Gintama is a comedic manga created by Hideaki Sorachi. The original manga began in April 2004 and is currently being published by Shueisha under Weekly Shonen Jump. As of volume 17 the manga has sold over 17,000,000 copies in Japan . In March 2007, Shueisha announced that sales of the first volume had passed one million copies.
The manga has been licensed by VIZ Media in North America under the Shonen Jump label, under the title "Gin Tama". It debuted in the January 2007 issue, and was serialized at a rate of one chapter a month (as opposed to the two or three chapters of the other serialized manga). The magazine serialized the entire first volume, and currently releases the other volumes bimonthly under the Shonen Jump Advance imprint; it is rated for "T+" for "Older Teen" (ages 16+).
An original video animation of Gintama appeared at Jump Festa 2006 Anime Tour in 2005. Animated by Sunrise, it preluded the announcement of the Gintama anime. The Gintama anime series debuted on April 4 2006 TV Tokyo after Bleach. The anime has yet to be licensed for a North American release; it is broadcast in Italy by MTV starting December 4 2007.
