Eikichi “The Great” Onizuka
He's bold. He's brash. He's a horny 22-year old virgin (with pretty concerning habits). And he somehow landed a temporary teaching position at a private school. Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you: Eikichi Onizuka, The greatest teacher in all of Japan!
What do you get when a former delinquent full of attitude crosses paths with a homeroom period full of students aiming to cause nothing but trouble? You get GTO: Great Teacher Onizuka. A tale that is so full of crass, you’ll learn how to spread your butthole. (Please don’t take me down, it’s merely an allusion.)
Across the 200-chapter filled story you’ll encounter troubled youth, each with their own personal struggles. Watch as Onizuka resorts to the extreme and unorthodox in an effort to teach his students lessons that you can’t get from just staying inside the classroom.
After all, he is none other than Onizuka the Great! And he will stake his life on the line for the sake of his students.
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Pacing
The plot goes from 0 to 100 faster than you can finish reading this review. It doesn’t hesitate to throw you off guard. One moment, you’ll see Onizuka getting off to some explicit material; the next moment, you’ll see him falling onto a car. And usually, a story with pacing that goes all over the place tends to become an overwhelming experience for me. My poor small brain can only handle so much stimuli at once.
But GTO makes it work.
Maybe it adds into the immersion of Onizuka’s hectic life as a teacher, or maybe seeing him perform physically-impossible stunts consistently just adds more charm. Seeing how he willingly and aggressively inserts himself into the lives of his students, and making their issues his concern as well, is awe inspiring. Onizuka is the type of teacher that demands only the best for his students, and the crazy plot devices are woven in a way that leaves you wanting to see more of Onizuka and the rest of Class-4’s antics.
I enjoyed the pacing of GTO. Never did I have a “woah, what the heck is going on?” moment. As the storyline of GTO continued to get more and more intense, I found myself getting really into it. The pacing works in tandem with the writing to create that sense of urgency in those moments when it is needed. My heart would be racing and I found myself praying and rooting for those characters. Speaking of which…
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Characters
The cast in GTO are a colorful bunch. Aside from Onizuka, you have the members of Class-4, the administration of Holy Forest Academy, and more down the line. But the main focus will be on Onizuka and his dynamic with the students of Class-4.
I think what surprises me the most with this group of rascals is that they are, more or less, fleshed out individuals with their own arcs/mini-arcs. From what I could tell at least, there isn’t one character who is solely based on a school archetype. Sure, you have the dumb blonde, the jock, the gamer, etc. But I feel like those ideas are just used as a blueprint for the character, and then turns it on its head! Each of these characters has their own flaws, and through the intervention of Onizuka; they all learn something very important that correlates to them.
One of my favorite characters in the manga is definitely Urumi. This is where I go a bit into heavy spoiler territory, so just a heads up.
Spoiler, click to viewclick to hide
Urumi Kanzaki is known as the class terrorist (much like the rest of Class-4). Due to some past trauma, she absolutely despises teachers. To that end, she aimed to make every day for Onizuka feel like Hell on Earth. This slowly eats away at Onizuka, and he is only further driven to frustration because he’s not allowed to physically harm her (I mean, you shouldn’t be physically harming/harassing a student to begin with).Eventually, Onizuka decides that enough is enough. He orchestrates a “kidnapping” with some of his biker buddies. After he “saves” her and proceeds to ride his motorbike over a gap and nearly falls down. This incident opens Urumi’s eyes to see past her trauma and prevent it from blinding her in the present.
“You can’t spend all your time bitching and moaning about the past… ‘cuz you cheat yourself out of the present.”
This inspires Urumi to move on and live a little. Before you know it, she’s enjoying her days at school. Albeit, maybe a bit too much now. It’s heavily implied that she becomes infatuated with Onizuka.
Urumi’s whole arc is only scraping the surface. It has a certain beauty to it that made it one of my favorite arcs. There are other characters you’ll meet, and hopefully, grow attached to just as much as I did. Rooting for them every step of the way!
In my opinion, the characters are handled pretty well in the manga. Of course, Onizuka being Onizuka, is pretty reckless when it comes to putting his students first. But who is to say he is in the wrong here? Sure, he has plot armor, but his heart is in the right place when it comes to helping his students. After all, he is a teacher. It’s his job to make school fun and to concern himself with this rowdy bunch.
Of course, that doesn’t mean Onizuka is without his flaws too. I’ll go a little bit into this spoiler section as well. Feel free to skip on over to the next bit if you wish.
Spoiler, click to viewclick to hide
Later on in the story, Onizuka gets acquainted with someone named Ms. Daimon. She introduces a point system to the school administration, which affects staff pay. Of course, this is done with the intent of bringing Onizuka down. And this action begins to have side effects on the man himself.Teachers don’t get paid a lot, unfortunately (actually not sure what the case is like in Japan, so it could be different. But hey, this is a piece of fiction we are talking about right now). So to a man like Onizuka, every point counts. Especially if he’s on the verge of losing that paycheck.
He (along with other staff) gets corrupted with the idea of more points = more money. Thinking of nothing but money and feeding into the corporate system. He’s turned into the exact type of teacher he despised when he was in high school. And he doesn’t realize this until his fellow teacher, Azusa Fuyutsuki, calls him out on it. No longer was he Great Teacher Onizuka, rather he turned into Greedy Teacher Onizuka.
This moment was powerful. Honestly, there’s no words to do the scene justice. You’ll just have to read it for yourself.
The cast is handled in such a fashion that even the most cliche actions can have such strong emotions attached. Whether you tolerate this group of rascals or not, you can definitely walk out feeling something (unless you just have zero emotions).
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Plot
GTO is and will forever be a timeless classic. The lessons you can take out of it can definitely be applied to your viewpoint and mindset on life. For some individuals, the story of GTO is an inspiring tale of Onizuka’s adventures. In rare cases: it influences someone to change their life around for the better. Case in point: this video (minor spoiler warning for manga panels and anime scenes).
The manga is raw with Onizuka’s character. You’ll see this cool side to him that makes him feel like someone you could genuinely enjoy being around. And other times, you’ll encounter habits of his that don’t really age well (like his perversion towards some of the students, that’s a major yikes right there). Does it sit well with me? No, no it doesn’t. It makes me feel all sorts of icky.
And yet…
I kept reading. Something about the honest, uncensored, and limitless Onizuka that appears in the manga made me want to keep reading onwards. I’ve mentioned it before, but the lengths he goes to for his students is a wonderful thing. When was the last time you saw a teacher, let alone a high school teacher, actively try to support and engage with their students?
And I think that sentiment is what allowed me to appreciate the overall story a lot more than I expected. (Though, I have/had some wonderful teachers over the years, don’t get me wrong.)
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Final Thoughts
Long story short: I love GTO.
If it weren’t for my club advisor, I probably would not have discovered the treasure that is Great Teacher Onizuka. It was the series that inspired him to become a teacher.
And after reading, it only further motivates me to pursue my future career path in that field as well. The drive is higher than ever, and I have faith in myself that I can reach it.
And it’s thanks to Onizuka that I have a renewed sense of vigor.
Hands down, one of the most inspiring and motivating stories I have ever read.
Minus the random perverted moments. Though I have to say, it does make Onizuka feel less like a fictional character and more like a person you could find in real life. I mean, is there a single person who hasn’t experienced being horny, or something similar, at least once?
Don’t get me wrong though, I still dislike those scenes. Catches me off-guard, and not in a good way either. By no means am I trying to justify those moments.
GTO is definitely worth a read. Uplifting moments? Check. Comedic moments? Check. Just need a good read? Definitely scores a check in that category. Extreme facial expressions?
Need I say more?
I’ll end things off with a quote from the man himself.
“Being afraid is natural. It’s part of being alive. Without it, you’re already dead.”
