Review of Gintama
Gintama is one of the funniest shows I have ever seen. Notice how I said shows, and not just anime. I’ve been exposed to plenty of sitcoms and other comedy anime and I have to say that Gintama is funnier than most of what I have seen so far in my life. There are many things that make Gintama such a good show. For one, it excels in using simplicity. From the first few episodes of the show, you already know how the world is supposed to work and some of the history behind. From the get go, the viewer knows it will be interesting atleast.
Some of the factors that make me appreciate this show so much are: the absurd situations and characters, the versatility in how the show tells stories and conveys humor, and the constant references to Japanese pop culture.
First off, the humor in gintama isn’t highbrow in the slightest. It is a show that is built upon ridiculous situations. There is plenty of slapstick and gross out humor, but the dialogue is also laden with numerous references to Japanese culture. As an American, this is particularly interesting because I am unfamiliar with Japanese pop culture outside of what I see in anime. So, reading what the references the show’s characters make are about as they are said makes the show engaging to watch as I both laugh at the references I understand and learn from the ones I don’t.
Gintama is one of those shows where the humor either works for you or it doesn’t. It doesn’t waste anybody’s time trying to be a different type of show or appeal to a different audience. In fact, the show is written so it is almost impossible to take seriously. That way, the viewer is able to turn their brains off and just experience what they are watching.
The show thrives off putting characters in ridiculous scenarios. The characters, of which there are many, are just as ridiculous as each other. In that sense, Gintama doesn’t just make their characters archetypes of any kind. They constantly find ways to flip the script on characters we already know.
A key example are the characters in the shinsegumi, the show’s police force. The characters you might expect to be serious have such odd quirks that it destroys the viewer’s preconceived notions. The head of the police, kondo, is a major stalker and consistently embarrasses himself. He is also consistently compared to a gorilla which entertains the other characters. His 2nd in command, Hijikata, has a ridiculous obsession with mayonnaise to the point where he puts tons of it on everything. This transforms a character that might originally appear serious into one that we can laugh at.
The characters are not just defined by their quirks though. The writers of the show take ample opportunity to shine light on each character and flesh them out by giving them various backstories and arcs, which not only serve to amuse the viewer but also to instill in them love for the characters they are watching. Even characters with no real lines of dialogue like the giant dog saddaharu or the strange enigmatic creature Elizabeth manage to have definitive personalities and standout moments in the show.
Gintama has numerous characters. There is what is closest to the main cast: the odd jobs crew Gintoki, Shinpachi, and Kagura. Then, there is a multitude of side characters like Shinpachi’s sister Otae, Gintoki’s stalker Sarutobi, the police force Shinsegumi, the domestic terrorist Katsura, his weird inidentifiable creature companion Elizabeth, and numerous others. All of these characters have their own quirks, and get fleshed out in various episodes. Each character seems to compete in efforts to be more ridiculous/absurd than the other. It barely even matters what characters are doing because their constant back and forth leaves me bursting out in laughter.
A comedic show needs some degree of balance. Not every character can be absurd. Sometimes, it is essential for a character to act as sort of a straight man, who points out how ridiculous something is. Although the role of a straight man can shift from character to character sometimes in the anime, the top straight man in the show is Shinpachi. The other characters even refer to him, in a largely meta way as the straight man. Most of the time, just seeing Shinpachi yell and point out the absurdity of situations makes me burst out in laughter.
A lot of the show’s humor also comes from how meta the show is. The characters are aware that they are in the anime and even reference the writers and studios. Sometimes, they mention how they are worried about getting cancelled or they show the studio where the show is created. At one point, there is even an arc where the characters fight each other over the results of a popularity poll taken by the show’s viewers.
Memorable episodes like the one I mentioned earlier are numerous. To rank which episode as better than the other is almost impossible because the shows writers know how to play off characters and situations perfectly. Because of this, most episodes will prompt at least a few laughs from the viewer.
Certain episodes are particularly good because of the unique way they are set up. Gintama is a show where core elements (animation and character design) can be changed if it helps conveys jokes and humor better. One episode actually never shows any characters directly. It is shot from a first-person perspective, off camera approach where characters are at a location where they complain about other people and those people actually show up as they are being complained about. Even though we only hear their voices, the humor is conveyed off how the episode is structured. And just when you think you know where the episode will go, it takes and left turn and defies your expectations.
Gintama is the definition of unpredictable. I never know what jokes will be made or what events will occur because the show has no limits in terms of how it can tell jokes or construct events. Even while the show is a comedy through a through, the show will also have arcs involving action, drama, and even some emotional and touching moments.
Like I said earlier, gintama is a truly unique show. I’ve seen a lot of anime, and none of them can be compared to this show. The humor and structure to this show is truly different. If anybody is interested in Gintama, they should at least watch it to experience something different.
With as many episodes that gintama has, I feel like I am unable to truly capture how well this anime works in a review. It is a challenge to even describe how it works as well as it does. I simply keep watching episode to episode because each time I go back to the show, I get what I want and more. And even as the show goes on, more characters and scenarios get introduced to the show that make it more interesting than before.
Like any truly great show, it knows what elements work well and it evolves as time goes on. Even as time transpires, the factors that drew in viewers always remain and improve. For that reason, I can say that I love this anime and am confident that anybody who gives a few episodes a try will also see the appeal.