Onizuka, age 22 ex-biker gang leader, one day decides to become the greatest teacher in the world. There happens to be several problems with this however: One, Onziuka is a loud mouthed, crude, foul mouthed lecher; and Two, he has basically no teaching credentials. However the head of a private academy has a problem with a class causing every single home room teacher to quit and hires Onizuka to teach because of his unique style. While not being a very good teacher for regular subjects (what teacher wears a elephant head to class or paints graffiti on the walls?!), Onizuka is a great at teaching about real life and as the anime progresses he deals with different problems that the students have in comedic and interesting ways.
Story & Characters
This Review is the first of the Read my Review or Punch a Puppy series. Just include a Punch a Puppy Rating in your comment.
Reppin' the 
crew.
Read my Review or Punch a Puppy: Review #1 - Great Teacher Onizuka
Note: This is a review of the TV Anime.
Guess, I should just jump right to it...
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Its amazing what peeping up school girls' skirts can do to a man... like jump off a building, smash through houses,
run around cuffed to an arcade machine, participate in a 10-second race or just plain pretend you're Doraemon.
Basically, these are the things that Eikichi Onizuka gets himself involved into when he decides to be the
GREATEST TEACHER IN THE WORLD
Ehem! Anyways, moving on to our review...
To give a rough idea of what the show is about to those who haven't watched it, the show focuses on Eikichi
Onizuka. An ex-biker who becomes a teacher and uses his exceptional life skills to teach his students, and fellow
teachers alike, the joys of life. And those joys are basically anything like shooting bottle-rockets at other teachers,
playing some Playstation and other such things.
Analysis:
Great Teacher Onizuka (from hereon will be referred to as GTO) is basically
focused more on character development rather than direct story-telling which is excellently executed in this show.
Basically the show is comprised of a series of episodes which focuses on a student and how Onizuka is going to earn
his/her trust and respect. In these scenarios, fairly detailed background is given on each character. And as the show
progresses, Onizuka wins them over either by using his talents, connections or just plain wingin' it.
One might say with the number of characters this show has that some of them will get drowned or forgotten and
there'd be no need for back-story but in my perception, the characters are so well presented you really get to know
them. The characters style and mannerisms are so life-like and vivid, anyone who's been to school could easily
relate to them. You've got geeks, b*tches, nerds, everything...
GTO is just pure action, drama, comedy all rolled into one great package. A very enthralling Human Interest-kinda story
that certainly fits well into today's world.
Just a side note though: Kikuchi isn't that damn good in Photoshop.
Rating: 8
Art
Moving on to Art, we've got Studio Pierrot responsible here.
First off, the animation is very decent. Though I do not really appreciate the transitions from cel art to CG, their
effective usage leaves me pleased. Racing scenes and car chases really impressed me. The animation in this sequences are
very well executed with cars swerving left and right then dashing forward, its just eye-catching. Also its worth
checking Onizuka's sweet moves when goes fighting. From jerky movements in humour situations to fluid animation in
racing scenes, those guys really did a swell job on this one.
Both openings sequences are the showcase of what GTO animation is. Check it out for yourself.
Then we've got Character Design, which is spot on. We've got a nice roster of well-designed characters ranging
from blondie Mama's Boy Murai to big-breasted Idol Tomoko and especially those Gundam Geeks and Onizuka himself.
They're clothing mannerisms and style all reflect their personality that really goes well with the great
story.
As for details, the boys at Pierrot actually took some time to add in some references to pop culture. I won't be
spoiling it for anyone so I suggest you watch it yourself and keep an eye out for such things.
I'd give the Art a higher score but I really do not like the CG art in this one. Yes the color are much vivid but
it detracts from the traditional style that the show is generally created with.
Rating: 6
Sound
Moving on the sound we've got VA and OST.
First off is VA or voice-acting, the Japanese VA is very good. Timings are well executed and no squeaky voiced
characters. The English dub was pathetic, the only voice acting that was good was Onizuka. Its so horrible because
nearly all the students voice actors are burnouts for badboys, dweebs for nerds, and squeaky chicks voices for the
girls. It was an excruciating experience to have to re-watch this show in English and have all the fun spoiled by such
weird noises... I'm talking about the English dub. As for the Tagalog voice cast, well they suck too. Plain and
simple. I don't really appreciate (and I guess it goes for everyone too) getting the script and having it
translated in verbatim. It just sounds way off... same goes for English dub. Too verbatim.
Now we get to the excellent part, the OST. The show starts off its first half of the series to the tune of Driver's
High by L'Arc~en~Ciel (w00t w00t). Its an upbeat song with lots riffs that'll get everybody jumpin'
before the show starts. Add to that the excellent opening animation and what a way to kick off an anime. Then we get to
second opening song which is Hitori no Yoru by Porno Graffiti. A really catchy song with a great beat and an excellent
chorus and bridge. As for the ending themes, we've got Pieces by Kirari, Shizuku by Miwako Okuda and Cherished
Memories by Hong Kong Knife all of which are rather mellow to probably give the audience an emotional close. As for the
last episode, we're treated once again to L'Arc~en~Ciel's Driver's High.
Ignoring the English dubs and other quirks, this show earns itself an 8 for great Voice Acting and an excellent OST.
I've ignored the situation music and BGM entirely as there's no need to focus on them since most of this are
used during repetitively throughout the series: Onizuka's Triumph BGM, his Hearbreak BGM, and his Car Chase BGM.
Rating: 8
Presentation
I've seen this show like 4 times and in my humble opinion, I've enjoyed it every time. Ignoring the horrors of
the non-original dubs, this show certainly makes you want to see it over again. I'm not sure... maybe its just the
great story, the non-stop comedy, or the drama... GTO really pulls you in with its bringings and makes you want
more.
Some might not be turned on by Onizuka's antics. They say its too childish, tasteless and such. If Onizuka heard
that, he'd plant those people on their heads. Yeah Onizuka likes to do the Middle
Finger Salute frequently, get drunk, and then peep on girls, but that's just him. Its his character. And
that makes him original. And I clearly believed that'd stray away from the main plot of the show.
Ok that wraps it up for this one.
Check out the other GTO Reviews.
EDIT:
WHAT!? Kick a kitten!? You suck...
Rating: 8
Final Verdict
7.6667 (good)
Reviewed by BossMac, Apr 03, 2008
