Gintama: Jump Festa 2005 Special

This may seem like any other special you see for other Anime but for Gintama this was a whole new deal. This was a trial episode of the popular manga Gintama and to see if a viable anime adaptation could be possible or not, and obviously 12 years later we know it did do it's job perfectly. Thanks to many reasons you could consider this the first ever episode of Gintama as well since this was released in 2005, a year before the green-lit superhit Gintama TV show entered it's first season in 2006. Story: 7/10 The story was divided into two unequal parts, the first justbeing a small introduction of the characters (sadly our China Girl didn't get much of one, blame Patsuan), and the second main part, which was basically the Gintama gang at the annual 'flower viewing' event in Japan. It was classic Gintama, tongue-in-cheek jokes and jabs at the studios not to mention pure Gintama comedy for the masses. It didn't feel like a trial at all because usually in trials you expect a serious representation of the manga, but then this is Gintama and that's what made it a joy to watch. Another very important thing was you didn't need to watch this in a specific order. This could be watched whenever regardless of where you are in the Gintama series. Art: 7/10 To my knowledge, Gintoki didn't have his signature hairstyle (read messed up hair with two strands at the sides) and just showed his hair in a messed up manner. The other characters as well felt washed out a bit along with the backgrounds as well. On the bright side, the color palette was as usual well chosen and perfectly suited it's time, 2005. The characters looked great regardless of the slightly washed out feeling and felt like a full on Gintama episode at best. Sound: 7/10 Since this was a trial a full fledged soundtrack wasn't made for the episode and some characters like Baka Ouji didn't sound at all like their later voice but the bottom line was Gintama used everything in it's grasp to appeal to the audience in terms of sound as well, also noticed by the "Your Mom is a XX!" song made for the anime. One of the downfalls of the episode was that due to the absence of a sound track you couldn't listen to the familiar Gintama background music that plays during the TV show episodes but still felt like classic Gintama thanks to the excellent work done by the VAs. Character: 7/10 In just one trial/special they showed most of the cast and introduced them perfectly as well, it totally felt I was back to the world of Gintama and it was a lot of fun looking at the characters in their usual daily shenanigans moving about. They showed the Yorozuya, Shinsengumi and the Gintama women as well (Otae, Catherine, Otose). Although you can't expect character development in a special the characters were decently shown and their interactions were like I said pure fun. Enjoyment: 7/10 I've said this many times and I will again, this episode felt so much like the actual Gintama episodes and I loved every bit of it. It totally didn't fail to leave a smile on my face after watching and it was interesting to note how Sunrise didn't deviate from this formula at all in Gintama 2006 and then Gintama 2011 as well. It was a brilliant job in my opinion and it made you think of the (not so) humble beginnings of the super-hit series. Overall: 7 Overall this episode can be described in a phrase I used many times in this review, "Classic Gintama". Hilarious, tongue-in-cheek, shameless and an absolute joy to watch. I totally recommend this to anyone wanting to get into the Gintama series but who are a bit taken aback by the huge episode number. If this appeals to you, then definitely the main series will too because it's quite tough to find out the difference between the core of this and the main show as well and retains it's quirky charm throughout. I hope you, like me give it a try and hopefully enter the Gintama series as well. P.S: Some say Kondou still hasn't woken up...