Gintama Movie 3: Yoshiwara Daienjou

This is more of a generalist review for the film, but anyways...

This movie was great! While most of the criticisms about this are pretty accurate, such as the pacing issues, they are negligible in the grand scheme of things (at least for me), as not having to deal with the dreaded 4:3 is a great bonus for the movie. I do think that this movie can stand on its own as great Gintama, being the best animated thing this series' seen in years, and I think the colour theory and art design in much better, and that the interpretation of Kagura vs Abuto, one of ... the fights I've seen clowned on a lot for being different and not being as horror-focused as the original can stand on its own, as the movie's version is more like a blazing burst of shock where the audience needs some time to digest the sudden change in tension (and lighting!) of the scene. Overall, this is still Gintama at its best, being incredibly funny, and its flaws don't contribute much to the overall product. With all this milking of the series that they are doing, I'd love to see other legendary arcs re-imagined, that might fit better into a 2-hour spectacle (looking at you, Jiraia and Four Devas (since they're shorter)). Not only that, but Yoshiwara is actually on fire!

Gintama Movie 3: Yoshiwara in Flames is the epitome of the notion that you can throw as much talent and effort at as many high frame count fights scenes as you want and it's still not a substitute for good directing and knowing when something is too flashy for its own good. I wouldn’t say that there’s anything here I would call outright bad, but for all the high-octane action cuts of combatants bouncing around the room DBZ-style, far less of it leaves a notable impact than I was hoping for. There is no restraint nor sense of a unified image, and as such several ... sections of these fights reach the point of becoming blurred noise. I still enjoyed them, but in the way that I like to get high and stare into sequences of vibrating color, not as well-choreographed action set pieces that are interesting to follow.
In fairness, this film does still manage to nail the other core aspect of Gintama’s overall presentation, in that I was consistently busting a gut laughing. Whether it's new jokes like the additional 4th wall-breaking prologue or reattempts at some of the most iconic jokes of the franchise, it has been several months since I’ve laughed this hard at anything. The film also adds in an anime-original subplot involving the Shinsengumi, because I guess we needed Shinsengumi fan service cameos, but the details of this subplot feel completely disconnected from the larger Yoshiwara story. At its core, this is still very much Gintama, at least narratively speaking. The bones of it are still there and make this worth watching for those who have already enjoyed the original, but it’s also a Gintama that has forgotten how to put on its makeup and ends up slathering on way too much lipstick and mascara. Flashy and explosive for sure, but also severely lacking in the control that can keep everything looking cohesive, and thus is wholly inadequate as a substitute for the real thing.

I have to preface this by saying i am a huge fan of Gintama. ive watched everything multiple times and it is my favorite show of all time. That being said. I have to add some realism to this review section. This is arguably the worst thing to come out of Gintama. The slip arc was incredible compared to this. The comedy was completely out of pace. The directing for the emotional scened was off. The lighting and the overall mood of the original was completely lost. Well you might be thinking the fights are what were here for. If 90 procent of the movie ... is comedy and emotion. And you fail on both, its a bad movie simple as that. The fight scenes werent even good enough to make this a AVERAGE adaptation. It sucked. The only saving grace for this film was Kondo speaking in a yoshiwara prostitute accent. THATS IT. I think the problem with this adaptation was the original was so well done and the expectations were very high as is. They shouldnt have released a half-assed cash grab like this. Its just sad.