With that being said, there is one anime that managed to become very popular among the anime audiences throughout the last decade despite those limitations, and that is Gintama. This anime is particularly famous because it implements comedic elements from both the West and the East splendidly, while at the same time having its share of a more "serious" storyline, expanding on its universe, as well as having fantastic battle scenes with wonderful background stories for the characters. Naturally, some viewers may dislike this anime, and while I personally think it's a great anime, it also has its flaws, which I will try to depict below.
~Story~
The setting in which the story takes place is feudal Japan, Tokyo, formerly known as Edo, yet with every modern type of tools available in modern society, such as cars, fridges, TV's, you name it; but that is not the only nonsensical thing, there is also the fact that Japan is invaded by aliens called the Ämanto". Following the life of the defeated lazy samurai Sakata Gintoki and his fellow companions Kagura and Shimura Shinpachi on their jobs as "Yorozuya", people who would do everything for money, being the poor penniless people they are. These tasks range from simple jobs such as catching cats to high-risk type of labour, which all have one thing in common: it will always end hilariously, usually through the hardships the protagonists have to endure. Moral stories are often narrated through these as well, while a big part is praiseworthy, some of these may at times go unnoticed or either feel repeated to the viewer.
Gintama's main focus lies in the humor, and it conveys these splendidly to the viewers through a wide array of comedy types, be it the manzai or satires to the different customs of different cultures. These situations represent daily events, yet often taken to the extreme, and ridiculously absurd which I personally think is a charm too; it nevertheless share its shares of more "calm" episodes. What makes these so well done is the fact that it is unexpecting and hilariously represented: who will forget the epic toilet battle, or the mishaps that happen to the most powerful man in the country, the Shogun himself? Other great aspect is the use of referential comedy to other anime series, even movies: these are all hilariously well presented, if viewers know about it that is; which begins with one of the problems this anime has.
Though the majority of gags and jokes are well relaid to the viewers, there are also quite a lot that either aren't that well understood, or just totally misses the point for some (if not most) of the audiences. This can be due to several reasons: one of it is the fact of not knowing which medium the anime is referencing to; there are quite an amount of referential gags to either current or past famous anime series which for the newer viewers to the medium would remain clueless on why it was displayed and thus not understanding its joke. Other reason is naturally the cultural knowledge of both the West and particularly Japan; if viewers have no awareness of these (such as famous politicians, real life comedians, customs), it will often come over as something absurd and nonsensical. Finally, the understanding of the Japanese language itself can be a culprit too, as it relies on wordplay and vocal expression, which for the average viewer may be difficult to follow.
Gintama does not only consist of comedy episodes: to change the atmosphere of the anime, it introduces its own serious arcs in which characters are fleshed out through numerous things such as background stories, or events tied to these. Trough these world building is done, as well as clearing out different mysteries that surround that world. What comes as a surprise, is the fact that it can be dead serious, which is totally the opposite of its usual narrative; deep conflicts between aliens, samurai's and the government, or the different political factions within those. However, there is no consistent progression of the story, as the episodes are standalone ones, which also affect the more serious arcs; these are not tied with each other, which may be a drawback for some viewers, as it seems to "reset" some of the events that happen. The battles are nothing short of spectacular, well paced, leaving the viewer in tension on what will happen next. These are however often over the top, with characters having infinite toughness or sudden "powerups", which results sometimes in tensionless fights, which can be a drawback for some. However, it must be said that these are often take unexpecting turns, and are fantastically animated.
There is also a certain issue with the pacing. Essentially the first 40-50 episodes approximately are pretty average at best, as it is dedicated to introducing the different characters; in addition, it is clear that most of the jokes and gags are rather badly conveyed to the viewer, feeling off, as the author is not yet fully aware as on how to represent them. It must be said that there some fantastic episodes that are either very amusing or breathtaking, yet overall are average. As mentioned earlier, referential and slapstick comedy that is available in the anime may displease some viewers preferring situational comedy. Naturally, throughout its whole duration of 201 episodes, it can't maintain fantastic comedy, thus having quite some episodes that can be either boring or disgusting at times. Nevertheless, the good episodes overshadowed the bad ones, besides the comedy being consistent throughout its duration.
~Characters~
The characters in Gintama are of great importance to the anime, as without them, the majority of jokes wouldn't get over quite as desired: no matter how good the scripts for the joke are, without good actors, it will be boring. These are all very memorable, which is quite an achievement, considering these are not outstanding in respect of character development or fleshing out of these. There is Sakata Gintoki, a defeated samurai revolutionary in the war against the aliens, now a lazy samurai, gambler and sugar addict, yet with its own strong morals which makes him as a whole likeable, with its own flaws. Shimura Shinpachi, the boy who most characters in Gintama define his personality with his glasses; Kagura, a glutenous straightforward fighting machine, a tomboy type of girl.
There are naturally secondary characters of importance (and of interest) as well. Take for example Hasegawa Taizou, also known as "Madao", which is by far one of the most interesting characters of the cast: a man with moral standards, yet rendered homeless, gives an accurate representation of society and its values. The shinsengumi composed of the mayonnaise loving devil vice-chief Hijikata Toushiro or the stalker gorila Kondo Isao. Not forget the revolutionary Joui Katsura Kotarou, you don't often stumble across such a character with such high moral values, with its own flaws. The Shogun is also interesting as a character, as its represents the perfect notion of what a flawless governor should be, with its own moments of cluelessness in regard in his study of society.
Leaving the interesting characters aside, there are naturally some that can get on audiences nerves, such the sister of Shinpacahi, Otae, which is the typical aggressive (somewhat) tsundere girl who can't cook, which at first is moderately of interest, but jokes and situations that play out with her become old and annoying throughout the 201 episodes. The ninja Sarutobi Ayame can sometimes also be quite annoying, as her character remains equal throughout the anime, being the excuse to implement dirty/perverted jokes in the anime.
Character development is rather lackluster in Gintama, yet the fleshing out of its main cast is well done (though small) and sufficient to enhance the overall progression of the story, in addition to understanding the motives and personalities of the different characters. The supporting cast is varied, having alien princes, space pirates. superhuman race of warriors - the Yato, ninja's you name it. Some of the characters presented also are based on real life persons, such as Kondo Isao or Hijikata Toushiro, both who were of importance in the japanese revolution. Other positive aspect is that it uses all the characters presented in the anime, all of importance to the continuity of the jokes and narrative, by either expanding on their past, or events related to them.
~Animation and sound~
The animation quality of Gintama was surprisingly well done, considering it is a long running anime with over 200 episodes. There were no real fluctuations in the quality, and fulfilled its purpose well. Backgrounds are well drawn, but nothing spectacular, being character design very simplistic: which can be rather lackluster for some audiences, yet are easily distinguishable from the huge cast Gintama has. However, it must be said that it surprisingly well done, as it managed to convey the different gags and jokes splendidly through changes in character design: take Hokuto no Ken reference for example. Battle scenes are well animated, and have a good choreography and are often unexpecting.
The soundtrack used in Gintama was varied, beautiful and fantastic, used to match with the atmosphere it is trying to portray, as well enhancing the overall narrative and comedy. These ranged from piano compositions, to orchestra type of songs to metal pieces. Who would forget the Stand battles and its soundtrack, or Madao's glorious theme? For the more "relaxed" episodes, we have more natural, groovy themes which can be repetitive at times. From the various openings and endings the anime had to offer, there are quite some of those with a catchy tune such as "Donten" by Does or "Tougenkyou Alien".
What however really stood out, were the voice actors. Without these, the experience would certainly be of lesser quality: emotions, jokes, intonations, anger were splendidly transmitted to the audience. We have voice actors such as Sugita Tomokazu as Gintoki or Joseph Joestar in JoJo's Bizarre adventure; then we have Wakamoto Norio, who voices Matsudaira Katakuriko, Raou in Hokuto no Ken, or Oskar von Reuenthal in Legend of the Galactic Heroes. Not to forget Fumihiko Tachiki, who voices Hasegawa Taizo masterfully, conveying the character's personality elegantly.
~Enjoyment~
It would be an understatement to say I like Gintama: in fact, I love it. The different comedy gags, the characters and its voice actors in conjunction with the serious tones the anime has to offer, I found it to be the best comedy anime I have ever watched up to date. Having an inclination towards the comedy genre, I found Gintama to be exceptionally well executed, even with its duration and flaws; this was especially because it managed to keep a consistent level of humor throughout the whole anime, with some outstandingly well done gags that would have anyone adverse to the anime as a medium blurt out in laughter.
Naturally there were numerous flaws with the anime such as battles being a bit over the top, jokes that could get out of hand in addition to being sometimes boring and old, and even being hit-and-miss. Yet the characters and background stories it had, was another element that could keep any viewer with less interest in the comedy genre entertained. It has a slow and average start at best, the viewer being rewarded afterwards with surprisingly good comedy parts, and consistent humor.
So would I recommend Gintama? I personally would suggest anyone to try out, yet if you have no real interest in the comedy genre or are no real fan of absurd, random comedy, I would probably stay away from it. I found the numerous references and jokes in my first watch rather dull, as I had no knowledge of the anime it was referencing to. I must also mention that understanding of the different cultures, as well as the language itself is of importance to enjoy the full experience Gintama has to offer.
Thank you for reading.
