Even if a Natural Perm Gets Limp and Bent, It'll Eventually Spring Back (Part One) is the 596th chapter in Gintama. The end begins and it starts with the second Amanto invasion of Earth.
Story
In Edo, Hasegawa desperately struggles to reach a coin underneath a vending machine. A citizen tells a passerby cop that he had been like this for an hour and asks him to do something. Mistakenly believing that he was stuck, the cop and another citizen try to pull him out but Hasegawa refuses to budge. They and other passersby are then distracted by a light in the sky, giving Hasegawa enough time to reach the coin. The light destroys the Edo Terminal under the people's shocked gazes. The people flee in panic except for Hasegawa, who now suffers from blind despair after learning that the coin he found was fake. Sometime later in Otose's bar, Otose berates Hasegawa for prioritizing his despair over the bigger problem of Edo in danger. Hasegawa himself didn't care as it just meant the city now feels what he has felt for a long time.
Tama returns from her information gathering and starts to tell Otose, Hasegawa and Catherine what she learned. She first visited Gengai, who admited that what's happening now is a echo of similar events 20 years prior, when the Amanto first invaded Japan, giving rise to fear. Tama later met with Kyuubei and Tae who were hiding near a river and Kyuubei revealed that the invading Amanto are called the Altana Liberation Army. They were revolting against the Tendoushuu and allying with each other after said group destroyed their planets. Their ultimate goal is the Tendoushuu's destruction and they had already succeeded in destroying some of their outposts and bringing the Altana under their control. They were behind the Edo Terminal's destruction and are now occupying the Tendoushuu's home base, Earth. Unfortunately, both the Tendoushuu's and the Shogun's whereabouts are unknown and Japan's government has fallen apart, unable to protect this country. Kyuubei admitted that their country was broken maybe long before these series of events.
Lastly, she visited Yoshiwara, where Tsukuyo and Sarutobi looked on at the patrolling army. After learning who they were, Tsukuyo suggested bringing the Tendoushuu to them for appeasement but Sarutobi responded that they were also interested on controlling Earth as well. The ninja also added that there was no one around who would be crazy enough to make enemies of the universe if they decide to go against them. Except for a certain trio they knew well so they, along with Gengai, Kyuubei, and Tae earlier, asked Tama about the Yorozuya's whereabouts. When the robot finishes, Hasegawa leaves the bar and looks up at the empty upper floor of the Yorozuya's residence. While Otose wonders what were those three doing at a time like this.
Days later, the Amanto soldiers still terrorize the Edo citizens. Near them, Hasegawa once again struggles to get coins from under vending machines. A patrolling group catches him and after mocking him and his country for losing their pride to the Tendoushuu, a soldier gives him more coins and spits on them before they leave. Hasegawa cleans the coins and takes them to a hidden area in a park, placing them in a piggy bank, one of dozens he had filled and hidden. He puts them all on the Yorozuya's desk along with a letter to the Odd Jobs and leaves. The letter states that the coins were the wishes of the people of Edo and his job request is to help take back the Samurai Country with the rest of the samurai. Sometime later, a child accidentally bumps into one of the soldiers, spilling the soldier's drink. The Amanto takes out his gun to shoot the child but someone stands between them: Hasegawa dressed in his Immigration Bureau uniform.
Characters
- Hasegawa Taizou
- Otose
- Catherine
- Tama
- Hiraga Gengai
- Yagyuu Kyuubei
- Shimura Tae
- Tsukuyo
- Sarutobi Ayame
Quotes
- Hasegawa: No matter what pit of despair I might be standing in, no matter what vast darkness we might be stuck in, as long as I do not shut my eyes, I can see the light.
- Hasegawa: (in a letter) To the Yorozuya. I gathered up the wishes from the people of Edo. There is only one thing I ask in this job request. To take back the country of the samurai together with all us samurai.