Gintama is celebrating a real milestone in 2026 — two decades since the manga first launched — and Bandai Spirits is marking the anniversary the way it marks most major anime milestones: with a dedicated Ichiban Kuji release. This one, titled around the franchise's 20-year run, centers on a striking monochrome treatment of lead character Sakata Gintoki as the A Prize, with the rest of the Yorozuya cast filling out the supporting prize tiers.
Each draw is priced at 800 JPY (tax included), consistent with recent Ichiban Kuji pricing, with the release expected in August 2026. The monochrome design choice for the A Prize is notable — rather than a standard full-color figure, this release leans into a stylized black-and-white presentation that ties directly into the anniversary framing rather than depicting a specific in-show moment.
The supporting prize lineup includes Katsura Kotaro, Okita Sougo, Kagura, and Kamui, giving the release a genuinely full-cast feel rather than centering entirely on Gintoki. For long-time Gintama fans, this is one of the more comprehensive prize spreads the franchise has gotten in the Ichiban Kuji format specifically.
This structure gives collectors a real shot at building out most of the Yorozuya's core cast plus key supporting characters across a single Kuji run, rather than needing to chase separate releases for each character.
Anniversary-specific Ichiban Kuji releases tend to get more collector attention than standard promotional tie-in Kuji runs, both because of the milestone framing and because publishers frequently put extra design effort into anniversary-specific sculpts and paint treatments rather than reusing standard character designs. The monochrome Gintoki A Prize specifically stands out as a genuine design choice rather than a straightforward repaint of an existing figure mold.
As with any Ichiban Kuji release, individual prize odds aren't published in a way that guarantees a specific character, and the "Last One Prize" bonus tier goes to whoever draws the final ticket in a given retailer's allocation regardless of which prizes they've drawn previously. If a specific character in this lineup is a must-have, budgeting for either a full-box purchase (where available) or checking secondary market listings after the release may be more reliable than a small number of individual draws.
Gintama has a somewhat uneven history in Western collectible markets compared to franchises like Dragon Ball or One Piece, despite its long-running popularity in Japan — official figure and prize coverage has historically been thinner outside dedicated import channels. That makes an anniversary-specific release like this one more notable for long-time fans specifically, since it represents a rarer moment of dedicated merchandise attention for the franchise rather than a routine, expected release in an already-saturated merchandise line. Collectors who've followed the series for years may find this a more meaningful pickup than the prize-figure format alone would suggest.
For the A Prize centerpiece figure, the EVORETRO Acrylic Modular Case provides enough interior room for a larger prize-tier figure while keeping the monochrome finish dust-free. For the smaller supporting-cast prizes, the EVORETRO Protective Case offers a more precisely-sized fit for standard prize-figure dimensions.
Anniversary-themed Ichiban Kuji runs have become a fairly consistent pattern for long-running anime franchises reaching a 15, 20, or 25-year milestone, with recent examples including Kingdom Hearts' 25th anniversary lineup and Dragon Ball GT's own dedicated Kuji run. What tends to separate a strong anniversary release from a routine one is exactly what this Gintama lineup delivers: a genuinely distinct design treatment for the headline prize rather than a standard character pose, paired with broad enough supporting-cast coverage that the release feels like a real celebration of the franchise rather than a single-character promotional tie-in.
The release is expected in August 2026, with draws priced at 800 JPY each, tax included.
No — the monochrome treatment is a deliberate anniversary-specific design choice rather than a recolor of a standard existing Gintoki prize figure.
Five named characters across the A through E prize tiers: Gintoki, Katsura, Okita, Kagura, and Kamui, plus the standard Last One Prize bonus tier.
Ichiban Kuji releases are primarily distributed through Japanese retailers and import specialists; availability through Western import channels typically follows the initial Japanese release by some weeks.
A 20th anniversary is a real milestone for any long-running franchise, and this Kuji release treats it that way — a genuinely distinct A Prize design plus a full supporting-cast lineup make it one of the more complete Gintama prize spreads to hit the Ichiban Kuji format.
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