Gintama Spinoff 3-Nen Z-Gumi Ginpachi-Sensei Gets 1st New Novel in 6 Years

3-Nen Z-Gumi Ginpachi-Sensei (Class 3-Z’s Teacher Ginpachi), Tomohito Ōsaki‘s spinoff novel series of Hideaki Sorachi‘s Gintama manga, is getting its first new novel volume in six years on December 4. The novel is titled Soreyuke Dai Kyūgi Taikai (Go Forth to the Great Ball Game).

Ōsaki’s spinoff novel series is set in Gintama High School and follows the school teacher Ginpachi Sakata (despite not having the personality or appearance befitting a teacher) and his students. The story first debuted in 2006. Shueisha published the latest volume in the novel series in 2018. Sorachi is credited for the original work.

The novels are inspiring an anime adaptation that will premiere on TV Tokyo in October 2025.

Sorachi’s original “science-fiction period-drama comedy” manga began in 2003 and ended in June 2019 with over 55 million copies in circulation. The manga has inspired several television anime series with 367 total episodes, as well as three previous anime films. The latest anime series premiered in July 2018. The manga has also inspired various original video anime (OVA), event anime, two live-action films, and two live-action net spinoffs. Viz Media published the manga’s first 23 volumes in English.

Gintama THE VERY FINAL (Gintama: The Final), the third and last anime film based on the finale of the original manga, combined with new story elements, opened in Japan in January 2021.

Eleven Arts screened the film in Japanese with English subtitles and with an English dub in North American theaters in November 2021. Eleven Arts and Shout! Factory released the film digitally in January 2022, and on Blu-ray Disc and DVD in February 2022.

The manga also inspired a net anime special titled Gintama The Semi-Final with a story that served as a two-episode prequel to the film. The net anime premiered exclusively in Japan on the online dTV service in January 2021.

A series of new Gintama on Theater 2D compilations started screening in Japan in 2023. The first of the new Gintama on Theater 2D compilations, Gintama on Theater 2D: Baragaki-hen (Thorny Arc), opened a three-week limited engagement in Japanese theaters in November 2023. The second compilation, Gintama on Theater 2D: Ikkoku Keisei-hen, opened its three-week run on June 21. The third compilation, Gintama on Theater 2D: Kintama-hen, will have a three-week limited screening in Japan starting on November 22.

The compilations are part of the Gintama franchise‘s 20th anniversary celebration, with 2023 being the 20th anniversary of Hideaki Sorachi‘s Gintama manga debuting, and 2026 being the 20th anniversary of the television anime’s premiere. The Yorinuki Gintama-san rerun of the television anime also spawned two “on Theater 2D” compilations in 2012 and 2013.

Source: Shueisha