As I said last week, I'm in the middle of a convention right now so I'll probably read and respond to comments here no earlier than Monday. I finished watching all six episodes last Monday and completed writing on Tuesday, so by the time this actually gets posted I'll have forgotten what I wrote.
Ep. 251 - I'm just going to say that this episode is weird even by Gintama's standards. First segment is about the broken kotatsu, second segment is writing with Yamazaki. Then back to the kotatsu thing. WTF black hole kotatsu that makes everyone an old balding man.
Ep. 252 - The final episode, again. Eventually Gintama will have more last episodes than Futurama.
A major character has to die, eh? And obviously they're going to offer up Shinpachi since he wasn't in on it. That golden-haired guy is interesting, too bad we won't get to see him for another six months episode.
Everyone (not) apologizing is pretty good. Hey, we haven't seen these two for a while! Aww, Kagura's apologizing for vomiting so much. Unfortunately just taking pictures defeats the purpose, but I love the sound effects they end up using for all of their barfing. Did Shinpachi get some music clip for his?
You can't say sorry enough times to make up for everything, I'm sure. They definitely have apologized for a lot over time, though. It's Gintama ending the way Gintama does. Not a bad season in all.
Ep. 253 - ...Kintama? Everything's gold, even the damn subtitles. Kintoki stole the entire show! Or maybe this is a different show that Gin just wandered into by mistake. Cute little Kagura.
...nope, Kintoki even altered the DVDs. What the hell? Even Sacchan doesn't recognize Gin. Katsura's just as weird as ever at least. Ooh that evil grin. He knows what's up.
So Gin's reduced to even less what little he normally has. So far this story is one of my nightmares realized, being replaced completely, or everyone in your life acting as if you never existed.
But... Sadaharu knows who he is. As does Tama. This is probably the most relieved I've felt about anything in the series, it's strange how anxious the beginning of this episode made me feel. Time to turn the tables.
An instruction manual? How strange... or not. A perfect replacement, eh? Sometimes being flawless on the small scale exposes bigger problems in the grand structure.
Ep. 254 - Hypnotic waves brainwashed everyone aside from the dog and the robot, got it. Nice try, Tama. She has a good point about the Kintoki of people's memories (actually Gin) not lining up with how he currently acts, so I'm guessing that will be their way in.
Odd Jobs Sepia! I like Sadahachi, but Tamagura's pretty nice looking too. Oh hey, I forgot she could do the machine interface office conversation thing, but then she forgot or didn't realize Kintoki could do it too.
Here I was thinking Jugem would target Gin as he loved to do back in his arc and that would help Kyubei remember Gin, but I guess that joke has sailed. Oh well. Those glasses on the suicidal woman look familiar, I wonder who that could be? Whoops, Gin kicked Sacchan off the roof again. Nice save.
Everyone's starting to feel that something's off which I'm happy to see, particularly with Kagura and Shinpachi. I want to see more of Sacchan and Tsukuyo talking with each other. Aww, Tama. Cheesy pickup line there, wonder if it'll work.
Ugh, Kintoki cornered Tama. This won't end well for her, I imagine.
Ep. 255 - Ouch, he kneecapped her, for as much as that effects robots. I figured they would be more resilient than that, but maybe not. I like that she's not entirely helpless, disabling his hypnosis. Hell yes Gintoki!
Save Tama! Aww, a nice scene there between them. Isn't she backed up somewhere anyway? Oh well, off to see Gengai anyway.
Ugh, of course Kintoki's going to blame it on Gin. And he has the entire town on his side, just as Gin would (and did, in the Four Devas arc). Woo, Gengai's back on team silver. And I'm happy to see Sahaharu back in action for once.
Zurako strikes again! I don't know what Tsukuyo sees in her though. Kyubei with the steal! Looks like the hypnosis is starting to wear off. Otae has a very good point and I didn't think about it: Gin was never the type to ask for help.
Oooh three best girls all together. Even Gin agrees. Fun to see reflections of his early interactions with all of them, which of course jogs their memories. Three of my favorite characters teaming up to protect Gin? Of all of the awesome scenes I've seen in the show, this has to be my favorite right now.
Ep. 256 - We return to the trio of best women in the show... now in school? I'll take it.
Even Katsura and Hasegawa get a moment of awesome here. Maybe it's because of all his weird hijinks that we get most of the time from him, but Katsura's badass moments really stand out. This is fantastic.
All of them get determinator status now. Love Kyubei casually taking out Tojo. Of course robo-Kintoki has a failsafe and he's planning on using it to take out the entire show. This cannot be any more Gintama. Gengai really did a job fixing his lack of ambition too.
Also in Gintama tradition, Gin wasn't listening to most of the villain monologue. I really wasn't expecting seppuku though, but what a way to go. Imagine if this was the ending of the series, the last part with the four of them would be great. But no, we're halfway through the episode and Gintama doesn't do those kinds of endings.
What? Well, this is definitely a different series. I guess this is what Kintoki was aiming for? Looks like he's the boy in that scene. Mantama. This is like... every school anime OP ever. Nice sponsor.
"A Man's Sword" eh? And a giant pixelated phallic thing rising above the city. Nice. For as many dumb school series I watch, I don't think I'd want to see this one. Ah yes, Kintoki is the only one with a dick.
Right on schedule, he runs into the girl in the first episode. And promptly loses his metal balls. She looks familiar. The other girl made it into a ship that quickly? I'm impressed. Tokiko also had a golden dong? Wait... nope, it's Gin. And the rest of the crew. Sorry Kintoki, this just ain't your show.
Ooh, Tama made the virtual world for him. "Together we make the perfect main character." So true, it just wouldn't work with Gin alone. Welcome back!
And now we get the proper OP. I was wondering if Gin would catch and throw Sacchan (like he did in a previous OP) but nope, just ducks her. I was wondering why Kagura hadn't been riding Sadaharu, but him not liking Kintoki makes sense. Also no hugs.
What a way to start off the new season! That was a good arc, for once focused on Gin entirely. Glad to see Tama step up again, and my trio of best women get a good amount of time.
Bonus Gintama 136C - Not much to say about the episode itself, this is the episode where Hasegawa tries to find an apartment and it ends up being haunted and... eats them? Anyway, I jumped to the end only to find this lovely image waiting for me.
