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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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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It was nice to watch Haruma Miura, he did great in this movie
That said, while watching I can't help but feel emotional despite the comedy. OK anyway before this review turns into a memorial on Haruma Miura, let me just rate some stuff:cast 10/10
plot 5/10
fight scenes 10/10
THE GOOD:
I really liked the train fight scenes. It was well made. I'm biased to Oryo so thanks for the eye candy.
As usual like the first movie, the cast is top tier and it's an A-list cosplay movie (lol). The comedy is funny too. I really like Katsura and it was fun to have him show up with the usual shenanigans. And before I forget, Haruma Miura's acting deserves all the awards.
THE BAD:
Let me put a disclaimer that I'm not comparing this movie to the anime. But I guess I'm not really a fan of the serious parts of Gintama. So this movie isn't an exception. I felt the plot was kinda dragging, too. There was disconnect in some scenes (I'm not surprised as this isn't the first movie I've seen by the director). This movie was made with the intention of a next one, so IDK how to feel about that. I surely would like to see more of Oryo and Katsura 3D.
TLDR:
I recommend this movie to die-hard Gintama fans. If you like some slapstick comedy maybe you will find the humor in the movie to your liking too (the comedy wasn't bad).
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This was once again... well, something. Definitely something. I guess the whole Gintama concept is an acquired taste but I have to admit that the humor isn't for me. I only watched Yoshizawa Ryo's scenes and everything else I whooshed through at 3x speed. It was simply too cringey.But Yoshizawa Ryo's Okita Sougo was... wow. He was amazing here. And his fight with the traitors was just about perfect, especially once Kagura joined in. The way they fought side by side and around each other like they were used to it, so perfectly in sync. That was so cool!
I must say I didn't recognize Miura Haruma - *heart-clench again* - as Ito. True, I've only seen one drama of his so far but I really didn't recognize him. He looked so different, wow.
To sum it up, movie #2 was miles better than #1, mainly because of the much bigger involvement of the Shinsengumi in general and of Sougo in particular. Still, I'm not sure I'll ever re-watch it, bar Ryo's scenes, of course. Those are really worth re-watching!
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