Episode 32: Shonen September part 1
Disclaimer: the following review consists of material owned by Tokyopop, Tohru Fujisawa, and Studio Pierrot, the current rights owners of Great Teacher Onizuka. This review is my property and is used for satirical and commentative purposes only.
The Classic Critic sat at his desk again but this time he looked more like a school teacher for what reason nobody knew. "Hello I'm the Classic Critic; I remember it so you're not required to." He said, "Welcome to a new special I call Shonen September." Airnaruto said as a special title screen appeared with numerous characters from the Shonen genre of anime crowded around him while he was trying to hold up the sign that said Shonen September.
"This month, I'll be looking at some of the best and worst of the Shonen anime genre and seeing as how we're in September and most of the kids are back in school by now let's start it off with the ever popular GTO or Great Teacher Onizuka." Airnaruto said as the song Driver's high by L'Arc n Ciel played in the background.
History:
"GTO is a 43 episode high school, dramatic comedy series based on the first 13 or so volumes of the manga of the same name by Tohru Fujisawa that was turned into an anime series by Studio Pierrot back in 1999." Airnaruto said before the camera cut back to him. "I find it odd that it took me this long to do a Studio Pierrot licensed anime." Airnaruto said before explaining his opinion. "For those who don't know Studio Pierrot is an anime studio that started back in 1979 and was mostly known for Shojo anime but that all changed in 1992 when they debuted their Shonen opus Yu Yu Hakusho. Since then, they've produced other Shonen anime such as; Level E, both Naruto series, Bleach, Midori Days, (A/N: Yes this is a Shonen, I checked), Hyper Police, and Tokyo Underground." Airnaruto said as each shows promotional poster flashed on the screen. "Heck GTO was so popular it even had its own live-action series and live-action movie made before the anime ever came out, also the two actors from that series that played Onizuka and Fuyutsuki met on the set, fell in love and got married following the live completion of the live action series, but now I'm going off track, so let's get to the review." Airnaruto said as the plot screen appeared.
Plot:
"The plot revolves around Eikichi Onizuka, a 22 year old ex-bike gang leader who decides to make something out of himself by applying for a high school teaching job." Airnaruto said before the camera changed back to him.
"Now why would he pick teaching you ask?" Airnaruto asked, before getting cut off by one of Onizuka's old buddies.
Old buddy: Girls, girls, girls, I had a dozen before the end of last year, 20 the year before that.
Onizuka: You had them…as in biblically you had them?
Buddy: Sure with a gig like this you could end scoring high school girls until your 40.
Onizuka: I had no idea that was possible, I don't believe it (Face turns into a odd version of Munch's The Scream)
"Yeah initially he wanted to be a teacher so he could be near cute high school girls. Does that remind you of another teacher folks?" Airnaruto asked as we see an infamous clip from Azumanga Daioh.
Tomo: Question; Mr. Kimura why did you decide to become a high school teacher?
Mr. Kimura: Because I like High schools girls that's why!
"Yes I know that the Navigator already made that joke but come on anyone with half a brain would be able to compare the two." Airnaruto said trying to justify the joke.
"Anyway while on his little journey, Onizuka learns three things about himself; 1. He has a sense of morality so trying to hit on young female students is out of the question, though their strangely attractive mothers provided if the mothers in question are single are completely fair game. 2. He likes teaching and most of the time he teaches life lessons rather than the routine school work, and 3. He hates the traditional education system, especially since the teachers have become condescending, and ignorant to needs of the students, with these realizations he sets out to become the greatest teacher that Holy Forest academy…no the world has ever known using his own brand of philosophy." Airnaruto said as we see Onizuka introduce himself.
Onizuka to the student body: Hi I'm Eikichi Onizuka and I'm going to be your new homeroom teacher. I'm 22 years old and very single; my hobbies are (Realizes what the principal said about middle school students.) Huh wait a minute Middle school? I'm in charge of the middle school students?
"Tough break Eikichi, anyway Onizuka is hired as a long shot homeroom teacher to tame a class that has driven one teacher to commit suicide, one to join a cult, and another teacher to a nervous breakdown, and that's all within a year. I only have one thing to say about that." Airnaruto said before the camera cut to a certain pro wrestler.
Ron Simmons: DAMN!
The camera then cut back to Airnaruto who just nodded along with what was said; "My thoughts exactly Ron." Airnaruto said, "Bottom line the show pretty much follows the monster of the day formula or in this case problem student of the day formula; this involves Onizuka, confronting a student who's got some major issues or tries to make a jackass out of him, educate him in his own unique way, and win them over to his side." Airnaruto said as the characters block appeared.
Characters:
"Let me tell you half these kids are completely messed up. "First up is Nobarou Yoshikawa, an otaku who's constantly bullied by Anko and her friends to the point that attempts to commit suicide. Thankfully Onizuka saves him, becomes his best friend, teaches him the importance of self confidence and being able to stand up to bullies." Airnaruto said as we see Onizuka and Yoshikawa get their revenge on the trio of bitches.
(Spank!)
Onizuka: Bad girls deserved to get spanked.
The camera panned back to Airnaruto "Let them have it Eikichi." He said as he held up his arms in defense. "Now don't get me wrong I'm no pervert but I can't stand bullies even if the bully is a female I'm not gonna be pushover, I would rather shove that bitch's head into a hippo's ass while it muck spreads. That's when a hippo does number 2 but rather than allow the shit to fall from it's anus, it sticks it's tail against it's ass crack, and starts waving it back and forth shredding the shit all over the place. Sorry about that, moving on." Airnaruto said.
"Next is Kikuchi who's the tech prodigy in the class and one of the first students to give Onizuka any trouble by photo shopping certain naughty photos of him to drive him nuts." Airnaruto said showing one scene of Onizuka finding one photo and having a nervous breakdown.
Onizuka: (Repeatedly) I can't take it!
"However when Onizuka finds out who's behind it he gets Kikuchi to his side in a manner I will not mention but either way, he eventually becomes one Onizuka's strongest allies throughout the series." Airnaruto said as he looked at the next male character.
"Finally of the male student cast, there's Kunio Murai who leads a trio of students initially hell bent on getting rid of Onizuka and it only gets worse when Onizuka finds out that Murai's mother is only 27. Murai is very overprotective of his mother and tries everything in his power to keep her and Onizuka from getting together however; Onizuka eventually wins Murai over and shows that he's not that bad of a guy, but that still doesn't mean that Murai will let Onizuka anywhere near his mom." Airnaruto said moving on to the next character while putting a blindfold around his eyes.
"Next up is Tomoko an overly naïve girl with a massive rack and she often gets picked on because of these flaws." Airnaruto said before the camera panned back to him. "Does this explain why I'm wearing the blind fold to anyone now?" He asked the audience who nodded in response. "Anyway like with Nobarou, Onizuka helps her with her self confidence and turns her into a teen idol, model, and actress." Airnaruto said before putting his hand on the knot of his blindfold.
"Is she gone?" He asked JC his cameraman.
"Yes she's gone." JC replied allowing Airnaruto to remove his blindfold.
"Oh good, moving on, Urumi is a child prodigy who is also a heterochromatic, and probably the daughter of an American sperm-donor and she by far is among the worst of the problem kids Onizuka has to deal with." Airnaruto said before showing scenes of Urumi causing collateral damage to the school, like blowing up the science lab, detonating smoke bombs in the schools, and having poisonous snakes bite Onizuka in the stick…twice.
(Onizuka looks down and sees a king cobra injecting venom into his crotch)
Onizuka (Screaming): AAH! GET IT OFF! GET IT OFF! GET IT OFF!
"Anyway after one of her teachers had exposed her secret to the class when she was younger, Urumi believed that her trauma justified her behavior." Airnaruto said before the camera cut back to him. "I hate to tell you this you little bitch, yeah you may have had a traumatic life being the kid of a sperm donor but that doesn't justify any of the shit you did to not just the teachers but to your fellow students." Airnaruto responded before getting back on track. "Anyway Onizuka teachers her that while life can be a bitch, you have smile and keep moving forward because if you keep living in the past you'll be hurting others as well as yourself. Urumi also ends up falling in love with Onizuka which I'm sure is unrequited seeing as how that was something Onizuka was trying to avoid." Airnaruto said.
"Finally there's Miyabi the most popular girl in school and a major league load of bitch." Airnaruto said. "She's the one who started the class down the path of terrorizing the teachers because of some her own problems at home and at school that often revolve around something that the teachers did that caused the students to lose their faith in the teachers and adults in general." Airnaruto said before the camera cut back to him. "All in all most of the cast is relatable, with a few exceptions that can be real pains in the ass but still it's a good cast." Airnaruto said before getting to the animation.
Animation:
"As you probably would have guessed this anime hasn't really aged all that well over the past 12 years since it's debut but for it's age GTO's animation is pretty fluid, well paced, and well detailed for it's time." Airnaruto said before moving on to Voice acting.
Sub vs. Dub:
"I've only watched the show in English but from what I've heard the Japanese dub is performed very well, even if it gets a little over the top, where as by contrast the English dub has the whole so bad it's good thing going for it. In this case nearly half the characters had to be voiced by either; Steve Blum, Wendee Lee, or Kirk Thorton though others like; Phillece Sampler, Michelle Ruff, Tony Oliver, Lara Jill Miller, Richard Epcar, Dorothy Elias-Fahn, and the late Bob Papenbrook all lend their talents to show and do a pretty good job with it." Airnaruto said before wrapping the review up.
Music:
"The music for the show is also pretty good combing, electric guitar, saxophone, keyboard, and few other instruments to give it that upbeat and sometimes wacky beat and style that makes this show so funny." Airnaruto said.
Final Thoughts
"Overall while Great Teacher Onizuka, isn't your traditional inspiring teacher story, it does have a solid cast of characters, an good story, a nice social commentary on the harshness of Japanese school systems, and has just enough of the moments that will make you laugh out loud or bing a tear to your eye. However I do have some complaints, two to be exact; first off, some the fan and man service moments, I know that Onizuka's method of teaching is unorthodox but that doesn't mean we have to see photo shopped elderly man service photos, or girls getting spanked while tied to there lockers, or a kid stripping himself to show bruises and cuts. The second complaint is with some of the sexual innuendos, why put some of them in like Onizuka getting his little buddy bitten by venomous snakes twice, or have him come in dressed with an elephant head barrel over his torso, etc.?" Airnaruto asked. "However if you look past that GTO is one high school experience you wish you had gone through, I give GTO 4 stars out of 5." Airnaruto said.
"Well folks that's it for now tune in next week when I take a look at one the current big three in Shonen, but until then I'm the Classic Critic; I remember it so you're not required to." He said before leaving his desk while humming Driver's High.
Final Analysis:
Pros: Good story
Likeable cast for the most par
Strong social commentary on the strictness of Japanese school systems
The Jokes are funny though a little suggestive
The Japanese voice cast is done well
Kick ass first opening theme.
English dub has the whole so bad it's good scenario going for it.
Cons:
Animation is dated
Three people carry the bulk of the dub voices
Certain portions of fan/man service could have been left out
Final rating: **** out 5
Read and review folks!