Name: The Greatest Teacher, and One Of the Greatest Animes.
Item: GTO: Great Teacher Onizuka
Rating: 90
Author: Aohi

Waifra

The Greatest Teacher, and One Of the Greatest Animes.

img100%(https://i0.wp.com/www.nostalgeek.fr/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/GTO-IALU.png?fit=778%2C308&ssl=1)

img100%(https://i.postimg.cc/Dzf7vJHz/ORANGE-Line.gif)
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Introduction
I remember last year I was looking catalogs on anilist to find a good show to watch. I was looking for a REALLY good one cause the last couple had been stinkers. It was then that I stumbled upon this anime. Great Teacher Onizuka. At the time, I thought it'd just be a pretty good 7/10 comedy anime, but man how little did I know that'd I'd fall in love with it and it'd become one of my favorites of all time. Great Teacher Onizuka is not only a hilarious anime, but an anime with so much soul and love put into it that separates it from it's peers in other comedy animes. It has a fun cast, it's hilarious, and has so many great moments that can't help you from falling in love with it. GTO is really good but the real question I want to answer is, what makes it so special? What makes it so great?

img100%(https://i.postimg.cc/Dzf7vJHz/ORANGE-Line.gif) #Characters Practically all of my favorite animes that I consider to be peak not only have an amazing protagonist, but an amazing cast overall. I'm fortunately glad to say that GTO is no exception to this rule as it delivers on both fantastically. The side cast are all loveable and have actual personalities and don't just bounce off of Onizuka well, but they bounce off of eachother very nicely as well. Urumi and Yoshito have a splendid dynamic with each other, Tomoko's centered episodes are just as great as normal episodes, and Murai's back and forth bickering with Onizuka is nothing short of comical. img75%(https://i.pinimg.com/564x/87/87/47/878747876f7faf12d163e2bbdbe7fe17.jpg) The real star of the show however is Onizuka who is written nothing short of brilliantly. One thing I love about his character is along with characters in universe, we as the audience also fall into the trap of judging him harshly and writing him off because of the way he presents himself. He's a brash borderline thug who isn't afraid to say what's on his mind. Yet by a couple of episodes in, you realize that's not all there is to him. He's a complete screw up sure, but a complete screw up constantly trying to do his best and do right by his students. No matter how dire the situation is and how hopeless it all looks, Onizuka always tries to find a way and always prevails, for the sole sake of his students. Onizuka is hilarious throughout the show and that's a great aspect, but that's not what made me adore his character. It was making Tomoko realize her self worth that made me adore him. It was standing up for Noboru that made me adore him. It was making Urumi finally value her life that made me adore him. He's a phenomenal character who simply gets better every single passing episode, and truly cements himself as the greatest teacher. img50%(https://media.tenor.com/_2g5aHyESXwAAAAM/crying-smoking.gif) img100%(https://i.postimg.cc/Dzf7vJHz/ORANGE-Line.gif) #Music I won't lie 99% of anime OSTs don't even remotely move me, but there's something truly unique in GTO's OST. A lot of the reason the scenes are so memorable in this show is because of the music playing in the background. They set such a fantastic and unforgettable tone that makes a scene stick with you forever. The only real critique I have with the OST is that it can get a little repetitive at times and feels like it just needs a bit more variety. I still mostly look the other way however just because of how good the entire soundtrack is.The music subtlety plays a big role of transforming this anime into something spectacular and should not go underappreciated under any circumstances as without it, the big moments in this show wouldn't feeling remotely the same and it made me never forget Onizuka's triumphant victories in each episode with this song playing in the background:

img100%(https://i.postimg.cc/Dzf7vJHz/ORANGE-Line.gif) #Plot/Narrative Have you ever sat down and watched the first episode of an anime and instantly knew right off the bat, it'd be truly a wonder to behold? That was me with this show. Almost all of my favorite shows took a great chunk of episodes before I truly loved it. Hell, Neon Genesis Evangelion is my favorite anime of all time and it took 2 rewatches for me to truly be infatuated with it. GTO was different on the other hand though. This show right off the bat lets you know EXACTLY what show this will be and keeps this tone. It starts off with it's comedic hijinks that'll later become a staple to the show and ends off with an incredibly sweet moment. I'll never forget watching Onizuka come to a student's house and break down the wall between her and her parents bedroom to grant the wish of the student wanting to spend more time with her parents. This student had tried to set him up to get fired and he still felt sympathy for one of his pupils and decided to break down the literal barrier between her and her parents. img49%(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/941549399929139261/1077533943382933505/image.png) img49%(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/941549399929139261/1077534244429103144/image.png) img49%(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/941549399929139261/1077534690182967347/image.png) img49%(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/941549399929139261/1077534865341288498/image.png) This is merely the FIRST episode and is only the start of heart pulling scenes like this. The show is episodic with sometimes there being arcs with multiple episodes. Despite it being episodic, characters actually keep their development and their growth which is a real rarity in a format of this kind. The plot concept isn't really anything of note with the premise just being Onizuka is a really rude teacher and his students don't really like him. It's a plot that could easily have become stale and boring but thankfully it goes about it in such a charming way. Seeing Onizuka slowly try to understand his students, and his students slowly try to understand him was just simply a beautiful unraveling that I could not get enough of. This is especially apparent in the episodes centered around the side characters which are among the best episodes in the series. Seeing Onizuka and certain side characters finally mutually respect each other and realize they're not really that bad of a person was always nice as the show made it clear that these characters will in fact go through development and not just pretend that none of the episodes preceding it never happened. img50%(https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BY2ExOTM5M2YtNjQ0Mi00YWM5LWI3Y2EtOTczZDVhZmIxNzk4XkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMzgyMDI2OTQ@.V1.jpg)
Another thing GTO does well are definitely it's life lessons. While this show appears as a funny comedy on it's surface which it does a great job at, underneath it is a show giving real and thought provoking messages. It teaches about standing up for yourself, finding your own self worth, valuing your own life, finding things you're good at, and so much more. I'd never in a million years imagine I'd walk away from an anime like this leaving such a huge impact on my character and wanting to grow and change as a person and be the best version of myself. One of it's overarching lessons is to never judge a book by it's cover. I initially thought it was corny because It was a trope done to death over and over, but GTO does it in such a genuine way that it made it work. Comparing Onizuka to the antagonists in most episodes is such a huge contrast. They aren't thugs or gangsters, but mostly upper middle class people who dress well, speak with a superior vocab, and carry themselves a lot higher. The show subverts your expectations of who's the bad guy and who's the good guy in the most delightful way. While Onizuka is a borderline thug who dresses pretty inappropriately, is loud, violent, and extremely obnoxious, he's also the person in the show who has the most heart and humanity. img75%(https://i.pinimg.com/originals/48/b1/7f/48b17fa8d8051843d1f9996c60086144.gif) img100%(https://i.postimg.cc/Dzf7vJHz/ORANGE-Line.gif) #Conclusion GTO is an anime that I truly love and no matter how hard I tried, words were just not enough to express it. It's an endearing anime classic that's able to make you laugh just as fast as making you cry. All of the characters have such obvious appreciation and thought put into them and it constantly beams like a beacon throughout the show. The lessons in this show actively made me want to be a better person and contribute good to this world. It might just be a stupid comedy to some and that's fine, but it's a piece of art to me. If you haven't given this a watch yet, I plead with you to at least give the first episode a chance as that's a good tone indicator for the series. It's not the most complex anime ever, it's not the best animated anime ever, it's simply an anime that wants to try and actively better it's audience and I think that's fine enough for me. img100%(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FOFeKRgWYAEGNkQ.jpg:large)