This review is spoiler free. 600https://i.ur.com/xelF5WX.png A wise woman once spoke fun things are fun. Given the way that 2020 has panned out I feel like it is important to take the time to enjoy something fun amidst all of the stress we are experiencing. I know I needed a pick me up with the way things have been transpiring. And that came in rewatching an anime that had previously brought me an immense joy Gintama. I needed to go back to something that had cheered me up in the past and this was the perfect fit. As I make this review I am currently rewatching the other installments of the series but the focus here is specifically on the first. Based on Hideaki Sorachis manga it was produced by Sunrise and ran from 2006 to 2010 spanning 201 episodes. Despite how lofty that sounds it was actually smooth and easy to complete it again. With its likable cast of characters wonderful comedy and ability to handle drama with more skill than one may anticipate it truly was fantastic to see it all again. I understand the length of the anime is intimidating but trust me once youre hooked you are not going away. Gintama takes place in the land of Edo that was once home to the mighty samurai and became overtaken by aliens known as the Amanto. With a ban on swords put in place it appears that the samurai way has died out but it still lives on in our hero Sakata Gintoki. After encountering a down on his luck teenager named Shimura Shinpachi and Kagura an eccentric girl hailing from an alien tribe known as the Yato together they form Yorozuya a business that will take on any and all odd jobs for a price. Gintama has an episodic format so while it does have this general premise at its core it isnt operating based on a structured plot like other Weekly Shonen Jump titles do. Some episodes will be our main characters getting caught up in some strange mess or focused on other members of the very large cast. However there will also be arcs that span several episodes that manage to bring in something more substantial. Through them you may learn a characters back story or something hinting towards a bigger plot that will be explored later on. First and foremost Gintama is a comedy though and the way it keeps its humor fresh and exciting for this long is nothing short of impressive. One might think this premise isnt enough to justify an anime this long or that the running gags will grow stale with time but the series manages to keep itself together through its run and even on a revisit the jokes still hit their mark. It really is a testament to Sorachis talent that something like this holds up the way it does. 600https://i.ur.com/y5uAarw.png One area where Gintama really stands tall is with its cast of characters. Its given me some of my favorite characters and despite how many of them there are it doesnt feel like potential is squandered with any of the recurring cast. Gin is one of my favorite leads in a Shonen Jump series. At first he appears to be an irresponsible slacker who would rather gorge on sweets while reading the newest One Piece chapter than perform any heroics but even in his debut scene there was something more. Something that spoke more to his nature of someone who will step up and protect the ones he cares about. As selfish and amoral as Gin can be he is still someone who chooses to do whats right even if at his own expense. I love seeing a character who is imperfect but still does the right thing in the end. And I cant help but feel a sense of warmth and happiness whenever I see him. Shinpachi is a character I have seen people describe as shrill and I dont agree with that. Yes he does get stressed out and yell a lot but it never comes across as annoying to me. He occupies the straight man role in the anime something the show literally tells you and him pointing out the absurdity of what the other characters do ends up making him a great audience proxy. Some big laughs came from him drawing attention to how ridiculous the situations were. Plus its also worth bearing in mind that Shinpachi is just a teenager and struggling to keep his family dojo afloat so this part of his personality makes a lot of sense. Not only that he is also someone who despite knowing his limits as a fighter will still push himself to do the brave thing and Im a sucker for that. No matter how many times I see this sort of trope at play it leaves me feeling good. Kagura meanwhile is one of the best female characters from a Jump series ever. Shes hilarious and never fails to bring a smile to my face. Shes blunt shes strange and shes absolutely wonderful. It feels great having our heroine be someone so brash and energetic. And I cant help but get a kick out of her excessive eating and overwhelming physical strength that does not reflect in her petite design these are more tropes in anime I appreciate. But beneath that upbeat energy lies something compelling. Shes a fourteen year old girl who wandered the stars and found her way to an unusual but incredible family unit through Gin and Shinpachi and her giant dog Sadaharu. Given what we discover about her biological family its very satisfying to know she did find a place for herself surrounded by people who care for her. These three carry the series so well and we really were blessed to have them. 600https://i.ur.com/3QlIryw.png Of course the other characters deserve mention as well. The recurring cast is so lively and engaging that I dont even think theres a character I can say I come away hating. Even in manga and anime I love there can still be a character that gets to me but I dont think I feel that at all with Gintama. The Shinsengumi members are some favorites of mine. I just adore seeing Kondo Hijikata and Okitas group dynamic and all the bizarre situations they end up in. I cant get enough of how much Okita transparently hates Hijikata and will sabotage him in a heartbeat or how Kondo blunders his way through life or Hijikatas cool guy exterior crumbling the minute he drowns his food in mayonnaise. Many of my favorite arcs were centered around them those three have a history together that gets explored at various points and it makes for some of the best moments in the anime. Meanwhile Yamazaki another Shinsengumi member is just trying his best to keep his mind intact. Theres also Katsura the beautiful leader of the Joi rebels with a mind that goes beyond mere human understanding. He acts like everything he does makes perfect logical sense when his behavior is nothing short of pure insanity and its always funny. Most often seen by his side is pet Elizabeth an enigmatic individual of few words who may or may not be an old man in a suit. We also have Hasegawa the infinitely unlucky. Its interesting to watch him because on the one hand you enjoy seeing how low he can go because it is entertaining but you also want to see his life improve at the same time. And then theres the female cast. I think Gintama has the best female cast of any Weekly Shonen Jump series. Theres Otae theres Sacchan theres Kyubei theres Tsukuyo theres Otose and Tama and Catherine. The women in come in various forms and occupy roles in the story that are distinct. Young and old working class and rich we are not just getting one type of woman and calling it a day. We see them as proactive and forward thinking individuals who are also just as funny as the male characters. They dont exist to be some no nonsense foil that roll their eyes when the men do something dumb they come at you with their own brand of comedy that is unique to each character. And we see them regularly these arent characters who appear once and never come back. Having a cast like this makes the anime feel so dynamic and its never a dull moment. 600https://i.ur.com/j6g8GRK.png Something that this anime does with surprising success is how it handles drama. It is a comedy at heart but it still finds a way to swing around to something more serious and does it amazingly. Some things get hinted at earlier on and dont appear as anything significant until events unfold and then you realize youve been heading down this direction the whole time. Maybe Sorachi had these things planned or maybe he just decided later on to expand on things he already established but regardless the way its done feels so seamless. Early on Hijikata speaks of the wonderful things Kondo did for the Shinsengumi members Kaguras father mentions Earth being stifling for their kind we hear about Gins valued teacher and all of that is explored later. Its a writing style that reminds me in ways of how Eiichiro Oda writes One Piece. Sorachi plants these seeds of information and after a period of time you see that come back into the forefront. Some of these moments end up being rather beautiful in ways and others can break your heart and it never leaves me feeling like its out of place. Yes we will go from these sad moments to wild and crazy fun in the next episode but it works. The jokes dont cheapen these episodes theres this harmonious way Gintama approaches these two extremes. Those serious moments still mean something to the characters and it leaves them feeling rather rich and more than just outlets for Sorachis jokes. You feel for what they go through and become happy knowing things get better for them. 600https://i.ur.com/q5jnNat.png 600https://i.ur.com/uv6ivjC.png 600https://i.ur.com/dwhuPkF.png The jokes of course are fantastic. Most famously it will reference other anime and manga. Whether its old school classics like Ashita no Joe Space Battleship Yamato and Space Pirate Captain Harlock or crowd favorites like Jojos Bizarre Adventure Berserk and Neon Genesis Evangelion the references keep coming and its always a blast. In fact the referential humor serves another purpose as it can expose a viewer to an anime they might want to try. This anime is what made me watch Alps no Shoujo Heidi and it ended up becoming one of my favorites. References arent the only style of humor the series offers though. At times sexual and crude at others sarcastic but also with a lot of physical comedy the jokes keep coming and because it doesnt stick to one particular gimmick it feels very exciting. Gintama has a really great energy to itself and it just makes the humor soar. There are also running gags with the characters and no matter how often you see some of them they still work. Sometimes in other shows youll grow tired of catchphrases and running jokes because you have been exposed to them too often but Gintama finds ways to keep bringing those things back without it feeling monotonous. Something like Hijikatas love for mayonnaise is used often but the way it gets used can vary and leads to some big laughs even though you have grown familiar with this part of his character. Keeping things fresh like that is important to comedy and to spend hundreds of episodes and still maintain that is impressive. Gintama really is a special franchise. It takes a certain kind of star quality to make someone want to come back to your anime and breeze through every episode with ease and it did that for me. I loved it the first time I saw it and I love it even more now. The characters are fantastic the seiyuu cast is one of my favorites in all of anime the jokes leave me howling and the drama leaves me feeling more connected to the characters Im attached to. Sunrise did a great job working with the material even if theres a few recaps and fillers scattered through it and Sorachi really deserves a lot of credit for putting something like this out to us. During times such as these I felt like I needed something to uplift me and put a smile on my face each day. Gintama succeeds and then some. I always looked forward to getting home and revisiting the episodes even when watching the more sad moments. It warmed me up and made my days feel less stressful because I could unwind with it and enjoy myself. While this is an anime containing some episodes that had me in tears it is also the same anime where Hijikata reenacts the plot to Dragon Ball Z because he wants a cigarette and where Gin and Katsura get cursed into cats while Kondo becomes a gorilla through an unrelated incident. The feeling I get from it is that yes there are times and moments where you will hurt and feel sad but never lose sight of those fun bright days. I had a blast seeing it all again and cannot recommend it enough. Gintama is worth every moment and I hope that if you havent seen it yet that youll give it a try. You wont regret it. 600https://i.ur.com/6ajZJLA.png