There is no piece of media that is equal parts heartwarming, badass, goofy, and sad as GTO. Perhaps Gintama, but I digress. I picked up this series on the account that I thought Onizuka looked cool on the cover. I’m easily sold when it comes to anime and manga that deal with delinquents who have bleached hair. I had no idea that after I’d finished my watching experience, that I’d change my life for the better. For an anime to send the viewers on their way with something they might carry with them for the rest of their lives is quite the impact to leave. And I’m proud to admit that Onizuka had left that impact on me. What was it about this show that makes it so profound?
To get to the bottom of that, I’ll have to tell you what it’s about. Onizuka is a former highschool delinquent and mobster who decides that he will become the greatest teacher! Although he isn’t particularly book smart, he is more than knowledgeable about the streets and the problems that plague the outside world. It is with this knowledge that he takes on various cohorts of classes and schools plagued with some of the biggest pricks known to man, and the personal dilemmas these students have. Onizuka takes on the responsibility of inspiring his students and teaches them that their grades, their net worth, or their future jobs/ranks are not the sum of their self-worth and that their lives are worth cherishing.
If that’s not a plot that sets itself up to deal with some very emotionally gripping topics, then I don’t know what is. And the man who dishes out these life lessons is Onizuka himself. A man who’s equal parts goofy, charismatic, clumsy, horny, and juvenile as he is tortured, sensible, humble, clever, and mature. So GTO is a series that deals with incredibly depressing and real world subject matter such as physical abuse, suicide, neglect, bullying, discrimination, framing, blackmail, and stalking. Who’s main character is a man even Austin Powers wouldn’t hesitate to call a dork. And yet, the show is able to present such a beautiful dichotomy between Onizuka’s typical silly nature, and the surprisingly sensible way he handles these grotesque situations with his students.
The show is not afraid to get as dark, or as silly as it desires. And I’ve yet to come across another series that balances these two extremes with ease in a way that’s on par with GTO. Now it may sound like Onizuka is a Gary Stu, but it doesn’t take long to find out that’s not the case. Just like any human being, Onizuka is flawed. He’s easily duped by others, gives into his impulses rather frequently, and is actually rather lazy when it comes to teaching school lessons instead of life lessons. I found the writing behind Onizuka’s character to be genius, and seeing him struggle to gain the trust of his students while also giving each individual student his undivided devotion when they most need it is harrowing to witness. It takes skill to believably write a character that feels as human as Onizuka, despite his absurd nature.
Not only does Onizuka’s crude yet stand up personality, along with his pearls of wisdom, inspire me. But the show itself utilizes unique and interesting ways of presenting both its gags and serious themes in ways that inspire my creativity. The show is dynamic in how it shows characters to be multifaceted individuals. It’s able to achieve this through their expressions, mannerisms, demeanor, and actions instead of letting the audience hear their thoughts. The same rings true to the predicaments they find themselves in. If the show is dealing with a topic such as a teacher having an affair with a student, then it won’t be two-dimensional about it and just have a student eavesdropping on them. GTO would rather queue in the viewer with the same amount of information the students have, and from there it’s up to the audience to use context clues to decipher the likely scenario. Simply put, the show doesn’t take its audience for being idiots. It’s filled with nonstop creative goodness with how it presents the conflicts and their resolutions.
But does the same ring true for its humor? Like with any comedy, it’s all subjective and what someone gets from a show’s sense of humor varies from person to person. For me, the kind of humor found in Onizuka slays me everytime I watch it. Sometimes it’s not even the punchline itself that’s hilarious, rather the way Onizuka deals with the situation he’s in, on a meta level. Whether that be putting a bratty kid in their place or, one of my favorite examples. Onizuka copes with the fact that he might’ve accidentally killed a student when trying to save her life, and imagines this cinematic detective movie where he’s found guilty of “death by butt push” since the girl was presumably dead after Onizuka accidentally bumped her off a building with his behind. Like I said, humor is subjective, and I probably made the joke sound as unfunny as possible in trying to explain it, but I found the show’s sense of humor to be just as nuanced, and well-thought out as the serious parts of the show. Don’t let my over analysis fool you though, as it’s also filled to the brim with both random and low brow sex jokes. But it’s not afraid to give the audience jokes that may require more thought.
The show’s humor isn’t the only part of it that’s exceptional. The same rings true for the show’s visuals. If you liked that late 90s anime aesthetic, a la Golden Boy and are looking for a show in the same vein both in tone and in visual style. Then look no further than GTO. This show has that detailed anime cell aesthetic that I adore. The show has scenes taking place during the day that seem like it's 100 degrees outside. With the night being filled with dark blue and black skies, complimenting the character's detailed aesthetic. The show mostly uses a muted color palette with an emphasis on beige, yellow, and white. The show is also relatively high contrast and looks very bright. I also thought the show had a mild grain overlay, adding to its vintage feel. Perhaps that was intentional since It looks older than it is (released in 2000) but I mean that as a good thing. I found that the visuals nicely compliment the show’s animation. The characters, especially Onizuka himself, looked highly detailed and yet was still able to be extremely cartoonishly-animated and versatile in both his normal movements and over-the-top reactions.
The final aspect of this show I wanted to touch on, while maybe not as varied as the animation, hits just as hard if not harder than it. Because when it hits, it hits so well. That aspect in question is the show’s soundtrack. I mean this when I say it, but the show’s first OP “Driver’s High” is my favorite OP song of all time. The song always revs me up, gearing for the day that lies ahead, with its amazing guitar melodies, epic vocals, and delicious flashy hooks that act as caffeine for my eardrums. The second OP doesn’t trail far from the first, but it was Driver’s High that landed on my MP3 player first. The first ED is great as well. It’s mellow but groovy with a nice blend of a hip hop beat, xylophone patterns, string instruments and harmonized melodic female vocals accompanying the cacophony of beautiful melodies. If I had to sum up the feel of the rest of music in one sentence, I’d say that the music is representative of city life. It’s often upbeat, happy, soulful, and jazzy with plenty of saxophone. Many tracks come off as sounding very triumphant as well. Even the music that plays during a high brow gag is endearing and party-like.
There is no piece of media that is equal parts heartwarming, badass, goofy, and sad as GTO. I had no idea that after I’d finished my watching experience, that I’d change my life for the better. And I’m proud to admit that Onizuka had that much of an impact on me. What was it about this show that makes it so profound? Aside from just being a well crafted anime, it manages to be equally endearing, touching, and powerful with how respectfully it treats real world issues with healthy solutions. The life lessons that Onizuka teaches his class and in turn the viewer are legitimately inspiring and helpful. It’s able to pull this off without coming off as ham-fisted, preachy, or cliche. And how it manages to not feel jarring when it transitions between being serious and being goofy is a testament to this show’s impeccable writing and directing. I hope you study up and pay attention when watching or reading GTO, because it will be covering material that will be on the quiz of life.
