Gintama'

The land of the samurai.

There was a time, long ago, when our country was called by that name.

With the arrival of the Amanto from outer space and the Sword Ban twenty years ago,

the samurai class fell into decline.

In these hard times, there was one man left with the spirit of the samurai. His name is Gintoki Sakata.

Kagura and I, Shinpachi Shimura, work at Odd Jobs Gin, which is coincidentally...

Enough already!

Why would you reuse the introduction now?!

Because this is supposed to be a new show!

We have to explain the context for the newcomers!

It's a waste of time to worry about the context of this anime.

The audience is only kind of paying attention.

Right.

So Gintama is kind of back in 16:9.

The first episode of Gintama in a year.

It'll take a little time to get back in the flow,

but for now, it's back to work.

It feels like I haven't been here in forever.

Good morning!

I guess he's still asleep.

Seriously, we're finally back on air...

Wake up, Gin-san!

Vacation's over.

The show is back...

This town hasn't changed...

Everybody's walking around with glum faces.

Wait!

Who are you?!

What are you doing in here?!

I'll call the police...

Shinpachi.

You haven't changed either.

Couldn't find anything to do while we ran reruns for a year?

You never learn.

Th-That voice...

Hey, now.

You even forgot my face?

Well, they say it only takes a man three days to grow out of his boots.

It's me.

Gin-san.

What?!

Long time no see, Pachi-boy.

How you been doing?

No, wait!

Long time no see?!

What?!

Sure, it's been a year since the show was last on air...

What the hell happened to you in the past year?!

That's long enough for my hair to grow out.

Forget your hair! You look like a completely different character!

You're acting like we just ran into each other for the first time in years at the World Martial Arts Tournament!

Why do you have a scar?!

Why do you have that patch on your chest?!

What do you mean?

Did you forget the promise we made?

Huh?

After the show ended, we held a little pow wow.

Don't you remember?

Huh?

What are you talking about?

With the TV show and movie over with,

Gintama was starting to lose its novelty.

So we discussed how it was necessary to

give the show a breath of fresh air to keep the fans interested.

Each of us would use this break to work on a remedy.

And then we would return to New Odd Jobs.

We'll meet up at Jabaody Archipelago in two years!

We never made any promises!

Where the hell is Jabaody Archipelago?!

Doesn't matter where it is.

It comes down to feeling and inspiration.

Inspiration, my ass!

You stole that promise from a different anime!

Nobody was waiting for you fools!

Man, I spent all my time training hard.

What were you doing?

I had a rough time.

Getting blown up by weird aliens...

Impaled by cyborgs...

Losing my woman to some guy with a mad widow's peak...

You keep using flashbacks from other shows!

And you did all of this in one year?!

Huh? One year?

What are you talking about?

Two years have passed in this anime in the past year.

That's not much of a difference.

And you're clearly lying!

I mean, this show follows the Sazae format where nobody ages...

I'm not lying.

Just look at how much I've changed.

I'm back!

'Sup!

Long time no see, guys!

How you been doing?

Huh?

Did you shrink, Shinpachi?

Uh, er...

Excuse me.

Who are you?

What? It's me.

Kagura.

Wait!

What?!

You look exactly the same.

Right?

This guy didn't do anything the past two years.

Wait! This is...

Kagura-cha-

Kagura-san?!

You've gotta be kidding!

She's completely grown up!

They say it only takes a woman three days to grow out of her boots.

No, they don't!

I'm tired after the long trip.

Bring me some clothes.

I'm gonna take a nap.

No, wait.

There's something else we need to address first...

Too slow, Nappa!

She's fast...

She changed into her pajamas and plopped herself on the couch the moment she got home.

She's grown into one hell of a pajama girl.

Am I supposed to be impressed?!

And what was the point in standing on my head?!

Kagura, where were you training?

Nowhere really.

I flew around space with Pappy.

Oh, I brought some souvenirs you can eat...

Huh?

Are you talking about this?

Sorry, I already ate it.

He's fast...

He finished them off before I even mentioned them...

Gin-chan's grown into one hell of a greedy guy.

That wouldn't be considered growth!

And do you feel you have to stand on my head to look impressive?!

It appears that my two years of training wasn't for nothing.

We're going to start a new legend here at New Odd Jobs!

I'm getting excited!

Nothing's changed!

Hell, the two of you have regressed!

Anyway, is it true?!

Two years have passed while I wasn't paying attention?!

Nobody told me about this!

Why was I the only one left behind?!

That's what happens when you treat the break as a vacation.

You're supposed to work hard when people aren't watching.

You're the one who's trying to convince everyone you were training during the break!

Personally, I want to know how you're able to look exactly the same after two years.

Two years is enough for ramen to grow stale.

By the way, Sadaharu tagged along with me and grew a lot, Nappa.

Can you stop calling me Nappa?

Ah, it must be Sadaharu!

Pets weren't allowed on my ship, so I had to put him on a different one.

Oh, he hasn't changed at all.

Why did you say that he grew a lot, Kagura-san?

Actually, he looks smaller now?

Here's the receipt.

Uh...

Excuse me.

Sadaharu just left.

Uh, our pet just ran off, Mister.

It's been a while.

I, Sadaharu, have finished serving my time.

Him?!

Hold on!

That's impossible!

This is clearly the delivery man!

That dog was obviously Sadaharu!

That was a delivery dog from Planet Komainu.

Sadaharu's shy, so I had him delivered by a dog just like him.

Just like him?!

That was obviously Sadaharu!

And they don't look anything like each other!

Like I said, he grew a lot.

This isn't called growing a lot!

This is called turning into a completely different creature!

Shinpachi, dogs grow faster than humans.

Two years is enough for them to become old men.

This guy is literally just an old man!

Brother Shinpachi,

if I've done anything to offend you, I apologize.

Brother?!

Please don't blame Sister.

I will make amends!

If a doggy or two will satisfy you...

Wait!

Wait, wait, wait!

What do you mean by doggy?!

Why does this remind me of pinky amputation?!

What's wrong with this Sadaharu?!

Why is he acting like a direct-to-video fan?!

Huh?

Wait a second.

That's...

On closer look, there's something at the end of his tail...

Sadaharu?!

There's a small Sadaharu on his tail?!

What's this?

What's going on?!