Not to mention the "serious arcs" somehow get even more intense and well animated the further you get, too.
I rarely laugh aloud when watching comedic shows, especially anime. Gintama can get me laughing for an entire episode! The humor only gets better as you go along, as you need to get to know the characters to appreciate the jokes/jibes fully. And then all of a sudden a serious arc slaps you in the face with nonstop action and cliffhanger episodes. Gintama is 70% humor and 30% Hunter x Hunter level action (for you shounen anime fans, I think you can recognize that high level compliment.) It just makes the action scenes that much more worth it and exciting when you get there. Not to mention the "serious arcs" somehow get even more intense and well animated the further you get, too. I'm SO happy I gave this one a try!