A Gintama chapter a day keeps the ending away...Lesson 694
Really one of the most anxiety-inducing chapter images in the entire series considering the announcement that came with it.
MY 9 FAVORITE MOMENTS IN LESSON 694:
This chapter was even more distressing than the last because I just couldn’t believe we were spending so much time with the gorillas when we would only have five chapters left. I remember feeling rather alarmed, anxious and slightly depressed at the same time. But there was also a smidgen of resignation because I was thinking, if this was the way Sorachi-sama wanted to end the series, who am I to question. It was all in all, a very perplexing time, and I’m glad all of that is behind us now.
1) Kondou’s very very unsuccessful attempt at the Shoujoian (Shoujoan? Shoujoese? I really couldn’t decide so I just went with Shoujoian) language.
2) This was all an equal mixture of hilarity and distress for me because of the deep hole Kondou was further digging for himself due to his lack of fluency in the gorilla language (I guess that’s proof that he’s not as gorilla as everyone deemed him to be). I was seriously worried that he would never be able to leave his wife because he was unknowingly convincing her how much he loved her.
3) A few more inches closer and I would have had to count Kondou and Princess Bubbles’ baby daddy as CANON in the ships tally.
4) It was a cheap laugh but I still laughed anyway. Sometimes you just have to appreciate the simple, obvious jokes.
5) In retrospect, the fact that Sorachi-sama was still dishing out new names and concepts for us to remember when there was supposedly only five chapters left should have clued me in that something was up and there’s no way the series would be ending in just five mere chapters.
6) Even though the whole silly antics involving the Shoujoians were stressing me out because I hated that we were spending so much time with them, this chapter did make me feel sympathy for Princess Bubbles and I actually started considering things from her point of view. I guess that’s where my sense of resignation started coming in: I figured that if she had to stay as Kondou’s wife, despite her species, she really wasn’t too shabby a choice. I mean, she seems kind and she’s royalty. He could definitely do worse.
7) I didn’t think they would actually kill Kondou but I still found it darkly funny that they were trying by accident.
8) Kondou bare butt.
9) At the time, I THOUGHT it was the Shoujoians doing this, thanks to Kondou being smashed head first into the control console, and I was actually impressed. I thought the gorillas were going to be the ones to save Earth this time around, which I thought would be rather fitting, all things considered.
SHIPS TALLY:
Kondou x Princess Bubbles: I wasn’t thrilled about this final fantasy for Kondou of course, but I was seriously preparing myself to just accept it. That’s how defeated I felt.
Princess Bubbles x Junior’s Daddy: Of course I wished all the best for this silly couple. In fact, I FERVENTLY wanted them to have a happy ending.
Disclaimer: Gintama is not only about shipping. Gintama is hilarious, clever, exciting, poignant, heart-breaking, loving, brilliant, and just so freaking amazing. It is only due to Sorachi-sama’s generosity that I can enjoy Gintama on yet another level, the shippy level, and I am forever grateful for that. GINTAMA IS LIFE AND LOVE.
12/1/2018