Gintama Episode 212

Dem troll faces.

 So, what have I thought of Gintama thus far?:
This series is, by far, the best (if not, at least one of) comedy, parody anime I've ever picked up. From their gags on their own production values to poking fun at popular shounen titles like Naruto and Bleach (heck, the first outfit we see Gin in was something similar to Goku's in the second season's pilot). The series stars a silver-haired, lazy samurai named Gin Sakata who runs a shop appropriately titled "Odd Jobs Gin". He is soon joined by Shinpachi Shimura, the assigned "straight man" whose discerning trait is his glasses, and Kagura, an alien from the infamous Yato Clan that possesses inhuman strength and an extremely large appetite. As the series continues, it introduces more and more characters (much like most shounen series) revealing an incredibly lively and colorful cast.
Episode 212:

Not creepy at all.

This is the third episode to the series' latest arc, "The Kabuki District Arc", wherein we are introduced to Jirocho, one of the Four Devas of the Kabuki District, and his daughter, Pirako. The episode opens to Pirako and Kada, who seem to be discussing about the upcoming "war" in the Kabuki District. It is then revealed that Pirako pulled all this crap to have her father eventually "return to her". We then cut scenes to the Edo Greater Hospital.

Otose, please don't die! D:

Saigou then visits the group to warn them to leave before the war breaks out. Gin then finally makes his appearance and agrees with Saigou, only to have Catherine violently lash out at him for even thinking about leaving Otose and her shop behind. This scene fleshed out Catherine's character further (who, until then, I only thought of as that ugly catgirl with the weird accent who used to be a thief). I was also happy to see more of Tama (though I'm still upset that Sogo still hasn't done much aside from taking over the Shinsengumi as a "Kaiser" in episode 2, playing a minor role in episode 205, and attempting to shoot Katsura with his bazooka in episode 208). We also get a montage of several other characters who live in the district, many of which were one-shot characters whom we haven't seen in a while, hearing about the spreading rumors regarding the upcoming war and Otose's condition.

Shin-chan...;-;

Even Sadaharu?!

After a heart wrenching good-bye at the groups' home, we then return to see Gin looming over Otose's unconscious form. He then encounters the boss of Jirocho's gang and hilariously violently forces him to give us details to Jirocho and Otose's past together. Apparently, the two were childhood friends, Otose often being the one to keep him in check and assisted in making him who he is today.

Otose was a pretty cute kid.

Well, this won't end well. Younger!Jirocho isn't half bad, either.

After Gin hears of Otose's past, he then sets out to gather her late husband's weapons. While there, he runs into Shinpachi and Kagura, who refuse to allow Gin to fight alone. Each give a rather heartwarming speech and Tama (of all people) finally manages to convince Gin to take them along. The group then sets out for the upcoming battle. (though I highly doubt that we'll be seeing Catherine in action, but then again, she was a former professional thief).

Also, since when did Shinpachi get to be this strong?!

Until now, I never knew that Tama could actually eat human food.

I don't even need to cap this.

Gin, why so GAR?

NOOOOO!!!

This is one of the more serious arcs of Gintama, not that I'm complaining, since, despite being a screwball comedy, Gintama manages to handle its serious arcs rather well. Of course, my favorite arc is still, by far, the popularity poll arc, mostly for all the large doses of laughter it brought out of me and its usual sense of "no fourth wall" taken up to eleven (heck, at one point Otae actually climbs out of the frame to kill the author for getting a higher place than her). But there are also some "serious arcs" out there that I'm fond of, such as the Kyuubei arc, the Shinsengumi Crisis arc, and the Mitsuba arc,so, needless to say, I have high hopes for how this arc will end.

Also, yaaaaay, more Otae! :D

This episode gets a rating of, out of 5: