I get the feeling something’s changed…what could it be…?
So now the bell’s Onizuka’s friend? Who will he be friends with next, a rocket???
In GTO 2014′s debut episode, Onizuka managed to save Mariko from giving up on who she is so easily, and the two of them become friends.
Summary of Great Teacher Onizuka 2014 Episode 2
- Taichi Usami (Reo Sano) has ADHD, and his condition finally goes out of control in school, when he nearly injures a student with a chair. While his parents — particularly his father — try and have him transferred to a school that specializes in children with developmental disorders, Onizuka takes him out to do whatever he wants, and that opens Taichi up to do what he wants to do. In the end, he wanted to run a marathon in order to prove to his family that he can control himself if he’s alone, but he really wants to be with his family. They soon have their issues solved, and Onizuka makes another friend.
My Take
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Managing to take out a patient without being seen…GTO everybody!
- So, to get this out of the way: as the episode states at the end, this is only covering one form of ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder), and obviously cases vary from person to person, so this is nowhere close to representing everything about a person with this type of condition. Just wanted to get that out of the way.
- So how did the episode overall do? Well, it made me tear up at the end. Goddamnit GTO, why do you make me so weak?
- Taichi is the type of kid that I’m fortunate to have never met in a classroom setting: seemingly weird, unstable, and uncomfortable to be around. However, it seems that Class 2-A has a better understanding of Taichi’s issues and warts and deals with it in the best possible manner, particularly his friends Tsugumi and Nozomi. On the other end of the spectrum is his parents, who aren’t exactly sure what they want to do with him: do we send him to a developmental disorder school or do we try and train him to control his random impulses? Do we want to hide him from his brother? Do we just want to not have to deal with his acts? While it’s clear not everyone in Class 2-A can take care of him because they’re not his family, they probably would support him better and not make him clean outside like his mom did, or be called “disabled” by his father.
- All that said, was I the only one laughing when the class said they found out about Taichi getting transferred on the school website? I mean, really? REALLY?
- Also, the bullying aspect was kind of weak. Do kids actually pick up poop and try to get kids around their age to eat it? Are they stupid? Why are they picking up poop in the first place? What would possess them to do that, and then try to use it as a bullying tactic? I mean seriously, that’s just dumb.
- What I thought was kind of interesting about this episode was when Onizuka and Fujikawa started training Taichi for the marathon. The only reason why is because as I saw all those kids running for most of this episode, I thought back to the only closest thing to this was back in my high school, most of the school would walk from school to Riverside Park, go through a lengthy portion of Riverside Park, and then go back to school once or twice a year. The only thing missing was a support group from family and friends. From what I can tell, the marathon in this episode represents a showcase to your family of who you are now and how you can keep going on by yourself.
- This is why Taichi chose to run in the marathon: he had already failed this marathon multiple times as he would be distracted by something else and lose focus. This was his opportunity to prove that he can focus on the marathon, and that he can be apart from his family. Of course in the end he didn’t leave his family, but he ended up getting a stress fracture, trained hard, and while he was the last place finisher (by a lot I’ll point out because I’m cruel), he finished the race, and proved himself. He also proved to his family, in a stressful way, that they should be able to work out their problems as a family, and that shouldn’t require having them separate.
- Off topic stuff: Taichi’s father in this episode…he looks so familiar…maybe it’s just me though…I’ll let it go.
- Anyways, through two episodes of GTO 2014, it’s actually pretty interesting in how different the angle is compared to GTO 2012. Of course, GTO 2012 is a mix of the original and Shonan 14 Days, and that Class 2-A had a distrust of teachers that permeated throughout the series. For GTO 2014, it’s not quite as obvious in a sense. I mean, it was brought up in episode 1, but overall, the sense of animosity doesn’t seem to be there towards teachers. At least in this early stage. It may be a bit darker though, as the perspectives GTO 2014′s tackling (fat shaming, ADHD) is a bit more for now. I don’t know if that makes it better than 2012, but I guess since it’s providing an emotional response despite the visual aesthetic (shaky cam!!!, it’s doing a good enough job.
- Also, Fujikawa already seems to have undergone a change compared to Fuyutsuki? Though apparently she still will do some barhopping, she seems to have already changed her views on students, which it took until Episode 6 before Fuyutsuki realized how she was treating her students. Of course, different students, events, etc, but hey, was something I noticed.
- Oh btw, speaking of dark…
- Hi Vice President! You’ve been hiding a secret since Episode 1 that was briefly explored in episode 2, and apparently Episode 3 it’s gonna all come out since, from what I thought originally but I can’t read Japanese, she’s pregnant??? Whoaaaaaaa! What in the world happened? Why do I get the feeling that the President is gonna learn something bad, aside from her being pregnant? What about Miyaji and her role in this? And…and what is Onizuka fighting in the next episode? Oh dear.
Also what embarrassing thing will Onizuka do next? Find out next week!
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Justin
Justin is the founder of Organization Anti-Social Geniuses. Anime & manga fan that likes to blog about anime and manga, is addicted to sports, and weak to crossovers. You can follow Justin on Twitter @Kami_nomi.
Latest posts by Justin (see all)
- Notes of Great Teacher Onizuka 2014 Episode 2 - July 18, 2014
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- Sailor Moon Season 1 Part 1 Can Be Digitally Downloaded - July 17, 2014
- Justin’s Appearance On Just Nerds At We Are Geeking Out - July 16, 2014
- Justin’s Bizarre Anime Backlog Adventure, Week 13 - July 11, 2014
