Review of Gintama

This show heavily depends on humour. Especially something called "the straight man trope". If you don't find this funny, you might have a hard time getting through the serie. A lot of the jokes are also deprived from other animes or just straight up anime-parodies. So I don't recommend this show, unless you are more than just the average anime-watcher. The first couple of episodes are what I like to call "The gatekeepers", because they are pretty horrendous. You really have to watch a good 20+ episodes before it catches your interest. This, in addition to the fillers, is why the comedy has to click withyou... Or you can just skip to the main arcs, but I wouldn't recommend that.

Gintama is one of the funniest animes. The hysterical faces and reactions, combined with the on-point VA make the jokes hit like a punch to the gut or an ab-workout. The show also has some tasteful J-rock OPs and EDs.

To begin with, the artstyle and animation are below average. Not surprising since the anime was adapted in 2006. It does get drastically better though, to the point I thought Da Vinci animated the fight-scenes himself. But besides from that, I would say the character-designs really leave a bright imprint.

What the community love about Gintama is still not the plot or the animation. What we love is the cast.
Gintoki is my favourite anime-protagonist, and the rest of the characters are just as bizarre and likeable. This is why I can watch multiple fillers of them doing jackshit, while I smile like a guy with schizo at my screen.

To repeat myself, Gintama is not for everyone. But to me this is one of the few shows I have shared my laughter and tears with. It's more than just a show to me, it's a way to live. I know it sounds corny, but I highly recommend this show if you have a lot of spare time.