Forum - View topicEP. REVIEW: Gintama
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Yttrbio
 Posts: 3652 |
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I think I'm kind of tired of serious Gintama. Part of what I loved about these arcs is that the comedic portions of the show could handle a lot of the exposition, set up, and character development, so when things got serious, the show could jump right to the climax without the tedious pacing problems I typically associate with shonen action shows. But Gintama has become exactly the kind of show whose pacing I can't stand, and while it's well-executed stuff, typically, I don't find it to be particularly special or unique, like I do Gintama's sense of humor.
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Valhern
 Posts: 916 |
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This was a somewhat clunky episode, because it's completely a follow up of the previous arc, with instantaneous info dump and stuff, and it's like just coming straight at you with all the information needed for the arc. I'm glad that on the other hand they did some original scenes to reintroduce the main trio so it didn't feel as heavy. This first episode is better watched after the previous one, not after almost a year. Cool thing this was likely the last of info dumps that I remember, and that will be good.
At first I didn't really like this Altana stuff with Utsuro and such but then I began to like the idea of unending energy given the body of a human, and always trying to end itself through different means, as Utusuro with destruction, as Shoyo with kindness and trying to accomplish self-fulfillment. And I believe it speaks a lot to the core themes of Gintama about how you live your life and what's important in it. By the way I hate the OP song, I cannot stand the voice even though the visuals are pretty neat, I much prefer the ED.
According to what I've read, it might be a reference to Gilgamesh Night, a softcore adult show that aired at late night in Japan, and I wouldn't put it past Sorachi for a reference like this. |
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Zagnaphein
 Posts: 86 |
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Mister Information guy here! This Gintama Run will cover the Battle on Rakuyo and the spoiler[ The Battle on Earth ] Arc! We might have some fillers or see some arcs we haven't seen yet animated (small comedic arcs) but this is Gintama's Final Season that will fully cover the manga ! Happy new year also! |
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Admiral Pizzaman
 Posts: 504 |
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There it is! Gintama is back with usual epic gags. I love how Saiki was here last season ago.
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WeebForLife
Posts: 4 |
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I was little surprised at the amount of info dumping, but to be honest I liked how they got it all out of the way so that they could move on. Also, It was a nice reminder for me about what happen in the previous season. I might re-watch it again anyway, but now I don't feel like it's required.
This episode definitely reminded me why Gintama is my favorite show 
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Chocoreto
Posts: 105 |
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You have to be kidding me. The Gintama staff always knew how to handle their budget. Even though they always cut corners in the purely comedic episodes (the kamishibari scene, the episode that was consisted entirely of the front view of an oden stand when everybody was talking in the background), it always gave way to the most amazing animated action and fighting scenes. Especially the seasons Gintama' and Gintama: Enchousen, were a treat for our plebeian eyes. And yes they screwed up a bit in the last season, but they made up for it and some more with their animation in the long awaited Gintoki/Takasugi fighting episode. Seems more like they are saving the best for last just like back then. It's easier to make shortcuts in gag episodes, rather than when you have a linear storyline in a story arc full of action scenes. |
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Valhern
Posts: 916 |
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Nothing "budget" related. I don't know exactly how Gintama is handled now, if it's like regular TV anime of 12 or 24 episodes, or if it's handled like long-running shows, which usually work with teams in constant rotation. Whatever is the case, of course the idea is to be able to deliver the most important and climatic scenes with particularly strong animation (and when they don't do it now, they patch up the problem with very good direction like in this episode). Like in the Shogun Assassination arc, most of the fights that involve fighting no-name yatos are basically everybody fumbling their sword around and just decent enough, and then when Sougo vs Kamui kicks in or Gintoki vs Takasugi, of course it's going to look awesome.
A previous, relatively known example of the same change in timeslot is Hunter x Hunter around episode 90 if I'm not mistaken, purely for how bloody it would get considering the timeslot it was on previously. And curiously enough, it was in the same time that Gintama is on, except Gintama airs in the mondays of Japan, and Hunter x Hunter aired in tuesdays. And damn me if anybody thinks there was any drop of quality when Hunter x Hunter reached the second half of the Chimera Ant arc. If most episodes don't look consistently as good in comparison to the strongest ones, it's obviously because that's how the production decided they would handle the work better. Aaaaanyway, this episode was much smoother, the exposition is handled much better, the jokes fall in better, everything looked great all throughout, a really really good Gintama episode. |
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Midaro
 Posts: 147 |
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I enjoyed this episode so much. It was both fun and dramatic as well as full of action. While watching this season I get the feeling of watching a film piece by piece... I love it!
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Gina Szanboti
Posts: 11348 |
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Episode 320
"Katsura janai! Zura da!!" Never thought I'd hear that on purpose in a million years. 
I admit it, they made me a little uneasy when they started those flashbacks, cause they were sure looking a lot like death flags. I know there's no reason for them not to, but when they start throwing out nanomachines in Gintama, it tastes a bit too much like midichlorians to suit me. 
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Agent355
 Posts: 5113 Location: Crackberry in hand, thumbs at the ready... |
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It was beautiful.
I was nervous, too, but also thinking: "come on! This is Gintama! It took them over 250+ eps to kill of 1 recurring character and make it stick.!"
Turning the good guys' allies into mind-controlled zombies to fight against the good guys (usually to put them in a situation where they have to fight them without killing them or even hurting them badly) is an old pulp action story trope, this one just has a technological spin. I liked it! |
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Gina Szanboti
Posts: 11348 |
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^ Sure the trope is old, but it was the nanomachine part that made me flinch, even though there's no in-story reason they shouldn't use that.
I think my favorite Katsura quips are "Zura janai, matsuda," and "Rapu janai, Katsurapu daiyo" (his rapping was epic). He's messed up at least once and accidentally said "Katsura janai, Zura...da" but the only other one I recall was a pun on wearing a wig when everyone was going bald. Somehow it lacked the enthusiasm with which he finally embraced it this episode.
Btw, I found that zurakaru means to run away, which suggests yet another pun to his nickname? |
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MarshalBanana
 Posts: 5316 |
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Yes out of all the VAs in the new dub, the best is Shinpachis. He sounds exactly like you expect him to in English.
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MarshalBanana
Posts: 5316 |
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I feel the Bato fight was rather weak, both in terms of length and comedy, yeah we get it, it wasn't Gintoki. The rest of the episode was great though, especially the part where they all reunite.
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Agent355
Posts: 5113 Location: Crackberry in hand, thumbs at the ready... |
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I'm glad they kept the fight between Gintoki and Bato Pluto short, because he is such an incredibly irrelevant villain, and they didn't feel forced to add any new material to Gintoki's backstory (to match Katsura and Sakamoto's respective fights). All the villains in Rakuyo so far have been irrelevant, because they're new and have literally no prior history with our protagonists. Katsura and Sakamoto needed the character revealing flashbacks, Gintoki did not. So I'm glad they turned the trope upside down--not every battle in every serious arc needs to be stretched out for episodes on end even if the protagonist is involved (see Naruto, Bleach, almost every other shonen anime, including filler arcs, etc). If a fight doesn't develop the plot or the characters, keep it short, even try to make it funny. I didn't find the Pakuyasa joke hilarious, but I appreciated the brevity and that they kept it light.
Now can we skip to the Yato family flashbacks already? That adorable family portrait of Kagura and Kamui as kids with their gorgeous mom in the ED is teasing me every episode!
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Gina Szanboti
Posts: 11348 |
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There's just something ineffably sublime about going directly from Akira Ishida's exquisite performance in Rakugo to his gleeful impersonation of a snarky llama in Gintama.
 So gross, but so hilarious.
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