One Hell of A Start, To One Hell of An End – Gintama Silver Soul Review

Right off the bat, I’ve no fething idea how to go about the titling of this article. Not sure if it’s a 3-episode test, mid-season, or whatever from this second half of the last arc, but it’s shaping up to be the beginning of the ending that Gintama fans have been hoping for. The show does a great job of bringing back some of these long running famous (or infamous) characters and reminding us of the complex web of interactions they’ve had with Odd Jobs and each other these some 12 odd years. Note, they don’t pull any punches and plot lines will come to a close, with some involved finding a more permanent Game of Thrones kind of close.

Right off the bat, they start with a joke to clarify what exactly this episode represents: A hook to get people to watch this series finale. One gag later and they basically call that idea quits and get back to the legitimate story where we left off two seasons ago. The Amanto are still invading and assaulting Edo and the Kabuki District, with all that recap being explained by Shinpachi that Earth was on the ropes and the space side of the Earth forces being surrounded by Amanto. What the Amanto expected was a weapon to destroy the Earth, but it was really Dio Shinsuke Takasugi and his Kiheitai! Thus we have a backstory kick in focused on the origin and creation of the Kiheitai and how Takasugi’s lieutenants came to follow him. We roll up the episode with the Yato finding the device that can stop the nano-machines that stop technology and the Kiheitai attempting to shut down the Flame of Kagutsuchi.

From there we jump back to Earth where the Shinsengumi and Odd Jobs are fighting off generic Amanto and Kagura races off to rescue Gengai from the Yato. One space crash later and we have Gengai’s “failsafe” exploding in front of the mysterious Yato leader and Kagura facing off against the other Rabbits of The Night. To her rescue of course comes her absolutely batshit insane Onii-chan, Kamui with one hell of an intro alongside the Harusame and his Yato forces. The two siblings face off against an age old Yato who can revitalize and rejuvenate his body at will while the Yato forces fight each other. There also may or may not have been some comical infighting between Kagura and Kamui. Ok, they legitimately beat the big bad by fighting each other using THE BOSS as a weapon. One hilarious fight later and we have the reuniting of the Harusame Yato, Shinsengumi, and Odd Jobs. The Naraku of course decide to be the fly in the punch bowl and start team killing as Utsuro appears to join the fight, killing some dozens of the Amanto force’s Yato in a single swing. He then reveals his true intent and unleashes the Altana that was under the earth and we swing into the next episode.

As the Altana goes berserk from Utsuro’s machinations, Prince Enshou realizes that the destruction of his world and the planned destruction of Earth could have been caused by the same person, and that person is likely on Earth as he lays siege. The pirates and Kiheitai join up and continue their assault against the Altana Liberation Army on both the physical and digital fronts. As things begin to look good for the Earth forces, Enshou begins to detonate sections of his flagship with enemies in it, killing many of the pirate leaders and nearly killing the Kiheitai on board. With defeat looming in the near future, the Kiheitai strategist and totally not lolicon, Henpeita Takechi embarks on a suicide mission to buy Takasugi the time he needs to stop the Flame from destroying the Earth and possibly the Galaxy due to the Altana build up. Takasugi’s guitar wielding associate Bansai also gets separated and is riddled with bullets and explosions and fights on to the end with the memory of his dead compatriots urging him onward.

We end this intro to the final half of the final season with bated breath and Takasugi rushing on to ensure his men’s sacrifices were not in vain. I’m sitting here writing this up and posting it for queue and just honestly left speechless. Gintama has found it’s way of finishing strong in a plot-meaningful way, while still retaining its gag humor origins. I’m glad they are giving meaningful ends to characters and with the end nearing, I have no clue who else is on the chopping block for the end. All I know is I’ll definitely be watching to see how this long-running and well acclaimed series comes to a close.