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Rbastid

  • NYC
  • Joined Mar 13, 2010
  • 38 / M

Great Teacher Onizuka

Jul 9, 2014

He tried to strive to be the best teacher in the world, but ended up just being the best Anime Character out there.

Story - 10/10

One of the great things about GTO is it manages to be both a serial and a procedural, and does both very well. To sum up both, a serial is a series that follows a continuous plot every week, focusing on a story that may last an entire season or even the complete length of the show, think of Lost, The Americans or in Anime circles Dragon Ball Z. Procedurals on the other hand deal with one plot a week, shows like Law and Order or Cowboy Bebop, where every episode can be watched as a stand alone without needing to know much about the previous episodes. GTO combines both of these nicely, there's the overall story of Onizuka's first year as a Middle School teacher, along with his attempts to date Fuyutsuki and Vice Principal Uchiyamada trying to get him fired. Yet each episode, or pairs of episodes, have their own story that can be watched one off without any order, which is perfect when introducing someone new to Anime, pick your favorite GTO episode and let them dive right in.

As for the story itself, I love the show and despite what I'm about to say I still believe its a 10 out of 10, it isn't terribly original. In the same vein as Stand and Deliver, Dangerous Minds and the Substitute, Onizuka is the new teacher in town, stuck with the worst class there is, it's his job to help them not only in school, but out in the real world. The twist here is that Onizuka is a bad boy himself, or a semi-reformed one, where as in the movies mentioned the knight in shining armor usually comes from the good side of town.

Each episode, or series of episodes, revolves around one of two things, a student getting in some sort of trouble or Onizuka getting into trouble. Despite the somewhat repetitive nature they still keep every episode entertaining by mixing in a different handful of our main students or by creating an interesting way for the problem to be resolved. Personally I enjoyed it when the episodes took a somewhat Seinfeldian turn, where they'd be about something but still pretty much about nothing.

One of the best things I can say about the series is despite the somewhat relative plot, and after multiple viewings, every time I reach the end of the series I want more and would watch the entire thing again if I had the time.

Animation - 7/10

The animation in GTO might not be that consistent, but for the time period it has a great look and can be very detailed at some points. Outside of Onizuka and the few closeups, the most work seems to be spent on the backgrounds, as they can spend hours on one and it'll be used much more than the time spent on a single frame.

The characters were pretty typical westernized Japanese students, but they at least made sure not to double up on models used, unlike many anime where they'll use almost the same character for twenty different roles, confusing the heck out of people paying attention.

I think what gives this a slightly higher score, despite it's flaws, is the fact the style is very unique to the show. It has similarities to other anime but everything together (character design, color choices and other scenic models) set it apart from others, and that originality boosts it's numbers.

Sound - 9/10

Normally I wouldn't give a series such good scores for just it's opening and closing tracks, a show like FLCL had the most amazing music throughout and got a 10 from me, but with GTO all you need is the first slide on the E string of Driver's High to start tallying up the sound scores to top levels.

The music within the series is very repetitive, and the handful of songs are in almost every episode, but it’s very rarely done in a way that has you hating the audio coming from your tv. The "Victory Music" thats often used is done so well and it's always exciting to hear it pop up, as even when you're at the end of the series it will still have you envisioning Onizuka driving that truck back to school from episode 2 (or 3?) Likewise there are nondescript tracks for moments of comedy, tenderness and just the overall goofing about Eikichi is often up to.

The voices are all done well and match the wide range of characters, even when you notice that the same person might be voicing a handful of characters. The only sour note is the ever changing voice of Yoshikawa. He seemed to go through two or three guys, with the first returning for the end of the series, but I guess it matches Yoshikawa himself who disappears for long periods of time.

Characters - 9/10

As much as I love GTO as a whole, and the characters themselves, most are not well developed at all.  Sure you get some backstory on each guy, but most of it is shrouded in mystery. Such as the examples of Onizuka being the mysterious Onibaku from Shonan, sure it sounds cool and works as a good way out of certain situations, but outside of a few tales we're given, it's mainly used as a way to solve a plot point with ease. Similarly we learn next to nothing about Fuyutsuki, despite her being an integral character in the show, and with the exemption of meeting Murai's mother, the students lives outside of their interactions with Onizuka are pretty much a mystery.

Now that aside, the characters and what we do see of them are great. The personalities they are given are what you would expect from High Schoolers but done in a very watchable twist. What I enjoy is that each character basically stayed true the whole series, and while they might have changed their point of view on Onizuka or each other, it was done in a way where it's not just a jarring 180 you didn't see coming, there was always meaning behind it.

Whats most important about the show is that even when characters are terrible humans, they always tend to be likable. Often in TV and anime theres a great story line, good music and animation/cinematography, but you just hope a character falls off a building or gets eaten by a shark, it can really kill a show that should be good, GTO's characters always have connected and wanting more, you follow each story line actually caring about those in it (Ok well maybe not Miyabi)

 

Overall - 10/10

The greatness of any show is really proved by how many times you can watch it and if you can do so years after the first time. Personally I believe I first watched GTO in 2004 (I know I got the 2nd box set when it was released so basing it on that date, but I could have sworn it was earlier) Over that time period I've watched the series 4-5 times,  which is 22 hours per season. From that first time in 2004 to today in 2014, ten years, I still found it hilarious, heartwarming and overall a show that would entertain even those who don't enjoy anime. Even after finishing a repeat viewing, you want more, but still can feel content with how it ended. It was a great mix of what you can do in animation mixed with a script worthy of prime time TV (Though God help us if they ever try and make a US adaptation because you just know it'll stink.) Of all the shows that have or are going to have sequels years later, this was one that could have probably be done the easiest while still keeping true to the series.

10/10 story
7/10 animation
9/10 sound
9/10 characters
10/10 overall
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