Gintama is truly a one-of-a-kind anime. Following the daily lives of Gintoki, Kagura, and Shinpachi, who work as freelancers in an Edo that has been invaded by aliens, Gintama is primarily an episodic comedy, with the trio repeatedly getting into absurd and hilarious situations.
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However, Gintama can get serious when it needs to, with some heartbreaking episodes and deep character interactions during its more dramatic arcs. While there’s nothing quite like Gintama, there are definitely anime out there that you might enjoy just as much, which is what we’ll be taking a look at below.
7
Golden Kamuy
Just like Gintama, Golden Kamuy perfectly blends a serious subject matter with extremely comedic moments, with varying degrees of an accurate historical setting. Golden Kamuy follows Saichi Sugimoto, a veteran of the Russo-Japanese War, who is searching for the legendary fortune of the Ainu people.
Developed alongside Hiroshi Nakagawa, a Ainu language specialist, Golden Kamuy is definitely more historically accurate than Gintama, but its absurdist humor and over-the-top situations will feel familiar.
6
The Disastrous Life Of Saiki K
The Disastrous Life of Saiki K is an episodic anime about a high school boy, Saiki Kusuo, who has immense psychic abilities, but goes to great lengths to try to hide them from his classmates. Instead of flaunting his abilities or using them to fight crime, Saiki would rather live a boring, average life.
Despite this, Saiki repeatedly finds himself in increasingly absurd situations, mainly thanks to his many eccentric classmates, and ends up having to use his psychic abilities anyway to get out of them. If you love Gintama’s unhinged humor and recurring gags, you’ve got to check out Saiki K.
There’s also a small crossover with Gintama in Saiki K!
5
Daily Lives Of High School Boys
Daily Lives of High School Boys is another episodic anime about high school boys. The title describes the premise perfectly, but doesn’t exactly do justice to the antics these high school boys get into. The show follows three high school boys on their daily adventures as they prank each other or get into silly situations.
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There are also quite a few references to things like Dragon Quest, which Gintama is known to parody from time to time. The similarities don’t end there, either, as two of the main characters in Daily Lives, Hidenori and Yoshitake, also voice characters in Gintama, namely Gintoki and Okita, respectively.
4
Sket Dance
Sket Dance is an episodic anime about a trio helping out around their community, doing whatever is asked of them. The trio consists of a jack-of-all-trades leader, a delicate but violent female member, and the one with glasses. Any of this sound familiar?
Sket Dance and Gintama’s connections don’t end there, however. In fact, the original Sket Dance manga was written by Kenta Shinohara, who worked as an assistant under Gintama’s author, Hideaki Sorachi. The two even had a crossover episode, with the trios of each anime fighting against each other to find the Pizazz-Pizazz Fruit, which itself is a reference to the One Piece and Toriko crossover.
3
One Piece
Stepping away from the episodic format for a moment, next we have One Piece. While the premise is quite different from Gintama, the mix of humor and serious moments definitely fits the bill, though One Piece doesn’t barrage you with jokes quite as frequently as Gintama does.
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If you’re a fan of Gintama’s eccentric characters, fight scenes, and heartfelt moments, One Piece might be a good anime to try out next. One Piece has all these aspects in spades, plus a genre-bending story set across a dozen different islands.
2
Space Dandy
Space Dandy is about Dandy, who is a dandy guy in space. The series follows him and his companions, a cat named Meow and a robot maid named QT, as they explore the universe hunting down aliens and getting into misadventures.
Space Dandy is the ultimate episodic adventure, as there is almost no connection between episodes. Sometimes the characters even die, only to return in the next episode as if nothing had happened. The show has a juvenile sense of humor and old-fashioned themes, harkening back to an era of pulpy sci-fi adventures.
1
Sakamoto Days
Sakamoto Days dares to ask the question: What if John Wick retired from being a hitman and ran his own convenience store? The story follows Taro Sakamoto, a legendary hitman who retires when he falls in love with Aoi, a convenience store clerk. The two eventually get married and have a child, and now Sakamoto spends his days quietly tending to his own convenience store.
What Sakamoto doesn’t realize is that he’s actually in an action anime, as hitmen with grudges come seeking revenge against him, pulling him back into the business. Despite the comparison to John Wick, Sakamoto Days perfectly balances lighthearted humor with its heavy action sequences, something that fans of Gintama will definitely appreciate.
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