12th.
That’s the rank Gintama is listed on My Anime List. It also nearly made the top 100 in popularity out of the thousands of anime listed on the site. Two years ago I was intrigued since it was a comedy and it was highly rated, so I gave it a whirl with great expectations.
…
…
HAHAHAHAHA (Extremely sarcastic laugh)!
I watched the first episode. I finished it.
“What the hell? THIS is what everyone is raving about?!,” I thought to myself. “There is NO WAY in HELL this crap is ranked 12th.”
Then I thought to myself, “Well, I didn’t get hooked on my favorite anime of all time, Code Geass, until about three episodes into the series. I’ll try a few more episodes.”
…
…
Ha.
Haha.
HAHAHAHAHA (An even more sarcastic laugh)!
I watched five episodes, and I could barely let out more than a chuckle the entire time.
“Why is this so highly rated? It’s hardly funny. This show SUCKS!”
And so I gave up on the show for two years.
Fast forward to 2020. Somehow I ran across Gintama and then looked up, ‘Is Gintama good?‘ on Google. Maybe Reddit or Quora will have the answers.
“The series doesn’t start getting good until episode 52.”
…
…
Wait.
So you’re telling me…
That I have to watch 50 EPISODES UNTIL IT GETS GOOD?!
At this point I was extremely curious about how funny it could possibly be to be rated so highly, even though I would have to watch an ass load of episodes until the series becomes watchable.
I decided to bite the bullet and start watching it again. Just like two years ago, the first five episodes were rough. One, because I somewhat remember what happens so nothing is a surprise. Two, they were not funny.
However, after episode six, I was somehow able to keep watching all the episodes up to episode 52. It took a long time, mainly because I had other shows to watch that were MUCH better, and if those shows were funny, they were ACTUALLY FUNNY. The other reason was because I watched one to two episodes at night before bed.
Since I watched them before I went to sleep, I would become drowsy. And because most of the episodes weren’t funny and due to pure boredom, I would begin to nod off and miss whatever story was being told. But it didn’t really matter because each episode was episodic with no real story arc. Hell, the main characters run an Odd Jobs shop and hardly take orders to perform any odd jobs.
Now I will admit, that perhaps out of the entire 50 beginning episodes, there were about 10 or so that had really funny jokes. The problem was they were few and far between. Out of each of the 10 episodes, they only had one joke or segment where I actually guffawed. The rest of those episodes were boring just like the remainder of them.
However, I will say there is one episode that is the pinnacle above all the rest. Episode 25. I won’t spoil anything, but if you want to see how good this series can be, watch that episode. It’s hilarious the entire time.
Aside from episode 25, the only reason I kept watching Gintama was because it was so highly rated. I forced myself to keep watching because I kept hoping that it becomes better after episode 52.
And then.
That evening came.
I reached episode…51.
And, my god. It was actually GOOD!
Wait. Nebraskan Otaku, I thought you said Gintama was supposed to be good starting with episode 52. Are you gypping me?
That’s what I thought as well, reader. But to my shear amazement, Gintama became great after episode 51. It had great comedic timing with all the jokes, and I was genuinely entertained. AND, even though I was drowsy, that episode kept me awake the whole time!
FINALLY! So this is why it’s so highly rated.
I approve wholeheartedly.
And so, every episode since then has been great. It definitely deserves its high ranking. But I would put an asterisk next to the ’12’ saying, “Make sure you don’t watch the first 50 episodes before bed, because you’ll fall asleep from boredom. Except for episode 25. That’s the best one out of the 50. But seriously. You will pass out from the rest of the episodes.”
Related Posts:
