#hijikata focused because hes (or tosshi is) the one talking instead of shinpachi. and also. ahem. gestures vaguely at icon

[epicdogymoment]

thinking about it. otsuu arc finale is weird. tosshi (established as being an actual part of hijikata, not completely constructed from muramasha) talking about wanting to completely lose himself in one task, fight with everything he had alongside his friends. which makes sense except for the fact that it doesnt really make sense. because (1) we already KNOW that hijikata does these things. as seen from his "keep working at it until you pass out/are physically unable to continue" approach (yagyuu arc). unless its more about the "fighting alongside friends" which WOULD make sense in the context of this being a followup to shinsengumi crisis arc or even as a development from mitsuba arc (he seeks out help rather than trying to push people away for the sake of protecting them) except that part isnt actually focused on (kondou and gintoki both yell at them to keep fighting until the end for the sake of...). unless its more about the "it doesnt matter if you win or lose" thing that kondou yells except (1). so maybe its about letting go of his shame and fully giving it his all WHILE being a boke/being a loser. EXCEPT in the end he doesnt lose (tosshi dies) AND he doesnt actually let go of his shame (remains primarily a tsukkomi character afterwards, literally acts embarrassed about the events of the arc in timeskip arc)

#leologisms #gintama #extremely messy. i love parentheses. unfortunately #also. i forgot to actually post my thoughts about the boke/tsukkomi dynamic and how it relates to shame. oh well #hijikata focused because hes (or tosshi is) the one talking instead of shinpachi. and also. ahem. gestures vaguely at icon #anyway. convince me otherwise. i do actually remember feeling weird about the finale when i first watched the anime in. oh god was that #summer 2021 or 2022. just checked. it was 2021.