[Anime] Gintama

The story takes place in Edo (known in real life as of 1868 as Tokyo), Japan, which has been taken over by aliens called Amanto since the late Edo period. The samurai of Japan have fallen, and the Amanto placed a ban on carrying swords in public. The story focuses on an eccentric samurai with a natural perm, Sakata Gintoki, his (partial) apprentice Shimura Shinpachi, and a teenage alien girl: Kagura. All three are "freelancers" who search for work in order to pay the monthly rent, which usually goes unpaid anyway.

The story is a humorous tale, one that uses puns to deliver jokes and pictures to enhance the jokes. None of the characters are entirely serious throughout the series and Sorachi complains about Shinpachi in terms of the crudeness of the manga.