results in Otae being dead-DEAD in the timeline.

THE RUBRICS:

In-timeline gintoki

he knows what's going to happen

person he loves were in the middle of trying to protect/cherish him(and friends)

he doesn't try to get to them because he runs away, decides to kill himself to protect his loved ones from himself

he still fails to save anyone

person dies

he succeeds in killing himself and also dies

What makes this case different? It's coz he gave up and decided to end it all...by himself...all alone...with himself.

....

Ya know this got me thinking.

Gintoki committed seppuku in Kintama Arc but Shinpachi, Otae and Kagura were beside him, so they lived again and restored the timeline.

Gintoki would have died in Beam Saber if Shinpachi, Otae and Kagura hadn't run after him and assisted him and prevented him from dying.

In all the scenarios in case 1 and 2 above, nobody really truly died forever coz gintoki was beside them when they (almost)died..and they all got to have a 2nd chance at life.

Otae's true death in BFY is the only one where he wasn't located nearby/beside his loved one.

huh.

CONCLUSION

In order for his loved one to be saved Gintoki has to be beside them when they die/almost die. In order for Gintoki to be saved from true death, his loved ones need to be beside him too.

#gintama #sakata gintoki #gintoki sakata #gintama thoughts #yorozuya #takasugi shinsuke #yoshida shoyo #terada ayano #otose #tama #shimura tae #sadaharu #on another note shinpachis plot armor is hella strong #benefits of a tsukkomi i guess

[vordark]

"Oi! Gintoki, what the hell happened to you?!!!"

He finally tamed the mountain-gorilla, ma'am.

P/s: I blame @forgloryforhonor for this sketch.

#gintoki sakata #gintama #gintae #tae shimura #gintae art #otose #terada ayano