Gintama Explained

Gintama has been accused of not having a story, mainly because we have shown episodes all over the place and not a constant screening. It does have story lol. Why Gintama is a weird series and funny, the manga writter was forced to make a manga about the Shinsengumi, but did not want to, and ended up making a series the way he wanted that mixes historical references with sci fi elements.

Story:
Edo (the world) was invaded by aliens from space, The Amanto, and easily crushed Japan with their superior technology. Gintoki the main character 'led' (their leader was killed) the final resistance, all out battle with the remaining Samurai and warriors. The Shogun surrenders to the aliens, saving Edo at the cost of everyone's pride, and the Samurai and people that fought with Gintoki scatter. Some to follow their dreams whilst other were consumed by their desire for revenge. As the story progresses we learn that there are those that want progress and development and those that want death and destruction on every side, eg resistance, Amanto. As the story progresses loyalties divide between Gintoki and his old friend who has turned evil. Many of their friends died in the final battle, whilst this lead Gintoki to value life and try to protect everyone,on the other hand his friend was consumed by his demons and lost the plot.

Some of the Characters:

Gintoki Sakata: Whilst at first it appears he has thrown away his sword and Samurai spirit, it quickly becomes apparent to everyone he meets that he will never give up on protecting his friends. One of the 5 (?) top Samurai who fought in the final battle. Similar to Ichigo from Bleach, or parody, eg Gintoki's Bankai, and Toyako, the spirit in his sword. The series used to screen after Bleach on tv and both series are in Shounen jump.

Shinpachi Shimura: Gintoki's apprentice/co-worker/friend, wants to learn Gintoki's techniques but ends up as more of a friend than apprentice.

Kagura: Member of the Yato Amanto Clan, one of the strongest races in the universe. After her family was nearly annihilated by their innate urge for fighting and destruction, she decided to come to earth to fight against her violent nature. She is just a child and does not have the full power of an adult Yato, her father single handedly blocks an attack which was identical to the one that defeated Edo and The shogun in the first place. She may be a bit of DBZ parody, eg Goku who came to earth as a child and her massive appetite.

Sadaharu - Giant cute, dog and pet. They think that its an alien dog but is actually something way more powerful. Likes to chew on people. Gintoki doesn't use Sadaharu's power because he doesn't want people to fear him.

Kotaro Katsura: One of Gintoki's old friends, they fought together in the final battle. He wants to overthrow the Amanto but more importantly he wants to fight the corruption of edo and change the world. He is still loyal to Gintoki even though they are technically on opposing sides. He is one of the top members of the moderate faction of the terrorists/remaining resistance.

Elizabeth: Supposedly one of the Amanto, is close friends with Katsure, showing that Katsura places more importance on saving edo from corruption and changing the world than overthrowing/killing the Amanto. Katsura is in denial that Elizabeth is probably male, eg he gave 'her' a female name. Elizabeth is randomly highly skilled at fighting. I suspect that she/he is one of the original 5.

Tatsuma Sakamoto: One of Gintoki's friends who fought in the final battle. Kind natured like Gintoki and does not want to fight, he gave up his sword and now is a businessman creating a fleet of space ships, which may come in handy in a big battle some day.

Zenzo Hattori: One of the top ninja's in Edo, almost powered equal to Gintoki. They probably would have been friends except that their interests are too close and they end up fighting over the same stuff. He has a single weakness which Gintoki almost always exploits.

The Shinsengumi
Isao Kondo - Gorrilla Stalker
Toshiro Hijikata - the King of Mayonnaise Kingdom
Sogo Okita - the Prince of Planet Sadistic