Oh, Gintama, my favorite series, but for some reason extremely overrated by some in the West community. I mean, it's a clear example of this adjective. Gintoki, Kagura, and the floating glasses; characters with almost impeccable characterization, but existing in a narrative with too many ups and downs.
Gintama is known for being inconsistent, but I think people don't take that into account as much as they should. I've been watching the series practically since it started, and you can clearly see when the series' quality drops or when Sorachi doesn't plan things correctly. For example, the Patriot Reunion arc is based on him not properly planning a potential character, resulting in a somewhat weaker arc with rather forced references to Jump manga from that time. It's also seen in the characters; Otsu is a character who starts out quite relevant but is completely dropped. It's funny how that indirectly affects Bansai, who isn't even buried lol. In general, weekly manga tends to have this problem; Gintama is more or less saved by being a comedy and being able to do whatever it wants, plus Sorachi knows how to write good characters. I wanted to briefly discuss some of the weaker arcs (and some episodes, especially those original to the anime):
-Hardboiled Arc (84-85): known for its poor pacing and weak conclusion
-Ryugu Arc (115-118): drawn out with a rather weak antagonist who doesn't impact the story again and an overly basic narrative.
-Ghost Ryokan arc (131-134): messy, character who ends up not being developed but seems relevant, weak ending
-Otsu arc (157-163): questionable pacing especially at the end
-Red Spider arc (177-181): not bad but the worst serious arc, antagonist with unclear ideas, Tsukuyo's involution is somewhat forced
-Jugem arc (221-222): the typical japanese joke of the long name but poor narrative and the monkey doesn't even appear again
-Beam Sword arc (262-264): character who appears out of nowhere and is relevant to the point that the characters act out of character with forced drama
-Kaguras BF arc (329-330): weak narrative
-Exaclibur arc (334-336): very weak narrative and Okita slightly out of character
-hdz48 arc(337-339): messy and a rather weak ending
-Silver soul arc(342-361): high and low moments, exaggerated use of shonen troops, forced drama and rather bad pacing.
Some episodes:
-ep36: weak narrative
-ep68: weak narrative and weak conclusion
-ep82: double episode, first half nonsensical and second half with terrible pacing (initial story dropped by Sorachi)
-ep93: poorly written
-ep124: Otsu filler
-ep136: very weak conclusion
-ep164: double filler of a Doraemon parody
-ep174: double episode with little substance
-ep193: puns with rather weak use and bad pacing
-ep224: weak narrative
-ep270: weaker slapstick humor
-ep333: poorly written and rushed pacing
I could talk about some more but I have tried to be very simple and direct so that everyone understands the basics. Roughly 25% of the series has clear narrative problems that can't be ignored. Gintama is inconsistent.
Many people value it as a comedy, whether it's funny or not, avoiding overthinking it; but it's a flawed system. Using the excuse that it's a slice-of-life anime makes no sense, a genre that shines when consistency and execution are achieved, as seen with Yotsuba or Aria, which don't have any truly weak moments. Saying that comedy is subjective doesn't make much sense either; a lot of it is slice-of-life focused on pure narrative. The plot is used to see if you found it funny or not, not its supposed quality (which is also certainly subjective but can be argued in a more solid way).There aren't any exaggerated highs that elevate the series significantly either. Gintama stands out for its excellent cast, but that's not enough to overlook its flaws.
I'd recommend reading the manga before watching the anime because the filler doesn't help, and the last arc is poorly animated and poorly conceived. Gintama is almost an experience, my favorite series without a doubt; I grew up with it. But ignoring its obvious flaws is self-deception. I also see people saying it's secretly profound and very complex, which isn't entirely true, but if it were, its execution and consistency would be more important. Gintama is great, but it's definitely not an irrefutable contender for the top 5-10 anime of all time (besides, I know this sub isn't for that, but visually it doesn't stand out; it has no other noteworthy value besides its narrative).
I've tried to keep my words simple, so if you have any questions, just ask. I'd appreciate a coherent discussion, not just dislikes without reading.