@/kymz910 on Twitter posted a thread of everything. Sleepy Kagura gave me a jump scare. Link to the thread will be in the comments.

I watched the first season of Gintama but after 60,70 episodes i got pretty tired of it. It still had it's funny moments in every episode, i just can't stand the outdated animation and i especially hate 4:3. The "serious" arcs were great tho, really enjoyed them. Is the second season better? And more consistent then the prequal? Or is it funnier?

What's the episode that stood out to you the most?

A couple of months ago I completed Gintama and it is a Masterpiece. But what didn't make sense to me was the thing above. From the beginning itself Takasugi said that he wanted to destroy the world ( Edo ) . But why did he fight Gintoki in SA Arc. When both of them know they did what they could. Someone please make me understand 😅

https://youtu.be/p-nbgfhAHBM?si=sClvdnWsBjr-rEgc We hear it a lot of times in the anime but I cannot find the name of this track, someone knows it ?

​

Knowing most of these people's names by heart is a great sign

I'm BAAAAACCCCCCKKKKKKK AAAAGGGGGGAAAAAIIIIINNNNNNNN

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I finished the first half of Gintama Degree (yes, that's what I'll be affectionately calling it =) about a week ago, and it's time to type out my impressions as I always do.

I was gonna try and make this post the first half, but once again, I can't shut up, so the notes for Degree quarter 2 will have to come later.

Overall: while I'm definitely vibing with it, I think I liked Apostrophe (the 2011 season) more. In terms of comedy, this season just wasn't as batshit extreme as I like my Gintama humor to be. Of course, there's solid hits like the time freeze episodes, the Trio demolishing the 4th Wall again, and ESPECIALLY that soul switch arc, that was a lot of fun. But idk, it feels more toned down compared to the wackiness of human snowboarding, pools, bathhouses, Star Wars/Gundam parodies, a gorilla flexing his butthole at the camera, a mayonnaise addict quoting Andrew W.K., etc.

But on the flipside, once I finished the Shinigami arc, my mind went: "Oh yeah, Gintama's still got it." And sure enough, I enjoyed the 2nd quarter of Degree much more.

The 15th opening is also a new personal favorite. Probably the most uplifting SilverBall theme song yet. Feels like a cool, summer day with healthy blue skies. The Sadaharu credits are also lovely as he looks up to remember old fan-favorite characters like Mitsuba (forever in our hearts), Ito, the two sisters, the old dog (also forever in our hearts), Kanemaru, Sakamoto's robot, etc.

​

On another (longer) note (and given this is Gintama, I'm probably gonna lose credibility saying this): while I'm still gonna finish Gintama subbed, out of curiosity, I've gone back and watched some of these episodes (at least, the memorable clips) in English dub. Now as I'm sure everyone knows, Gintama's dubbing history isn't exactly great, and the two reasons I settled on sub, even though I usually (and unashamedly) lean toward dubbed anime, were because 1. most of the series isn't dubbed anyway, and 2. the dubs for season 1 and the Benizakura movie are apparently pretty bad, and don't come close to the magic of the original Japanese. Don't know what people think of the Final dub. That, and given all the puns, Japanese references, wordplay, etc. trying to do it all speaking English would make for a huge challenge.

But Degree was an outlier in that people actually seem to like it. Or at least agree it's as passable of an English-audio Gintama as we'll ever get. So having revisited some of these episodes dubbed, I can confidently say (from what I've seen)............it's pretty good! Crazy as that sounds.

I mean, yeah, obviously the Japanese is better, but I was pleasantly surprised at how well they managed to translate the energy of a show like Gintama into english. I'm more than sure they had to alter some of the jokes in some way, but it still feels like Gintama. Maybe not as unhinged performance-wise, but they didn't phone it in either.

Nearly every character's voice matches, the "oh they WENT there" comedic lines are intact, and I honestly can't stress enough how I think Cole Howard absolutely NAILED Shinpachi! Dare I say, I like him equally as much as Daisuke Sakaguchi. Andrew Francis for me is also always a win (though I can't blame him for not being able to hit Tatsuma's iconic laugh). Mike Daingerfield's take on Gin was better than I thought. I like how he kinda makes it his own thing instead of trying to just do like a Sugita impression (rest assured, Sugibro is still the true Gintoki).

And to finish off, as a young and dumb zoomer, since this dub was made in Vancouver, like Black Lagoon and Death Note: I basically see it as a giant Ninjago cast reunion (it is PHYSICALLY impossible for me to listen to english Okita and not think of Kai).

​

So onto the actual episodes:

​

But first......we have to preface this season with an important press conference Gintoki must attend.

As we know, the Gintama anime was originally supposed to end with the Be Forever Yorozuya movie. But to the surprise of *mostly* everyone, it ended up becoming more successful than the Benizakura movie, meaning that those soulless execs over at Aniplex and TV Tokyo decided to bring this stinking show back AGAIN. What's more, it's not even being animated by Sunrise anymore (even though, iirc, Bandai Namco is basically the same thing).

All this delivered by a blubbering Gintoki who has a breakdown on live TV where Sugita and Daingerfield let out their crazy sides I love seeing in the White Yaksha.

Though on that note, the actual meme clip of the Japanese politician is comedic gold.

​

Ok let's start for real:

________________________________________________________________________________________________________

We got a problem: Gintoki, after stumbling home drunk one night, gets ahold of an alien space clock, which is basically THE universal clock. The aliens carrying it crash-landed in Edo, and their dying wish is for Gin to take care of it.

But Gin just puked and kinda didn't get that part.

So the next morning, Gin accidentally activates it as he wakes up, freezing ALL of time, save for the Trio (they were in the vicinity of when it activated). They now have to fix the clock, and get time in order while they're at it.

A lot of fun shenanigans happen:

-one really funny bit was Gin finally getting the chance to get close to his waifu, Ketsuno Anna on TV, and Shinpachi not-so-secretly exited to use this frozen time to get a peek at his waifu Otsuu-chan.

-Madao, like the Madao he is, is destined to die in every altered timeline.

=he and Gengai end up dying in another DBZ reference.

-The trio essentially have to manipulate the people around them, and use the clock's power to jump-cut their way through time to keep reality under control.

+They end up at the alien crash-site where the Shinsengumi are investigating, and the clock needs its batteries.

-Hijikata is destined to have that freaking battery in his hand. Even a matsui stick in place of his arm isn't immune to its influence, turning into a robot fist.

-The Trio swap Katsura (who's playing catch with Elizabeth nearby) and Hijikata's arms. It ends in Elizabeth getting rocket-punched by Katsura through the chest, and that rocket fist mere milliseconds away from killing Otae.

+Another great comedic bit is Gin casually destroying the 4th wall by changing the on-screen onomatopoeia of Otae's death to something less grave. And making the word of the old impact into something more Kyubei-friendly. Like some dick and balls she'd like on her crotch.

"YOU RIPPED OFF THE SOUND EFFECT?!"

Eventually, the Trio fail, and they end up in a timeline where Otae ends up marrying the new talking and walking Sound Effect (yes really), and they'll try to get the battery out by having the fist and Otae's fist smash into each other at the wedding.

But alas...the clock needs AAA batteries. The battery in the fist was AA.

...

But just as it seems that time is dead forever, Ham-san sighs and deus ex machinas his way with some AAAs he had to fix the damn clock and properly start this anime again.

While not as hysterical as how Apostrophe started (the timeskip), looking back, this was SUCH a great way to restart Gintama.

Also there's blink-and-you'll-miss-it references to Gravity (2013) and Attack on Titan, in terms of Madao's fates.

The arc ends with Gintoki showing the audience the new Gintama logo with a degree symbol. Just say it however the flip you wanna say it.

​

YAMAZAKI EPISODE YESSSSS!!!!

-on another one of his stakeouts (this time on Gintoki, now that the Shinsengumi know he's an ex Joi), Sagaru is drowning his life in anpan again. Until he meets the one bright spot of his life: our favorite robot maid, Tama.

Tama-san...Tama-san....Tama...Tama Tama Tama Tama TAMA TAMA TAMA TAMA TAMA TAMA TAMA TAMA TAMA TAMA TAMA TAMA TAMA TAMA TAMA TAMA TAMA TAMA TAMA TAMA TA-

-The Shinsengumi get wind of his new crush, so Sogo sadistically decides to set up a wedding between him and Tama, to the annoyance of the Yorozuya

-At night, the soon-to-be-in-laws have to meet and do everything they can to destroy the relationship

=Shinpachi criticizes Yamazaki's straightman abilities

=Tama coug-I mean, cooks up some sweet monja for dinner =).

+However, the episode ends on a sweet note with Tama & Sagaru bonding, even if the engagement didn't last.

That is until Sagaru pukes on her...(this is one of the rare times Tama actually gets angry).

I mean hey, I ship it.

​

Seita's having trouble with homework, so Hinowa gets Tsukki (I like how she's basically Seita's aunt) to tutor him.

-but then that doesn't work so Gintoki gets brought in.

-let me tell you the history of Japan's army of mountain gorillas....

=unrelated side-note: instead of viewing your favorite creators as gods, it's a more humanizing experience to view them as burnt-out gorillas. Sorachi-sensei is simply a tired gorilla with a good sense of self, great sense of humor, and takes the piss out of the anime & manga industry every chance he gets.

-the history major in me can attest that a genuine interest in history helps a lot

-this segment was fine I guess. The funniest bits were Gintoki's Assassination Classroom cosplay (I've heard that series is emotional), the microwave gag, and Hinowa coming in with her glasses

​

Gintoki catches Shinpachi with a sus amount of Ho-Love-Ru manga

-Shin tells him Takachin (been a while since we've seen him) wanted him to take care of them so his parents don't find out.

=At the dojo, Gin and Shin, as fellow bros, must never let Otae find this manga stash. It's not like it's full blown porn or anything (minus the bikini bra slips but that's nothing, right?)

=In an age where there's a shit ton of porn a click away, JUMP breaks boundaries by allowing uncensored tits in HoLoveRu.

="we can't let the PTA find out!" (cuts to monster Tae on the prowl)

Gin turns Shin's room into a sex dungeon, complete with an Otsuu bodypillow.

-the logic is that you can hide the manga in plain sight this way.

-The Happy Birthday gag was awesome

Just as Shin and his aniki leave having a good laugh about this, they forget to clean up the room. Tae walks into the dungeon.

Wait, did they ACTUALLY get in trouble for airing this episode due to all the sex refe-ah, nevermind, it's not really that surprising, let's be real.

​

This next episode is special for me, personally. Last year, before I started Gintama, I saw a compilation of the mirror segment on youtube. Once Shinpachi revealed his bushy chest hair and Sacchan freaked out, I had a small feeling this show would be up my alley. Love me my extreme humor. ESPECIALLY when that blood started spilling out. Perfect timing.

-the downside is that I can't laugh as hard anymore because I already know what's coming (a symptom with a lot of my favorite comedies in general). But hey, now I have the awesome context of Sacchan being our favorite ninja stalker, Shin being our designated turbovirgin, Gin's wavy hair, etc.

"KAKAROT!!!!!!!!!!"

Most of what I love in this segment speaks for itself. Watch the comp. on YT.

The next segment with Yamazaki and Zenzo (love him) was good too, but not as memorable as the mirror

=Sagaru thinks being the Shinsengumi inspector is a meaningless effort, so Zenzo decides to sign him up for a ninja license.

=juvenile as it is, at this point in my Gintama journey, I can't help but crack up a little seeing that they have to inhale ass air to not drown in water.

=So just how diseased is Zenzo's ass anyway? I know he has hemorrhoids, but I need the specifics, dammit.

+My favorite bit was probably the lady manager yelling at the old sensei for watching TV instead of doing his job.

​

The Joi rebels reunion two-parter:

-Gintoki Sakata, Zura Janaikatsurada and TATSUMA SAKAMOTO OMG get mysteriously invited to a Joi reunion party one night.

=the two characters that turn Gintoki into the straightman. And they're his oldest friends at that.

=Katsura tells of a fabled 5th member of the Joi boys: Kurokono Tasuke! (I'm not into sports anime. Hajime no ippo seems like I'd like it, but not much else).

=Degree gets a lot of extra credit points for having Sakamoto show up more. My man went a good 150+ episodes only showing up in the openings and credits. The happiness I felt when he returned for the Renho arc was palpable.

-Katsura declares it's time for Gintama to have a flashback arc. You're not a true shonen series if you don't. Just ask One Piece. Helps with breathing new life into a series that doesn't know when, let alone how to end.

The three try to remember this Kurokono guy as best as they can:

+Katsura recalls how he got benched at a Joi basketball game for growing out his hair. Even his Pokari water bottle had froze. (remember that bottle for later...)

+Sakamoto remembers how one time, he was in the bathroom with severe diarrhea, and as though it were the Yagyu mansion, there's no toilet paper (starting wars is easy, but cleaning up afterward isn't). But when someone offered him a new bottle, it's revealed to not be Kurokono, but Zura from the game.

+I love how Gintoki and Katsura in the war walk back, Zura on his shoulder, and just when it seems like all hope is lost, they see a light of salvation on the other side....a vending machine.

-Katsura, the bro he is, decides to lend Gin some money for the water. Gin tells him he already bought Yakult for him (thus, weaseling his way out), albeit for an unfair price.

Thus, in the present, Kotaro and Tatsuma are angry that Gin owes them (plain as it is, this plot point of a 10-year old, juvenile "you still owe me 10 bucks" thing got me)

But then, the mysterious Kurokuno appears. And it would seem as though he's really Takasugi.....

....until I let out a HUGE "Ha!", head-rolled back and everything when it's Takechi the feminist with his lil' Takasugi puppet (I can never get enough of that). Seriously, like an idiot, part of me was convinced it was really Shinsuke.

-Turns out, this reunion party was a trap by him and Matako, behind Takasugi's back

-The lights cut out, Zura lets out a bloodcurdling (but also precious) scream, Gin starts yelling the Doraemon theme song out of pure fear in his heavenly voice (I love you Tomokazu).

In real life, Kurokuno Tasuke was revealed to have existed, and even played a game of kick the can with the Joi boys. But then got left behind, and seemingly died in an explosion in the war. In reality, he lived, and even told a seemingly asleep Gintoki how he thought about leaving the war. Gin sends his warm regards, and Kuro walks away nobly.

This realization helps Gin regain his confidence, telling the Kiheitai that the real Kuro wouldn't mind if he ended up forgotten. Helping the Joi 4 would be enough for him. Honestly, this little Kuro arc was more sweet than I thought it'd be.

Post-credits scene: Gintoki clears up that the 5th guy pictured in flashbacks of the Joi Boys (the one who kinda looks like Kondo) is in fact NOT Kurokuno. It's just a rando. Sorry.

​

Ep. 273 gives us more precious Toshi & Gin hilarity:

-to the Mayo Demon's bewilderment: he won 300 million yen! (1.9 million USD).

-But just as he's thinking about pooling it all on pools of mayo, he remembers that this lottery ticket technically wasn't his. Someone else dropped it, and the store lady offered it to him. And the owner was a guy who picks his nose and has silver hair.

-Toshi would rather have this damn ticket destroyed than let Gin have it. But the value of the ticket makes Toshi hallucinate bikers straight out of FOTNS.

-The two nutballs get caught up in a real bank heist. Gin does a scarily good job looking like a fellow crook.

-The two get tangled into the thugs' getaway van. As the cops come, Toshi leaping out the back through the glass to catch the ticket was great slapstick.

-In the end, Toshi decides to destroy the ticket for the sake of their sanity. Which is good, cuz Gin stole some briefcases of cash to compensate.

-But then Okita comes in with his bazooka destroying all the cash. The two are now left broke again, and start buying more tickets.

You know it's a great episode when these two have to team up.

​

It's time for another awesome meta episode where the Trio talk about how they have to make this godforsaken show more popular!

- bring on the Earthbound references (I'm not really a gamer, so once again, I don't entirely get it. But that poster gag with the Elizabeth volcano was really funny. Especially how they kicked Shinpachi and Sorachi. The latter for still not being able to come up with a good Gintama ending).

​

-"Instead of that, let's just stop and think about this anime's good points."

...

.......

.............

"We got nothing."

​

We need ideas for a Yorozuya poster to advertise our services.

-Time to shamelessly shill our blu-ray releases! (isn't this Aniplex's job?)

-It's better to say that Gintama was all planned from the start so you don't embarrass yourself later on if the anime and/or manga gets cancelled.

-The three start squabbling over how to use their photos on the ad, and Sadaharu tiredly ends the bickering by stepping on some ink, making a cool paw print ad with a decent-enough pic of Odd Jobs (the same one used in the Saiki K. episode a couple years later, ayo).

Next up: a follow-up to the 4 Devas arc.

-Meet the 4 new leaders of the Kabuki District: Katsuo (the 7:3 ratio crook we know and love), Azumi (a trans hostess), our boi Gin, and last and certainly not least, a certain female hostess gorilla with a thirst for blood. Otose and Saigo even handpicked her.

-now that that whole war is graciously over, Jirocho retired, and Kada in Harusame jail, we need to think of ways improve the image of this district. Instead of looking at it as a shady spot full of sensual work.

+Otae suggests that we come up with an official mascot character.

+Great visual comedy with Kabuki-kun/Kaburimon. The chin gag went into surrealist humor, and I love it.

-Tae's idea is, unsurprisingly, inspired by her favorite band B'z.

-Azumi is too fixated on chins.

+I love how Katsuo is losing his utter shit the entire time. Katashi Ishizuka absolutely nailed it. Through pure delivery, you can make anything be funny.

The meeting isn't super progressive, but Katsuo and his men walk away with a more positive look on Otae. She really cares about this town.

That is until he finds out the next morning she shipped a bunch of copyrighted phone-strap mascots, and pinned it on Katsuo. The fuzz come to arrest them for bootlegging.

All as Otae sadistically stares at them. You have to play a little dirty to survive in this place.

If you like Otae, you're just confessing that you're a masochist.

.....not that.....I would know anything about that........

​

​

The Dekoboko Arc:

-Kyubei's gender dysphoria is kicking in again. A girl at birth, but forced to be raised as a boy. For the most part, I considered them female, but I think canonically, they're nonbinary. Which I mean, hey, nothing wrong with that. This arc confirms that.

=Proud to say I like Kyu a lot more these days. Their intro in season 2 was great (Yagyu arc was the first serious Gintama arc that proved they could pull off this kind of drama), but for 3 and 4, I couldn't really care about them. They were just "Otae's friend," and that was about it. Well, that and being a diet Katsura (non-derogatory). But they started being funny more with that Timeskip arc, and I was sold on them again with the Jugem arc.

So as you can imagine, I thought this arc was pretty good.

-When Kyu walks by a fortuneteller, who tells her they still wonder what it'd be like to be fully male, a huge beam is blasted on the district, which rule 63s everyone in its vicinity.

Kyubei is now a cis man, Jyubei. Complete with a rod. And not a sound effect rod like in the first episode.

Rundown on our other characters:

-Ginko: goddamn....female Gin is awakening something in me.

=also, to shamelessly associate Saiki K. with Gintama again, I LOVE how Ginko's VA also did Kuriko Saiki. She nailed doing a female Gintoki, it was so seamless. I'll remember her more for those two than Zero Two, and I'm not sorry.

-Goriko: the one bad thing about her was that I had that joke spoiled for me while I was online.

-Soko: still the same old sadist. Never changed.

-Tenshiro: all that mayonnaise consumption got to them. Don't worry Hijikata, we still love you.

=at this point in my journey, any form of Hijikata is oddly adorable to watch. When he/she's happy, so are we.

-Kaguraton: her male Guts-like form from the Screwdriver arc returns!

-Sadaharu is now Kaguraton's majestic female steed, Sekitobaharu

-Yamazaki: looks a lot younger. Then again, they're ironically canonically older than Hijikata and Kondo.

+him canonically having the biggest dick in Gintama is also something I cherish.

-Sacchan: perversion doesn't know gender. He asks Ginko to put on a sexy red dress. Still the horny masochist.

-Tsukuyo: I saw an image of them before this arc, and I LEGITIMATELY couldn't tell the difference. Great hair.

-Shinpachi: almost unrecognizable with her new pink rims. I had to do a double take.

​

Otae was out of town when it happened, so she's jealous as hell seeing Gin, Gori, and Soko with certified racks.

She thanks Tenshi for her new body (the mayo pig doesn't take it fondly).

​

Back to the plot, this alien cult did this to punish humans for how they portray gender roles. Loser men who spend all their time gaming, women who take advantage of men...so let's see how you like it?

Our characters defeat them and all (destroying the satellite beam), but the best part of this arc was the aftermath. Some time goes by, and even though everyone else in town gets turned back to normal, our heroes are still genderswapped. But in a humbling twist, they decide to embrace their new identities, and can even empathize more with the opposite sex. One neat part was how Kondo/Goriko actually starts becoming a legit, good friend to Otae (on that note, there's a later episode that shows how Isao actually starts trying to improve himself for Tae that I found very sweet).

Jyu of course feels great for all of them, but still misses his old semi-female self a little. And sure, he feels like dating Tae would be easier/more socially acceptable, but it still feels awkward. This doesn't feel the same, but everyone seems like they fully adjusted.

Tae as we know wouldn't mind that much. She's moconcerned about whetherre her friend feels comfortable in whatever skin they're in.

Jyu pours this out to a street fortune teller. To which said teller (who has silver hair) assures him that they're not alone.

After all, we've only seen all this from Jyu's perspective so far. And I found that to be a reassuring twist that doesn't feel like a cop-out.

We empathize with you a lot more now for what it's worth. But like, come on, we still want our old dicks and racks back. And that's ok. After all, you felt more comfortable feeling like neither man nor woman, right?

Gin and Kyu don't have the strongest relationship, but little things like this are nice touches.

So Kyu goes out to take out the alien cult from threatening another planet. Now with them, Gintoki, and everyone else getting their old genders back. They celebrate by watching a movie afterward.

​

In conclusion: the rule 63 arc unfortunately gets a 0/10 because I will NEVER forgive Sorachi for not including Zurako. And all I can do is heavily cope believing she was on standby.

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Next time: more about Gin's past, the Shogun and Katsura meet up (yessss!!!), an epic body switch arc, and the Loud Fellow getting more screentime (also yesss!!!!!)

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P.S.: GINKO-SENSEI!

What would a female Madao look like? Well, like Shinpachi, their soul is an inanimate object. So just picture a noose with a bow on or something.

Kabukicho, the town of greed Tonight as always Men and women replay the drama of love Though they know it is a fleeting dream They cannot escape The fate of foolish men Ahhh The morning sun is blinding again today

Katsura Janai, Zura Da!!

I am searching for the scene where gintoki kinda say:" I hit an idiot turns out he's popular and now I'm a terrorist", somethin like that.