Anime DVD Review-GTO Vol 1

[SpikeFayeJettEdBebop 0]

Review- Great Teacher Onizuka DVD Vol. 1- The Great Teacher Onizuka

 

Okay, first off, let me tell you how I originally got into this, in my opinion, great series. Well, let me tell you, most likely, I would have to say that I go to the video store almost every weekend, so about once a week usually. ANYWAY, before I go, I usually know what few things I’m gonna rent. And usually, at least one of them is Anime. Why? Well because I like it for one. Two, each rental at the video store I go to is only $2.50 a week for even DVDs and finally, because my video store has a shitload of Anime videos/DVDs.

 

Back to what I was saying though. When I usually go, I have on my mind, somewhat, what I am going to get. So, one Saturday, I was bored and decided to take a little trip to the local video store!

 

When I got there, I went back to the Anime section to see if they had anything new. Well I looked and what did they have? Well, Devil Hunter Yohko…NAH. Robotech…NAH. Some Angel Karumi thing….NAH. Noir volumes 1 AND 2, NAH, rented those last week and I really didn’t like them much. Evangelion and Trigun were both there, including both Eva movies. Well, I own all the Evangelion series with both movies and I had already viewed ALL of Trigun.

 

Okay, now I’m about to get pissed AND disappointed with my local video store when I look up a little bit, and what do I see? I’m sure you guessed it. GTO Volumes 1-7. Now I am beginning to think I need to get my sight checked I mean DAMN, 7 DVDs all next to each other and I didn’t see them???? Well, it doesn't really matter anymore. So, I took GTO volume 1 out and looked at it.

 

Hmm, a series that I had previous heard of, and skimmed a review of it a while back. Well, the case said it was funny (wow, what a source to trust) and at first I doubted it, but it was all that was in, and it looked like it had some promise.

 

So, I rented it, and when I got home, I popped it right into the DVD player. I mean after all, I was bored and I was actually wondering if this series was actually worth it, or just another time waster.

 

Now, literally, maybe ten minutes into the first episode I realized really, what I great thing this show is. Not only, does the main character (Eikichi Onizuka) have possibly the best American voice actor doing his voice (David Lucas from Cowboy Bebop as Spike) but also, the series itself has promise. Well, it’s about a 22 year old ex-biker/gangster virgin who can’t find a job. So, he goes to get a job as a teacher. Why? Not because he wants to teach, at least not at first, but because he wants the girls. Now, this right here, I personally found funny. A 22 year old who only wants to teach high school students because he wants the girls and the younger girls are of course…..to young. On the first 4 DVDs there are 5 episodes, 25 minutes each except volume one, which has 3 normal episodes and one double length episode. Here are the episodes….

 

Lesson 1: The Legend Begins (Double Episode)

Onizuka is assigned to teach a class of juvenile delinquents. In the class, he meets the beautiful, young Nanako Mizuki. He invites her to his place, but finds out it was a plot set up by the class to blackmail him.

 

Lesson 2: Enter Uchiyamada

Onizuka decides to interview for a teaching position at the prestigious Holy Forest School. On the day of the interview, Onizuka rescues a cute young girl from the Holy Forest's vice principal Hiroshi Uchiyamada!

 

Lesson 3: Late Night Roof Diving

As a new term begins at Holy Forest, Onizuka begins his lifelong dream of running a class. Unfortunately, Onizuka learns that everybody who has taught his new class has left because of the mental stress.

 

Lesson 4: The Secret Life of Onizuka

A disturbing picture of Onizuka is going around school. Onizuka starts to worry about himself, thinking he might have multiple personalities. The truth is, his students are plotting against him

(Officially From the back of the DVD case)

 

Okay, the first thing that I realized about this series is that it is long, 43 episodes in total. The other thing is that everything is put together great. The opening scene in the first episode shows a view up a school girl’s skirt, then the view goes back and Eikichi Onizuka, our main character in ducking down at the side of an escalator looking up at them. Now, this right here tells you exactly who Onizuka is at the beginning of the show. A perverted, but light hearted guy who’s never had sex. Now, as the show goes on, Onizuka DOES change, not drastically but as time goes on he does change after his experience at the Holy Forest Academy, a private school that he’s hired at partly just to solve some of their problems. Because of Onizuka’s past, obviously, every situation he is put in, he will handle MUCH differently from the other teachers, and he does. As an example, three students take a picture of him with another student and spread it around school. So what does he do? He takes the three and dumps them in a local lake, over and over again with just about every local gang watching.

 

As I said, Onizuka used to be a gangster and not a little guy either. He was a big, well known and respected biker. This reputation has the other biker’s doing basically, whatever he wants them to do, WHENEVER he needs them. This fact is shown again in the show but does not get tiring.

 

GTO, or Great Teacher Onizuka, is a great, humorous story, and the first DVD rolls in with style, and has the same formula that makes the series so great. So, I give GTO DVD Volume 1-The Great Teacher Onizuka one of the best recommendations I can give. It is easily one of my favorite series out lately.

 

Rating:

9/10

[Guest CED Ordonez]

Honestly, I think it was a good, concise review for a first time. From what I've read, you mainly critique the content of an anime: the story, character development, etc. If anything, it's the one thing you should focus on and you did so here. However, I think adding some more of your opinions about the nuances - music, the DVD menus, the animation quality - in the review wouldn't hurt.

 

Overall, I think you did a good job in garnering interest about the anime in question.

[Guest razazteca]

Great review, but the hardcore anime fans want to know if this has orginal japanese audio and if it has subtitles.

[Guest El Psycho Diablo]

Great review, but the hardcore anime fans want to know if this has orginal japanese audio and if it has subtitles.

Most everything does now, with the exception of a few titles.

[SpikeFayeJettEdBebop 0]

Yeah thanks. Ill add that stuff next review. If its for a DVD, then I will do a thing with Languages and Menus. It actually just slipped my mind this time.