Great Teacher Onizuka

GTO tells the story of an ex-gang member, Onizuka Eikichi, who has always dreamed of teaching. He gets accepted into the Seirin Academy and starts to teach using his street wisdom and his own methods to try and make school fun and exciting, so the students would enjoy it.

The series is a long one, focusing on smaller happenings while solving a problem for a student or another teacher. His ways of teaching and perception of education are different from the usual and thus many people try to get rid of him. The past has let his homeroom class shattered of trust towards teachers as they get rid of a new homeroom teacher after another as they come, but Onizuka shows them that the past is the past and that trust can be regained and some things just aren’t that horrible. The way he reacts to things is something that you could really see any reliable friend do and there for you feel can really happen. When you see how much Onizuka loves his pupils and the ways he uses, you start to wish that your teachers would be like him and school would be fun for everyone. At the same time the story takes you to the past of Onizuka and the pupils in his class, revealing things you couldn’t imagine. He acts like a true friend for the pupils and really is that, helping them with any problem they have, big or small. As some people disagree with his methods, all agree that he truly is a great man and he for some reason gets everyone behind him, no matter what they think of him or the world.

The series is mainly a comedy series, but there is some romance between Onizuka and another teacher. There are so many aspects to the story as it goes on, so it’s pretty hard to get an overall picture. There really isn’t a main story, it’s all just a bulk of minor stories that really don’t make a real whole. Closing to the end they start to be similar, but mainly differ a lot. The tragic happenings and the pasts that are showcased in the series really touch you, as if this really has happened. This is one of the things that makes the series great, as you watch it, you start to get sucked into it. The character development is mainly focused on a small group from Onizuka’s homeroom class, but compensates the small scale by explaining the small group very well. As the story continues on and on, Onizuka gains the trust and compassion of the pupils, some that have even lost faith in all teachers. The comedy is mainly slapstick, but the things that make you really laugh are the faces that Onizuka makes and his reactions overall. And just like all men (not admitting anything on my part), he is perverted and this is used to get a lot of laughs.

The experience of GTO is one you should see, since as the title says, it truly is great.

[82]

+ The comedy

+ Deep characters

+/- Onizuka's expressions

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