Why Gintama should've been in the Big Three

 

If you’re usually hesitant to pick up a long-running anime (especially one which has 300+ episodes), then I can honestly say after you completing Gintama that that was the best decision you have made in your entire life. Gintama is one of those shows which can’t be described or reviewed easily because it is a mix of so many genres and has so much variety in terms of the story and the theme.

Plot:

Despite all that Gintama is primarily a comedy anime and that’s nothing less than any other anime, comedy is an art and it can make people cheerful and recover from stress and trauma. For the most part, Gintama doesn’t take itself seriously, breaks the 4th wall, and remains usually light-hearted which makes it harder for viewers when the actual plot/story/serious arcs hit because the underlying main plot of Gintama is usually dark, emotional, violent and also depressing at some points and not just the main story arcs some other short arcs can also be pretty dark. You will hear at many forums that Gintama doesn’t have a consistent main plot but it does and it’s an epic tale of vengeance, suffering, loneliness, war, death, and the consequences of choices made. The plot is subtle and only unravels itself around mid-episode - 200s.

The main serious arcs are usually filled with feels (emotional moments that are guaranteed to make you cry if you have watched the entire previous comedy episode), epic fights (which are usually extremely violent), very less comedy and plot reveals which will blow your mind (usually after episode 300). Most serious arcs are masterpieces and are better than most shounen animes out there.

Comedy:

Let’s talk about comedy. Well, the comedy will make you choke to death if you are eating something while watching because it’s hilarious on another level. The comedy ranges from parodies and references to character comedy to toilet humor to sexual and perverted humor. Most skits and gags will make you laugh to the point where you’ll stop watching Gintama (for a day or two) because you’d be concerned for your health. But it could be hit or miss at the beginning because the first 200 or so episode comedies are heavily reliant on parodies of Japanese pop culture (usually manga and animes sometimes others). The first few seasons are heavily episodic but as the show progresses more and more arcs occur.

Soundtrack:

Gintama has one of the best soundtracks of all time. All of the OSTs are incredible and in most of the episodes, you’ll enjoy the wide range of perfect OSTs (ranging from lazy OSTs to epic god-tier OSTs) that can make the viewer even more immersed in the masterpiece that is Gintama. Animation quality remains consistent and improves over time. Thematically, Gintama is pretty unique; overall, the samurai era was invaded by aliens, and the technology is near to the current era. Characters are extremely loveable, memorable, and have distinct personalities and designs which makes it easy to differentiate them. It’s usually hard to find a show which does everything perfectly and Gintama is it but doesn’t go in expecting epic battles in every other episode.

Gintama is not solely the story of Gintoki, it is the story of a whole town, Kabuki-Cho, and the story of its inhabitants, their daily life, their sorrows, and their happiness. If you will watch Gintama and end up appreciating it...then you will also wish that Gintama should've been in the big three.