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My Okikagu moment /theories.

there seems to be a lot of hints throughout the anime and manga that had been pointed out but i never saw anyone pointed this out.

1) From Ep 12 - It was when Sadaharu got adopted by the Yorozuya, Shinpanchi noted that Sadaharu kept on attacking Kagura and so does she. But in her brain she took it as playfulness and sign of affections. She also thought that Sadaharu was really attached to her.

Note that it was said that Kagura had a hard time playing with anyone / other kids because of her strength, she ended up always hurting them.

In this situation, it made me think that her continuous physical sparring with Sougo is somewhat similar to the playfulness in which Kagura and Sadaharu had when they first met.

Given that as time passed, Sadaharu tamed down a lot and stop attacking/ eating the Yorozuya’s head, but in the beginning, they were really sparring and Kagura felt really happy that she can find a pet that can hold against her monstrous strength (even claiming that it was heaven gift)

Eh? So is Sougo heaven’s gift too Kagura? Finally you can play with another kid without worrying about hurting them huh? :p

2) People always point out of Sougo and Kagura age gap, which is merely 4 years. And while Sougo and Tae are both 18 years old, Kagura respects her so much and calls her “anego” and treats her like an adult to look up to. While in many occassion she will refer to Sougo as “brat / kid” which signifies that Kagura really thinks of him as the same level of maturity as her(still a kid). So, sougo cannot be thoughts of as adult to Kagura when clearly Kagura doesnt think so.

3) Then, in the Rokakku arc, those 2 lines are said to Kirie by Kagura, that if she should met him again, she would better try to kill him again, and that will made him happier.

eh?

So she had always try to keep him happy all these time, huh?

:P

A lot of the jokes in Gintama are derogatory and it’s not focused solely directed at crossdressers. Gintama is very humorous and makes a lot of jokes, but something that remains very consistent is acceptance. Yes, jokes are made about crossdressers, but as a whole, the acceptance of crossdressers is really significant. Saigou, one of the strongest people, a member of the four Devas, is a crossdresser and is highly respected and revered. In one episode he appeared in, Gintoki and Katsura made jokes about crossdressers and Saigou made them crossdress and work for him. Not only that, but there was a whole section dedicated to Saigou’s son learning to accept what his father does for a living and accept his chosen way of life and in the end, they’re both a lot closer. Because they’re family and it doesn’t matter if Saigou is a crossdresser, he’s still strong and loving and caring. That wasn’t a joke and that certainly wasn’t making fun of crossdressers.

Then there’s a character like Kyuubei who wants to be a man to be with the woman she loves. There’s a lot of jokes about Kyuubei’s desire to be a man and how she crossdresses and stuff, but her feelings for Otae are REAL and there hasn’t been a single joke made about those feelings. It can be argued that Katsura crossdressing is just for joke purposes, but I never see it like that. To me, it just shows that Katsura is comfortable with himself and so crossdressing isn’t a big deal for him, especially for when he’s going undercover and using it as a disguise. Gintoki crossdresses and has been shown to continue his work at Saigou’s for money and I really don’t think, considering his disposition, that he minds it one bit and certainly doesn’t think less of himself for doing it. Gintama is largely accepting, you’ll find characters with all sorts of backgrounds and I personally love seeing all the crossdressing!! It shows so much variety and you don’t see this kind of acceptance in a lot of animes, most of them, I should say. Yes, I laugh at the jokes that are made, but just because someone made a joke doesn’t mean the characters are being shamed. It’s like you’re laughing with them, not at them. It would be different if the characters were made to feel bad for their choices, but they’re not, no one is trying to change them or shame them into becoming someone other than who they are and that is acceptance. 

Plus, let’s just look at how gorgeous these ladies are =A=

Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun - chapter 31

I’m noticing a pattern here.

So in the midst of my okikagu fangirling that i went through especially since eps 364 aired last Monday, i also noticed some dissatisfied posts about Okikagu, or Okikagu shippers in general.

“Kagura hates Sougo!!!”

“Okikagu shippers acts like Okikagu is canon”

“Shinkagu/Ginkagu is more relevant because Kagura obviously love them both”

I’m not one to defend my ship or hates on other ships, just want to point out my takes on things.

1. Rokkaku arc

Notice Kagura’s face when Kirie was broken down about Sougo. It’s of sadness and uncertainty because she knew he was hiding something.

She knew Sougo is hiding something and that he was too skilled to mistakenly cut someone.

You can see Sougo was surprised that Kagura came, he asked what she’s doing there. This shows that in our and Sougo’s POV, Kagura is acting out of character.

Sougo and (also the reader) will expect Kagura to not care/hate/annoyed by Sougo. He was surprised that she came and asked these questions.

Kagura doesn’t believe that Sougo is simply a murderer, eventhough he himself convinced that he was.

She heard this, she knew Sougo is protecting both her and Kirie.

Kagura knew the only way Sougo will be happy is through fighting, knowing that he stood for what he’s protecting.

2. Farewell Shinsengumi arc

The moment Sougo gave up and again, trying to convince himself he was just a manslayer without anything to protect….

Yes, Kagura showed up, and again, Sougo was surprised.

He didnt think Kagura will come, or he didnt think anyone will come at all. At this point, the shinsengumi was disbanded and everyone is already out of their uniform. (Except for Sougo)

Again, you would think that Kagura doesnt care or hates? Sougo. Hell, even Sougo himself will think that, but Kagura didnt.

She acknowledged Sougo protecting her and Soyo.

Sougo again, in disbelief. He asked Kagura “do you think i was depressed? Are you trying to cheer me up?”

Will Kagura cheer him up if she hated him? I dont think so.

3. Their farewell

Kagura reminding him to take care of himself and become stronger, to not worry about her/yorozuya/edo. It’s like a reassurance that he can leave Edo in peace after the shinsengumi disbandment.

Once again, Sougo looked surprised here. He did not expect Kagura to care. Readers will expect the same (if you are not an okikagu shippers, i mean)

I’m not saying Okikagu is canon. So far up to this point, none of the ships in Gintama are canon. We can pull out hints and fanservice here and there to make up our theory to support our ships, and nothing is wrong with that.

But Kagura does not hate Sougo.

Well she did explicitly said she hates him, i dont dispute that. But its not like Kagura does not care about Sougo. You cant take away the fact that Kagura is the one who understood Sougo the most, and has always been there for him, not only in times of their childish banter, but also during a crucial developmental arc for Sougo.

Sougo loves Kagura.

That should be obvious, i’m not going into details of that because we can see it clearly during the latest episode where he obviously missed her, searched for her and asked her to be back, reminisce their past a lot, and finally welcoming her home.

As for Kagura’s feeling, yeah, maybe she is not interested in Sougo romantically, but their dynamic is important in Sougo’s character’s development more than it was for Kagura.

1. She turned Sougo from believing he is a manslayer to believing he is a protector.

2. She believed in him.

3. She cheered him up when he was depressed and therefore making Sougo remembered his purpose.

Kagura was the one supporting him, or was he supporting her?

In Gintama, Kagura’s character is the connector of many relationships and dynamic, and an important one to Sougo’s story.

And yeah, i’m not saying its canon. Because none of the ships are canon/or will be canon. Sorachi would not go into that route.

He had boldly and sarcastically critics that route in which Jump’s shonen manga usually will take.

But still!!!

He wrote a full chapter of okikagu’s interaction. That signifies that their story is a part of Gintama as Sorachi wanted to tell it.

As i said eventhough it leaned more on Sougo’s feelings to Kagura and none vice versa, Kagura does not hate Sougo. Not in the past, and probably not in the future.

As for the events on Episode 364, well… it’s going to hard to explain if you’re not caught up with the manga, which will explain further Sougo’s motivation. Anime only viewers should hold their horses on that one, but you’ll understand why it is impossible for Sougo to hate her–and the Yorozuya in general. On surface-level, luring Kagura out by attacking small children may seems like a dick move and unjustifiable. But I think by that time he already has a hunch about who Kanna actually is, and, knowing Kagura, he’s just doing what he knows will prove his point.

Kagura is technically running away from reality at that point, claiming she’s responsible for Yorozuya’s disband. Shinpachi says that she’s not–and, by saying “Danna may already knows that the man is still alive”, Sougo agrees with Shinpachi albeit indirectly. After all, he’s the one who contacted Kaientai to retrieve her back home–not Shinpachi, not anyone else–and he’s not doing it just to merely beat her up and satiate his sadistic tendencies. By the time she finally retrieves back into her original appearance, Sougo indirectly helps her return to Earth completely as Kagura and not behind another persona.

As for their feelings, I think they’re not canonically in love with each other… yet. But there is an undeniable fact that their relationship in canon is special, thus creating an idea of them as couple which us shippers love. Even as they are now (AND especially as they are now!), I can still die happily for their one-of-a-kind dynamics.

Its more than true that yeah, thats definitely the dynamic you will see in Gintama. Everybody hits everybody.

But why is it special when it came to Okikagu?

It’s because Kagura is a Yato who suppressed her need for fighting. But it is in her blood. By nature, Kagura is a gentle and loving girl, but she fixated to Sadaharu because Sadaharu is strong and will usually playfully, fghts them.

Is it violence? Is it unhealthy? Sadaharu always bit up Ginchan’s head though?

Then Sougo, being a natural sadist, found Kagura to be interesting because she’s strong beyond her looks, as he was always trying to find someone strong.

Yeah, so while ppl said Kagura satisfied his sadistic needs (you might think so but isn’t a sadist need an M? And Kagura is as far from an M as she could be) Sougo is attracted to her in a different level.

Sougo met and know Sacchan (who was definitely an M, a beauty, strong, “age appropriate”) he immediately shows interests during the time but didnt follow through anywhere else.

Sougo met and fought Nobume (who was probably as strong as him with same personality, cold, eyes of a killer, “age appropriate”, and extremely beautiful too. He immediately shows interests to her too, but didnt follow through.

Sougo wasn’t really attracted to them. Its not merely to satisfy any needs or who mets a standard. Sougo is attracted to Kagura on a deeper level. It’s their connection, how Kagura gets him and how he gets her. It just had to be her. It always has.