Let's start with the art. Between the series and the film, the film is way better, and I mean WAY better. Obviously the quality of the art and animation in this film are really good since the film came out three years after the arc in the series, but the way the scenes were shown in this film was a huge improvement. There were a lot of "money shots" with Gin in this film, and they were animated really well, but many of them weren't in the series. On top of that, the battle scenes were better in this film, too. In all actuality, all the important scenes were almost identical in animation besides a few of those "money shots," but the last battle especially was much better in the film. The film extended it and the further animation really brought the scene to life.
I'm gonna save the sound for a bit later, so I'll go into the story itself and the characters. I'll refrain from giving my views on the overarching flow with the reset of the Gintama series since I'm saving that for that review, but I do want to say that this specific arc was very interesting to watch given the subject matter. This film felt like it was the beginning of the story of Gintoki, both in story and in development of his character. Both were well done in this film, and the pacing helped to reveal the information in a smooth way. The series, because it was split into four episodes, didn't have a good flow. At least, not when compared to the film. The film really improved the pacing of the plot, and the cliff-hangers at the end of the episodes of the series were seamlessly recreated in this film.
The main selling point of this movie vs. the series, besides the improved animation, has been said to be the extra scenes you get out of the film. Yes, you do get extra scenes, but the series does also have some extra bits. The thing is, though, the extra bits in the series aren't important. It messes with the pacing too much, and it's information you'd get from the movie in a better way. The extra scenes in the film, for the most part, developed Gintoki's character better. They allowed for a deeper understanding of why he lives like he does, though as this is the beginning of his story (for the most part), it remains slightly vague.
The reason this got a nine instead of a ten is just because the first half or so of the film was entertaining, but not mind-blowing. The subplot in this movie is fine, nothing exciting. The surrounding story-building that happens before the battles and before the big stuff in the end was also just fine. It wasn't like it was bad because I found it really interesting, but it just meant that I didn't get EXCITED about the story until the end.
Okay, so the sound. The biggest difference, for me, was the sound design. The story is the same, the character development is slightly lacking in the series, the animation of the scenes was basically the same between the two, but the sound made a serious difference. This is why I'm going to say to watch the film and not the series. The sound in the series way overplayed the humorous parts and ended up killing the serious and emotional parts--even the action-packed parts. This film, while the music didn't wow me, did wonders to set the tone of the scenes. When I went back to watch the series, I was surprised by the way some of the scenes didn't come off as emotional at all because the music ruined it. The film did so much better in all areas.
So, yeah. Watch the movie. If you're worried about missing information from the series, don't be. Besides some narration bits that were probably cut for pacing purposes in the film and some scenes that delivered the information differently, the film is basically a copy and paste of the series in all ways except the music and the quality of the art. Some lines were shortened for the film--again probably for pacing--but nothing too serious. Honestly, the film is way better and nicer to watch since there's no "to be continued" in the middle of the action. It flows much nicer, so if you're like me and watching Gintama for the first time, just skip episodes 58-61 or skim them like I did. This arc deserves to be watched in the best way available.
