Despite her sweet face, she is one of the most violent characters in Gintama (and arguably strong too). She mercilessly beats up Kondo Isao and Gintoki whenever they anger her; in episode 19, she mercilessly kicks the men out onto the road (namely her brother, Gintoki and Hasegawa) so as to stop a car for a hitch ride. She often displays her trademark sweet-looking smile with her eyes closed before engaging in her violent activities. Her killer intent is so strong that on one occasion, a stare from her brings the entire Shinsengumi on their knees begging for mercy. Her weapon of choice seems to be a naginata, a Japanese spear.

Her cooking skills are terrible, seeing as her tamagoyaki (i.e. sweet fried egg) is so inedible that Kondo suffers amnesia after eating it and others are barely able to swallow it down. Yamazaki even describes it as "poison" after some of it accidentally gets into his eye. When Kagura tried to hypnotize herself into eating Otae's cooking, Shinpachi objected, saying that Otae's cooking is the reason for his poor eyesight.

Katsura is Gintoki's former comrade during the Joi war. Even after the Amanto take-over of Japan, Katsura continues to resist the Amanto, and has amassed a band of followers. His weapon of choice is a metallic grenade. He is a wanted man due to his involvement in terrorist activities against the Bakufu, and is constantly on the run from the Shinsengumi. Although his initial methods were originally more violent in nature (for instance, sending a bomb to an Amanto embassy), Katsura has gradually grown to believe that there are people important to him in Edo, and decides that he no longer wants to destroy the country, but believes there should be a way to change it without causing sacrifices. Katsura is the leader of the Joui. His nickname is "Zura", but hates that nickname and keeps correcting people that his name is Katsura. He is always hiding from the Shinsengumi and travels with an unknown space alien named "Elizabeth".