So, Gintama. Is this actually worth watching?Just watched the first few episodes and it doesn't seem to be that great...

So, Gintama. Is this actually worth watching?Just watched the first few episodes and it doesn't seem to be that great. What's the deal? Does it get better later on?

The first episode is a bit of a clusterfuck, and a handful of the subsequent episodes are more character introductory.
But once it gets going it's a wild ride that can make you both laugh and cry, sometimes in the same episode.

Keep watching, it gets better after episode 200.
Believe me

skip the first two episodes

It's in the same category as OnePiece or Naruto - megalong and ultraboring unfunny "comedy"

>it gets better after episode 200
shounenfags are completely braindead

Gintamafags will tell you that it's get better after [x] number of episodes, but they're just lying to you

japanese family guy. watch the trial episode and the shoulderpad one. also the one where gin and santa fart in kagura's face while she's sleeping. that's always good for a laugh.

hes just baiting , though gintama does get a significant jump in quality around episode 50 when they change directors, though if you did not like the first 50 episodes , you're not suddenly going to like it now.

Keep going or just watch the Benizakura movie and decide based on that

It's garbage

I say this as a loving fan of the series.The first 250ish episodes of Gintama are god tier

It started steadily going downhill with the introduction of Oboro, and nowadays with the slip arc it just isn't funny anymore.

>Is this actually worth watching?
Absolutely.
I only picked up the show for the "first time" last year, and semi-marathoned it all up within the next month. Quotation marks because I did try to get into it some decade ago, but the first episodes didn't catch my interest.
Only much later I did learn why: the first two episodes are LITERAL FILLER, and should be skipped!

On top of that, Gintama starts slow. VERY slow.
The first half of the first season (~25 eps) are all very basic level introduction material, made feel a bit slower by the fact that by heart, the show is kind of "slice of life" comedy thing.
But boy, when the PLOT kicks in, shit gets real, fast! The second year improves the pacing, comedy, action and even animation quality tremendously, and it's right in the beginning of 2nd year you get to see the show's true form.

Fast forward to this day, Gintama's easily one of my all time favorite shows, ever.
And that's coming from someone with 300+ watched series.

it's hard to call Gintama shonen, but he's not wrong tho. Personally I started enjoying the show at around ep 25, the legendary ""recap episode"". Not only does it demonstrate the better side of the show's comedy, you also have at that point formed a decent emotional connection with the main cast.

That being said, the first major "serious" arc, the Benizakura, which happens around episode 50, is the point where I believe anyone to not want to put the show down any more.

No, drop it right the fuck now.

I watched the first few episodes then moved straight onto the courtesan of a nation arc and started skipping around various arcs and episodes in the 200s, the kintama arc being the 2nd or 3rd i hit which was actually excellent for basic introductions of the whole cast, before going back and watching the whole series.

There's probably a much better order to do this in, I probably would have gone with yoshiwara in flames first if i had to do it again but i stand by courtesan of a nation as a good introductory arc because it has a strong mix of the absurdity and hard shift to drama that makes gintama's better arcs great and doesn't have as many cast members as the best arcs in the series.

It's a really weird series, the earlier arcs really are only enjoyable once you've grown accustomed to it. I can completely understand if this sounds retarded and you dont want to bother though

Like any long running comedy/slice of life series, it's a bit slow and awkward at the start, but it gets better the more characters are introduced. The arcs vary wildly in terms of quality and style. Some are more serious and action-oriented, some are more sappy and sentimental, some are solid comedy focused, but most arcs usually have a mix of those elements. I'd compare it more to Urusei Yatsura than most other shounen jump series. Once the show gets going, you can get a general idea what sort of arc you're in for when you see which characters are appearing in it.

Yeah, that sounds totally bonkers.
Gintama's a show to be watched from the very beginning, in the airing order. You get WAY more attached to the cast and the stock features of the show, and thus the exceptional arcs will hit even harder. If you're just looking for cool action shit and nothing else, this series' a totally wrong choice.

Be it an episode or two per day if you must, but just watch everything there, is in order.

honestly the anime is meh
the manga would probably be a good read i mean i thought the manga was good

Don't keep a marker in your head for "it gets good at X episodes" or force yourself to watch it. You'll get burned out that way. Just watch it at your own pace. This is one of those series I really want to recommend people but it's hard because of how daunting it is. I think it's a wild ride worth going on though. If what I said makes you want to drop it drop it. If not keep at it.

It gets better after episode 6373738.
Believe me

>Gintama's a show to be watched from the very beginning

it's really not. the best episodes are the self contained funny ones. the shitty ones are the mini story arcs. you're better off watching any other show that does something like that much better. any time the show tries to be serious it falls flat and feels insincere. just jump around and whatever. also, there are a ton of dragon quest references in this show, holy shit.

I disagree completely.
>there's ton of Dragon Quest references
Nips and author love DQ.

>Calling Gintama a shounen.
You haven't watched much animu have you?
This last episode was great.

It's really great, you'll be blowing through the episodes faster than you've with any other anime

The show gets better after the first 5 seasons.
Believe me

The humor style does change significantly from the earlier episodes (humor from exaggerated psychological conflict between characters, 4th wall breaking, really blatant parodies, also dirtier in general). You get the first taste of the later style in episode 25.

The series also adds short serious arcs (although that takes longer, around episode 58) which are much more dramatic than usual and even have clear presentation changes.

>hes just baiting , though gintama does get a significant jump in quality around episode 50 when they change directors,
They change directors after episode 104 or so, with the Shinsengumi betrayal arc being the last one directed by the original director. I don't think there was really any quality change at that point. Although the second director change, after 265 or so kind of brings down the show's quality, since at that point it becomes almost a word for word adaptation of the manga with very little added content.

I think it gets better around episode 150
Seriously though, episode 25 is GOAT and it stays at that quality

I've seen it about 8 times now and only wish i could forget about everything to enjoy it once more. Yes it is that good. The best anime that has ever been created IMHO.

How many times has this question been asked?

Naruto is not a comedy.

He's the same guy. Just never got around to watching more than 5 episodes.