Gintama First Impressions

Gintama (first two episodes watched) 
Action, Comedy, Sci-fi, Historical, Parody. / 100+ episodes / English sub
I do not have this series on dvd. 

Plot Synopsis: In an anachronistic world where aliens have invaded and taken up residence on earth and samurai still wander the streets Sakata Gintaki and a few of his friends are self employed handy-people willing to take on any job for the right price. Work is scarce however and they don't have the luxury of turning down what little work comes their way and often get stuck with small jobs like finding a runaway cat just to pay the rent.

What I liked:

Watchability. This is a show that's very easy to sit down and watch. It doesn't require your full attention to enjoy (subtitles aside) and seems very polished.

Writing. The script is excellent and works does well with some pop culture references as well as making fun of itself and other animes without over playing that card. One particular reference I liked was two characters wandering into the enka section of a bar and proceeding to tell a sob story.

Characters. I only watched the first two episodes (which are basically a single, 40 minute episode) but it set the foundation for a long running series. I was especially impressed with the seemingly minor characters and their quirks... the police chief who can't listen and doesn't know anything, another police officer who is apparently trying to assassinate his commanding officer muttering things like “Why don't you suck on some mayonnaise in the after life!” as he fires what appears to be a rocket launcher at his superior from behind. The narrator also adds a lot to the show with his brief character summaries and comments.

Breaking the Fourth Wall. There are a lot of well written comments about the real world or other animes, Bleach in particular.

Some characters were more interesting than others but I never found myself thinking of any of the characters as the obligatory annoying guy or gal that seems to pop up in so many series.

What I didn't like:

Annoying build up music. They played this heavy guitar riff type song whenever a fight scene seemed imminent... and unfortunately it just didn't seem to fit with the tone of the rest of the show.

40 minute format. Most comedy reliant animes I've seen don't do double length episodes very well unless they pack them full of drama pivotal to the story. It felt like they could have fit the first two episodes into a single episode and it might have been a more enjoyable.  Just to be clear, most of the episodes are the standard 24ish minute length so this likely only applies to the series introduction episodes.

Reminded me of: Cowboy Bebop, Trigun, and Bleach.

Final Comments: I plan to continue watching the series at a slow pace. The show feels like it will be going along the same path Bleach did, starting off funny and building into more serious story arcs.

Feel comment if you have anything to add.