Gintama might have ended its legendary anime franchise in 2021 with the release of Gintama: The Very Final in theaters, but Gintoki isn’t done quite yet. Earlier this month, Gintama returned thanks to the spin-off series, Gintama: Mr. Ginpachi’s Zany Class (aka 3-Nen Z-Gumi Ginpachi-sensei)a side story that imagined its characters in a very different setting. While this new anime might be quite different from the main story that fans followed for years, Mr. Ginpachi’s world is still more than willing to satirize other major shonen series. The time has come once again to make fun of the Z-Fighters.
In the premiere episode of Gintama: Mr. Ginpachi’s Zany Classthe traditional characters of the beloved anime franchise were given a makeover to look more like they had been created by Dragon Ball creator Akira Toriyama. During the brief segment, the anime states, “Gintama had a nice, clean ending. I warned them, dragging it out with Ginpachi-sensei would only sour the aftertaste. Clean ending, my a**! Forget Gintamathey even did Dragon Ball dirty! It’s obvious from a mile away. What awaits isn’t Ginpachi-sensei, it’s Gintama GT! The GT stands for, ‘Gosh, Toriyama-sensei, we’re so sorry.’ Screw that! It’s you, Gintama, that needs to apologize to Toriyama-sensei!”
This Isn’t The First Dragon Ball Satire
Gintama fans might know that this isn’t the first time that anime fans witnessed the anime poking fun at the Dragon Ball franchise, as this very segment was originally a part of Gintama: The Final. Still, revisiting this hilarious moment is newsworthy thanks to how the anime adaptation has been more than willing to poke fun at both itself and other movers and shakers within the medium. With the first episode of the Gintama spin-off arriving online, it might be worth exploring just what Dragon Ball GT is for those who might be unaware.
Dragon Ball GTwith the GT standing for “Grand Tour,” was the first sequel to Dragon Ball Zthough it is not considered canon to the main series. Witnessing Goku transformed into a child thanks to the Black Star Dragon Balls, the sixty-plus episode series gave anime fans a major entry in the shonen franchise. While the Grand Tour was never made an official part of the universe, the recent anime Dragon Ball Daima took various elements from the “black sheep” of the series and made them canon.
Following the tragic passing of Akira Toriyama, Gintama creator Hideaki Sorachi revealed that their series would have never gotten off the ground if not for Dragon Ball’s influence. Hideaki stated, “Dragon Ball, Dragon Quest, Chrono Trigger, the worlds in which I threw away my homework and devoted every spare moment before going to bed were all born from the pen of Toriyama-sensei. I was born from the eraser scraps that piled up after I admired his pen style and tried to imitate him, but I couldn’t succeed at all. Thank you, Toriyama-sensei, for teaching me so much about the world of manga.”
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