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I'm gonna talk about this scene for a little bit and why it GETS me.
Takasugi was first established as a mindless, murderous villain. There was nothing else to him beyond that, he was literally bad guy go brrr (tbc) https://twitter.com/MeruemGoat/status/1313765236105785344
Takasugi was first established as a mindless, murderous villain. There was nothing else to him beyond that, he was literally bad guy go brrr (tbc) https://twitter.com/MeruemGoat/status/1313765236105785344
But starting from the Joui slice-of-life flashbacks, we get a glimpse of his humanity. This is where we not only wonder what the hell happened, but we question our views on his character. Is he actually the man he was initially portrayed to be?
Sorachi built layers of layers around him, to hide him from the audience. And Takasugi did that with those he loved the most, his boys, the joui 4, and the people around him, with his thirst for blood and anger caused by trauma.
SA arc is, well, where the walls start to crumble. Takasugi starts the fight as the villain of the story, the bad guy who we should not be rooting for, but, by the end of it, we just see a broken man, crushed by loss...
who's just coming to terms with the facy that his childhood friend still believes in him and his soul, and will do anything to protect him, for his and their master's sake.
The flashbacks are building up to a gentle crescendo, establishing his relationships with Zura and Gintoki, how he became strong thanks to them and Shouyo.
Then we see how they made him break his façade, that annoyed-by-everything façade, and he lets his childlike spirit come forward. This is Takasugi at his purest, most tender form. And who would have seen it coming? That he was so much more than meets the eye?
Takasugi, at his core, is just a little kid that came from a broken home who just wants to protect those he loves. And this is why it's emotional.
That "destroy everything" guy, the guy that smiles and laughs devilishly, is the same little boy we see smiling happily, surrounded by his friends.
He was not the bad guy. There was just a child within him waiting to be saved. Lost and asleep. But, hey, thank god Gintoki was there to wake him up.
