"Once a Samurai decides to protect something, he protects it to the very end!"
Shinpachi Shimura
Shinpachi Shimura (志村 新八,Shimura Shinpachi?) is a member of the Yorozuya, a samurai in training, and one of the three main protagonists of Gintama. He is one of the more normal characters of the series, delivering the requisite reality-checks or punchlines against other characters' antics.
Other than working at the Yorozuya, Shinpachi is also the leader of Terakado Tsuu's fanclub: Terakado Tsuu's Imperial Guards.
Shinpachi has black hair and brown eyes. He wears a light blue keikogi with blue linings and a blue hakama. Many other characters have pointed out that Shinpachi's glasses are his charm point. Sakata Gintoki even went as far as to say that Shinpachi's glasses make out 95% of him and that they are more Shinpachi than Shinpachi himself, with the rest being 3% water and 2% garbage.[1] His poor eyesight is supposedly caused by chronic ingestion of dark materials (egg) cooked by his beloved elder sister, Otae.
Throughout the series, he is seen wearing various disguises and has been shown in different styles for gags.
Personality[]
Shinpachi is best known for his Tsukkomi (being a straight man) when other people especially Gintoki or Kagura say or do idiotic things, which happens very often. He is frequently teased by Sakata Gintoki, his supposed employer, and later on by Yagyuu Kyuubei for having a 'sister-complex' because of his attachment towards his sister. Since he doesn't have as much physical strength as Kagura, he is often bullied by her, who often tends to literally give him a thrashing. He takes charge of all the household chores in the Yorozuya due to his 'inclination to care for other people' (as he explained during the Goukon in Episode 88). He also likes to save leftovers, bringing Tupperware to store the food and is called 'domestic' because of it.
All of the above points, combined with his plain bespectacled look has made him the archetypical downtrodden nerdy character. Shinpachi is also a rabid fan of fictional pop-idol Terakado Tsuu, and often gets so moved by her songs that he starts crying listening to them. He is the strict leader of the Terakado Tsuu's Imperial Guards, a fan club with deep admiration and devotion to her, and has made 99 regulations that he makes sure the members loyally follow. Whenever someone breaks one of the rules and regulations of the fanclub, he personally issues their punishment with a flying nose-hook. Most of the time, the Sergeant is on the receiving end. Shinpachi himself has been shown to break some of the regulations that he punishes others for doing the same.
Shinpachi also likes to sing, and has been seen singing karaoke-versions of various songs by Tsuu, but is completely tone-deaf.[2]
Strength & Abilities[]
He has limited dojo training, but inherited a dojo together with his older sister Shimura Tae called Koudoukan (恒道館), specializing in the Tendoumushin sword-fighting style (天堂無心流, Tendou Mushin Ryuu).
Although Shinpachi's fighting abilities are not as powerful as that of his two friends (Kagura with her monstrous Yato strength and Gintoki with his sword mastery), and is joked that his combat ability was merely two Kelp above normal human; in truth, he is still stronger than average swordsmen and can fight alongside with others in battles without being only a burden to them. He grew a lot stronger over the years and also finally gained actual combat experience, which he lacked according to Takechi Henpeita. Sorachi himself had stated that Shinpachi is pretty skilled, the reason for not being obvious is because he is always surrounded by "monsters" and is often not the main fighter in the group.
He has been shown to be able to fight with not only his sword, but using hand-to-hand combat in a boxing match, and also using his intelligence; as seen when he was able to knock back Kyuubei and beat her grandfather, winning the game against the Yagyuu clan,[3] when he figured out a way to get past Tosshi's human wall,[4] and when he fought with Tosshi in a boxing match.[5]
In Episode 213, he defeated Chin Pirako who was a feared and extremely skilled swordsman herself, in two blows, proving how strong he became. He also defeated Obi Hajime in a deathmatch, causing Hajime to admit that Shinpachi has become a strong warrior.
In the manga, by Lesson 422, he is strong enough to knock down 2 members of the giant clan with a single kick (knocking one out), albeit with a surprise attack. Each member of the giant clan is big and strong enough to knock over buildings with a single blow. Once again, as Sorachi said, his contribution is made insignificant next to his monster allies, as Gintoki and Umibozou annihilate an entire invading force of the Giants that were preparing to eradicate the human race.
On a recurring note, as the series progresses, every time there is one of the trademark fights against hordes of enemies, Shinpachi without fail will defeat several dozen, or even hundreds of mob class enemies without much difficulty. By chapter 500 of the manga, even elite special ops units are treated like fodder to him.
In addition to his skill with the sword, he has also been seen using the powerful nose hook technique that is used by several characters in the series, and possibly even invented it.
At some point in the series, he switches from using a katana to using a bokuto like Gintoki. This seems to coincide with his growth in strength and skill, as he casually defeats elite fighters armed with live steel with his bokuto.
His combat ability drastically changes depending on whether or not he is wearing his glasses, as he has very poor eyesight. Just like Sa-chan, his poor eyesight makes it impossible for him to fight against decent combatants. This seems to change as the series progresses.
5 years in the future, Shinpachi seems to have caught up to Kagura and (past) Gin in fighting ability, in the 2nd Gintama movie.
Relationships[]
Family[]
Shimura Tae: Shinpachi's older sister. They care about each other very much to the point that Gintoki says Shinpachi has a sister complex.
Shimura Ken: Shinpachi's father. When they were young Shinpachi & her older sister Shimura Tae were always getting punished by their father for fooling around.
Mentor[]
Obi Hajime: He was the former chief coach of the Koudoukan. He was like an older brother to Shinpachi and Otae. He went missing before Shinpachi met Gintoki traveling around the Galaxy.
Sakata Gintoki: Shinpachi follows Gintoki with admiration for him in order to learn the way of the samurai, which leads him to work in Yorozuya. He quite regrets following him because of Gintoki's irresponsibility for everything, but at the same time, they started to have adventures which lead Shinpachi to start considering him as a mentor and brother. He even got mad at Gintoki when he didn't consider him as a brother when Gintoki told Umibouzu about not having a family. Gintoki is the only person he would listen to whenever he refuses to listen to his sister. During the Guardian Dog Arc, he said to Nakamura Kyoujirou that he considered Gintoki as a family.
Kagura is close to Shinpachi even though she beats him or offends him often. However, they both care for each other very deeply as comrades as even though they have their differences they would always help each other when they need it and they have the common care and respect for Gintoki. They mostly have siblings relationship. Shinpachi acts like a elder brother to Kagura.
Yagyuu Kyuubei: Shinpachi and Kyuubei are friends due to the fact that the latter is friends with Otae.
Kondou Isao: Shinpachi views him as an annoying stalker and most of the time he would prefer having Gintoki as a brother-in-law rather than Kondou. Just as Kagura and Gintoki share parallels with Okita and Hijikata, Shinpachi and Kondou seem to share is the softer ones of the trio and often the butt of their jokes.
Katsura Kotarou: They are very respectful to each other, but at times Shinpachi wonders about Katsura's lack of common sense. Just like the other members of Yorozuya, he does seek advice from Katsura every once in a while.
Taka-Chin: Taka-chin is Shinpachi's childhood friend from temple school. They managed to reconcile after Shinpachi saved him from his old biker gang. He has become a member of Terakada Tsu's Imperial Guard, of which Shinpachi is a captain of.
Yamazaki Sagaru: They both share being the plain characters as well as the straight man in many situations. They are often opponents when the Yorozuya goes against the Shinsengumi.
Unlike most of the other people who become his torturing victims, Sougo had a respect for him as most of other Shinsengumi, as shown during pen pal arc. This could be because Kondou has instructed the Shinsengumi to be nice to Shinpachi.
Takechi Henpeita: Shinpachi once fought Henpeita during the Benizakura Arc to clear Katsura a path. They've become allies during the Choshu War in order to protect Shige Shige, but this was a set up by Tendoshu and Nobu Nobu.
Abuto: When Kagura was overwhelmed by Abuto during their battle, Shinpachi tried to help Kagura but was easily defeated. Later, he and Kagura were saved by Abuto from falling. They later became allies in the near end of the Shogun Assassination arc.
Love Interest[]
Otsu: Otsu was girl meet on the streets performing that he met during the times he was looking for a job before meeting with Gintoki. He started to like her songs as far to create a fan club for her.
Kirara: They became penpals after Shinpachi found her message in a bottle near the beach.
Pandemonium: Pandemonium larvae are snacks for Shikigami. Shinpachi fell in love with one of the grotesque creatures after their lips accidentally met. He sees only a beautiful face of a lady on the disgusting larva. Pandemonium was chomped by a Shirino Clan's Shikigami. Pandemonium was later seen in Satan Festival where Shinpachi once again fell in love with the larva. This time Pandemonium was crushed by Gedoumaru who was irritated by Shinpachi's idiotic behavior.
Anigasaki Momo: A game character from Love Choris, Shinpachi chose her due to his taste of older sister type.
Enemies[]
Eromes: Eromes tricked Shinpachi into thinking she is interested in him to steal his wallet.
Hitotsubashi Nobu Nobu: After what the tyrant did to Shinpachi's sister while she opposed against the tyrant's regime for killing an innocent people heartlessly since the day after he sold his humanity to Tendoshu, letting the assassination attempt on Shige Shige, Shinsengumi being disbanded and at the same time Kondo and Matsudaira are about to be executed five days later, Shinpachi hated they way how Nobu Nobu treated, at a time when he’s still a pawn Tendoshu and Utsuro, until they betrayed the last shogun and deem him to have no use of them anymore.
Trivia[]
When the characters of Gintama were being made, Shinpachi was originally going to be a part of the Shinsengumi as Nagakura Shinpachi (永倉新八), who was the captain of the Shinsengumi's second unit. Instead, he was given glasses and became the one to throw the punch lines, receiving his last name from Shimura Ken (志村けん), a Japanese comedian.
A recurring running gag for Shinpachi's glasses which other characters concerned the glasses itself is Shinpachi, which mostly makes the owner of the glasses being irritated due the presence of the real Shinpachi was ignored.
Stated in the series, the name, Shinpachi can be a pun of Chimpanzee and Sympathy.
Whenever Makoto, the 'Centaur' character/mascot played by Gintoki with Kagura as a corpse makes an appearance, Shinpachi is the hindquarters of the horse (for example Episode 124).
The name of his okama counterpart and his gender-bend version is Pachie.
The name of his magical girl counterpart in his own version of the Gintama ending is Magical Yun Yun Pachina.
In Episode 106, he was portrayed as a horse with eye-glasses while the others were shown as warriors on horses.
Shinpachi's name contains kanji 八 which means 8, which also means infinite or glasses (he wears glasses). He also placed on 8th rank in all the Gintama character polls to date (4 in total).
For unknown reasons in the Dekobokko arc, while all the characters (except for his sister, Otae) had their genders changed, Shinpachi had his frame changed from blue to pink instead.
Shinpachi's look in Gintama the Movie: Be Forever Yorozuya is a parody of Kazuto Kirigaya/Kirito from Sword Art Online.
His clothes are mostly black-colored.
Shinpachi also wields two swords.
Both Shinpachi and Kagura don't make appearance in some of Shinsengumi's serious arc.
They don't appear in Okita Mitsuba Arc.
In Tales of the Rays, in the collaboration event with Gintama, Hubert Oswell from Tales of Graces gains a costume of Shinpachi through the mirrage arteExpansion.
Quotes[]
(To Shimura Tae) "You're so unfair, Sis... Smiling brightly every single day, but you never show your true feelings in the slightest. Even if you're hurt or want to cry, you're forcing yourself to smile. Always without saying anything to anyone. You bear the burden alone, you decide alone and you end up smiling alone! Please stop forcing yourself! If you're hurt, then tell us! I won't let you say you're alone! Because we all... Because we saw your crying face... We all gathered here for that one reason alone! Those guys would rather die than say it was for your sake! But you know, when you cry... there are others that share your pain! Please remember that!
(To Shimura Tae) "Sister... Sister... Sister! It doesn't matter if two years have passed! I can go anywhere as long as I'm with you!"
(To loan shark amanto) "I don't care about the dojo. I love the dojo where my sister laughed, if it only makes her cry, then I don't need that kind of dojo!"
(To Daraku) "This is the Samurai Country, you guys get the hell out of here!"
(To Goemon) "Do you still call yourself human? You're mother is a XX!!!"
( To Terakado Tsuu) "Scandal or not, we'll never stop being your fans."
(To Banzou along with Kagura) "If you want to shoot then go ahead and shoot, whether Edo burns or what ever that has nothing to do with me! But if you shoot this person, it'll be a problem."
(To Sakata Gintoki along with Kagura) "Without you saying, we're already living how we wanted to. We're here because we wanted to. We're with you because we wanted to!"
(To Sakata Gintoki and Kagura) "If you want to say that I am a SinCon that's fine. I love my sister, i don't want to leave her, i want to stay with her always but...if she's going to leave with a man she truly loves, whether that man's lazy and always late playing his rent, or a gorilla stalker, a crazy mayo addict, a sadistic freak, madao, or a guy with hemorrhoids, as long as she's happy that's okay."
(To Sakata Gintoki and Kagura)"If I have to see my sister cry like that, I can't just do nothing. I just want to see her smiling always, I guess that's sibling for you"
(To Sakata Gintoki) "Just so you know, I'll always be at Yoruzuya, so you can think of me as a family."
(To Tama) "Living without protecting what needs to be protected, is the same as death to a samurai."
(To Sakata Gintoki) "Aren't you supposed to be Sakata Gintoki? The man who's let so much slip away, who's failed to protect so much...but swore that he would never run away from his responsibilities! Didn't you promise her husband? Once you've decided to protect something, you'll protect it to the very end! Isn't that what makes you Sakata Gintoki?! So what if Otose-san's life was in danger? This isn't enough to kill Otose-san off! Isn't enough to kill us off! Isn't enough to kill you off! Because you're going to protect us! Because we're going to protect you! Isn't that what Yorozuya is about? Isn't that how the three of us protected so much (To Gintoki) " If you're in this planet for tourism, you're either have real guts or a complete moron. If you don't want to die, go home. Country bumpkin or thug, I'm not letting anyone else make things worse in this town. But if you people think that wearing a mask can protect you from the white plague, maybe you are the dumb ones."
(To Kagura) " Talking about it won't change what happened. No matter how much we want it back, those days are long gone. The job he left behind. I'm going to finish it. I'm going to stop the white plague!"
(To Gintoki) " This is the world where we met him. I don't want to abandon the Yorozuya's homeworld or the fact that I worked here."
(To Gintoki) " Are you goofing off the first thing in the morning? You haven't forgotten the promise you made with my sister and us have you?"
(To Gintoki) " We kept them this whole time. As worthless as it might be, it was the last memory we had of him. We thought that one day, we'd have the complete set again. But now.. But now..! Why are you leaving again?! And we finally got to see you again! You're going to leave us, leave everyone behind and run off somewhere?! Gin-san!"
(To Gintoki along with Kagura) " You created a peaceful future, and we're going to wreck it. You gave your life to protect our future, but we chose... To bring you back to that future!"
