New Gintama Anime Debuts With an Official Dragon Ball Z Parody
Few anime are revered as well Dragon Ball Z worldwide, and while its plot is reasonably dragged out like in the Namek Saga, it’s hardly the worst the franchise has done. Perhaps the easiest complaint about the Dragon Ball anime franchise is in how it initially handled its future. However, no anime has quite mocked this decision like Gintama just did.
In the spinoff anime Gintama: Mr. Ginpachi’s Zany Class, which premiered on October 6, 2025, Sakata Gintoki and Ginpachi took repeated jabs at Dragon Ball’s subsequent adaptations. The scene from the first two minutes of the episode quickly took off on social media, and for good reason. It addresses the concerns Dragon Ball fans had about future anime.
Gintama’s Dragon Ball Parody Mocks the Series’ Low Points
The premiere of Gintama: Mr. Ginpachi’s Zany Class opens with Ginpachi waking up in a limbo-like void with Gintoki, who appoints him as his successor. It quickly mocks the reason this anime even exists, before directly taking aim at how Dragon Ball made even bigger mistakes. It points to two classic failings: Dragon Ball GT and Dragon Ball Evolution.
The meta joke then stretches into a full-blown parody scene in which Gintama’s cast appears with Toriyama-like facial characteristics, costumes, posing, and even a Great Ape rendition more reminiscent of Planet Vegeta’s Saiyans than Gintama’s Gorilla Planets. Saying they did Dragon Ball dirty, Gintama even creates a brilliant Silver Ball title card parody. But it doesn’t even stop there.
While Gintama is intended to translate to Silver Soul, “tama” can also translate to “ball” as shown in Dandadan’s kintama, or “gold balls.” So, this Silver Ball not only parodies dragon ball, it’s a clever work on the original series.
Saying that Dragon Ball GT should have apologized to Akira Toriyama, the parody even has a set of live-action stills while discussing the anime passing the baton to Hollywood. At this point, Ginpachi lashes back by saying this image evokes ideas of a Gintama Evolution instead of GT, which mocks the Dragon Ball the franchise’s low point.
Dragon Ball Anime Persevered Despite These Setbacks
Gintama: Mr. Ginpachi’s Zany Class took several fair hits at it Dragon Ball with this opening sequence, but it’s also not untruthful. Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods was created as a way to reverse the “sour aftertaste” referenced by Gintama, with Toriyama continuing the story from there. dragon ball super, even with its faults, it is a significant return to form.
But more importantly, the spirit of this parody is one Toriyama would enjoy. He happily lampooned tokusatsu and superheroes in Dragon Ball’s run, and even created the Dragon Ball self-parody, Neko May. It’s not an insult to Toriyama’s memory, especially when he would agree with some of these criticisms; if anything, it’s what he would have wanted.
It’s obvious from a mile away. What awaits isn’t Ginpachi-sensei, it’s Gintama GT. The GT stands for “Gosh, Toriyama-sensei, we’re so sorry.”
The anime chooses to frame this around overzealous producers aiming to create the next big hit through existing IP. It’s an understandable concern, and Gintama points out how thin it is to create a spinoff from what’s essentially a meme from the manga. However, in doing so, Gintama: Mr. Ginpachi’s Zany Class is a hilarious, ironic anime hit.
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Akira Toriyama
- First Film
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Dragon Ball: Curse of the Blood Rubies