Shinpachi: character questions
Character questions meme returns! Questions can be seen here.
From @gintokixparfait over on Twitter, I got Shinpachi, Otae, and Katsura! I But I'm going to put them into different posts this time around. So Otae and Zura for later, and for now, our favourite Tsukkomi Glasses!♥
There will be SPOILERS below, some of which goes all the way to some of the final final chapters!
favourite thing about him
While Shinpachi is indisputably the BEST TSUKKOMI EVER, he is also very earnest, and now I will be earnest as well and say that it's his big and sleeve-worn heart that's my favourite thing. He cares so easily for other people's plights and wants to help them. It's part of what makes him so indispensable to the Odd Jobs and to the whole series.
least favourite thing about him
I'm racking my brain but have a hard time thinking of anything. He can be a bit stodgy when it comes to conventional thinking about sex and relationships, I suppose?
ETA: Thought of one more! He gets bit OTT jealous/protective over his sister. It's mutual, though, and I don't really mind too much.
favourite line
I'll just pick the one that occurs to me first, which is: "When a samurai decides to protect something, he protects it to the very end!"
Also this: "What would I do? if someone dear to me from the very bottom of my heart became an enemy to the world, would I fight to protect the world? Or would I believe in them, even if it turned the whole world against me? I don’t know. But there’s one thing I do know I’d want. I'd want to see them again."
And his words to Shôyô thanking him for Gintoki in chapter 703. I'm not looking up the words verbatim because I don't want to start crying.)
brOTP
With Kagura and with Gintoki, separately and together. Also his friendship with Yamazaki. And he has a good rapport both with Hijikata (tsukkomi brothers!) and, in more serious actiony moments, with Kondo.
OTP
I don't have any one clear character to ship him with. Shinpachi might be the character in the core cast I find most likely to be straight, but I can't actually think of any recurring female character I think would suit him and vice versa. (The fact that Kirara never appears or is mentioned again after her arc strongly implies their touching but awkward affair was likely a brief one.) In terms of personality I actually feel that Yamazaki's the best choice for him, though there's a considerable age gap there. Still, they seem so much on the same wavelength and not too apart in maturity that a few years into the future I think it could work...
nOTP
With Kagura and with Gintoki. (As usual there's plenty of other ships that aren't my thing but which I don't have a very strong dislike towards. Or which I've never seen in the wild, so they're just hypothetical.)
random headcanon
1. Throughout canon, he trains in the dojo at least an hour every day.
2. After he finally picks up a steady girlfriend or boyfriend, they will date for eight years before tying the knot.
unpopular opinion
1. The merchandising teams treat him abominably! Less Kamui and Sôgo, more Shinpachi!!
2. I wish he'd kept his timeskip outfit in the final arc instead of going back to his old one when he and Kagura start to run towards the space terminal.
3. Don't know if this is unpopular, more like a Random Shinpachi Opinion: I think it's easy to miss that he's seldom actually shown as unwilling to jump into the fray of real combat, and that he's trained in swordsmanship since he's a child. We did see him tremble momentarily in the Benizakura arc, the first time he fought with a real sword. But most of the time he shows plenty of resolve and while I know nothing of sword-fighting, I feel it's implied he's got good fundamentals. He's not a warrior prodigy, but he's steady and determined and courageous, and while it might take him some arcs to truly act on his own initiative, he's ready to do his part in fights he believes in from very early on. I actually like that he doesn't need any training arcs to motivate his increasing combat skills through canon: it just happens slowly through getting more fighting experience.
song i associate with him
None.
favourite picture of him
Manga 1 (even if Gin is in it too), manga 2; fan-coloured manga; and manga cover art (Shinpachi as Harry Potter!).
Fanart 1, fanart 2, fanart 3.
Anime screenshot
Anime gifs:
Anime gif 1, anime gif 2, anime gif 3, anime gif 4, anime gif 5, and anime gif 6.
Official art (with Gintoki).
Previous character questions: Tsukuyo, Yamazaki, Kamui; Sakamoto, Kagura and Gintoki; Oboro, Isaburo and Takasugi; Bansai.
