I finished watching Gintama and came to the conclusion that Gintoki sometimes reminds me of Ryo from City Hunter. Both have something like their own office, and they take on various jobs. They joke around, but they also take things seriously. They give wise advice, etc.
More often, they help because they want to help, without wanting anything in return. I was convinced of this in the episodes about Ketsuno Ane and the two warring clans, when Gintoki was talking about marriage (or at least addressed her brother in a way that made you think about it) and so on, while in reality, he didn't even want her to find out what had happened. Ryo also acted like that.
The beginning of episode 194 reminded me of Crows Zero; maybe it was just a reference to them.