A Look into GTO

I read a manga online that was fun to see progress and is quite heartwarming. Though slightly perverted and vulgar, I learned a lot about life because the conflicts that arise are from highschool students our age. I remember seeing this at the school library in the manga and comics section so maybe some people can read it when we get back in person!

GTO which stands for Great Teacher Onizuka is a story about a young man named Onizuka, a former gang member, and his journey and experiences of becoming a teacher. Despite being held back by his unusual lifestyle and immature personality, he is determined to become a teacher. During his time in high school, he was a legendary gangster known for his fighting skills but moved on to become a teacher. Inspired by his teachers, who made school strict and all about education, he aspires to be a teacher that won’t put education as the only priority and help students enjoy school and fix their internal problems.

Onizuka as a character works well with his setting in a 90s Japanese high school classroom. He likes the stereotypical stuff a guy in the 90s would like and acts without boundaries. Furthermore, he acts like a kid who can relate to his students and loves having fun. He is vulgar and carefree but also hardworking and determined. In my opinion, it is more fun to have a flawed main character in a story like this versus one perfect being like superman. Adding on, I consider him to almost be an anti-hero type of person. He often gets into trouble for being rowdy and having too much fun, but when the situation calls for it, he is serious and his good intentions show. When presented with a problem, he will do whatever it takes to resolve it.

His story is well known for the life lessons he teaches his students which the school ironically cannot teach. The schools in the story are portrayed almost like the antagonists, as students are shown to be unhappy and too focused on academics even though school is promised to be a learning ground for all areas in life that is supposed to be fun. When Onizuka teaches, he goes to the greatest lengths to help his students’ internal problems including suicide, family troubles, depression, low grades, and pretty much any problem a student could realistically run into.

His relationships with his students stand out as one of friendship and learning rather than just teaching. I really fell in love with this story because it was the first that I’ve seen that explored these kinds of relationships and lessons. Though unrealistic and far fetched, it was a simple story yet very fun to see that was a good break from all the realistic books I have been reading.

Jaewoon