The producers of anime series that are based on manga often have a daunting task in figuring out exactly what from the manga to include in the anime and what is probably not as important to keep. This does mean that people who have read the manga know a little bit more about the world than people who just watch the anime. Gintama is no different in this regard.
The long-running manga series was adapted into an anime with far fewer episodes than the manga has chapters, which means that there are a lot of things that didn’t necessarily make it into the series, leaving fans of the manga with more knowledge than anime fans.
10 Hideaki Decided To Stop Drawing Gintoki's Goggles
Early on in the manga series, manga creator Sorachi Hideaki included a pair of scooter goggles as part of Gintoki’s character design. Gintoki is seen wearing them around his neck. They disappear after several chapters, and he’s never shown with them again.
Hideaki explains in the manga liner notes that he decided not to include the goggles in the character design after a while because they were a pain for him to draw, which definitely makes sense when he has to draw the character a lot.
9 The Original Design Of Takasugi’s Yukata
Shinsuke Takasugi appears in a yukata, a formal kimono, in both the manga and the anime series. But in the manga, the design of the yukata is much more complex, with detailed mountains, clouds, and flowers painted onto it. He wears a much simpler version of the yukata in the anime, with a more straightforward flowers and butterflies design.
This is likely due to the fact that it is more difficult to animate clothing with a lot of details, and it's not the worst choice anyone has ever made in character designs.
8 Shige Shige And Katsura Decide Not To Kill Each Other, Despite Being Sworn Enemies
Shige Shige and Katsura are enemies in Gintama, though they likely have a lot in common. In the manga, Shige Shige at one point loses his memory, and Katsura meets him for the first time at this point by taking him in until his memory returns.
The two live together, even after discovering who they are to each other, and try not to kill each other, despite being enemies. This is because they’re both interested in knowing what the other is like.
7 The Proper Hair And Eye Color Of The Characters
It’s not unusual for anime adaptations of manga to slightly change the character designs of the characters. While they mostly stay true to how they appear in the manga, sometimes choices are made to make them look more unique and notable now that the characters regularly appear in color.
In the case of Gintama, several characters’ hair and eye coloring actually differ from Hideaki’s intentions. Gintoki himself actually has green or gray eyes, which sometimes appear red, in the manga while in the anime, they are always red, and his hair color is slightly adjusted as well.
6 The Story Of Lesson 487 Is Entirely Absent
“Lesson 487” is the one story arc in the manga that appears as if it will never be adapted into the anime. While there’s a chance that the chapters that were released after the end of the anime may someday be adapted, “Lesson 487” was actually skipped over in the chronology of the series, making it seem as if the story will never be told.
In the chapter, Gintama and Madao try to take a photo ID for Madao. But the machine continuously churns out joke versions of photos, in a story typical of the comedy series.
5 Sarutobi’s Nickname Is “Sa-Chan” Because "Saru" Means Monkey
Sarutobi is an unusual name for a woman to have in Japanese, and it’s often a name given to male characters (perhaps most famously to the Third Hokage in Naruto).
In most cases, a name like Sarutobi would be shortened to “Saru” when giving her a nickname, but in Gintama, her nickname is instead “Sa-chan.” Hideaki explains in the manga that this is because “saru” means “monkey” in Japanese, and he thought it wasn’t a suitable nickname for the character.
4 Hasegawa Taizou’s Original Nickname Is "Madao"
In the English version of the manga and anime, Hasegawa Taizou’s nickname is “DORK,” which has a somewhat offensive bent to it. This is different from the Japanese manga’s nickname for the character, which is “MADAO.”
This nickname is often seen in Japan, and it’s an acronym for “marude damena ossan.” It translates to “totally hopeless old guy.” In Gintama, the nickname’s meaning changes throughout the story for comedic effect and depending on the situation the character is in.
3 Shimura Shinpachi’s Strength Is Much More Impressive
Shimura Shinpachi is one of the weaker characters to hang out around Gintoki. He doesn’t have nearly the same kind of physical power and often doesn’t participate in battles to the same extent. But in the manga, he is shown to be physically capable all on his own.
He acknowledges that he’s not as strong as his friends, but he can still kick down giants and take down whole hordes of enemies at once, proving he’s still much stronger than an average person.
2 Tatsuma Rejected Oryou
The anime has a lot going on, and it doesn’t really delve into romantic relationships at all. The manga also doesn’t spend a lot of time on this topic, but one of the places where readers can see a possible romance blossom is in the relationship between Tatsuma and Oryou.
Unfortunately for Tatsuma, when he confesses to Oryou, she rejects him. Regardless, he feels a great deal of loyalty to her and does his best to protect her, regardless of the fact that his love is one-sided.
1 The End Of The Story Is Different In The Manga
The biggest thing that manga readers know about Gintama that anime viewers wouldn’t is how the story ends. As is the case for many anime adaptations of manga, the anime has fewer episodes to tell the story than the manga has chapters. This means that much of the series is actually never adapted into the anime.
So while the anime has its own ending, the actual ending of Gintama isn’t represented in it, leaving manga readers with just a little more information about it than anime fans.