nenru:

_{Top 10 Things About Gintama → #08 Defining Friendship}

_{“When your friend is crying, cry with him. When your friend is worried, you should worry with him. When your friend has an awkward bowel movement, then you must have an awkward bowel movement too, Shin-chan. If you are a friend, you should be able to share the other’s pain, no matter what. And, Shin-chan, if your friend goes down the wrong path…Then, you must stop your friend, even if it ruins your friendship. That is true samurai friendship.”}

_{Friendship is consistently seen as a main theme in most prominent anime. Stuff like: “Friendship is the most important thing!” It’s rare to find an anime that delves into the subject of friendship any more than that; it all remains relatively at surface level. Anime tends to be, well, anime. Gintama, like most shounen anime, portrays acts of friendship through rather extreme, unrealistic endeavors. Chances are, you’ve seen enough near-death sacrifices in anime to know what I’m talking about. In Gintama, however, these acts are reinforced by countless more subtle and realistic acts. Whether it be Otae chasing away boys that were teasing Kyuubei or Gintoki buying Kagura an umbrella, it’s these small instances of kindness that Gintama redefines what friendship means in the unconventional world of anime. Titles in between family and friend are examined through such trivial interactions. These friendships, which are established by smaller, realistic moments throughout the show, are then reflected by being put into extreme “anime” circumstances. Gintama truly embodies what every anime should be trying to do in the difficult attempt of defining friendship.}

(via gintamajustaway)