Line #31 YMMV/Gintama


1	* AbandonShipping: Many people who shipped Nobume and Isaburo together abandoned the ship when their relationship turned out to be parental. He even gave her the name intended for his real daughter, whom was never born.
2	* AmericansHateTingle: The series was in serialization for almost sixteen years, earning positive sales and receiving three movies (two animated, one live-action) and three TV series. In North America, only the first 23 volumes of the manga were released before the series was cancelled. The anime only had its first 52 episodes released on DVD (subtitled) plus the movie (sub+dub). Granted, it's a cult hit in the west and has its fans, but it's not the mainstream hit show it is in Japan. Eventually the series was license rescued and received a brand new dub of all the episodes, and it is very highly ranked on My Anime List.
3	* AntiClimaxBoss: Unlike most villains, Kintoki Sakata poses almost no challenge to Gintoki alone and their fight lasts for less than ten pages.
4	* ArcFatigue: The "Silver Soul" arc, the last arc of the manga ([[ChannelHop before it moved to]] ''[[ChannelHop Jump GIGA,]]'' [[ChannelHop anyway]]), has been accused of this. While it delivers on plenty of good moments and fights, the story took over a year to finish as it [[BackForTheFinale brought back a huge amount of characters who had been missing for ages]] and gave many of them focus for a bit. This, combined with the slower pacing than usual left some fans fatigued.
5	* BaseBreakingCharacter:
6	** Tsukuyo is one of the more divisive characters in the fandom. She is popular with a lot of people and regularly places highly in the popularity polls for a female character. But she is also hated by some fans who see her as either a SpotlightStealingSquad or a [[DieForOurShip threat to rivaling ships involving Gintoki]], sometimes even both. This is even jokingly acknowledged in the Character Poll Arc, with both Otae and Sacchan expressing outrage at the amount of screen time and popularity Tsukuyo has managed to amass despite her comparatively recent introduction.
7	** Otae is loved and hated for her PlayedForLaughs violent/psychopathic nature; some people find it hilarious, others find it unnecessary and too far.
8	** Shinpachi's job is to be the StraightMan for a lot of the series' wacky antics, and for a lot of fans he does an admirable job, but just as many consider him more obnoxious than funny.
9	** Shoyo, after his reveal as [[spoiler:Utsuro]]: Even with the explaination we get later on about him, just how much people can trust him after being [[spoiler:just ''one'' of Utsuro's personalities]] remains to be seen. Some even consider him to be a separate entity entirely; the last character poll even showed that Shoyo ranked 5 places higher than [[spoiler:Utsuro]] did.
10	* BrokenBase: TheReveal that [[spoiler: Utsuro is Shoyo]] is either one of the most brilliant reveals possible for the narrative or an utter betrayal that Sorachi pulled right out of his ass.
11	** A problem that many shounen dramedies run into when they're in serialization-- that the series focuses more on the drama and less on the comedy. The tone shift isn't that bad in ''Gintama'', but fans still criticize it for trying to be a serious battle manga when it never presented itself as such, while others believed that it was just the natural progression and that its battles and character development make it just as memorable as its jokes. Of course you have detractors on either sides, saying that the comedy was underwhelming and that they're happy the stakes are getting higher or that the drama turns ''Gintama'' into a generic battle manga and would rather get back to the comedy.
12	** The later arcs have it pretty bad. On one hand, you've got people claiming the twists, one-liners, and general increase of threats [[spoiler:culminating in a full-blown SaveTheWorld plot in the final arc]] turn it into [[IndecisiveParody the very manga the series is known for parodying]], while others welcome the change and point out for all the lampooning it does, it's still a ''Jump'' series and carries a little of the torch of its forebearers even if it was unorthodox in doing so.
13	** Following the Silver Soul arc, the denouement chapters have been better received for making the series return to its roots of comedy while doing some sort of timeskip. Nevertheless, some readers feel like they are being trolled by Sorachi due to some cliffhangers and mentions of character's fates, most notably Okita.
14	** The English dub was well-received but the decision to start it at season 3 was met to a lot of criticism. Of course there's the fact that fans would have preferred to have the series dubbed from the beginning since it is the most logical decision and it would allow the voice actors to get used to their characters which is especially important for a long-runner. Some will also point out that since ''Gintama'' is more niche than other long-runners most of the viewers will be fans of the series or VO fans so there isn't much to lose in starting it earlier. There's also the fact that many of the plot elements later on in season 3 require an understanding of what has occurred in the earlier episodes. Others however are just happy that a dub has finally come out and argue that much like what {{Creator/Funimation}} did with ''Manga/OnePiece'' dubbing it at a recent point will draw more audiences in.
15	* CantUnHearIt: Tomokazu Sugita as Gintoki.
16	* CrackPairing: A series with this many characters who regularly interact with each other is bound to be rife in pairings, but the Japanese fandom really likes to get creative by shipping Sakamoto and Takasugi (who very rarely show) with the likes of Kondo and Hijikata (whom they've never interacted with). There were also doujin artists who published the Gintoki and Hasegawa pairing long before episode 239. Shinpachi has also been paired up with Sakamoto, Takasugi, and various unexpected Shinsengumi members for some reason or another. Other odd pairings include: Hijikata/Katsura and Elizabeth/Gintoki.
17	* DieForOurShip:
18	** Due to the ShipTease she receives with Gintoki, Tsukuyo tends to be disliked by fans who pair him with other characters.
19	** Nobume also received some hate around her first appearance, as Okita/Kagura fans viewed her as a potential threat to the pairing, but it's since died down.
20	* EndingFatigue: The concluding Silver Soul arc dragged on so much that everyone, including the publishing magazine, started wondering when it would end. It got worse after just when the characters are having the climatic showdown with Utsuro, the fight stops with Utsuro throwing himself into the Altana, the Yorozuya split up, we get a two-year TimeSkip where we are slowly updated on what everyone is up to and introduced to a new plot where Gintoki and Takasugi face the remains of Naraku that are trying to bring Utsuro back. The weekly magazine couldn't even give the manga enough time to end and the series got transferred to monthly Giga. And then it failed to end '''again''', leaving the remaining chapters to be published in an app.
21	* EnsembleDarkhorse:
22	** Kamui isn't even the [[BigBad main villain]] like Takasugi is, yet he managed to rank 7th in his first popularity poll even though he had only appeared in the Yoshiwara Arc at the time, and to the surprise of many later on jumped up to 3rd in his next poll.
23	** Of the notable Shinsengumi members, Yamazaki is probably the least important and the most plain, yet despite or perhaps ''because'' of this he remains pretty popular, having managed to consistently rank in the top ten on the popularity polls.
24	** Tsukuyo was one initially, having only appeared in the Yoshiwara Arc by the time the votes for the second popularity poll were being submitted, managing to rank 10th on said poll, making her the second most popular female character behind Kagura. However, her role has since expanded, becoming a part of the main supporting cast and getting an arc focused on her right before the results of the poll were released.
25	* FanNickname: Considering Japanese fans were trying to make out how to spell the [[LuckyCharmsTitle various punctuation]] in the anime seasons, they naturally came to a couple of common conclusions themselves. Season 2, for example, is referred to as ''Gintama Dash''.
26	* GrowingTheBeard: While ''Gintama'' got fans in the beginning, it was the Benizakura Arc that got people hooked.
27	* HarsherInHindsight:
28	** During a ''Ginpachi-sensei'' segment, in episode 209, Ginpachi-sensei reports to his class that Kakashi from [[Manga/{{Naruto}} class N]] had his Sharingan stolen, [[spoiler:which eventually happens years later in ''Naruto'']].
29	** In one episode/chapter, Katsura desperately wants to enjoy the same TV shows as his subordinates. After the events presented in chapter 563, this stops being funny as it shows that [[spoiler: Katsura spent most of his childhood alone, not long after his parents and his grandmother died]]. Although he is still on friendly terms with Gintoki and Sakamoto in the present (and he often sees them), he doesn't want to feel like he is excluded from his own terrorist organization, even if it's the result of something as silly as not watching the same TV drama series as they do.
30	** Gintoki giving his balls names like [[Manga/SketDance Yuusuke and Sasuke]] becomes this when ''Sket Dance's'' Bossun gets his real backstory revealed.
31	** Gintoki's drinking. Hilarious when he's putting his head in a vending machine. Harsh when his past is taken into consideration, like when he tells Hijikata how he still dreams of the worst moment of his life, [[spoiler: killing Shoyou in exchange for Katsura and Takasugi's lives]], and wishes he had the chance to save them all.
32	--->'''Gintoki:''' Alcohol sure is nice, you can forget all your troubles, if only for a moment. You'll have to remember them tomorrow, though. And they'll be even more painful than they were the night before. You can’t run away from things like this. Especially from the things you want to forget.
33	** Remember Shinpachi's TragicDream as a stranded-but-rescued lonely old man in the Ryugujo Arc? [[spoiler:The 669th chapter of the Manga had him ended up being a lone member of the Yorozuya, with an exception of him being 18 years old and the Yorozuya office still somewhat intact.]]
34	* HilariousInHindsight:
35	** As always for [[Creator/TomokazuSugita Gintoki.]]
36	*** The Stand arc parodying ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure'' becomes this since [[Creator/TomokazuSugita Gintoki]] shares a voice actor with [[Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureBattleTendency Joseph Joestar]] and later on wields a Stand himself. Every time Gintoki runs away is a dead-on ringer for how Joseph runs as well.
37	*** Another example with Sugita. In 2013, there was a manga chapter where Gintoki told stories involving Phoenix Ikki from ''Manga/SaintSeiya''. When Ikki debuted in the spinoff ''Anime/SaintSeiyaOmega'' the same year, he was voiced by none other than Sugita.
38	*** Otae-san dons her Aquila Cloth was this since [[Creator/SatsukiYukino she]] took the role as Aquila Yuna
39	*** In episode 75, where Prince Hata dubbed as Takasugi much to Shinpachi's chagrin while Gintoki and Kagura made fun of it. Guess who took the role as [[Creator/TomokazuSugita Takasugi]] in Urakata ''VisualNovel/{{Hakuouki}}'' this time. For more hilarity, he gets tortured by Tsukuyo, Kyuubei, Sa-chan and Otae-san.
40	*** If you watch the entire Tama Quest Arc and you know who voiced the [[Creator/TomokazuSugita Leukocyte King,]] you'll get a kick out him being demoted from king to rank-and-file [[Manga/CellsAtWork Basophil.]]
41	*** Remember that Gintoki [[Manga/OnePiece wants to become a Samurai King?]] Well, he becomes [[Creator/TomokazuSugita Charlotte Katakuri]] in this anime.
42	*** Also in Kabukichou Stray Cats Arc when Gintoki becomes a cat. It becomes this when Sugita takes the role as [[ComicStrip/{{Garfield}} this cat.]]
43	*** And of course, there's the series' parodies of ''Anime/DragonBallZ'', which is even funnier now that Sugita has actually gone on to play a ''Dragon Ball'' character as [[Anime/DragonBallSuperBroly Lemo]].
44	*** The constant ''VideoGame/DragonQuest'' references becomes a lot funnier when the ''DQ'' protagonists got added as fighters in ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosUltimate'', meaning that [[Creator/TomokazuSugita Gintoki]] can now play with the ''Dragon Quest'' characters as [[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Chrom]].
45	** Also in Episode 75, a recap of the first half of the second season, features a fake movie trailer for the Benizakura arc. Shinpachi yells and Gin for trying to trick fans into beliving a movie of the arc would be made and Kagura snarks that Creator/{{Sunrise}} could just do a [[BitingTheHandHumor recut of the episodes]] just like they've done [[Anime/MobileSuitGundam Gundam]] in the past. The first Gintama movie released after the first series ended was ''literally'' a remake of the arc.
46	** Remember when Shigeshige became a human-board in the Winter Vacation Arc? Well, it becomes this when [[Creator/YukiOno Taiga Kagami]] brought one of the freshmen in basketball to become a human surf board just to get the Iberian Pork Sandwich right before the epic 'THIS IS A JAPANESE LUNCH TIME RUSH!' line at Manga/KurokosBasketball. [[http://funnymama.com/post/195015 This picture]] cannot escape your mind, now.
47	** Let's not forget [[Creator/AkiraIshida Zura... Katsura]] as well in this trope.
48	*** Well if it isn't enough, [[Creator/AkiraIshida Zura... I mean Katsura]] rode in two Mobile Suits (One Zaku in Jump Festa and a pixelled Original Gundam in Season 5) in this anime. Remember that he voiced Athrun Zala of ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamSeed'' and its sequel, ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamSeedDestiny'', who rode Justice Gundam in these 2 series. What is more hilarious is when one of the characters (who voiced by Ishida) has the tendency to [[MemeticMutation Self-Destruct]] any mobile suits when he rode on.
49	*** In two arcs, when Katsura pulls out Gintoki (and later, his own tail) to become his sword to fend off enemies at Kabukichou Stray Cat Arc and fighting Enshou with beam saber at Silver Soul Arc, this becomes funny as usual since Akira Ishida took the role as [[Franchise/StarWars Luke Skywalker.]]
50	** In the Bentendo Owee arc, at one point, Hijikata berates Okita by telling him to go back to waiting for a sequel to ''VideoGame/{{Shenmue}}'', with Okita answering that he's certain it will come back no matter what anybody else says. Several years later, he's proven right by ''VideoGame/ShenmueIII'''s kickstarter campaign.
51	** In Episode 155, Gin-san and Madao betted on horses, with Gin-san betting on [[NoCelebritieswereHarmed Cheap Impact]] and Madao on Justaway, with the latter passing the former in the actual race. The screenwriter for the episode happened to be a big [[UsefulNotes/HorseRacing horse racing]] fan, and would later go on to own several horses, one of them being named Just A Way, who wound up making a name for himself at the prestigious Tenno Sho (Fall) by passing Gentildonna, a dam of the namesake of Cheap Impact, and beating her in the last furlong.
52	*** Also of note is that Just A Way in Gintama is a gray hair. Considering that the real Just A Way is said to have a gray fetish thanks to fellow stablemate Gold Ship[[note]]Yes, the same Gold Ship that became a [[VideoGame/UmaMusume horse girl]][[/note]]...
53	* HoYay:
54	** Gintoki and Hijikata's rivalry throughout the series is often seen in this light, which has helped make them probably the most popular ''Gintama'' ship, particularly in Japan. The anime adding filler episodes with more subtext probably also helped. The ship actually got lampshaded in Episode 92 with Gintoki holding a mock manga cover with them in a... erm, ''suggestive'' pose.
55	** Kamui got just a little too excited at watching Gintoki fight Hosen. Cue Kamui's unhealthy interest in him. Umibozu even said Yoshiwara doesn't interest Kamui, he only became its ruler solely to prevent anyone from getting close to Gintoki, who [[TheOnlyOneAllowedToDefeatYou he's staked his claim on as future prey]].
56	** Okita and Kagura have this in spades, so much so that whenever the two interact, it's almost always some kind of BelligerentSexualTension.
57	** Nizo and Katsura, with Nizo cutting his hair off and caressing it against his face, talking about how it was soft like a woman's. If he meant to piss off Gintoki, [[BerserkButton it worked]].
58	** Kamui and Takasugi also get some in Odd or Even.
59	** Gintoki and Takasugi have a fair amount of this in later arcs, after the students' backstory with Sensei is finally broached and Takasugi steps back from being the primary villain of the series, [[spoiler:with possible vague AssPull thrown in that the world he wished to "destroy" may ''or'' may not have been Utsuro's the entire time (though Gintoki and Katsura point out their allying together wouldn't absolve him of wishing for the more literal implication that's been assumed till now)]]. Though once more-so traditional Weekly Shonen Jump rivals (i.e., as friends, within a given definition of the word), he and Gintoki are now fatalistically fixated on the idea of being the ones to kill each other, to the point that when Takasugi saves [[spoiler:Shinpachi]], he expresses his reasoning with "Make sure no one else takes his head," before basically saying that he cares more about Gintoki and him having their last showdown than anything else at that point. (Katsura and Sakamoto end his 'so until we meet again' with "...take care of our friend for us.") Possibly as a LampshadeHanging, after Sakamoto "translates" Gintoki and Katsura's replies to Takasugi with at least a partial no-bullshit filter, an irritated Gintoki tells him to "properly" translate "Fuck you, man. Ptoo." and Sakamoto goes "Mr. Takasugi, he's basically sayin'... He wants to fuck you." to Takasugi's unchanging poker-face and Gintoki's ire. (Amusingly, when Katsura changes the subject to spitting on Takasugi via the translator afterwards, Takasugi reacts to the idea with immediate hostility and his own spit.)
60	* HypeBacklash: With the show taking over the top-rated on shows on [=MyAnimeList=], some of the international audience come into the series with certain expectations and aren't always satisfied.
61	* IKnewIt: As for the fans who are expecting [[TrollingCreator Sorachi to lie]] on the manga ending its serialization is ultimately confirmed that the series that the [[spoiler:"Last" page and chapter]] announces that the manga will continue to be published at Giga Jump.
62	* MemeticLoser: In more serious discussions Takasugi is spoken of as the dangerous BigBad of the series he is. In less serious discussion however, the very same people will make fun of him for either his height or his constant rambling about destroying the world. The one-arc joke about his love of Yakult is also turned up to the level of obsession reminescent of other characters' TrademarkFavoriteFood.
63	* MemeticMutation:
64	** The "strawberry milk speech" and "evil grin" pictures are recognizable even to people who have never heard of the series.
65	** To a lesser extent, the [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything Neo Armstrong Cyclone Jet Armstrong Cannon]]. [[PhraseCatcher It has such a good finish...]]
66	** Fans joked that Takechi Henpeita being a true immortal than Utsuro due to him surviving from being (repeatedly) beaten up/gunned down by some of his crew mates (or Tatsuma or Gintoki in the Patriot Reunion Party Arc) for pretending as Takasugi, complete with a voice-changing megaphone.
67	** Watch ''Gintama'', they said. It's comedy, they said. [[labelnote:explanation]]A riff on "'Join the army,' they said". Due to how dark some arcs can get like the Shogun Assassination Arc and ''especially'' Silver Soul, Fans (sarcastically) remark that the series is totally "comedy". [[/labelnote]]
68	** During the reveal of the ''Gintama Ranbu'' game, some fans made a spoiler joke about the game being a real life release version of "Tales of MADAO Hazard".
69	** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kfT9hudIphs Gintoki's screams.]]
70	** ''SHOGUN KA YO!!!!'', the CatchPhrase for the characters [[OhCrap when they realize that the Shogun Tokugawa Shigeshige is involved in their antics]]. It goes to the point that Sorachi himself [[https://youtu.be/qC3GbGteZZc?t=43 used it]] to call Shigeshige's voice actor Creator/YukiOno with the phrase instead of his name in one of his ''Gintama Matsuri'' letters read at the the 2013 edition.
71	* PeripheryDemographic: Make no mistake, this is a series written for '''''Shonen''' Jump'', and that's the group they're aiming for, but thanks to trying to avoid common pitfalls of shonen FightingSeries (they don't even have named techniques, much less [[SoLastSeason new ones every arc]]), deviation from "fight progressively stronger enemies" formula [[spoiler: at least until the final arc, where they fight the strongest enemy of all]], and an older-than-average protagonist, it's attracted a lot of older fans who otherwise find ''Jump'' comics juvenile-- especially when that series spends half its time [[BitingTheHandHumor calling those comics out on it]] and [[SelfDeprecation kicking itself in the head]] when it indulges in some of those tropes. The presence of attractive guys who aren't entirely effeminate has earned it a healthy-sized EstrogenBrigade as well, in addition to a quite large cast of proactive and useful female characters who can fight (and be successful at it) and who aren't the usual flat and ineffectual {{Fanservice}} on legs. And for the guys, the fact that those girls tend to be fanservice on ''very powerful'' legs doesn't hurt.
72	* SelfFanservice:
73	** Despite a RunningGag of Shinpachi being entirely generic and plain-looking in the actual series, doujinshi artists consistently draw him incredibly pretty. It's surprisingly averted with Kondo and Hasegawa, though, but Bara artists tend to reach the other way and make them out-and-out rugged {{Hunk}}s.
74	** Sougo and Kagura tend to get their attractive features upped (Sougo becomes more overtly {{Bishounen}}, Kagura gets noticeably cuter), but their bitchy qualities get downplayed as consequence when they get paired up together, making them look more like a standard "spunky girl and teasing guy" BelligerentSexualTension couple.
75	* ShallowParody:
76	** In their ''Anime/PrettyCure'' parody, they seem to believe that [[Anime/FutariWaPrettyCureSplashStar Saki and Mai]] are powered-up forms of [[Anime/FutariWaPrettyCure Nagisa and Honoka]], rather than different people.
77	** The Owee Arc displays very little knowledge of even the most well-known Wii gimmicks, and one of the launch titles is a dating sim involving groping, which doesn't really gel with Nintendo's famously kid-friendly image. Truth to be told, the arc was published around the time of the launch of the Wii and it was making fun of the hype around getting one before lampooning video games in general (thus you have Tetris, a dating-sim and an RPG). It wasn't really meant to satirize Nintendo itself.
78	* ShockingMoments: The entirety of the Shogun Assassination arc is one "holy shit" moment after one another, culminating in [[spoiler: the Shogun's death.]]
79	* SpiritualLicensee:
80	** For its execution of humor and countless parodies, the manga and anime can be as the best written by either Creator/MelBrooks or Creator/ZuckerAbrahamsAndZucker (who curiously are arguably {{Spiritual Successor}}s to the former).
81	** Also with the notable [[UnsympatheticComedyProtagonist idiocy and jerkassery]] the main characters often display, and the random, nonsensical, and sometimes mundane nature of the stand alone non-arc episodes, the show can come off as an anime version of ''Series/{{Seinfeld}}'' or ''Series/CurbYourEnthusiasm''
82	* SugarWiki/SuperlativeDubbing: In contrast to Sentai's dub of the movie which was very divisive, Ocean's dub for Crunchyroll was met to very positive reception from day 1. The biggest concern which was the joke translations was intensively worked on by Crunchyroll themselves who provided a script that was faithful to the Japanese version while having funny new jokes in place of the old ones. Made even better is that Karl Willems is the director who is known for working on some of Ocean's best dubs.
83	* SuspiciouslySimilarSong: Whenever the show parodies anything space-related, the background music will sound something similar to a ''Franchise/StarWars'' soundtrack. "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bzWSJG93P8 The Imperial March]]" is [[StandardSnippet normally one of the targets]].
84	* ThisIsYourPremiseOnDrugs:
85	** It's basically ''Manga/RurouniKenshin'' on pot, salt, LSD's, reefer, and any other drug you can think of, mixed with pop culture references, parody and ''Anime/LupinIII'' thinking it's in the future. Or they just snorted the fourth wall.
86	** With the time frame in mind, ust try watching ''Manga/PeacemakerKurogane'' and then ''Gintama'' and watch your beautiful image of the Shinsengumi get shattered to pieces.
87	** Compare the Shinsengumi in this anime and them in ''VisualNovel/{{Hakuouki}}''.
88	* TransAudienceInterpretation: For the longest time, Kyubei's gender identity was pretty hard to pin down, but their desire to "become a man" while having been born female and RaisedAsTheOppositeGender made it easy for some to headcanon them as female-to-male transgender. The "Dekkoboko" Arc ended up pushing it in a different direction, as it had Kyubei, following a brief GenderBender, conclude they saw themself as neither a man nor a woman, just as "Yagyu Kyubei", with many now seeing Kyubei as nonbinary even if the term is never explicitly used to describe them. Even Website/ThisVeryWiki defaults to using gender-neutral pronouns when discussing Kyubei.
89	* TheWoobie: Hasegawa is the premier example of the series due to never being able to resolve his drama around being poor, jobless and separated from his wife. He may be TheChewToy, but it's hard not to feel sorry for him at some point. [[spoiler:His fans can at least find comfort in him being an accidental war hero in the end, even if he's a bit conceited about it.]]
90	* {{Woolseyism}}: The Creator/VizMedia official translated manga pulled these out here and there. One particular instance involved a character shocked by how terrible a pun was. Rather than come up with an ill-fitting translation, they [[LampshadeHanging pointed out]] that the character made a Japanese pun, and was shocked that someone would do untranslatable humor -- "That's the worst kind!"

Context YMMV / Gintama