Gintaka

GinTaka is the slash ship between Sakata Gintoki and Takasugi Shinsuke from the Gintama fandom.

Canon
Gintoki and Takasugi are childhood friends and disciples of Yoshida Shouyo, they are also rivals that became enemies after the war due to the lot of tragedies and due to Gintoki killing their master to save Takasugi. After their fight and the revelation about their past they eventually become allies and friends.

Their first encounter was when Gintoki fought off a bunch of bullies for Takasugi. Drawn to Gintoki's strength and character, day after day Takasugi challenged Gintoki at Yoshida Shouyo's dojo, to the point that his own family threatened to disown him. This did not discourage Takasugi from continuing to see Gintoki in the slightest.

During the events of the Benizakura arc, after being attacked by Nizou, Gintoki had a nightmare where Nizou turned into Takasugi and impaled him with a sword. The real Takasugi, however, was enraged when he found out that Nizou had attacked Gintoki without his permission, to the point that he attempted to cut Nizou down. This shows that both Gintoki and Takasugi still cared about each other even though they weren't allies at the time.

In the Joui flashbacks, during the war, it was shown that both Takasugi and Gintoki picked the same girl in a red-light district during a down time, but somehow Takasugi just stared angrily at that girl the whole night and didn't do anything. The duo ended up not talking to each other for a month over this. It is possible that this is implying some kind of jealousy between them.

One of the main things that made Takasugi suffer for so much time was the fact the last thing he saw with his left eye was Gintoki's crying face, that image being engraved in his mind for his whole life.

Gintoki states that Takasugi pointed his sword to him cause that was a self-punishment much more painful for Takasugi that simple killing himself, he felt like everything was his fault and the perfect punishment was killing his "other self" his "alter-ego".

Gintoki says that when he lost Takasugi, it was like he lost part of his soul, so now that they are together again he is finally complete and the reason he was there where they are was so he wont lose him again.

Gintoki says he and Takasugi "may be born under that kind of star" this line can and probably have a soul-mates meaning.

In his last moments, Takasugi begs to Gintoki to not cry, since the last thing he saw with his left eye was Gintoki crying face and it hurt him for his whole life, Gintoki smiles to him telling him to wait for him in hell and when Takasugi's eyes close he cries on his face.

Quotes
"We might have just been born under that same kind of star, but that's... not too bad, is it?"

- Sakata Gintoki (Gintama the final)

"The one... the man I spent my whole life chasing after.... is better than that, right?"

- Takasugi Shinsuke (Gintama the final) "We have someone far more intimate to cut and curse. I have you and you have me!"

- Takasugi Shinsuke (Episode 305)

Fanon
GinTaka is a popular ship among fans because of the-childhood-friends-turned-lovers trope. In the East, there's also another popular shipping category called "slaying each other while loving each other". GinTaka is a perfect example for this type of trope. After Gintama ended, some fans agree that Gintoki and Takasugi's feelings towards each other might be more than just friends, with Gintoki remaining single after Takasugi's death. During Takasugi's last moments, they used sentimental lines such as "the man I spent my whole life chasing" and "wait for me in hell."

Some shippers noticed that in a certain flashback during the Patriot Reunion Party Arc, Gintoki and Takasugi were fighting for a girl while visiting a brothel. However, Sakamoto later mentions that Takasugi did nothing to the woman and just stared at her, despite her choosing to spend the night with him. Fans interpreted this as the man not being interested in women, as he hasn't shown any sexual nor romantic interest for women throughout the entire series, being seen as queercoded for many and an example of Comp Het, (this is furthered by the fact that Takasugi is the only male character to not have a female love interest, as Matako's love for him is one sided and never reciprocated).

Another moment of note is in the Rakuyou Decisive Battle Arc when Gintoki and Takasugi finally reunite on healthier terms, they both slay their enemies, facing each other, while creating a string of blood around them. This has been interpreted as symbolism for the popular trope: The Red String of Fate, emphasised by the fact that an episode prior to this, Takasugi had wanted to Gintoki to be the first person he saw after waking up from a coma, and Gintoki fought through a crowd of enemies to get to Takasugi to ensure he was the first person to greet him as well, during this they also swapped and used each other's swords - protecting those were dear to the other (Takasugi protected Shinpachi, while Gintoki protected Bansai). It should also be noted that in samurai culture one's sword is their soul and so by giving each other their swords to use, Gintoki and Takasugi were entrusting their souls to each other.

During the Love Chorris Arc many fans also noticed the striking similarities between the virtual girl who represented Gintoki's ideal type and Takasugi:


 * Gintoki’s ideal girl: wants to avenge a loved one (her son) dying at the hands of Gintoki
 * Takasugi: wants to avenge a loved one (Shouyou) dying at the hands of Gintoki
 * Gintoki’s ideal girl: tries to kill Gintoki because she needed someone to shift the blame to after her loss despite knowing he isn’t the root
 * Takasugi: tries to kill Gintoki because he needed someone to shift the blame to after his loss despite knowing he isn’t the root
 * Gintoki’s ideal girl: according to Gintoki needs 2 years in real time to reconcile with and get over her loss
 * Takasugi: in actual real time needed 2 years to fully reconcile with Gintoki and get over his loss

Fandom
FANFICTION



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ART

Trivia

 * In "Shura" the 5th ending song of Gintama by DOES, the lyrics touch upon the theme of Takasugi haunted by Gintoki's sad face, stating that "In despair, I tried to pick up the broken pieces from faded memories. When I put the pieces together, what I found was a face, looking down in sadness "


 * In "Kirimusubi" a song written for the final scene of Gintoki and Takasugi by DOES, Gintoki expresses his feelings towards Takasugi through the lyrics, stating that "I should love without questioning anything." "the two of us vowed to never be apart ever again."