Jul 30, 2014
I'm going to sum up all the different Gintama show's meaning Gintama, Gintama', and Gintama': Echousen in the review.
Overall story: 10
Story: Gintama is set in the late Edo period Japan, with a Sci-fi twist to it. , humanity is attacked by aliens called "Amanto". The samurai of Japan join the battle against the aliens, but when the Shogun realizes the power of aliens, he betrays the samurai and surrenders to the aliens. The Shogun writes an unequal contract with aliens which allows the aliens to enter the country and places a ban on carrying swords in public. The swords of samurai are taken away so
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they can no longer resist the aliens. After that the Shogunate becomes a puppet government. The anime follows Gintoki who is a silver-haired samurai who is the owner of a small odd-job business which does.... you guessed it, odd-jobs! He is accompanied by co-workers/friends, Kagura and Shinpachi who he meets 3 episodes in. The rest of the anime is very simple, they do odd-jobs, meet people down the line, etc, but though it sounds simple the story is complex when it comes to story arcs. Though, yes, many episodes are what you might think "oh, it's just 'filler' (where the episodes don't help move the main plot)" but that is a lie! Each episode helps the character development (which I will speak more of in the review of characters) so you feel like there is a real close bond between them but some animes make you feel that in just one episode. Now, let's be real... the beginning 30 episodes is a chore, the pace is slower then a fucking paraplegic turtle with severe brain damage. They are hard to chug through, I had watched up to ep. 30 and stopped watching it for a year. When I came back, I realized that I was just 1 episode away from where it starts to pick-up. After that I was enjoying ever episode. I laughed my ass off when it was funny, cried my eyes out when the feels hit me, and bit my nails from the suspenseful action. People will say "I don't care if the fillers are the best in the world, I just want story!". Well you dumb fucking ugly ass niggas, it's a fucking shonen anime what do you fucking expect. As the story progresses you learn more about the mysterious past of each character.
Overall art: 8
Art: It's art is not the best but it's still great. The fight scenes are choreographed very nicely and each blow's animation looks like it actually hurts like a mother-fucker. The scenery and city are gorgeous if you stop to look at it and appreciate it, but it's not the best.
Overall sound: 10
Sound: The sound in Gintama is flawless. It's a masterpiece soundtrack that no shonen and maybe any anime has achieved. The SFX are amazing! when two swords hit, it sounds like what it's supposed to sound like... not like other animes that makes it sound like a monkey hitting pots and pans together. The BGM is what takes the cake.. I don't normally cry when something sad happens, I just choke up but the music not only has made me cry sad tears but also happy tears. The music can arrange from a ballad of acoustic guitars with flutes or some type of whistling shit, to hip-hop beats, to cool jazzy blues, to fucking crazy slamo-ramo, macho-man, cream of the fucking crop electric guitars. Just take a moment to search up the OST to Gintama and you will find yourself thinking deeply about life; it's BONER FUCKING RIFIC.
Overall Character: 10
Characters: The anime's characters are vibrant and feel alive. Each have their quirks, kinks, and similarities. As the anime goes on if you look closely you will realize that Shinpachi and Kagura's relationship become more like sister and brother, while Gintoki's relationship with them turns into a father-figure type.
Slowly, small details start being added like Kagura becomes lazier and picks her nose like Gintoki making her a mini-me of him. While, Shinpachi starts to be a little more bold and brave like Gintoki when it comes to something he cares about like his fanclub for an idol or his friends/family. Gintoki also has peculiar relationships with some of the other reoccurring female protagonist. He is either running from a stalker ninja girl, and or getting beat up by all the other girls like Shinpachi's Sister, Otose, Catherine, Kyubei, and Tsukuyo when he does something stupid. Some girls show obvious displays of a romantic affection for Gintoki but never really say anything to monumental so it feels like a highschool crush type. The relationship of Yorozuya odd-jobs and the Shinsengumi (They are the police of the city) is one of just mutual respect for one another but also a vicious rivalry. The Shinsengumi and Odd-jobs fight each-other for their own idiotic and egotistical reason, later deciding to come to an agreement and help each-other just to fight another problem plaguing them both. Sometimes, they might just even team up because they see one of them need help desperately. Some villians make you want to laugh at their stupidity while some are so ruthless and badass aliens, ninjas and rouge samurai who come with badass music and badass fight scenes. I don't want to spoil to much but they are epic. Then there is the Joi faction which is a terrorist group who want the Amanto to leave earth forever. The leader of the group is Katsura a rouge-ronin who is friends with Gintoki. At the beginning you don't how they know each-other but they tell you as the anime goes on. Katsura and Gintoki have a best friend, brothers in arms relationship. They fight for each-other and will be back to back till death. Katsura, though he acts like a joke, he can have his badass moments too. Then there are the mascot characters like Tama who is a robot girl, there many arcs revolving around her or her being a big part in it. There is Sadaharu, in short he's the odd-jobs dog and help in some arcs, that's all... some episodes might revolve around him but not that many do. Madao, a middle-aged homeless man who strives to get a job before he can face his wife again. Though, he and Gintoki have many episodes together or it's just Madao alone in an episode (Which all of them make me cry), he does not do anything relatively cool and seems to get beat the shit out of him and then there is this alien prince who looks like Majin Boo, but purple. He does nothing special, he doesn't even fight at all (not that I can remember). There are other characters who appear more then once but they aren't all that important; they just help here and there.
Overall Enjoyment: 10
I had fun watching Gintama. I'd always be on a emotional rollercoaster of laughing and crying. It's re-watch ability is very high... seeing as how I've seen it 25 times in the past 3 years. It's a fucking 10/10 but then again it's either you like it or you don't like it because at the end of the day it's just a gag-anime with a story to it. No, real dark shit like Death note and or not really any romance like clannad.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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