Well, to put it simply enough I heard the news about it getting more episodes this April. At the same time I also heard that the first thirty or so episodes are fairly weak for the rest of the series. Since I started watching the series it only took my four days to watch the first fifty episodes, and I have not watched a series this fast before in a long time. I think it would be good to do a review, which might end up saying screw being a review since it might be bias, but I do not know until I am done. Also I would like to note that I will not do a review for the remainder of the series, maybe a discussion what I thought about it. Also on an unrelated note this will be graded similar to that of my last review in being a comedy and graded based off of that the most.
The Plot:
Before the series began aliens (also known as Amanto) came to the land and war struck out. With the aliens power greatly over powering the samurai, Edo surrendered. The aliens then put out a sword ban. Now twenty years later, people live alongside the aliens. Gintoki a samurai when samurais are no longer needed does odd jobs and helps people in need.
The Characters:
Gintoki Sakata- the silver haired samurai and main protagonist of the series. He is lazy, and does nothing more than wants to read his Jump magazine, despite constantly questioning himself on the fact he is too old to read it. He is the head of the Odd Jobs.
Shinpachi Shimura- another main protagonist and is a teenager, who joins Gintoki as he sees him having the spirit of the samurai. His father was once a samurai and had a family dojo, which he and his older sister are trying to keep. He is also the straight man of this series, in other words the serious one.
Kagura- the female protagonist, although she looks human she belongs to the Yato Clan, one of the strongest and more feared of the Amanto races. Although she is younger then Shinpachi, that does not really have anything to do with her amazing strength. Since she is of the Yato Clan she is weak to sunlight and carries an umbrella around at all times.
Sadaharu- sort of like the mascot for the series and is a large dog, well inugami which is a dog god. He is treated as a pet to the team. In the early episodes he has a tendency to bite the characters, although the habit disappears over time. In one episode when they can understand what he says, he has different feelings for each one of the characters.
Everything else:
This series, for starters is a long one. So before I recommend watching it, since I am going to at the end, if you do not have time to watch a series that is a little over 250 episodes, then do not watch it. Personally I was on vacation from school and could marathon 12 or more episodes a day.
This series, as what I have seen from fans, that the first 30 episodes are weak and the least funny of the series as a whole. Personally I was enjoying the series in the first 30 episodes and now that I am well into the 60 plus range I can see that they are the weakest. It does get a lot better, it is a subtle change, but once you notice it you notice it.
This series is self-contained, and really a lot of episodes could be skipped, but not all. There are occasional story arcs, which can really change it up from time to time. Compared to most long running shonen series, this one is clearly different from the rest.
Good and Bad Points:
– The first 30 episodes are a little weak compared the rest that season
+ The following 19 episodes really step it up in terms of comedy and development that partially make it up
+ Not all comedies can last long before going stale, this series I see not going stale any time soon and I will more than likely watch the series.
+ This gets a lot funnier over time.
+ Getting away with the Neo Armstrong Cyclone Jet Armstrong Cannon joke on a shonen series that runs during the day time.
– Some jokes in the earlier half can be hit and miss, more than likely this is because it does not translate well.
+ Hard to tell between filler and actual episodes, since both are equally funny. They could pull off a lot of filler if they wanted to, just not too much before it gets stale.
Score:
85/100 This is rated as a comedy series, and the score is mostly determined because of the first 30 episodes being weak compared to the rest.
As I said if you have the time, then watch the series. If you enjoy the first thirty episodes then I suggest keep watching, but if not then you will probably not like the rest. The series is only available in sub with no English dub out there, except for the movie oddly. It is available to watch on both Cruchyroll in its entirety as well as Hulu.
The Reviewer's Corner 
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