Are you ready to laugh? Then switch your brains on, because the culturally literate humor of Gintama operates on a different level. On the surface, it may look like just another one of those "Ha ha look at silly people do silly things" comedies, but observant readers will laugh all the more because of the series' satirical edge. Volume 5's objects of ridicule include the following: beach episodes, J-horror clichés, Shonen Jump's obsession with powerful weapons, home shopping TV channels, yanki biker gangs, geisha culture, gay culture, kunoichi, and—in the author's notes—irritating readers who nitpick historical facts. But while there are plenty of laughs to be found, there really isn't a whole lot of plot, and the artwork can look stiff and confusing at times. Well, there's no such thing as perfect, right?
Even the gags in this volume suffer from imperfections—the make-fun-of-everything style of humor is a hit-or-miss affair, and the hits and misses often depend on personal taste. Chapter 4, for example, is about Gin's personal weapon being "the most powerful sword"—but readers will need to know the fantasy/adventure genre pretty well to get the joke. A couple of other comedic situations also require at least a basic knowledge of Japanese culture: the okama (drag queen) who runs a transvestite geisha house, for example, or the long-haired, toilet-dwelling ghost girl who goes around terrorizing the Shinsengumi. They say that knowledge is power, and in this case, cultural knowledge gives one the power to laugh at Gintama.
http://www.mangafox.com/manga/one_winter/
A list of locations where fans can donate money towards relief efforts in Japan following the March 11 earthquake
http://www.google.com/crisisresponse/japanquake2011.html
https://american.redcross.org/site/Donation2?idb=0&5052.donation=form1&df_id=5052
Label: One Winter
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