Review of Gintama

This has to be the most complicated “recommended” review I could write, especially for a show I am rating 6/10. Is the show good? Kind of. Gintama is first and foremost a product of its time. We don’t really have 200+ episode series anymore, and we certainly don’t see comedies that typically present episodic plots last as long as the original Gintama series has. This series relies on paradox of anime and manga series that were either popular at the same time Gintama aired. It also references popular actors, musicians, and even news anchors that I wouldn’t expect anyone outside of Japan to know. It also hasa ton of references to Dragon Quest. If you didn’t watch much anime that aired before the 2000s, you won’t really get a lot of references that are thrown out there. However, the show provides a ton of footnotes along the way to help viewers know what exactly is being referenced. This makes watching the show a bit easier because you can at least understand what joke is being made.

My personal gripe with the show is the absolute terrible pacing. Gintama is primarily episodic but peppers in multi-episode arcs that either establish new longer term characters or give the cast a little more time to explore their motivations or learn a little more about a secondary character. That being said, it takes around 50 episodes before we even get to an actual “arc.” This first quarter of this show just feels like a slog to get through.

These multiple arcs that are then later introduced vary in quality, but the first major plot line, the Benizakura arc, is around the time Gintama starts to find its stride. The majority of the arcs bring some interesting new challenge for the main cast while still not forgetting that the show is a comedy.

The main selling point of this show is the characters. Despite the criticisms so far, Kagura and Gin have to be some of my favorite anime characters ever. Gin feels like an antithetical shonen protagonist in a way that no other satire anime has quite captured. He’s lazy and tends to freak out about any character being ridiculous, but still maintains a moral compass that keeps him engaging during the shows serious beats. Kagura is a little gremlin that always adds a chaos element to every storyline; her voice actress nails the energy she adds to the show, too. Shinpachi is just a straight man to all the hijinks going on around him.

The secondary cast is a mixed bag. The show leans heavily on stalkers and perverts as classic comedy tropes from anime that has not aged well. Kondo is absolutely nauseating in every scene he’s in. Sarutobi is also obnoxious in her forced attempts to get Gin’s attention. The rest of the cast—the other shinsengumi members, Kyubei, Hasegawa, Tsukuyo, Katsura, and Elizabeth—are all as prominent as the aforementioned two and all add unique, fun elements to the episodes they show up in that are really funny. These characters also mix and match in different episodes to create new, unique interactions.

Once Gintama gets this heavy cast established and familiar with the audience, the comedy starts to really come together. Recurring gags with characters start to have new takes that catch you off guard. Things ranging from absurdist situations, setups that are taken from an anime/video game/western media, or unique plot lines that come from a build up that really does take 100 episodes to establish all come across in each episode, changing between each other to keep the comedic situations fresh and not just a new iteration of the same parody.

If you’re looking for action, you’ll be disappointed. The animation in this show is fine, but action sequences are non-existent for the most part. Most fights are a quick couple of slashes or just quick cuts to key frames with no in-betweens. I’d say there was 4 action sequences across the entire 200 episode sprint that had high quality sakuga animation that got me excited.

In conclusion, I think this show at this point in time (2025 as I’m writing this) is only going to be for certain people. If you have a sincerely deep passion and knowledge for the “greats” of pre-2000s and early 2000s anime, you’ll enjoy the numerous references and parodies. If you’re the type of anime watcher that wants to know what all the buzz about a show is, you’ll probably be glad you watched it even for the time investment. If you have the patience to get through dozens of episodes to get a payoff for your time, similar to other old school anime that had a slow pace and took a while to get anywhere worthwhile, this is probably worth your time. On the other hand, if you are diving in head first hoping for a gut buster that requires no context beyond the show or have only watched recent anime and generally stick to shorter series, you’re probably gonna have a bad time. There are gems of episodes that anyone would find hilarious, but it takes a long time to get there.

I ultimately recommend the show because I think there’s merit in working through it slowly and falling for the fun cast this show has to offer. Take this show on after you’ve got a bit of old school anime watching under your belt and take it in bite size pieces.