As part of its 20th anniversary, Gintama returns with a bang in a new anime spinoff featuring a fun spoof-twist.Announced at the Gintama Ato no Matsuri event, Gintama will adapt the light novel series 3-Nen Z-Gumi Ginpachi-Sensei, starring Ginpachi as a homeroom teacher and his students from Class 3-Z. The anime adaptation of 3-Nen Z-Gumi Ginpachi-Sensei, produced by Bandai Namco Pictures, is the first of many projects, from now to 2026, to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the anime. Although the light novel series, written by Tomohito Osaki and illustrated by Hideaki Sorachi, ran from 2006 to 2013, thus running the risk of being somewhat outdated, Gintama is proving that it's a series who can keep up with the times.RELATED: What's the Difference Between Light Novels & Visual Novels – And Which Makes for Better Anime?

As customary of the Gintama series, the trailer for 3-Nen Z-Gumi Ginpachi-Sensei doesn't waste any time parodying other popular anime series such as Spy x Family, Jujutsu Kaisen 0 and even went the extra mile by parodying itself. Gintoki, of course, took on the ikemen roles of Loid and Gojo Satoru in Spy x Family and Jujutsu Kaisen, respectively, while Shimura Shinpachi stuffed some oranges to give his chest more oomph to parody Spy x Family's Yor and brandished a katana to parody Jujutsu Kaisen 0's protagonist Yuta Okkotsu. Kagura shrunk in size, but not in personality, to become 3-Nen Z-Gumi Ginpachi-Sensei's version of Anya from Spy x Family and Rika Orimoto, the cursed spirit from Jujutsu Kaisen 0. Even Sadaharu took part in the Jujutsu Kaisen parody as Panda.

Written and illustrated by Hideaki Sorachi, Gintama serialized in Weekly Shōnen Jump from December 2003 to September 2018 before moving to Jump Giga from December 2018 to February 2019. The series concluded on the Gintama app in June 2019. Gintama has sold over 55 million copies as of February 2018, garnered positive reception for its lovable characters and hilarity and remains popular. The series revolves around the adventures of three freelancers: eccentric samurai Gintoki Sakata, voiced by Tomokazu Sugita in the anime adaptations, an aspiring samurai named Shinpachi Shimura, voiced by Daisuke Sakaguchi and teenage alien Kagura, voiced by Rie Kugimiya.

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Gintama has a lengthy animated history. The first adaptation, produced by Sunrise, launched in April 2006 and aired for four seasons before ending in March 2010. The sequel, Gintama', aired in April 2011 with 51 episodes. Gintama': Enchōsen continues the sequel and aired in April 2012. From 2015 to 2018, Gintama released other series titled Gintama°, Gintama., Gintama. Porori-hen and Gintama. Shirogane no Tamashii-hen. Three animated movies were produced, with the last one released in 2021, Gintama: The Very Final.

Gintama is available to watch on Crunchyroll and Hulu. As of this article's publication, there has not been a release date announced for 3-Nen Z-Gumi Ginpachi-Sensei.

Source: Twitter