One of the reasons people love entertaining content is that it provides a momentary escape from their daily lives. This escapism is a very helpful thing in a stressful society like ours, filled with the grind mentality, busted work-life balance, and general worldwide turmoil. Different people prefer different types of entertainment. Some like slice-of-life things, describing a society similar to ours, but is slightly fixed for the better and feels like an achievable dream. Others lean towards pure fantasy, completely foreign to what we experience in terms of the lore, yet covering some of the relatable topics.
It's a working strategy, to immerse yourself in a fictional world in order to escape the real one. And to a lot of people, Gintama became one of the most effective cures for the everyday battle with the daunting routine.
The manga and the show were one of the most prominent Jump titles, but didn't join the ranks of the Big Three in the shounen hierarchy, instead getting their own place. The reason lies in the seemingly comedic nature of Gintama, one that throws the readers and viewers off. The show seems lighthearted, filled with gags that border on middle school humor, and this layer of hilarity works quite well in covering the darker, more serious topics that lie at the base of the plot.
Despite the bizarre and eclectic setting, Gintama appears to be surprisingly relatable. Under the facade of crude jokes and performative hedonism hides the very humane skeleton, one that addresses the themes of abandonment, of finding one's place in this world, of trying to fit into society, of honor and principles, of family and familial connections. These topics are fairly common for shounen, because the demographic of these shows needs a bit more than colorful and flashy fights despite all the power scaling polls, but Gintama handles them in its own way.
The most prominent feature of this show is how it handles the balance of dark, relatable themes, touching upon the very human problems, and deranged insanity. This combination, chaotic in its nature, doesn't lessen the effect of the serious arcs — on the contrary, they shine even brighter in contrast to the gag parts.
That is one of the main reasons why Gintama feels so uplifting to people: even if it seems unserious and funny on a surface level, it shines a light on important things. The way the plot unravels throughout the run of the show slowly feeds the viewers and readers bits of lore and backstories that make the characters more relatable, but still keeps this wholesome uplifting vibe in it, even in the more serious arcs.
This unique balance, swaying wildly between gags and gloominess, is what makes Gintama one of the best shows to help you get a dose of serotonin.
Mix but don't stir.
One of the reasons people love entertaining content is that it provides a momentary escape from their daily lives. This escapism is a very helpful thing in a stressful society like ours, filled with the grind mentality, busted work-life balance, and general worldwide turmoil. Different people prefer different types of entertainment. Some like slice-of-life things, describing a society similar to ours, but is slightly fixed for the better and feels like an achievable dream. Others lean towards pure fantasy, completely foreign to what we experience in terms of the lore, yet covering some of the relatable topics.
It's a working strategy, to immerse yourself in a fictional world in order to escape the real one. And to a lot of people, Gintama became one of the most effective cures for the everyday battle with the daunting routine.
The manga and the show were one of the most prominent Jump titles, but didn't join the ranks of the Big Three in the shounen hierarchy, instead getting their own place. The reason lies in the seemingly comedic nature of Gintama, one that throws the readers and viewers off. The show seems lighthearted, filled with gags that border on middle school humor, and this layer of hilarity works quite well in covering the darker, more serious topics that lie at the base of the plot.
Despite the bizarre and eclectic setting, Gintama appears to be surprisingly relatable. Under the facade of crude jokes and performative hedonism hides the very humane skeleton, one that addresses the themes of abandonment, of finding one's place in this world, of trying to fit into society, of honor and principles, of family and familial connections. These topics are fairly common for shounen, because the demographic of these shows needs a bit more than colorful and flashy fights despite all the power scaling polls, but Gintama handles them in its own way.
The most prominent feature of this show is how it handles the balance of dark, relatable themes, touching upon the very human problems, and deranged insanity. This combination, chaotic in its nature, doesn't lessen the effect of the serious arcs — on the contrary, they shine even brighter in contrast to the gag parts.
That is one of the main reasons why Gintama feels so uplifting to people: even if it seems unserious and funny on a surface level, it shines a light on important things. The way the plot unravels throughout the run of the show slowly feeds the viewers and readers bits of lore and backstories that make the characters more relatable, but still keeps this wholesome uplifting vibe in it, even in the more serious arcs.
This unique balance, swaying wildly between gags and gloominess, is what makes Gintama one of the best shows to help you get a dose of serotonin.
