Gintama 2 (2018)

With the first movie being super popular, it's no surprise a sequel was greenlit. I saw this in my local cinema way back in September as a big Gintama fan and enjoyed it!

Story:
Although I mainly recommend this film to fans of the original series, anyone who's seen the first film should be able to understand this film too (the plots aren't related but you'll understand the general feel of the series and will be familiar with the characters, including the Shinsengumi who play a big role here). Like last time, a few comedic stories start the movie to show off classic Gintama wackiness before the big action-filled plot kicks in. A new character -- well respected Shinsengumi member Itou, whom Hijikata doesn't get along with -- schemes to take over the organisation. Betrayal ensues. Assassination scheming ensues. The power of friendship ensues. Parodies, fourth-wall breaking and dirty humour ensues.

While the plot isn't unique, it definitely tugged my heartstrings more than the first movie. Any bad CGI moments didn't really catch my eye this time since there's less of it; and I enjoyed the action more than the last movie, it felt better choreographed most of the time. Comedy is the highlight as always (I hope you're ready for more pixellated vomit and nudity), although the occasional scene felt longer than necessary. Re: the "faithfulness", there are multiple minor changes to the story, like the Shogun becoming more involved in the plot. They're nothing deal-breaking but aren't great changes imo (for example all the big action in the last half of the movie happens at daytime which I thought ruined the intensity a little).

Characters/acting:
I found the cast pretty solid last time and my opinion hasn't changed; again only the ever-so-dull Takasugi fell flat, but fortunately he has significantly less scenes here. Good spotlight for the Shinsengumi trio who only played a small part in the first movie; Ryo Yoshizawa as Okita again is my highlight, and though I'm not entirely convinced by Yuuya Yagira I think he did a decent job at portraying both Hijikata (the serious demon chief) and his alternate personality Tosshi (a wimpy otaku). The Yorozuya remain as humorous as ever, with a special shoutout to Shun Oguri as our favourite slacker Gintoki of course.

The new cast was also enjoyable, even if a few of them (Otose, Sarutobi) ended up with a lot less screentime than advertised. Itou is your standard misunderstood shounen antagonist but very enjoyable, and Haruma Miura did him justice. Ryo Katsuji does well to bring out the Shogun's dignified presence despite all the humiliation he faces. My only peeve was Otae's boss (Jiro Sato, who actually played another character in the last movie, the lolic-- uh, self-proclaimed feminist); his 5 minutes of screentime was enough to annoy me with his incredibly unfunny comedy routine.

Music:
OST is nothing memorable but nothing out of place either. A certain wild rap appears, and though not iconic like its anime counterpart it's still funny. Back Number's ending song for the movie, Daifuseikai (roughly "a very wrong answer") is pretty good.

Overall comments:
If you enjoyed (or at least didn't dislike) the first film then you'll like the sequel too since it's very similar in quality and enjoyment levels. Most definitely not a replacement for the anime and manga, nor the greatest film of all the time. Just a harmless funny action movie that will keep you entertained.

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If you could stomach the first Gintama, this movie is a 'must watch' as it's even better in some aspects.


The all star cast of the first Gintama was expanded even more to include Miura Haruma and Kubota Masataka. Miura, perhaps, doesn't quite manage to make his character charismatic enough but his fans would still be pleased with his performance. Kubota, on the other hand, has a field day playing Hitokiri Bansai which is hilarious on too many levels.

Kubota famously played a samurai who fiercely clung to his life but was still ruthlessly killed by Hittokiri Battousai in the first Rurouni Kenshin movie. Here his character is the one who has to ruthlessly kill a small fry that refuses to admit defeat. Moreover, every time Bansai appears on the screen a variation on the Ruroken ost starts playing. Gintama (both manga and the movies) has many pop-culture allusions and homages so, of course, it was only a matter of time before Ruroken jokes made an appearance.

Other homage that is too hilarious for words is Evangelion. The whole movie is worth to watch just for this one joke. The characters of Okada Masaki, Oguri Shun, and Suda wearing drug to earn some money is also unmissable.

Yoshizawa Ryo's Okita and Hasimoto Kanna's Kaguya have great chemistry together as they do in the manga. The best 'frenemies' relationship between Yagira Yuuya's Hijikata and Oguri Shun's Gintoki is also a delight as we watch grumbling Gintoki coming to the aid of too hard-boiled for his own good Hijikata.

The story itself is more coherent than the one in the first movie. The climax may be a bit underwhelming but it's all in a good fun.

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