Juniperus communis to the chased girls. Its astringent blue-black seed cones, commonly known as "juniper berries", are too bitter to eat raw and are usually sold dried and used to flavour meats, sauces, and stuffings. They are generally crushed before use to release their flavour. Since juniper berries have a strong taste, they should be used sparingly. They are generally used to enhance meat with a strong flavour, such as game, including game birds, or tongue. The cones are used to flavour certain beers and gin (the word "gin" derives from an Old French word meaning "juniper"). In Finland, juniper is used
Gin Tama 2008. In August 2008, TV Tokyo announced that "Gin Tama" and "Naruto" "contributed to robust sales of overseas rights in the last fiscal year which ended in March." In a poll from "Puff", "Gin Tama" won in the category "Best Animation". The DVD from the "Gin Tama" OVAs became the top-selling OVA in Japan during 2009, having sold 61,226 units after two weeks of being released. In the Oricon survey "2009's Top-Selling DVDs in Japan", the same DVD ranked at the top of the category "Animation/Special Effects DVDs" with a total of 76,000 units sold. The CD soundtrack "Gintama The