So I've been meaning to write a review for Gintama for quite a while now ever since I finished this wonderful series. I'm a huge fan of the series but I'll address the negatives as well, since nothing is perfect. This review will be for all of the Gintama entries up until the 2015 version.
A common misconception that people make is that they think Gintama° (2015) is a reboot of original Gintama. The answer is NO, it is a direct sequel to Gintama: Enchousen and has totally new content. The watching order is: Gintama > Gintama' (2011) > Gintama: Enhousen > Gintama° (2015).
So before
...
starting the actual review, I'll answer some of the most asked questions related to Gintama.
Some popular questions are: "Does Gintama ever get serious?" YES, it does focus on plot from time to time in the form of various small arcs ranging from 3-6 episodes in length. They'll appear randomly during the course of the series. However, watching Gintama for the purpose of fighting, seriousness, other shounen troupes etc. is in itself the wrong approach to the series. The serious portion in Gintama hardly even makes up 15% of the content of series. It is first and foremost a comedy series and should be watched for that purpose primarily with glimpses of short serious and dramatic arcs in between, as a bonus.
Another popular question: "When does Gintama get good"? Gintama remains the same throughout the series. The only thing that changes is that the characters are developed as the episodes pass by and this helps to enjoy the series a lot more. The trick to enjoy Gintama is that don't be in the constant pressure of the huge episode count. Just sit back, relax and watch it from time to time until you get used to it, and trust me, it'll become one of the most memorable rides if you, for some reason don't have any negative bias-ness towards the series (Yes, I'm referring to the salty approach that some people take and hate it from the start because it takes half of the top 10 on MAL. This really affects the enjoyment and your state of mind won't allow you to get used to the characters).
INTRODUCTION/BASIC PREMISE:
So for the people starting the series, it'll be pretty hard to find the actual plot in the series since it's mentioned briefly from time to time so finding the right motivation for watching it from the start can be difficult. That's because the approach Gintama takes is quite different from any other series. The basic plot is that Gintoki is the main character of the series who has participated in the Joi war against the aliens (referred to as "Amanto" in Gintama), that happened 10 years prior to the start of the series. After the victory of Aliens, they overtook Japan/Edo leading to the decline in the status of Samurai's and thus leading Gintoki to give up and became an ordinary citizen under the aliens and open his small private business called the "Odd Jobs or Yorozuya in Japanese". During the start of the series he meets the other two mains leads, Shinpachi who is the 'straight guy' that every comedy series has, trying to restore his Family dojo and the other mean lead, Kagura who is part of the strongest and most violent Alien race known as "Yato". These three make up the odd jobs business and will accept any kind of Job requested no matter how reckless the request is.
For the first 50 episodes, Gintama's mostly episodic with quite a few small story arcs ranging from 2 to 3 episodes in length. The first two episodes are fillers and skipping them won't do any harm. It takes it's sweet time to introduce us to the characters since it has a huge supporting casts. Throughout the journey, you'll experience all sorts of episodes and story arcs with some of the best fourth wall breaking. You'll notice countless references and parodies of anime series, dramas, Japanese celebrities or even Western shows. You'll experience arcs that you'd have never even imagined were possible. Another thing is that, after completing the series up until where it's released, I've noticed that the producers have had a blast producing this series by sharing their personal feelings and showing them in the anime occasionally. The comedy doesn't get old, Gintama will constantly hit you with new concepts from time to time. Going trough the first few episodes might be pretty difficult due to the odd atmosphere. But as you continue, a lot of things will change ranging from the basic world setting to introducing new characters. In the latest episodes of the series, Gintama has finally started taking a serious approach and focus on the main plot. If you'd ask me, I'll say that this might as well be the highest point in the series, it's the peak of the best it has to offer. Ofcourse the comedy lovers might disagree so this is just an opinion.
CHARACTERS/ART/ANIMATION/SOUND:
Needless to say this but characters are the backbone of Gintama and they truly make up the series. There are a variety of characters and factions. The basic focus is mostly on the Yorozuya trio. The story also focusses a lot on the Shinsengumi, a police force formed from the kids without families who grew up on streets/poor and ordinary people in search of jobs. The interactions between the Yorozuya and the Shinsengumi are some of the best moments in the series, truly shows how important the supporting characters are in the series. The Shinsengumi also consists of their trio so they somewhat resemble the lead trio. Other main charcaters include three of Gintoki's war buddies who fought along side him with one of them coming to become the main villain of the series, one of them becoming a Joi rebel (terrorist but in a funny way) and the last one becoming a space merchant. Now there are other characters but it'll be boring to discuss them all so one can just go ahead and watch the series to know more.
The art and animation delivers when needed and at times can be pretty ordinary. Though considering that Gintama is a long running series, it's actually pretty amazing that it has some of the best animated fight scenes. The art can at times be sloppy with derp faces, however that's pretty rare. The colours for the first 150 episodes are comparatively dull to the later part of the series but still not half bad. The OSTs and Voice acting are legendary. Another one of Gintama's strongest points is the music, with some of the best opening and ending sequences to some legendary voice acting and best composed OSTs, there is nothing to worry about Gintama in this aspect. It won't disappoint.
NEGATIVES:
- Though Gintama has less to no fillers, it may suffer from inconsistency during the first 50-100 episodes. Some episodes are comparatively better than others. Some references might fly above your head because it does contain a lot of parodies of various anime/Japanese drama/Japanese celebs/Western TV shows and movies/other popular trends. You have to be atleast an amateur anime watcher to fully enjoy Gintama but that doesn't means you won't enjoy Gintama if you are not a well-versed anime fan. You'll still enjoy a chunk of other stuff it delivers.
- Animation/Art can at times be sub-par however when it needs to deliver, it more than does.
- Those who start Gintama for comedy sometimes rarely end up disliking the serious arcs because the serious arcs at times contain cliche dialouges. But even though, they do have cliche moments, it sort of has a magical feel in every serious arc which separates it from the rest of generic shounen. The execution and the timing is probably what makes these serious arcs so intense, brutal and glorying. Some people do turn a blind eye on the serious arcs but in my opinion, the serious/dramatic arcs are always full of enjoyment, great themes and lessons, something to remember and a great look at Gintama's plot.
- Those who don't find Japanese humour funny might end up disliking the series for obvious reasons. It'll be a hit and miss series for them. Some of the toilet humour might end up being disgusting rather than funny, however, this has only happened once and that was also in the later stages of this series so no worries here really.
FINAL VERDICT:
Overall Gintama clicked with me and it's one of the best and most enjoyable series you'll ever come across provided that you give it enough time and focus. Being part of this loyal fan-base has been one of my best experiences in anime. I've met all kinds of fans of this series and a chunk of them are great people. The passion the fan-base has for this series is amazing and thus, I'm always glad that I'm part of a community that has equal passion, ambition and love for this series as me. I'll urge those who want to give it a try to go ahead and watch it fully, you'll be more than welcome to be part of our community. Gintama is truly a blast of a series, a rare gem them many people know nothing about.
I just wanted to write this review to show my love for this series, hope that you enjoyed reading it :)
If you have any questions or trouble getting into the series, feel free to chat me. I'll be happy to give advice :)
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