It’s rather common for anime fans to know character’s ages. But for years, Gintama’s age has not been revealed. That is, until now.
During a recent YouTube special for the anime movie Gintama The Final, it was asked how old the character was. (Even the staff said didn’t know!) However, Kohei Onishi, the original editor of the Gintama manga, revealed the character is 27 to 29 years old during the events of The Final.
But why was the character’s age not revealed?
Gintama’s original editor Kohei Onishi recalled a character’s age is typically revealed at the manga’s start. But after hearing that the character was 27, he told creator Hideaki Sorachi that it might be better not to reveal the age during those early installments. And so, he never did.
Since Gintama was published in Weekly Shonen Jump and its readers skew younger, it was thought that some would find Gintama’s age off-putting just as the manga was trying to win over fans. And so Sorachi never mentioned it until now.
Twenty-seven might be young in human years but in manga and anime years, it’s ancient!