One of the epic Japanese Animated Series, I mean our beloved Anime, titled as 'Gintama', featured a trio of individuals, who are strong as well as unique is the terms of their belief systems, and their backstories. On the surface, the initial few episodes may make you believe that it is just some 'stupid jokes' anime, with an occasional addition of some serious spice; but rest assured, similar to Luffy's adventure, or Uzumaki's story, there are more connections between each member of;
"Yorozuya (Odd Jobs)"
The main protagonist or hero, Sakata Gintoki, fought against the alien invasion which occurred in Japan, during the time of samurai. After the victory of the Aliens, all swords were essentially banned. On his journey, of accepting all types of the work-requests, he handled the spirits, the alien officials, the trouble-making people, as well as the robots.
I am not sure if some Spoiler Alert was necessary for the above parts.
You should check out the show as the time permits you; but the idea of accepting Odd-jobs and the payment settled on a per-project basis, should have ringed a bell.
Freelancing is a modern trend, they say. But the tendency to accept any type of the jobs, in order to finance one's needs and responsibilities, is quite ancient. One of the interesting aspect of our team Yorozuya, was the open-minded approach. Cutting grass, delivering simple goods (especially the special ones), capturing the criminals, acting like a body guard, and the space travel; no matter the nature of the job, Gintoki would accept it.
And this was not merely for the money.
As the story progresses, we understand the emotional and moral dynamics between all samurai. After that war with the aliens, each samurai confronted unique challenges; some stayed human, and some samurai chose a different path to walk.
How each character arc continues, especially after those eventually revealed inter-dependencies, is a great treat to the eyes (the animation style), and especially to the brain (not all scenes feature some of those low-standards jokes).
Someday, I may type about other trios, such as Juuzo of No Guns Life, or the Samurai Champloo.
For now, I am watching Ushio and Tora, thanks to the Muse Asia YouTube Channel, and that is actually licensed, with total legal genuineness. Note this though, the videos licensed will be leaving their channel after the end of the Licensing Period. So, I am not sure how long any of these links will remain active.