It would make sense that a legendary comedic series such as Gintama would have an eclectic running gag line. The recurring joke art is something that television programs have respected and perfected for years, including such classics as The Simpsons' couch gag or It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia's ironic title cards.
In Gintama's case, the series is famous for its well-documented use of pop culture references, both Japanese and Western, its down-on-their-luck characters, and enough juvenile humor to ruin middle school classrooms everywhere. With the added benefit of some sci-fi nonsense, Gintama gets to enjoy some of the most surreal, high-concept gags out there.
10 Tama's Vomit Cooking
Tama is the Otose Snack House's dedicated maid and beloved android. While cleaning seems to be her main game, she's also equipped with various other skills given her cybernetic enhancements. This includes her flame thrower broom, inherent fighting strength, the ability to talk to machines (albeit, in an office talk way), and, of course, her convenient cooking skills.
As one of the best maids out there, Tama has the ability to prepare food quickly and efficiently. Just don't expect the actual food to be edible. What Tama is prone to do now and then is consume the ingredients for a dish and vomit them out in their cooked form, often drenched in motor oil. So, she mostly cleans.
9 Otae's Cooking
There really aren't many good cooks in this series, and Shimura Otae has to be one of the worst. Though she's had to take care of her brother by herself since the two lost their parents, she hasn't exactly gotten used to using a kitchen, at least not in the way that people care for. For whatever reason, every dish she touches somehow turns into black, toxic ash that the characters have dubbed "Dark Matter."
Her favorite dish to date is making omelets that only a theoretical physicist could love, though she can turn even sushi into the dark matter just by touching it.
8 Katsura's Name
It would make sense that Kotaro Katsura would go by a variety of names. As a terrorist and enemy to the Shinsengumi, he needs to be constantly moving and far away from the public eye. And while he's gotten pretty good at hiding himself, he doesn't care for the fact that he can't even go by his real name with his friends, namely Gintoki.
Either because he's making fun of him or doesn't care, Gintoki is known for calling Katsura "Zura," which means "wig" in Japanese. Katsura has classically retorted, "It's Katsura, not Zura!" or, as more hardcore fans know the catchphrase as, "Zura janai, Katsura da!"
7 Animation Budget Jokes
Gintama knows better than most people how hard, time consuming, and expensive animation can be. For a series like Gintama, its animation staff had to put up with weekly releases over several years. With as tight of a schedule as that, it should be somewhat forgivable for the animators to take a few shortcuts when making content, especially with the way Gintama does it.
One of Gintama's most infamous segments is when they take time to talk about the episode or reference other upcoming material but with just dialogue and the still frame of the Odds Jobs home. Fans get to have a couple of jokes while the animators revel in that they can get away with five minutes without animating anything.
6 Trying To Figure Out What Elizabeth Is
There's a lot to pick out of Gintama's strange atmosphere. Why are there aliens? Why are samurais watching TV? Why is that person trying to break into Gin's apartment? There's plenty of strangeness going on in Gintama's visuals. Still, if there's one thing that attracts the curious eye of both longtime fans and the casual viewer, it's whatever in the world that Elizabeth is.
Elizabeth is Katsura's faithful sidekick, whose exact identity and origins are left to the viewer's imagination. Many people suspect that she's just an alien, while others are pretty sure that she's just the creator under a sheet. It's an ongoing question in the series that the stoic Elizabeth herself is obviously not going to answer.
5 Kondo And Sacchan's Stalking
Love is a battlefield. To win it, people have to be willing to fight, persevere, and declare war. For some people, this even means partaking in a little espionage. As the series' branded, lovelorn fools, Kondo Isao and Sarutobi Ayame are quick to express their feelings but have a harder time getting their respective crushes to reciprocate those feelings.
Wanting to get as close to them as possible, the two can often be found hiding in some corner of either the Shimura home or the Odd Jobs house if they aren't just outside watching Gin or Otae from the top of a telephone pole.
4 Glasses Jokes
Glasses can have a huge effect in defining a person's style and personality. In Gintama, glasses are practically the person themselves. Across the story, if a character is wearing glasses, the characters will often dilute their very being to just being glasses.
This is evident in how Odd Jobs keeps confusing Shinpachi with his pair of spectacles, that one episode dedicated to getting Sarutobi new glasses, or all the times that people tried to hurt Madao but break his sunglasses. Apparently, it's not the glasses that make the man but just the glasses that make the glasses.
3 Sogo Trying To Kill Hijikata
Okita Sogo is Gintama's resident sadist who can be seen having the time of his life trying to inflict as much pain as possible on his enemies and rivals. And while the Shinsengumi has plenty of opportunities to fight against criminal scum, Sogo often saves his worst stuff for his own superior, Shinsengumi Vice Chief Hijikata Toshiro.
Whether he's trying to cut him down with his sword or turning to his classic bazooka, Sogo is throwing everything but the kitchen sink at poor Hijikata. And, even then, he's just saving the kitchen sink for when he's insane.
2 Hijikata's Obsession With Mayo
Ever since he lost Sogo's older sister, Hijikata hasn't had a romantic interest throughout the series, that is, unless people are willing to call condiments to love interests. There are few bonds closer in the series than the love between the Demon Vice Chief and his succulent squeeze bottles of mayonnaise. The man is either drenching his food, including sweets, in the gooey stuff or just eating it straight from the bottle.
An entire episode was even dedicated to him obsessing over a Willy Wonka-esque trip to visit a mayonnaise factory. While many people can be adamant about using ketchup or mustard, Hijikata has made his favorite condiment an entire lifestyle choice.
1 Hasegawa Being A Madao
Hasegawa Taizo hasn't had an easy life in the series ever since he crossed paths with Odd Jobs. Since their fateful first meeting, he's hardly ever held onto a consistent job for more than a couple of days and has practically forgotten what the warmth of an actual bed is like. His direct friendship with Gin hasn't done him any favors either, as Gin's gambling addiction enables his gambling addiction.
His constant stream of bad luck and unsteady job choices has led to him being called "Madao," the Japanese word for drunk or bum. His gags often revolve around him, trying to sneak into the group's social events to mooch off their stuff or losing another job because of Odd Jobs.