There are a lot of questionable anime programs that have been released over the years. To some extent, anime tends to pander quite a bit to the fandom these days, and many programs out there are nothing more than advertisements for a light novel or manga that may be shoveled out. Many times, there is a whole lot of style and not much substance at the end of the day after reflecting on the more popular anime. With anime cycles seemingly growing shorter these days, and memes taking over much of the collected consciousness of the fandom, it can be difficult to find shows that stand above the crop and provide something special to the audience other than the latest flavor of the month or best girl argument fuel.

So, what does all this drunken rambling have to do with a show about samurais, ninjas, aliens, and over the top sight gags?

Gintama is an anime that is difficult to review. I’ve watched this show off and on for around 10 years now and continue to go back and forth on what my thoughts actually are on it. This show is unforgettable and it’s one of the anime that I have a deep appreciation for and have gotten countless hours of entertainment value out of.

With regards to the technicals of the show, Gintama is generally well drawn and animated. The update to HD helped immensely and the switch was a noticeable improvement. The show is colorful and the setting allows for some interesting alien concepts and technological wonders mixed in with traditional Japanese ryokans and yukatas. This show has its own brand of style and it grows on you quite well.

The soundtrack is amazing for this show. So many of the tunes and songs have a great impact and help to change the mood so well that you can actually feel yourself changing emotional states when the music kicks in. Each major character has a leitmotif that generally kicks in when they are introduced or are doing something as well. There are a wide variety of OP and Ending credit songs over the years, and many of them are great tracks as well. Special mention to Yoruzuya Blues, one of my favorites from the show and a great commentary on the main character as well. There are even in universe idol performances and rap tracks and other songs as well that range from amusing to hilarious as well. Music is a high point of this show and it’s hard to hear certain themes from the show without smiling a bit at the nostalgia and meanings. They stick with you.

Easy stuff out of the way, the actual difficulty in Gintama lies in its depth and breadth of what it’s trying to do, or what it flails around and actually does. As mentioned, I’ve watched the show for ten odd years or so and I struggle to succinctly sum up what the hell Gintama is actually about in a few words. It’s also impossible to figure out if you’re going to like Gintama after only watching a few episodes as things build on each other to such a degree that it can’t be really said to have “started” until 20+ episodes in, and even 50 episodes may be a better milestone. Many folks aren’t going to make that investment, and while I understand the sentiment, I’m glad that I stuck around to enjoy what the show became after being unsure what all the fuss was about after watching 15 or so episodes. So what exactly is it about?

At a broad stroke, Gintama is a story about an alternate history type of Edo Japan around the Meiji reformation era where instead of the samurai putting away their swords because of a change in domestic priorities (read your history folks), it happens instead because aliens invade Japan (Earth) and subjugate everyone with their advanced tech and what have you. The samurai are to give up their swords and live on, trying to scrape by in a post technological world mixed with 1800s Meiji aesthetics in Japan. On paper, this doesn’t sound like it makes a whole lot of sense. In practice, it really doesn’t either, except that it sets the stage for a wide variety of comedic and historical commentary on Japanese culture that one might not find in a more straight-laced historical show.

One of the former veteran samurai, Gintoki Sakata, runs a small odd-jobs business struggling to make ends meet in this new world with his “apprentices”. The quest for strawberry milk, scoring big at pachinko to pay off the ouya-san, and getting enough cash together for the latest issue of Shounen Jump and a few drinks turns into one heck of a wild ride. As the story expands and we are introduced to more and more of the post war Edo town, the whole thing sort of takes on a whole life of its own and becomes a running commentary on pop culture in Japan with crazy comedic arcs, unforgettable character interactions, pop idols, video games, celebrity gossip of a type, to the point where it’s almost impossible to keep up with the references unless you have a good guide or have lived in Japan for a while.

Beyond the comedy, oddly enough, are shounen style battle arcs between the political factions that would not be out of place in any of the major shows in the genre as well. When Gintama wants to get into a serious arc and put on the big boy pants, it can hang with some of the greats in this arena as well.

There are also arcs and story resolutions that impart some serious wisdom and can even make you shed tears during their resolutions as well. Gintama is a show that has a surprising amount of depth and can turn on a dime, having you laughing hysterically one moment, on the edge of your seat for a battle sequence the next, and then having you choke up a bit at the heartwarming resolution a few scenes later. It’s rare that a show can do this and I struggle to think of any other shows that quite match it in this regard.

Also, as a barometer of what’s going on in the general cultural mindset in Japan, Gintama is a great show for cultural jokes and pop culture. This is going to be the actual things going on in Japan that makes local news, famous celebrities, songs, trends, etc. While it doesn’t quite require the depth of knowledge about Japan that say, Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei requires, Gintama is a great look into what’s going on trend wise in Japan at times. Tongue is fully in cheek for this show and the fourth wall is shattered quite often, many times to hilarious effect.

Combine the great characters (who almost deserve a separate review), songs, comedy, battle arcs, pop culture references, and emotional moments, and the sum of all the parts add up to something that may be irreplaceable in the anime medium. While there are shows that do many of these things at a higher level than Gintama, Gintama is much greater than the sum of its parts.

Gintama is one of those rollercoaster rides that once it starts heading downhill is one heck of an adventure. Rightly deserves a place in the upper echelon of comedy shows and a show that deserves everyone’s time. It’s one of the few shows that showed me how great the anime medium can be for its sheer variety and creativity, as well as delivering action, emotional scenes, and great characters by the score.

Unqualified Recommendation.