#otae notes

[forgloryforhonor]

292 His outstretched fingertips could not reach the edge of the cliff, and they pointlessly carved away the cross section of the passage. He could hear Kondo and the others screaming from a distance that was beyond his reach with his hands or feet. * Kagura used her umbrella to shoot down the pieces of rubble falling from above. Shoyo's hands were covered in scaly crystals, and they had hardened up to his wrists.

As the Earth's Altana loses its strength, it becomes even more violent, trying to overwhelm him. As he pushes it back with all his might, Shoyo's crystallization spreads up to his elbow, and his skin begins to break with a sound. Shinpachi, who is supporting him from behind, gasps as his body peels away.

293 …Despite that, Shouyou was smiling.

It was a little too weak to be called a smile -- a faint smile.

*

Just before Gintoki fell into the abyss, someone grabbed his outstretched arm.

It was strange that they were guarding the control room.

She had slid headfirst into the cliff, and was now lying on her stomach on the collapsed passage,

supporting Gintoki with one hand.

"Uh

Uh

Uh

Uh

Uh

Uh

Uh..."

Putting strength into the hand that was on the floor, she slowly pulled Gintoki up.

He arched his body so that he was falling backwards --

The next moment, Myo threw him like a Tomoe throw, toward the control room behind him.

"Go ahead!"

[ukaiknowsbest]

Otae and Kanzashi

hello fellow Otae enthusiasts I'm back to talk about traditional japanese hairpins that were popular in the Edo Period!

Journey with me as we watch the hair ornaments that Otae used in the course of Gintama!

In Lesson 1 we meet her wearing a flower kanzashi. It looks like a hard resin or metal type. She then sports Shimada hairstyle when she tried to start working in the skybar. Hence we see her use fancier types of kanzashi.

In Lesson 8 Stalker arc we see her start using the ball type or tama kanzashi!

She wears the hard resin flower kanzashi once again in L28 then proceeds to wear tamakanzashi more often!

Now we cannot see her wear kanzashi anymore starting from L83 up to Lesson 371. Therefore we cannot see any kanzashi in Benizakura, Yagyuu, Ryugujou, Conveyor Sushi, Kyuubei party, Character Poll, Kabukichou 4 Devas, Jugem, Ski Resort arc, etc.

The kanzashi comes back in Kintama arc when Otae and the cabaret girls distribute flyers.

The lack of kanzashi on otae in more than 200 chapters may be attributed to the change in editors, or maybe they just forgot. We are glad that they come back after Kintama arc!

Anyhow you have to notice that Otae wears flower type kanzashi only when she's at the cabaret club or when she is with a group.

Otae continues to wear tamakanzashi of presumably different colors. She even wears a silver one in L437 color spread.

I like to think that Otae wearing the flower and bira-bira hairpins in L460 was just the result of Kondou's fever dream. (sorry kondou)

In L445 of HDZ Idol arc, Otae wears a flower (cloth) kanzashi together with the rest of Diamond Perfume. I told ya'll she wears the cloth flower kanzashis when she's with a group.

She also wears a lovely flower kanzashi at the cabaret club drama in Farewell Shinsengumi Arc. She wears tamakanzashi in the rest of the last arcs.

Tama Kanzashi is one of the most popular and common type of hairpin. You see them on the cabaret girls and random passersbys on the street. Sarutobi wore one when she was about to jump from a buildng while wearing a shimada hairstyle wig too.

Otae isn't the only one who wears ball type accessories though! Here are the characters who regularly sports some sort of tama/ball on their person!

If ya'll notice the ones who always have some sort of "ball" / "tama" on them are the closest to the Yorozuya or an actual part of the Yorozuya:

Kagura, Otae, Madame Otose, Tama and Terakado Tsu!

just by accessories we can tell who is family and who isn't! it's quite neat!

Otae had regularly worn tamakanzashi from the her first request to the Yorozuya (stalker arc) to the Last Chapter. It's quite fascinating!

[forgloryforhonor]

NOTES ON GINTAE PARALLELS

Lesson 1 vs Lesson 122

visual parallels:

same position in time-space: Otae in foreground, Gintoki in background

reversed directions: Otae walking away (L1), Gintoki walking away (L2)

in both panels the eyes of the one who is wallking away isn’t shown

Both scenes depict Otae and Gintoki fighting for what they want to protect (otae-her father’s wishes L1, gintoki-otae’s and shinpachi’s happiness L122)

The cool thing is that this was that L1 gintoki’s first glimpse of the kind of person that Otae was. I like that even though it seemed that he was not going to interfere in the Shimura Siblings ‘problem, he was actually the one who encouraged Shinpachi to get his sister back. He offered his help  too.

We later find out in SA arc that Gintoki also shares the same life principle as her of protecting what their parental figures believed in. So in hindsight, both Gintoki and Otae were the same. 

I will not be surprised if Otae’s parting words to Shinpachi reminded him of himself.

Lesson 1 vs Lesson 520

OTAE, L1

GINTOKI, 520

L112 vs L284

In Yagyuu Arc, that was when Gintoki did take part in something that should not have been his problem. He had no business infiltrating that marriage engagement.

We know that from his and Kagura’s discussion when they were alone in the office. Gintoki was ready to barge into the Yagyuu mansion regardless of whether Shinpachi aimed to get his sister back There was no initial request, no prompt. That was Gintoki initially going out there for personal reasons (which is quite rare even for him).

It was then revealed in Diviner / Shikigami / Ketsuno Ana arc that he actually has a weakness for woman’s tears. So yeah now we know why he went that far in yagyuu arc.

.

YOROZUYA AS WISH GRANTER / WISH SHOP

Anyway. This was fun. I could make this post hella more shippy though. It wouldn’t be farfetched to say that he might’ve been a little intrigued by her from the very start. Shinpachi’s tears and sentiments (in both occassions) helped add the fuel to that fire and gave Gintoki a reason he could verbalize without having to actually admit that he was gonna do it for her, the interesting woman who was surprisingly so very much like and unlike him in so many aspects.

By treating Shinpachi as the “requester,” he can move and grant “Shinpachi’s wish” as the Yorozuya.

Now I already said before that I grew up with CLAMP, specifically, xxxHolic. Yuuko Ichihara runs a wish granting shop herself. Now she has her own wishes but she cannot move on her own without having someone make a “wish.” It’s all very transaction-based. What she does is move her “pieces” (magic and items) using the wishes of the characters. Despite her immense power, her jurisdiction is limited to the specific wish and what it entails. There are instances in xxxHolic where she intstructs the characters what wish to request so that she could move accordingly.

And yknow Gintoki reminds me sooo much of her, especially when Shinpachi and Otae is involved. That was absolutely entertaining to watch ngl.

[forgloryforhonor]

301 Gintoki looked up at the sky as the sun was setting. He just stared blankly without wiping his dust-covered face. "-- Gintoki" Suddenly, he thought he heard Shoyo's voice. He looked to his left where he had been, but he was nowhere to be seen. His eyes met with Shinpachi, who was about to stand up. On the right, Kagura was looking out over the surroundings. Although Kuyo was in a state of destruction, this was the only area with few strange things and damage. "Those people here are my kind of people," she thought she heard again, and turned around, only to see Sadaharu sticking out his tongue and wagging his tail. "That day, the demon who lives forever met you... and you two, and to Yoshida Shoyo

302 "As if she had been used to it." I looked further back and saw that Myo, who had been lying on the ground, had risen to her feet, gazing at the devastation around her. The place where she had been was also still beautiful, as if protected by something. "And the little demon with sad eyes that day..."

Kondo and the others were also near where Myo had been. There should have been only pipes under their feet, but they intersected like a net to hold the three of them. "---You've become one Sakata Ginji..." Shoyo opened his right hand, which had been placed on top of his, and there was a sparkling grain remaining. It was a fragment of a crystal. Suddenly, a wind blew up from the ground, sending it soaring into the sky.

[forgloryforhonor]

267 There was a communication device right in front of Kyuyo's control room - and it was a stroke of luck that a communication device that was still usable remained. After finishing his communication with Katsura, Shoyo turned to Shinpachi, who was waiting nearby, and said, "It's just as I heard. You guys should get out of here as soon as possible." He told him that and hurried on. However, his body was so weakened that he couldn't move as he wanted, and he staggered and put his hand on the communication console. "Mr. Shoyo!" Shinpachi tried to rush over, but he was stopped by his other hand. "It's just flesh and blood... I was living forever, but now I'm being chased by time." I smile bitterly at the constant flow of life, and support myself as I move forward.

268 They were in front of the control room. The door seemed to be sensory and started to open automatically. There must have been a difference in air pressure, as the escaping air turned into a strong wind and blew in. "But this little life I have left is tied to the tall cedar trees. That's why --" Shoyo looked back at Shinpachi and the others before entering the room. "You must protect the future they have spun." "......"

With renewed resolve, I enter the control room, where the wind is blowing wildly. The inside is unexpectedly spacious and bright. The control room is built in a spherical shape, with gun barrel-like devices filling the walls. All of them had their nozzles facing the center of the room. They were probably intended to control the Altana that was being sucked out. The Altana that needed to be controlled swelled up into a twisted, evil-looking ball of light, with bands of light swarming around it like a group of snakes swarming around a ball.

269 .

He struggled to make his way over the bridge to get closer to it --

and when he finally reached the end, he heard the sound of a door closing behind him. At the same time, the typhoon-like wind calmed down, his turbulent hair and cloak regained their composure. Shouyou looked closely at Altana, who looked like she might go wild at any moment, and glad. "Maybe my thousand years have been for this instant. Please hold on...even just a second longer..." He touches his chest and speaks to the heart that shines deep within. "One second won't be enough." He hears a voice from behind him and turns around in surprise. There he sees Shinpachi, Kagura, and Sadaharu. "If we combined everyone's lifespans, we'd be able to see the face of that stupid disciple."

Kagura nodded, and Sadaharu barked "Woof," as if he agreed. Without listening to our warnings, Shinpachi stood behind Shoyo on his left, and Kagura and Sadaharu stood behind him on his right. Myo was nowhere to be seen, but they sensed her presence on the other side of the door, near the communication device.

Although the Starry Sky Cult was annihilated, there was a possibility that the few survivors would become martyrs and attack this place. They probably took the front line to fend them off. "You guys...!" "I'm sorry. We can't just go on like this. "I told you," Shinpachi said, gazing at Altana. Kagura also looked up and continued, "It's your job to get your reward."

[forgloryforhonor]

throwing toyako - takasugi x gintoki x shimura

lesson 574 gintoki -> takasugi -> save shinpachi

lesson 701 takasugi -> otae -> gintoki

they even did that one-eyed thing

it came full circle

[forgloryforhonor]

Gintama Valechoco

as addition to @vulpiximisa​’s post I want to point out that the subtitles switched Otae’s and Tsukuyo’s messages (accidentally I hope)

SARUTOBI - Purple Square Box, top center

TEXT: Gin-san Megane he - Sa Kagura

TRANSLATION: “To Gin-san and Glasses from Sa Kagura”

store bought, personalized decoration

TSUKUYO - Red Square box, bottom right

TEXT: Kagura yori Ai wo komete Gintoki Shinpachi he

TRANSLATION: “From Kagura with love, to Gintoki and Shinpachi”

store bought, personalized decoration

OTAE - Pink Pouch with paper rose bottom left

TEXT: Gin-chan Shinpachi Daisuki ♡ Kagura

TRANSLATION: “I love Gin-chan and Shipachi ♡ -Kagura”

handmade

Meanwhile KAGURA’s original chocolate

TEXT: Gin-chan Shinpachi he -Kagura

TRANSLATION: “To Gin-chan and Shipachi -Kagura”

Store bought, pink heart box

Both Sarutobi and Tsukuyo used the Kanji for “Kagura.”

As vulpiximisa pointed out, Otae captured Kagura’s tone and speaking style the best since they were the closest. Otae got Kagura’s habits down including writing her name in Hiragana. Otae even got Kagura’s penchant of putting a heart ♡ on the message. As an example  see below the choco kagura had made for tsukuyo to give. xD

^^Also notice that Tsukuyo copied what Kagura had ordered to be written on the former’s chocolate above. I also think that Sarutobi followed Kagura’s greeting card on the outside of the heart box for her own choco too.

I like to believe that Sarutobi’s and Tsukuyo are heartfelt (honmei) choco even though they were store bought and even if their messages were a copy (i think) of Kagura’s.

Another thing

Otae said that she was giving the dark matter chocolate out of “obligation” (giri choco) but hers is most definitely “truth choco” (honmei choco) because it’s obviously made by her (only she could make dark matter chocolate)!! Home-made and Store-bought is traditionally what sets honmei choco apart from the obligatory (giri)  ones.

Though now I’m wondering if she also gave black matter to Kagura at the start of the chapter. I’m saying this because Otae had bought store-made giri choco for the club patrons at the opening of episode/chapter, meanwhile Yorozuya family got the black matter XD. I am betting that after teaching Kagura about Valentines, Otae had been at home trying to make chocolate by herself the whole day for them. OH OTAE.

also.. ahhh. The anime didn’t adapt Kagura destroying an entire line of valechoco shoppers so that Otae can get in line first :(

[ukaiknowsbest]

Lesson 122

Lesson 623

OYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY

Another fun similarity I’ve found.

In Lesson 122, gintoki (and shinpachi) defeated kyuubei in a bid to free Otae from the engagement she took part in. Gintoki’s assistance to Shinpachi was a huge help to Shinpachi’s mission of taking back his sister (and stop her from entering a marriage full of unhappiness).

In Lesson 623 Jirocho defeated Tatsugorou with the bet that whoever loses will have to ask Otose to marry them. We later find out that Jirocho was the one who supported Otose’s business and marriage with Tatsugoro from the ground up.

Both Gintoki and Jirocho

approach Otae and Otose all beat up, bloody and limping.

Talk to the women without looking back. (In GinTae’s case, Otae’s the one who breaks the silence by apologizing)

Sorachi reusing good ideas in later chapters with much improved art is [chef’s kiss]

Otae and Otose are... The Girls Worth Fighting For~