Best Gintama Arcs – Top 16 Arcs Ranked.
Gintama is one of the best and one of the most unique anime of all time. It is known for parodying other anime with self-deprecating humor. Though most people think of Gintama as a simple comedy, parody, troll, etc it also contains some of the most emotional arcs.
Here I ranked the top 10 arcs in the series including both serious and comedy arcs.
16. Thorny Arc
Episodes: 244 – 247
Thorny Arc mainly focuses on Hijikata and his past a bit. Sasaki Tetsunosuke, Sasaki Isaburo, and Nobume are introduced in this arc A dim-witted boy in a noble family is sent to the Shinsengumi but Sasaki has a plan of his own.
This arc gave great character moments for Hijikata and also put the foundation for future players in Sasaki and Nobume. The fight scenes were also great and the arc had a balance of both comedy and seriousness.
15. Shinigami Arc
Episodes: 279 – 281
This arc tells the story of the Ikeda clan who are the Shinigami and introduces characters like Nobu Nobu and Ikeda Asaemon. 18th Ikeda Yaemon is trying to kill all the prisoners that 16th Ikeda freed and Gintoki happens to be one of them
The arc gave a glimpse of Gintoki’s past and gave him characterization. As usual comedy scenes were top-notch and the emotional moments in this arc were great too. It doesn’t match up to other serious arcs though and hence it is ranked lower.
14. Dekoboko Arc
Episodes: 275 – 277
Dekobokko Arc is a full comedy arc where the characters’ gender gets changed. It focuses primarily on Kyubei and her worries about living as a man or a woman. This arc is entirely funny from start to the end.
The idea of seeing characters like Hijikata, and Gintoki in other gender was funny. Overall it is one of the better comedy arcs in the series.
13. Kintama Arc
Episodes: 253 – 256
Kintama Arc is a comedy arc that tells the story of Kintoki, an android who looks identical to Gintoki and takes the place of Gintoki as the Main character of the show. The entire town fully accepts Kintoki as the real one and he became a perfect replacement for Gin.
It is an innovative comedy arc as it uses the idea of breaking the 4th wall to a different stage. Literally, a different anime starting inside this anime is such a unique idea that I doubt I will ever see. Kintama Arc perfectly shows the uniqueness of Gintama.
12. Confession Arc
Episodes: 283 – 284
Confession arc is s fully comedy arc in which a confession box is set up with Tama like a priest. This leads to several funny confessions. Also, Katsura and Shogun become friends since Shogun loses his memory.
This arc is consistently funny without any bad jokes in them. Also it setups the relationship between Shogun and Katsura which play a great role in the future.
11. Red Spider Arc
Episodes: 177 – 181
Red Spider Arc is Tsukuyo focused arc and goes deep into her past too. It shows her teacher Jiraiya who came back to haunt her. Gintoki gets mixed into all of these. Gintoki-Tsukuyo’s chemistry in this arc is absolutely amazing. Also, the fight between Jiraiya and Gintoki is one of the best in the series.
10. Courtesan Of A Nation Arc
Episodes: 257 – 261
In this arc, Gintoki and Tsukuyo try to find the man Suzuran, the most beautiful courtesan met. They go to the Shogun palace to find the man but get entangled in a political conflict.
Oboro is introduced and Gintoki’s past is shown including Shoyou.
The final moments of the arc are beautiful and the fight between Oboro and Gintoki is a top-tier one in the series. Also, Shogun had a great character moment in this arc and things are laid out for the end of the series.
9. Rakuyou Decisive Battle Arc
Episodes: 317 – 328
This arc happens in Rakuyou where Gintoki, Katsura, and Sakamoto travel to Rakuyou to save Kamui and Takasugi. Utsuro also has his eye on Umibozu and all these converge in Rakuyo for a great battle.
Rakuyou gave a much-needed explanation of the past of Shoyou, the past of Umibozu, and family. This is one of the longest arcs in the series. Though it doesn’t touch the peak of other serious arcs, it is still one of the best arcs in the series.
8. Character Poll Arc
Episodes: 182 – 184
In Character Poll Arc, the characters have a fight among them based on the rankings put in real life. Every character tries to reach higher ranks in the character poll.
The arc bridges the gap between reality and fiction in one of the most innovative storytelling ideas I have seen. Even the author himself plays an important role within the story as a character.
7. Timeskip Arc
Episodes: 202 – 203
Timeskip Arc is a parody of the timeskip trope that happens in anime. After Timeskip, everyone had completely changed and we later realized that it is due to a parasite.
It parodies the timeskip trope, one of the common tropes in a hysterical way. Timeskip Arc is one of the better comedy arcs in the series as it remains consistently funny throughout the entirety of the arc.
6. Soul Switch Arc
Episodes: 287 – 289
Soul Switch Arc is the funniest comedy arc in the series for me. From the start till the end, the laughs never stop. In this arc, Gintoki and Hijikata’s souls get switched.
Hijikata in Gin’s body takes the role of head of Yorozuya while Gin in Hijikata’s body takes the role of Vice-Captain in Shinsengumi. Everything is just chaos from this point on. The ending of the arc is one of the funniest few minutes in the series.
5. Benizakura Arc
Episodes: 58 – 61
Benizakura Arc is the first real serious arc in the series and it delivered a big time. Yorozuya has two jobs: to find the missing Katsura and also the missing cursed sword named Benizakura. It later becomes clear that both cases are linked together.
This is the first arc where we really get to know the shared history between Katsura, Gintoki, and Takasaki. Gintoki and Katsura vs Harusame is really great. Also, other characters such as Kagura and Shinpachi also have great moments in this arc.
4. Kabukicho Four Devas Arc
Episodes: 210 – 214
Four Devas arc shows the conflict between the Four Devas in Kabukicho that includes Otose. Four Devas arc is one of Gintoki’s most emotionally challenging arcs in the series.
Emotionally only a few arcs manage to top this arc. Gintoki vs Jirochou, and Gintoki and Jirochou vs Shinra Tribe are two of the greatest Gintama fights. Interestingly this arc is one of the most famous arcs in the Japanese fandom.
3. Yoshiwara In Flames Arc
Episodes: 139 – 146
In this arc, a pickpocketing boy named Seita gets bumped into Gintoki. Seita wants to save money to see his mother who is in Yoshiwara. Later Gintoki, Kagura, and Shinpachi go to Yoshiwara for Seita. Kamui and Tsukuyo, two of the most important characters are introduced.
Housen plays a great role as an antagonist of the arc. It is probably the first arc with such high stakes. Kagura had great character moments in the arc, especially during her fight with Abuto.
2. Farewell Shinsengumi Arc
Episodes: 308 – 316
Farewell Shinsengumi arc happens after Shogun is assassinated and covers the consequences of that. Kondo and Katsura are jailed while Shinshengumi and Yorozuya try to save them which leads to a battle against Mimawarigumi and later against Naraku.
This arc had the second most shocking revelation in the series which is that Shoyou is alive. Everything is just perfect. Fights, character moments, and the revelation are some of the best Gintama has provided. Sasaki’s character conclusion is one of the most emotional in the series and it showed Sorachi’s genius in character writing.
1. Shogun Assassination Arc
Episodes: 300 – 307
In this arc, the plan to assassinate Shogun is made by Nobu Nobu with the help of Takasugi and Kamui. Yorozuya and Shinsengumi have their task of protecting the Shogun. This arc also shows the long-awaited flashback of Gintoki and the fate of Shoyou during the war.
Gintoki vs Takasuki is my favorite anime fight of all time. It is unfathomable to think this comedy series would be this emotional. Gintoki is one of the greatest protagonists ever and this flashback solidified it.
Also, every character has their share of great moments. Also, the ending with Shogun actually getting assassinated is a perfect conclusion for a great arc. It got ranked in 9th position in our list of the greatest Shonen arcs ever and ranked 17th in our list of greatest Manga arcs ever.
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