Gintama: The Movie

Aliens have occupied Japan and the samurai have been stripped of the right to carry swords. Gintoki takes on work; he does anything and usually is not paid. Shinpachi and Kagura are with him. This time a sword turns up. Benizakura is cursed and it eats whoever carries it. An organisation hunting Katsura is using it and Katsura disappears. Gintoki starts looking for him. The man who made the sword is an old acquaintance. The narrative goes back; in the war years they were on the same side. Shinji Takamatsu directs. Tomokazu Sugita, Daisuke Sakaguchi, Rie Kugimiya and Akira Ishida are among the voices. It is a Japanese production. The source is Hideaki Sorachi's manga; the film retells an arc from the series and the scenes were redrawn. The series is usually weighted to comedy; this arc is one of the places where action and drama come forward. The narrative gives no context to anyone who has not watched the series; the characters are introduced briefly. The animation is more detailed than the television version and the fights are held long. The narrative still does not drop the humour and jokes come between the serious scenes. What it treats is what a weapon does to the person using it; the cursed sword is that made concrete. Its limit is accessibility; the narrative is closed to anyone who does not follow the series and the references are dense. Who it is for: viewers who follow Gintama and like Japanese animation. Who it is not for: it needs context, the tone shifts, and the ending ties into what follows.