About Gintama
Gintama is a Japanese manga written and illustrated by Hideaki Sorachi. It began in Shueisha's Weekly Shōnen Jump in December 2003 and ran there until September 2018, then moved to Jump Giga for three issues and finally to the free Gintama app, where it ended in June 2019 with its 704th chapter. The chapters are collected in 77 volumes. Viz Media published the first 23 volumes in English, as Gin Tama, between 2007 and 2011 before stopping. By November 2024 the manga had more than 73 million copies in circulation. The TV anime ran on TV Tokyo from April 2006 to October 2018, 367 episodes in all: Sunrise made the first two series and BN Pictures the last two, from Gintama° onwards. Three animated films go with it, the last of which, Gintama: The Very Final (2021), concludes the story.
The setting is an alternate-history Edo at the end of the samurai era. Aliens called the Amanto have arrived, the shogun has given in to them, and the samurai have been stripped of their swords, which may no longer be carried in public. Gintoki Sakata is a former rebel who fought the invaders in the war and now lives above a bar in the Kabuki District, running an odd-jobs business, the Yorozuya, and rarely paying his rent. He picks up two employees: Shinpachi Shimura, a teenager trying to keep his late father's dojo going, and Kagura, a girl from the Yato, one of the strongest Amanto clans. Around them circle the Shinsengumi, the sword-carrying police unit that hunts rebels, and Gintoki's old comrade Kotaro Katsura, a wanted rebel leader who is usually in disguise.
Most episodes are self-contained comedy, and Sorachi has described the series as a 'science fiction human drama pseudo-historical comedy'. The characters often talk about the manga and anime they are in, the fourth wall is broken constantly, and the series pokes fun at other Jump titles and at modern Japan. Every so often, though, a longer arc turns serious, and these arcs are what fans remember most: the hunt for the cursed sword Benizakura, the plot inside the Shinsengumi, the fight to free the underground district of Yoshiwara, and finally a chain of arcs from the Shogun Assassination onwards that brings back the war Gintoki fought in his youth. A recurring idea is the samurai who has lost his place in the world but keeps his own code anyway. In a 2017 poll by the Japanese site Goo, Gintama was voted the funniest manga of all time.
Want the archetype rather than the character? The dere type quiz scores you across all eight anime dere types — tsundere, yandere, kuudere, dandere and four more — and explains where each word comes from.
What the Gintama Quiz Tests
Our Gintama quiz covers Hideaki Sorachi's manga and the TV anime's 367 episodes. It sticks to the story and the characters rather than the cruder running gags, and it does not ask how the final arc or the last film ends. Easy levels cover the premise and the main cast: the Amanto and the sword ban, the Yorozuya and the Kabuki District, Gintoki's wooden sword and his wartime name, Kagura's umbrella, Sadaharu, the Shinsengumi, Katsura's famous reply to being called 'Zura', and who made the series. The middle levels follow the story in order: how the Yorozuya came together, Elizabeth's signboards, the Benizakura arc, the android Tama, the Yagyu arc, the Shinsengumi Crisis, the Yoshiwara in Flames arc and the Kintama arc. The hard levels go to the details: the episode count and the change of studio, Sorachi's first plan for his hero, where Gintoki buys his swords, the first two films, how Sorachi draws himself, and the openings of the Courtesan of a Nation, Farewell Shinsengumi and Silver Soul arcs.
Key Characters
Gintoki Sakata is lazy, broke and devoted to sweets and Weekly Shōnen Jump, and he would rather run away than pay his landlady, Otose. In the war against the Amanto he was the feared swordsman known as Shiroyasha, the White Demon, and when someone he cares about is in danger, that side of him comes back; what he fights for now is whatever is in front of him. Shinpachi Shimura, in his glasses, is the series' straight man, forever pointing out the nonsense around him, and the fiercely serious captain of pop idol Otsu's fan club. Kagura is a Yato: young, ravenous and strong enough to stop a moving scooter with one hand, and never without the umbrella that shields her skin from the sun and doubles as a gun. Their pet Sadaharu is a giant dog, big enough to carry two adults on his back, with a habit of biting people's heads. The Shinsengumi are their regular rivals: the good-natured commander Isao Kondo, who has fallen hard for Shinpachi's sister Tae; the chain-smoking, mayonnaise-loving vice-commander Toshiro Hijikata; and Sogo Okita, the best swordsman in the force, who carries a bazooka and is forever plotting to take Hijikata's job. Gintoki's old comrades from the war include Kotaro Katsura, a rebel leader with a duck-like companion called Elizabeth, Tatsuma Sakamoto, who now runs a trading fleet in space, and Shinsuke Takasugi, who leads the Kiheitai and wants to destroy the world that took their teacher.
Available Quizzes
Gintama Trivia
50 hand-crafted questions across 5 categories. 10 levels of increasing difficulty.
Which Gintama Character Are You?
Answer 10 questions to discover which member of the Yorozuya or the Shinsengumi matches your personality!
Random Mix
Questions from all 40 anime including Gintama. The ultimate challenge.
Characters
Gintoki Sakata
Shinpachi Shimura
Kagura
Toshiro Hijikata
Sogo Okita
Gintama Fun Facts
- The hero was meant to be Toshiro Hijikata, a character inspired by the real Shinsengumi vice-commander Hijikata Toshizō, whom Sorachi admired. When Sorachi could not make his silver-haired design work as Hijikata, it became Gintoki, and the Shinsengumi became supporting characters.
- The series was first going to be called Yorozuya Gin-san ('Odd Jobs Gin-san'). Sorachi found the title too weak and settled on Gintama after talking it over with his family.
- Sorachi appears in his own series as a gorilla in a yellow T-shirt printed with the kanji 俺 ('me'), and in the Japanese anime he voices the gorilla himself.
- Kenta Shinohara, creator of SKET Dance, used to be one of Sorachi's assistants. The two series later crossed over, in a chapter of Weekly Shōnen Jump and in an episode of the Gintama' anime in September 2011.
- The ending kept moving. The manga was due to finish in Weekly Shōnen Jump on 15 September 2018, but that issue announced a move to Jump Giga, where it ran for three more issues before finishing on the Gintama app in June 2019.
- Fuji News Network credited Gintama with a boom in wooden swords in 2008, when shops in Hokkaido reported selling many of them to foreign visitors.
Gintama Quiz — Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes of Gintama are there?
The TV anime has 367 episodes, numbered continuously, broadcast between April 2006 and October 2018. They come in four series: Gintama (episodes 1–201), Gintama' (202–265, including the 13-episode Enchōsen), Gintama° (266–316) and Gintama. (317–367, including Porori-hen and the 26-episode Shirogane no Tamashii-hen). Wikipedia divides the first series into four seasons to match its international release. There are also three animated films and several specials.
Is Gintama finished?
Yes. The manga ended in June 2019 with its 704th chapter, collected in 77 volumes. The TV anime stopped in October 2018 partway through the final arc, and the film Gintama: The Very Final (January 2021) adapts the manga's finale, with some new material, to complete the story. A spin-off anime, Gintama: Mr. Ginpachi's Zany Class, aired in late 2025, and a new film of the Yoshiwara in Flames arc came out in February 2026.
What order should I watch Gintama in?
Release order works best. Watch Gintama (1–201), then Gintama' and Enchōsen (202–265). The film Be Forever Yorozuya (2013), an original story by Sorachi, came out between Gintama' and Gintama°, so watch it next. Then come Gintama° (266–316) and Gintama. (317–367); Porori-hen within it goes back to comedy stories set before the Shogun Assassination arc. Finish with the two short episodes of The Semi-Final and then Gintama: The Very Final. The first film, Gintama: The Movie (2010), retells the Benizakura arc from episodes 58–61, so it is optional.
Where can I watch Gintama?
In North America, Crunchyroll holds the licence for most of the TV anime and has streamed the later series, while Sentai Filmworks released the first 49 episodes. Hulu added an English dub of the first season in 2019 and of the second and third seasons in October 2025. The 2026 Yoshiwara in Flames film arrived on Netflix in August 2026. Availability differs by country and changes over time, so check your local services.
What is Gintama about?
In an alternate-history Edo taken over by aliens called the Amanto, where samurai are banned from carrying swords, the lazy former rebel Gintoki Sakata runs an odd-jobs business with his young employees Shinpachi and Kagura. Most episodes are absurd comedy that parodies anime, manga and modern Japan, but the series regularly switches to serious story arcs about the samurai, the police unit called the Shinsengumi and the war Gintoki fought in his youth.
