The following contains spoilers for Gintama, available to stream on Crunchyroll and Hulu.
Gintama, the manga, follows Sakata Gintoki, a samurai who attempts to spend his retirement doing odd jobs for money. However, his world of solitude and extreme loneliness gets interrupted when two teenagers, Kagura and Shimura Shinpachi, make their appearances in his life.
The creator, Hideaki Sorachi, released Gintama in 2003 until its final volume in 2018. Due to the manga's early success, Gintama was adapted into an anime and premiered in 2006. It's clear that the main characters quickly became loved among fans due to their distinctions. Kagura remains to be one of the most loved characters in the franchise.
Kagura's Personality
Kagura is the main female protagonist of Gintama, as well as the youngest at 14 years old. Along with Gintoki and Shinpachi, Kagura is a part of the Yorozuya, a business founded by Gintoki where patrons can hire the members to do odd jobs. Kagura is also an alien from the Yato tribe (superpower humans), which is why she only really has a first name.
Similar to Gintoki, Kagura is a fan favorite because of her sarcasm, wit, and strength. Kagura is also the most cheerful (and naive) character of the trio.
Her Superhuman Abilities
Despite her small stature and young age, Kagura is one of the most powerful beings of the Yato tribe. However, this level of power is only really shown when she becomes truly angry, as she tends to suppress these powers in most cases because she doesn't like how it feels to be angry.
Along with rapid self-healing, Kagura is extremely strong and quite quick on her feet. Her weapon of choice is a parasol that also doubles as a gun. Due to her excessive strength, Kagura's appetite is greater than Gintoki and Shinpachi's combined appetites. She especially favors snacking on pickled seaweed as she frequently does so in the anime. In addition, she is almost always up for eating a meal and will never reject free food. This also makes for a clever comedy gag because of her tiny size and young age.
Her Early Life
Born on November 3, Kagura grew up in poverty on the planet Rakuyou with her father, Umibouzu, older brother Kamui, and ill mother, Kouka. Her brother took the role of her protector as he cared for her when their father couldn't. Eventually, conflict arose between Kamui and Umibouzu. As a result, Kamui deserted his family after severing his father's arm. Following Kamui's departure, Umibouzu went out more frequently and saw his family less in hopes of protecting them from himself. This left little Kagura to be the primary carer for her sick mother. However, one day, Kagura noticed her mother seemed even more unwell than usual. Unfortunately, Kouka passed away in front of Umibouzu and Kagura.
All alone, Kagura decided to start a new life on Earth, where she made meager earnings by completing jobs for people. After some time passed, though, Kagura joined a gang, which supplied her with food and a place to sleep. This did not last very long as Kagura did not want to be a part of their businesses, and chose to flee, where she met Gintoki and Shinpachi when they accidentally ran her over with their scooter. Fortunately, Kagura ultimately joined Gintoki and Shinpachi, becoming a part of the Yorozuya. And thus, her life with her new family had begun.
Her New Family
Living with Gintoki and sleeping in his closet doesn't start out easy for the both of them. However, as they get accustomed to each other over time, their tolerance for the other grows. Well, kind of. Kagura becomes the little sister Gintoki never had. Though she's clingy and tends to imitate his indecent behavior (including nose and ear picking), Kagura is also loyal and depicts the exact image and concept of a little sister. Despite Gintoki's faults, he is Kagura's role model. Based on her family members, he seems to be the best mentor and brother/father figure she has ever had.
On the other hand, her relationship with Shinpachi differs from that with Gintoki. Both Kagura and Shinpachi look up to Gintoki as a brotherly figure, but in different ways. Additionally, Shinpachi is only about two years older than her, and while he is the most level-headed out of the trio, he may understand Kagura more due to their similar ages. Kagura's sisterly love for Shinpachi primarily comes in the form of bullying, as this is just her personality. However, it becomes clear that while Kagura cares for both Shinpachi and Gintoki, she takes after Gintoki more as he is her parental figure and guardian (and a better one than her real father).