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I went to see this thing today at my local cinema. It still earned a solid 8 out of 10 from me despite it being mostly a repetition of the TV anime with a sprinkle of fresh scenes. I think the fact that I didn't watch the TV version of this arc in its entirety contributed heavily to this high scoring. Spoilers ahead, before I forget.

I'll start with what I don't like : the plot. This heisei kitsch is getting very redundant and outdated when it's being rerun in this day and age. I've already criticized Sorachi's weakness of repeating the same plot from start to finish elsewhere, and this arc made his insistence truly distasteful. Sorachi's sole (and unredeemably repetitive) plot posits that there're no true villains in Gintama, and when someone does a bad deed, they're only doing it to mask their good intentions. Everyone is a hero in their own way. ...That got a big NOPE from me. Especially in Yoshiwara arc whose main theme is prostitution and abuse of power. One simply can't justify Hosen's abuse of Hinowa (making her his personal sex slave for at least 8 years, maiming her until she's permanently handicapped, bereaving her of her foster child etc.) by the fact that she sympathized with him first when she was a child and still did after everything he had done to her. No. Hosen was simply evil and what he did was unforgivable. Hinowa is plainly suffering from Stockholm Syndrome. Having to watch the whole rerun of Sorachi's no true evil agenda today was very absurd. I was literally scratching my head towards the end of the film.

I liked what they did with the comedy though. What's not to love about the Shinsengumi in drags? Yamazaki and his jelly nails. Sougo and his idea of 'cute girls'. I had already known this going in because I saw some spoiler, but I still find it hilarious. They should have shown more of this scene. Plus, they really sold me on this Kondo and Zura romance. Trust me, I tried to resist, but it was very funny. I think these two really carried the show. The scenes with the kunais were also ok. It felt like they were trying a bit too hard at times, but overall they still turned out comedic.

Kudos on the voice acting work went to Hino Satoshi's Kamui. My first impression was that Kamui started out as Rengoku before slowing melting into his own character. Hino did equally great on both blood thirsty Kamui and giggly Kamui. I really like him in this arc. He's very sexy. Kugimiya Rie also did a stellar job on Kagura, especially when she's lost it. (I'm not sold on PachiKagu though. Nah thanks.) It really gave me the feeling that this is what really distinguishes pro-VAs from the others. I also appreciated Ootsuka Houchu's Abuto a lot. I first noticed him in Kamen Rider Den-O. His acting here demonstrated again what veterans were truly capable of. Oh and Suzu, you asked? He said like three lines max. I wasn't even listening to Sougo when I was focusing on trying to figure out who voiced the Gorilla amanto (it's Yamaguchi Kappei).

Overall, it was quite enjoyable. There's no denying that the franchise is milking Gintama for what it's worth, but as long as it continues to be enjoyable, there's no reason not to indulge a bit, right? One trip to the cinema was enough for me though, since Yoshiwara is not one of my favourite arcs.