I watched Gintama The Movie: Yoshiwara in Flames, and it just was such a good package for me, it had some great funny, action, and heart wrenching stuff all in one movie; I don't always come across this kind of well packaged movie.
This Gintoki Sakata, a laid-back samurai-for-hire, getting hired for odd jobs with his little crew, Shinpachi and Kagura, who simply want to make enough money to pay the rent, basically, being a world already like this with humans and aliens living together in an alternate, old japan reality, of course, nothing about their lives is normal, but this tale begins when they meet a young boy named Seita, a pickpocket whose reason for stealing isn't for a meal, or for money, but to gather the information and money necessary to find and reunite with his long lost mother.
And that mother Hinowa isn't just any old woman, either, she's the reigning star of Yoshiwara, Gintoki and his friends volunteer to assist Seita and end up in the heart of Yoshiwara, this vast underground red-light district where there is virtually no sunlight, and in which regular laws seem to have no validity and everything is decided by those who have the most power, The man with all that power is Housen, the brutal near immortal Night King, who for years and years has held Yoshiwara in his thrall.
However, as Gintoki's men delve into Yoshiwara, they cross paths with Tsukuyo, a fierce woman who has taken it upon herself to defend the district and its inhabitants however she can in the face of such vicious rule. Slowly, the mission to bring a boy back to his mother becomes more than a mission, it's a rebellion against Housen himself, a chance for Yoshiwara to truly get the chance to get out of the dark and break free.
It was the fact that this story is loaded with meaning under all the usual Gintama jokes that really had me watching this, So, don't forget, the comedy's still there, that trademark self-aware and chaotic way of funny stuff, that the franchise is known for, doesn't fade once the stakes get higher, This arc, however, plays off of that humor while also showcasing genuinely moving scenes that have to do with loss, oppression and people fighting for freedom they never were meant to have, All the backstory to a crushed uprising in her past, and once that gets thrown out there, the mission just suddenly seems a lot more weighty than help a kid find his mom.
The animation upgrade of this movie cannot get lost either, since the redo of an arc from 2009 with new, movie style animation really does add a bit of strength to the fight scenes, most of which already had some great bones. Bigger screens make everything look better, more real, and more impactful.
When you hit the peak of the show, it's not just a rescue mission you are watching, but a whole district's fate being decided, funny, heavy, action packed and it somehow fits all of these without losing its emotional core, being relatively new to Gintama myself, this picture definitely makes me believe that this franchise is a good one that has lasted this long.
Rating: 70/100
