Review of Gintama

Gintama. In my opinion, one of the hardest animes to recommend, not because it is bad, but because you can’t describe it in less than a few minutes or phrases. But in the end, I’m going to attempt to review it anyway and try to explain why it’s so good and why it takes up 5 of the top 10 slots on MyAnimeList for Top Anime. Some of you might be thinking, “Oh you’re basing this off MyAnimeList, gross.” Although I am a Gintama fan and I agree with the high ratings this show receives, at the same time I understand why people do notlike the MyAnimeList ratings system, and I believe it all comes down to wording. A 10/10 on myanimelist is referred to as a “masterpiece” which is a very VERY aggravating word for some, since everyone has their own definition of a masterpiece. I feel like if they changed the word from “masterpiece” to something like “amazing”, then people wouldn’t hate on it so much. In this review though, my definition of a 10/10 is not “masterpiece” but more like “something I’d want to marathon and then rewatch”. Anyways here we go, Gintama, the show about part-time serious people.

Plot: The land of the samurai, or at least that’s what it was once called. One day, aliens called Amanto came down from space and took over the world, making Edo, the city where our characters live, their capital. The samurai tried to rise up against them, but failed, and since then the Amanto have banned the use of swords. Many people might assume that this makes up the plot, but for most of the series, Gintama has no plot. The Amanto and semi-fictional elements make up more of the “backbone” for things that happen throughout the series. An example is if something appears or happens that isn’t realistically possible like magical powers, you can always remember “Oh right, there’s all types of aliens here now and new technology etc. so I guess it’s possible.” It’s a realistic world that gives you a small sense of fantasy at the same time making it a setting with the most amount of possible scenarios. The “story” revolves around our main three characters, Gintoki, Kagura, and Shinpachi, who run a small business in Edo called “Odd Jobs” (Yorozuya). They take up any jobs for money and the series follows them on their adventures throughout their jobs, meeting/messing around with new friends, helping strangers out, overall just trying to make the world a little better. And that’s mainly it. Gintama is a story told episodically, meaning there’s no overarching plot and every episode has something different to it. The series is mainly comedic, as it goes through its antics with our characters but with a serious arc sprinkled throughout here and there and it is these changes in tone that make Gintama so good. Some arcs could start out as a joke and then by the end of the episode take a complete 180. You could find yourself laughing at the beginning of an episode and crying by the end. The great thing about this anime is that it makes these changes in tone flow. They don’t feel forced because of who the characters are. I’ll admit that alongside the comedy, these serious arcs are why this show is so great. Gintama’s ability to tell a great action story in less than 6 or 7 episodes is truly amazing. These small arcs are better than entire anime series that I’ve watched and it keeps you going knowing that they only get exponentially better as Gintama goes on.
Gintama is one of the greatest things you will ever watch...IF AND ONLY IF...you get past the first 50 or so episodes. Gintama’s greatest flaw is the slow start it has. Now some backstory for those who don’t know. When Gintama originally started airing, the author had no direction for it and it was also airing during a children’s time slot in Japan, so they spent a long time just setting up characters and had to hold back on their crude comedy and violence. Lots of people drop Gintama before they get to the first serious arc, which starts on episode 58. Now you’re probably thinking, how the hell do I get past 50 boring episodes? That is where I think Gintama reviews are most misinterpreted. Most people say in their reviews that “Gintama doesn’t get good until the first serious arc”, which is only somewhat accurate. I agree that I didn’t fully invest myself in it until I got to the first major arc. However, that does NOT mean that the first 50 episodes sucked. If anything, it’s more like “Gintama doesn’t get marathon-able until after the first serious arc”. You should not go into Gintama expecting something big off the bat because of its high ratings. Gintama is a series that should at first be watched at a small pace. Maybe an episode or two a day. After the first arc, I found myself watching 6-7 episodes a day just waiting for that next arc and I started to enjoy the comedy a lot more. We’re part of a new generation of anime fans that has to have something happen within the first 3 episodes or it’s automatically dropped. But this show rewards you well for your patience. It spends its time setting up the characters and their inside jokes and goofy traits, but it pays off well in the long run. Many Gintama fans, including myself, got fully invested into the show at episode 58 because that’s where the first serious action scenes actually happen, but getting through the first 50 episodes was not a problem for me at all. It only took about 10 episodes before I started to enjoy the comedy. It was easier for me to get through the “slow” part of this anime than it was for me to watch the first half of Steins’ Gate. In fact, if you like Gintama right off the bat you’re set to have a great time for the rest of the series. I admit the series DOES have a few bland episodes where the humor is a little dry and it does make some references that western anime watchers might not consider funny because of our difference in culture but those episodes are rare and if you REALLY want, skippable. You should take your time and enjoy it for what it is. Overall, this anime is not something you watch to get over with. It’s a journey that you won’t appreciate at first but you will learn to love it with some time.