GTO: Great Teacher Onizuka

 

I thought I'd take some time off from political ranting to talk about one of the benefits of this pandemic, which is my older son exposing me to and teaching me the pleasure of anime.

 

I have already written a little bit about One Piece in here, now I'll talk a bit about Great Teacher Onizuka. It's a show that ran from 1999-2000 and focuses on 22-year-old Eikichi Onizuka. Onizuka is a bleach-blond former gang member who is trying to get on the straight-and-narrow by becoming a middle school teacher at an elite private school. The trouble is Onizuka is preternaturally incapable of being anywhere near the straight-and-narrow. Much of the bizarre humor of the show derives from Onizuka being a 22-year-old horn dog virgin (yes, virgin!) with, shall we say, "unorthodox" methods of dealing with his students.

 

The humor of the show is often cringe worthy, since Onizuka is attracted to the female students he is supposed to be teaching. (In my recent manga/anime education, I have discovered that this is a common trope). If this makes it a bit more acceptable (and less gross), Onizuka's predilection towards the girls is not portrayed as cool, and in fact usually gets Onizuka in comically ridiculous trouble.

 

The show is a comedy with occasional dark edges. Much humor is derived from Onizuka attending a third-rate college, his overly familiar relationships (but NOT sexual, even though the show consistently pokes the boundaries of good taste without going over the edge) with his students, and the hard-assed assistant principal who can't stand Onizuka and constantly threatens to fire him. Despite Onizuka's unconventional approach to education, he manages to get enough positive results to gain respect from the students and keep his job at the school.

 

I am not saying anything you can't learn from the Great Teacher Onizuka Wikipedia entry, so let me just say that I enjoy this show. Sure, some of the humor leaves me thinking, "Oh did he actually DO that!? Should I REALLY be laughing at that?!" The humor is just so outlandish, though, that I enjoy it. I have also grown to appreciate the exaggerated, surrealistic facial expressions that anime characters have when they are anguished. When Onizuka (or really, any character) is angry, his eyes become bloodshot and his mouth twists into a grimace.

 

I won't pretend to know everything (or anything) about Japanese culture, but the show strikes me as commentary on class differences and the intense competitiveness of Japanese schools. (The horror of Japanese schools is also a common trope of anime/manga).

 

The opening credits of Great Teacher Onizuka are outstanding. The first shot is of a toilet flushing and the sound of a motorcycle revving up. Everything is in black and white. After the toilet flushes, a tipsy and probably hungover and nude Onizuka teeters out of his bathroom, cigarette dangling from his mouth. The next shots are of a cocky looking Onizuka sauntering down the street while shaking a can of spray paint. We later see him standing next to a tag he sprayed with a pile of paint cans on the sidewalk. Later, he is seen painting a bull's eye on his stomach and then shoots his reflection in a mirror. In a minute and a half, Onizuka's character is presented to the viewer: cocky and a just a little arrogant, prone to over indulgence, but also with more than a tinge of self-loathing.

 

Great Teacher Onizuka is a fascinating show, and if you have any interest in anime, check it out.