@Monkey:
I never started reading Gintama partially because I did a bit of a creepy xenophobic vibe from it.
Same here, I don't think I'll ever get their jokes/gags or find them in any way funny.
Chapter 715: "Close Contest C-Block"
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There are a few instances in the thousands of pages that he's drawn images that seem very similar to the Japanese military's flag. Since it was used when Japan marched its way through East Asia, it's similar to how we might view the Dixie flag but without the correlation of babies being caught on bayonets.
As most of these things go, the flag's roots lie not in military origin, but in a symbol of good luck (similar to Ace's WB manji) which the image was originally used as. Yet moreso is that the flag, when utilized in the series, is being used to in similar ways to truckers (see Johnny and Yoasku) or speed gangs (see Pagaya) which, in reality, is how many of those people actually use or used the flag to decorate their vehicles.
Wow. I did notice that they were pointing out the similarities between Odas and real-life flags, but I couldn
t believe that was all they were getting crazy about. I mean, its not like this is the flag of the main characters, it`s just side characters like Pagaya. To interpret something so extreme out of this is simply insane. -
You have to dig deep to reach rock bottom.
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@Monkey:
Oda is unquestionably mostly progressive (aside from maybe on gender lol), and hardly some sort of Japanese supremacist lol. I mean he's basically made a manga glorifying the often quoted "Nail that sticks up" that traditional Japanese society frowns on, as well as an internationalist travel series with an evil government and a definite no question villain in the basically fascist Akainu who might as well be called Hideki Konoe.
And he explored the heck out of (for a shonen comic) issues of discrimination with Fishman Island.The idea that people are calling Oda some sort of far right ultra-nationalist is just….angering really. These Koreans who say these things, the irony is that the odds are high that they themselves are just the Korean version of what they accuse Oda of.
Damn shame.Don't you think Fishman Island also had a bit of this kind of hate? I always saw it as Oda's way of portraing racism and never thought beyond that (and with Queen Otohime being kind of Martin Luther King and Tiger being Malcolm X, even more), but this generational hate also applies beyond racism.
As in this case of quite possibly young koreans, who haven't experienced themselves the conflict with Japan, hating japanese creators and calling them supremacists and stuff like that.
I don't think Oda went specificaly for that angle, but there might be some of that, I don't know. . .
(That's why I'm saying Oda using Kanokuni and Wanokuni as a way to show how peace among the OP counterparts of Japan and China could be a good idea and a good example, but seeing how these guys see ultra right wing supremacies everywhere, it could backfire terribly. . . .)
Same here, I don't think I'll ever get their jokes/gags or find them in any way funny.
Actually, aside from some extremely specific japanese local humor having to do with puns and stuff, Gintama has some of the most hilarious gags I've ever seen. I think when it goes for serious or dramatic stuff it fails quite a bit, but the humoristic side is just super funny.
