Review of Gintama

First of all, I'll be rating this series as a whole, including Gintama' and Gintama' Enchousen coz they're basically the same series, except the name Gintama was licensed. To begin, Gintama was my first anime. Yeah that's right, its my first. I just had basic knowledge about the big three at that time, and a few others like Death Note. I started watching a year after it came out, and it wasn't until 2 years I began my second anime. I didn't understand the hype it had then, and I still don't. Well, on with the review. Story(7/10) There isn't much of a story, so I'll address otherstuff related to story too in this section. The anime is mainly standalone episodes focused on comedy. Standard fare for comedy shows a la Family Guy. The standalone arcs were a nice surprise, and had some interesting concepts, like the Otaku battle or the Kintama arc. In the arcs of the later half the MC, Gin-san's past as the Shiroyasha is explored through flashbacks. I enjoyed the series, but there is no real story, and the episodic format is nothing new as many proclaim. Hence 7/10.
Moving on, the setting is very underlooked for this anime. It is the main reason why this show works so well for a comedy, because it just has no limits. Episode 119 takes place completely in outer space, on planet 'Hamek" with inhabitants like 'Delde' and villains like 'Breiza' and 'Celo'. Sound familiar? And it is one of the funniest standalones for the series. Seriously watch it, it doesn't need introduction for the characters and is a truckload of fun and is a good entry into the series. The pacing is one thing in which this anime shines over other comedy ones. Barring the initial half, which as slow as a half-paralyzed slug, you don't even notice when 265 episodes pass by. As the manga is episodic as well, the staff has done a good job in making a 20 minute episode from 20 page source material. The comedy is well timed and the 'straight man comments' are also well written. As I said earlier, some of the concepts for the arcs are unique and refreshing to watch, but some are drearily familiar. One might also say in 90% of the storylines Gin-san and Kagura hog all the best antagonists, leaving Shinpachi to deal with (and lose against, in some cases) mob characters. Give Pattsan more love, come on!

Art(8/10)

Not too great, but not shabby either. As with other long running shounens, the art improves with time as the animators getting used to animating the characters. Visual parodies flow fast and furious with characters from many different animes making 'cameos', most notable being Dragonball Z, Bleach and I believe Kakashi from Naruto makes an appearance as well. The anime's take on the Fist of the North Star artstyle in the Character Popularity Arc is also entertaining to watch and one of the main reasons why art here is excellent. The original is also one of the few recent anime to feature in 4:3 format, as repeatedly mentioned by the characters themselves, until switching to HD in the sequels, at which the art improves drastically.

Sound(9/10)

Samurai Heart, Sakura Mitsutsuki, Donten, Shura need I say more? I do? Well this is one aspect where the anime is miles ahead of others. The BGM is nice, fits the mood, contemplating when required, badass when required, and compliments the gags well at all times. The openings and endings... well the ones that I mentioned above are gems of Japanese pop/rock whatever it falls in. The anime ruined openings for me, since it was my first anime I thought it was natural for openings to be brilliant in general. How naive I was back then... Anyway the voice actors also do excellent work. Most characters play idiots or straight man as the gag calls for, and the voice actors pull the task off with aplomb. Tomokazu Sugita as Gin-san is memorable, to the point which I could only hear Gin-san speaking instead of Kyon when I watched Haruhi Suzumiya. The emotional parts are also done well, and I can't imagine a Gintama without these VA's.

Characters(9/10)

The characters are unique, to say the least. Not your typical bag of characters, even for a comedy anime and even less so for the action parts. We have Gin-san, the silver-permed main character, who has his main ambition of getting straight hair, much contrary to becoming Hokages of Pirate Kings. His likes include strawberry milk, JUMP and the local weather announcer. He only fights to protect his comrades, and his way of life but when he fights, boy he does. Completing the trio, we have Shinpachi, the straight man recognized only by his glasses, and who is 'two leaves of kelp stronger than the average human.' A running gag is characters assuming a pair of glasses to be Shinpachi, which is ample material for straight manliness. And we have Kagura, the super-strength alien with a passion for dried seaweed and her giant dog/alien pet Sadaharu, who likes nothing more than to bite down on Gin-san's head. Also joining us are the Shinsengumi, the police with Gorilla/Sadist/Mayonnaise freak/Badminton-anpan addict characters, the egg-headed leader of the rebels, a stalker ninja, Shinpachi's sister 'Robert de Flato' with monstrous strength as well, and many more. It sounds confusing at first, but after watching around 50 episodes, a sense of familiarity and belonging begins to grow. No development takes place for the characters barring a few antagonists and some characters introduced later in the series but then again no development is needed, imo.

Enjoyment(8/10)

This could have been a 10, but for some reasons it isn't. And, not because the references are too hard to understand. Some are so hard that even the anime doesn't expect you to understand, but the ones parodied for comedy are enjoyed whether you understand the reference or not, for e.g the Fist of the North Star style animation and background song, I hadn't even heard about it but I was rolling on the floor anyway. The references to Japanese culture aren't the problem either. though a bit hard to understand, you generally end up laughing because of the superior voice acting converting the scene into high quality comedy. The main problem, and the reason why Gintama is somewhat underrated is the torturous beginning. It is slow, dialogue heavy with little comedy, and hard to get through, especially the first two episodes which are atrocious. The only reason I stuck with the show is sheer boredom, but you won't catch me regretting it. All those who put this show on hold after episode 1, try it again till around 26 or so, till you get a feel of it. Otherwise you are missing out on a comedy gem without even watching.

Overall(10/10)

When I was around episode 75, I described it as a 7 or 8 to my brother. But while writing this review, I automatically wrote 10 without even thinking. This show endears itself to you, worms a way into your heart, and makes you a part of it, as if you are in it yourself. Its hard to put in words, but some signs include thinking the MC Gintoki as Gin-san, understanding which episode it is from the totally abstract title, being able to picture the familiar Yorozuya background if you concentrate, understanding and enjoying all the inside jokes like the Ben Johnson/ Carl Lewis segment being reused for the fifth time, actually watching the OP's and ED's for any gags (Character Popularity arc, Kintama arc, episode 224 to name a few), having "Zura ja nai, Katsura da" become your favorite catchphrase and many more, these being the prominent ones. Once that happens, Gintama has secured a place in your heart as one of your most favorite animes ever, and always gets a 10/10.