Gin Tama, Volume 3 [Paperback]

Hideaki Sorachi (Author, Illustrator), Frances Wall (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 6, 2007

Gin's "to do" list for this volume:

1. Pick a fight with those Shinsengumi losers

2. Throw out my old SHONEN JUMP magazines

3. Save Shinpachi and Kagara AGAIN

4. Take Kagura's so-called dog for a walk

5. Protect the environment

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Hideaki Sorachi was born on May 25, 1979 and grew up in Hokkaido, Japan. His ongoing series, GIN TAMA, became a huge hit when it began running in the pages of Japan's Weekly Shonen Jump in 2004. A GIN TAMA animated series followed soon after, premiering on Japanese TV in April 2006. Sorachi made his manga debut with the one-shot story DANDELION, which is included in volume 1 of the GIN TAMA graphic novels.

Product Details

• Paperback: 200 pages
• Publisher: VIZ Media LLC; 1 edition (November 6, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1421513609
• ISBN-13: 978-1421513607
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #502,733 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Pirates!, February 8, 2009

By 

E. A Solinas "ea_solinas" (MD USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Gin Tama, Volume 3 (Paperback)

It says something about "Gin Tama" that being rescued from drug-running space pirates is all in a day's work. The third volume of Hideaki Sorachi's hilarious series picks up where the second left off, but promptly launches into a string of one-off, hysterical stories about firefighters, kappas, and pet shows.

Gin and Katsura disguise themselves as space pirates, and board the pirates' ship -- just as the scum are dumping Kagura overboard. This event unveils some new problems for the Shinsengumi, who are forced to protect a foul-mouthed toad who's being targeted by anti-alien organizations.

In the stories that follow, Gin and company encounter a weird bunch of problems -- a familiar animal-obsessed alien prince and depressed taxi driver, a battle over cherry blossom-viewing spots, a selfish boy-bander dating Shinpachi's favorite idol a kappa in danger of losing his home, and a gung-ho female firefighter in search of a firebug. They even enter Sadaharu in a pet contest... against "Captain" Katsura and his man-sized penguin Elizabeth.

Having come up with a mad mixture of science fiction and Meiji-era dilemmas, Hideaki Sorachi seems to have settled into a nice, insane groove in "Gin Tama Volume 3." It's a nice steady stream of insanity -- pet show deathmatches, helmet-and-hammer games, assaults in a toilet stall, space pirates, and our steadfast heroes dressing like kappa. Ah, bliss.

But despite the inherent madness of the series, Sorachi manages some solid little storylines about lost families, environmental action, and some insane race-and-tackle competitions. And he crams it with bad songs, toilet humor, hilarious dialogue ("Since I can't figure out how to separate the trash, I've decided to live a life of depravity... like a fallen angel") and weird scenarios (Katsura and Gin in stereotypical pirate mode, complete with fake scars, hook and eyepatches).

And Sorachi obviously has some affection for his whacked-out characters -- Gin continues to be a painfully-mellow-unless-enraged slacker, while Shinpachi's fanboyishness goes to new heights. And the Shinsengumi turn out to not be such bad guys -- with the exception of the boyishly homicidal Okita -- they're just overly loyal to the weird Kondo.

And Katsura? The resident pretty guy of this series turns out to have a secret desire to be "Captain Katsura" ("Tell us what a space captain does." "I'm a... captain... in space") and a fondness for alien penguins.

The third volume of "Gin Tama" runs along smoothly with even more weirdness, and promises to produce even more in future. Definitely worth reading.