Gintama

10/10
Basically animated jackass but, way cooler and with aliens oh, and samurai. Gintama will be sure to deliver you a hefty laugh at your neighbor's expense(I.E. the constant laughing you'll be doing). This one is probably gonna be a long one so hold on tight!

Oh god, where do I even begin with this. Gintama is pretty much everything you could ever want in an anime in one anime. Except for romance though, there are implications eh it's complicated. This is actually my number one On-going series that overtook One Piece a little while ago and considering I've watched One Piece from the very start, that's impressive. In any case Gintama is about a lone Samurai named Sakata Gintoki. In this world aliens invaded earth around the Edo period in japan and that's why things are the way they are. It pretty much goes about his daily life which include Kagura and Shinpachi. Though, there are various other characters that are in Gintama those two are the ones who stay with Gin-chan the most.

Gintoki runs a store called Yorozuya Gin-Chan which basically means he'll do anything so long as he gets paid. Never paying rent or his employee's the show goes about their lives in hilarious fashion. The core part of Gintama is the creator's ability to just not give a fuck and  just make fun of every anime, politician or, just whatever he can get his hands on(himself included). There are very few anime's that can make fun of One Piece, Bleach, Naruto, and Dragon Ball Z all in the same episode and still be a running show. Though, Gintama is part of the Shonen Jump world so maybe the other parts of the studio are in on the joke. Similar to Amagi Brilliant Park, Gintama will have you dying laughing in pretty much every episode. There was one episode that took me a solid day to watch because I had to keep pausing it to laugh. This anime is definitely NOT for children or a very good starter anime. Most of it's comedy comes from adult life or various anime's so if you have no experience in either then you will not laugh nearly as hard. Fortunately enough Gintama is good enough at its' very own story line to keep even people who are completely oblivious to the references watching and loving it.

Yes it is as bad as this picture looks. One of the many strengths of Gintama is its' insatiable appetite for humor in general. A lot of it comes from references but, there is also a good portion of just raw..well...you can see the picture. I don't think there is any way to really describe it as anything other than 'Gintama'. Even in the times you least expect it when you think some crazy badass shit is about to happen it still has to remind you that this is Gintama and nothing is really that serious. It doesn't matter who you think you are or how big your anime thinks it is Gintama can and will make fun of it. Even if you might not get all of the anime references they make they even go as far to make american references! For example in the very first episode(a extra long special that is sometimes two parts) the main antagonist of the episode pulls out a fucking light saber! Same noise and everything. That's just the beginning of those references though they even go into a whole arc about it with gundams and well you'll just have to see it. Though Gintama has plenty of laughs that's not all that Gintama will bring to the table as Gintoki is a very accomplished fighter aswell.

Bringing fourth some of the most intense rage faces I've ever seen in anime; Gintoki is a very good fighter in the anime but, he doesn't win one-hundred percent of the time. One of the things I really like about Gintama is that they are not afraid to let Gintoki lose a fight or two. But, this is Gintoki we're talking about so he doesn't stay beat very long not to mention his vitality is a force of nature. There are many instances in the anime that Gintoki faces a power that seems so overwhelming but, he over comes with perseverance and sheer willpower. Even better is that during most of these fights he uses his wooden sword(he got it from a cheap infomercial for 20$) to just beat people into submission or to kill them outright. With as good as Gintama is many people have never heard of it and so with this review I hope to steer people in its' direction.

In conclusion, if you want a great long and ongoing anime to start this is your anime. It has everything you need in it and with it being on pause for awhile this would be the time to catch up on the series as fast as you could. Even with all of its' strengths the biggest weakness the show has is its reliance on your willingness to watch other anime with the insane number of references. Even with that this anime gets the very first ten out of ten because it has glorious fights, amazing story-telling, killer comedy, and powerful life lessons.

Thanks for reading as always I hope this makes you want to watch Gintama! Remember to subscribe and share!
"Fight to defend your soul" - Sakata Gintoki