Before I started watching anime I had certain conception of what an anime protagonist was like. They were these larger than life figures who were archetypes taken straight Joseph Campbell’s Heroes Journey. This concept was shattered by the silver haired samurai Sakata Gintoki.

Gintoki is completely different from every other anime protagonist and from most fictional characters in general. He is a man with numerous flaws. He has an insatiable sweet tooth that puts him on the verge of getting diabetes. He’s lazy to a fault and constantly picks his nose.

He never pays Kagura or Shinpachi what they are owed nor can he pay his rent on time due to him constantly loosing it all at pachinko. By every metric he’s a horrible role model no one would want to be around. Beneath all those faults lies a very broken man who is

Struggling to put his life back together after loosing everything in the Joui Civil War. In that war Gintoki fought to protect his ideal version of the Samurai along with his dear friends Katsura Kotarou and Takasugi Shinsuke. Together along with their ally Sakamoto Tatsuma

They dreamed of rescuing their teacher who had given each of them a second chance at life Yoshida Shouyou. Instead Gintoki and his friends are captured and he is forced to choose between killing his beloved teacher or letting his friends die in order for Shouyou to be spared.

Gintoki decided to keep his promise made to Shouyou before he was taken prisoner which was to protect his students no matter the cost. Gintoki by his own hand killed the man who took him in when no one else would. Gintoki alone decide to shoulder the burden of taking his

Teachers life. Even if his friends came to hate him he would accept all of their hatred because that hatred meant that they were at least still alive. Even if he couldn’t protect their friendship if he could protect their lives then that was all Gintoki needed.

As a consequence Gintoki was alone with nothing in his name he became a wander eventually arriving at graveyard in the middle of winter to die. He was fortunately taken in by Otose and given another chance at life. The tragedy that befell Gintoki would’ve have broken most men but

Miraculously Gintoki picks up the pieces and creates the family that is Yorozuya. With Kagura and Shinpachi by his side Gintoki’s soul was given new life and he swore to protect his new family until his dying breath. He would never again let his Soul go astray.

The reborn Gintoki we see in Gintama is imperfect but behind all those imperfections is a man who always help those in need at great risk to himself. He will give you the advice you need to hear the most when you need it the most. Most importantly he is a true friend who

Will stubbornly refuse to abandon you. He lives by his own code refuses to compromise on it. All of this taken together makes Gintoki a very human character that causes him to stay in the hearts of those around him. Those connections extend all the way to the audience who

Followed Gintoki for over a decade. We all identified with Gintoki’s desire for self improvement and living a life he could be proud of. As much as Gintoki gave us and those around him strength those same connections gave him the strength to move forward and grow as a character.

It’s a symbiotic relationship allowing us and Gintoki to evolve and discover ourselves together. It’s a beautiful relationship and Gintoki greatly helped me discover and accept faults in myself I never realized before. He taught me though that those faults should not define you.

What defines you instead is what you do in the end. In spite of his many faults Gintoki became a hero admired by those around. Will we be able to become something as grand? That answer will depend on how we live going forward but Gintoki gives us all strength to believe we can.