Reviewed by: Elizabeth McMurray
Ratings:
Genres: Comedy, Drama, School life
Year: 2000
Series Length: 43

Eikichi Onizuka was your typical perverted street fighting motorcycle punk with miraculous ability to fight and just keep on fighting being both incredibly strong and incredibly perverted.

But what exactly happens when that punk grows up and needs to join the workforce?

Why he becomes the perfect role model and turns into a teacher of course!

Or not so much on the perfect part.

Holy Forest Academy Faculty is a school with a problem. The students don't care, are causing problems - to the point where they have a game to see how long it takes to get their homeroom teacher to quit. Most of the students feel incredibly abused based upon their experiences with teachers in the past. The principle knows that something must be done, and decides to attempt an unorthodox means of doing so.

She hires Onizuka.

Amazingly enough throughout the course of the series; this actually works, leading to some moving and hilarious moments.

The main theme of Onizuka is breaking down barriers and getting teacher and students to work and bond together; sometimes in a moving way. Sometimes in an incredibly silly way. Onizuka succeeds at this, with his persistence, never give up attitude, and the way that he goes the extra mile for his students. His students in turn are all convinced that he is the biggest idiot ever, but are gradually won over by the way that he is so genuine with them and stick strongly by his side - returning the favour by getting himself out of some of the messy situations he gets himself into.

GTO is a slapstick, fanservice heavy series - with a lot of heavy violence and panty spotting that makes this a series very inappropriate for a younger audience and also; that it's really just not for everyone.

But for what it is worth; I wasn't expecting to enjoy it, but I did, because when it's funny, it's really funny.

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