2006–2010 series
The first 201 anime television series aired on TV Tokyo from April 4, 2006, to March 25, 2010. The first 99 episodes were initially directed by Shinji Takamatsu. Episodes 100 to 105 were directed by Takamatsu and Yoichi Fujita, while the following episodes were directed solely by Fujita.
Aniplex released the series in DVD format. Episodes 1–49 were collected in twelve DVDs, released from July 26, 2006, to June 26, 2007. Episodes 50–99 were collected in thirteen DVDs, released from July 25, 2007, to July 23, 2008. Episodes 100–150 were collected in thirteen DVDs, released from August 27, 2008, to August 26, 2009. Episodes 151–201 were collected in thirteen DVDs, released from October 28, 2009, to October 27, 2010.
In November 2008, an agreement was reached between TV Tokyo and the streaming video service Crunchyroll for the latter to stream English-subtitled episodes for free one week after they had aired in Japan; paid subscribers could watch new episodes an hour after they aired in Japan. On January 8, 2009, Crunchyroll uploaded their first episode (episode 129) to the service. Alongside new episodes each week, Crunchyroll also uploaded episodes from the beginning of the series. It was licensed in North America by Sentai Filmworks, with distribution from Section23 Films. The first collection containing thirteen English-subtitled episodes was released on DVD, April 27, 2010. Only 49 episodes were released before the releases stalled. However, shortly after licensing the Gintama film, Sentai Filmworks announced that based on the film's performance, they would consider releasing more of the series in North America, possibly with an English dub. An English subtitled version of the series began airing in the United States on Shorts HD on July 12, 2015. On July 1, 2016, Crunchyroll announced that they would re-release the series on Blu-ray and DVD with an English dub. Hulu began streaming an English dub for the first season on December 1, 2019; an English dub for the second and third season were released in October 2025. In Southeast Asia, the series premiered on Animax Asia on August 26, 2022.
On April 5, 2010, TV Tokyo stations began airing high-definition reruns of older Gintama episodes, under the title Yorinuki Gintama-san (よりぬき銀魂さん; lit. 'The Very Best of Gintama'). In addition to being broadcast in HD, new opening and ending themes were made. The opening and ending themes for episodes 1–9 are "Bakuchi Dancer" (バクチ・ダンサー, Bakuchi Dansā; lit. 'Fullspeed Dancer') and "Bokutachi no Kisetsu" (僕たちの季節; lit. 'Our Season'), respectively, both performed Does. From episodes 10–26, the opening theme is "Kaze no Gotoku" (風のごとく; lit. 'Like the Wind') by Joe Inoue and the ending theme is "Wave" by Vijandeux. From episode 27–39, the opening theme is "Kanōsei Girl" (可能性ガール, Kanōsei Gāru; 'Probable Girl') by Chiaki Kuriyama and the ending is "In My Life" by Azu. From episodes 40–51, the opening is "Karto Niago" (カートニアゴ, Kāto Niago) by Flip and the ending is "Sakurane" (桜音; 'Sakura Sound') by Piko.
