Customer Reviews

GTO: Great Teacher Onizuka - Vol. 2: The Bully

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Five episodes in the continuing saga of Onizuka, ex-biker turned teacher. In this volume, Onizuka goes up against the PTA; trashes the Vice Principal's car -- again; learns that mothers can still be babes; and teaches the PE teacher that muscles don't necessarily equate to might. As in the first volume, the animation style is slightly erratic, moving between the graceful "classical" anime that most anime fans are accustomed to, and a more urban "ugly" style that exaggerates in moments of stress. While it might be a little jarring to first-time viewers of the series initially, I promise that the style will start to make sense, particularly considering the protagonist's personality. I only watched the Japanese/English-subtitled version, so I'm unequipped to review sound quality in the English version.

The real draw in this anime is the characters themselves, the complicated relationships that move and motivate them, and Onizuka's decidedly unique ways of dealing with people. American viewers may well eye his actions and his students' behavior askance; in the US, Onizuka or the students would have been in front of a judge halfway through the first episode. I can assure you that in the students' bullying at least, this is par for the course in Japan. Given that, I found myself entertained and equivocally pleased by Onizuka's concepts of discipline, and watched with fascination to see how things would turn out.

All characters, even Onizuka's self-proclaimed nemesis the Vice Principal, have three-dimensional characters and complicated motivations. The storylines are interesting, the writing is excellent, the anime is pretty good, and the subtitling seemed fairly good. All in all, an anime that I would heartily recommend.

Childwatch: adult themes, some violence. Also, watching what the kids did to each other left me feeling disturbed. Sensitive parents might want to beware, but it could be a good opportunity to talk to children about bullying and "pack" mentality.

so far this vol. is my favorite. its very funny and i can watch it over and over again. it pokes fun at other animes such as doraemon and fist of the north star. I just love this show.

GTO (based on the popular comic, and inspired the drama series) is about an ex-gangster who becomes a teacher. He has little clue what a teacher does and he teaches things in a unique way. He knows how to handle anyone thats why the prinicple hired Onizuka. I'd rate this a PG-13 series because there's violence, some sexuality, and profanity. If you've never watched GTO then You're missing out on alot!