This review might contain light spoilers for the story of Gintama.

HOW I GOT INTO GINTAMA

I started watching Gintama in mid 2019 when it was already at the top of the sites such as MyAnimeList or Anilist, I saw this cool white haired samurai and got into it without even searching what it's about. I got bored. I got extremely bored of the comedy episodes and it took me 2 whole years to watch just 16 episodes. In summer 2021 I searched a little bit more about what Gintama is and started watching it again but this time it was different, the episodes I watched have stayed the same however this time they were interesting, they weren't funny but they excited me. After 20th episode it even became funny for me and I finished the first show from 2006 in a few days.

THE COMEDY AND WHY IT MATTERS

To be honest, I was one of those people that wanted to watch only the serious arcs of Gintama but I changed my mind quickly after giving comedy episodes a second chance. At first glance those episodes may seem unimportant and goofy, a way to kill time until serious and darker arcs come, but they're more than that, they're episodes that build Gintoki and other characters up. After about 200 episodes there comes an arc called Four Devas of Kabukicho where the entire watching of comedy episodes pay off and you get all those comedy characters come and help Gintoki when he needs it. Sure, you can just skip comedy arcs and somewhat enjoy the serious ones but there is a reason as to why the author wrote the story this way and why he wanted it to be experienced this way.

DON'T SLEEP ON GINTAMA'S SHORT ARCS

I've seen a lot of people watch Gintama and not pay attention to the shorter arcs even though they're half comedy and half serious, this is a mistake on their part. There is an arc that is 2 episodes long and it's called Guardian Dog arc. It's about a son of yakuza boss decides that he doesn't want to join the yakuza and wants to pursue his true passion, his father doesn't allow it and the son kills himself (there is obviously much more to it but I won't spoil everything). This is an arc that teaches us about how someone not tied to you by blood can feel like family, protecting our loved ones, pursuing our true passion and much more but you obviously wouldn't know that if you decided to just not to pay attention to it because it's only 2 episodes long.

GINTAMA'S SERIOUS ARCS

There is a clear difference in writing when it comes to serious arcs, there are also some semi-serious arcs that have both of the writing styles but for me there is a clear line about when it comes to those more serious arcs. The comedy arcs are more light hearted while serious arcs are more heavy, they have more heart and emotion. Gintama's serious arcs are nothing like the story before them, almost like it's a completely new anime. There are bits of Gintoki's backstory in most of serious arcs and you're the one who should connect them to get the whole story behind our main character. I can't say much about them without spoiling the main story so we'll be moving on.

THE CAST

Gintama has the best characters I've ever seen without competition. There are no wasted characters, even in short arcs Gintama will make sure to give a certain character backstory (even if he will never appear in the show again) just so you can understand or relate to him better. The main cast consists of Gintoki, Shinpachi and Kagura, their dynamic is extremely heartwarming to watch, especially Gintoki and Kagura since they have sort of a father-daughter type of bond. Even the characters that don't fight in serious arcs have their time to shine and their important moments in which the audience can get to know and love them.

FINAL THOUGHTS

If you're thinking about getting into Gintama, I beg you please be patient and don't be eager to see the serious arcs, there is also much to enjoy outside of them and once you finish Gintama you'll wish that there were more episodes. If you were to ask me where the story truly shines, whether in comedy or serious arcs I would have to say both, this is something you'll only be able to understand after you've finished Gintama but both serious and comedy arcs have their message and meaning, to just pick one of those and say this is a better part of Gintama feels wrong for me. Gintama is one of the greatest animes I have ever watched and if you give it a shot it's possible that you'll like it too so I highly encourage you to do it.

THANK YOU FOR READING