Oh Onizuka
Against my better judgement, I’m blogging GTO 2014. To be fair, I would have blogged GTO 2012 back in the day, but it wasn’t subbed consistently, and before I knew it, I forgot about it. Then this year happened, and I started watching GTO and reading (most of) it all over again. GTO is my anti-drug. Or…something. Anyways, Crunchyroll is subbing it, thank god. I don’t think I have to worry about it not being ready in time. The only thing to worry about is if I have the chops to actually blog a goddamn drama…that’s almost an hour long.
(It may have been that long because it’s the first episode. Still long!)
Anyways, I guess I better stop whining and start writing or else I’m going to bore myself somehow.
So obnoxious this guy!
Summary of GTO 2014 Episode 1
- It’s been three months since Shonan West High School and Meishu Academy combined into Meishu Shonan High, and with the new semester starting, it’s time to introduce the gang! The director! Assistant Principal Uchiyamada! And of course, Eikichi Onizuka! As Onizuka tries to settle into assistant teaching at his former school, trouble arises when amateur model Mariko Hatano’s (Miyabi Matsuura) past as someone people considered chubby and ugly resurfaces inside Class 2-A, and if she doesn’t show up to a model contest — or does actually — everyone’s gonna know that she underwent plastic surgery. After a contentious argument with her mom, Onizuka appears and speaks to her about taking another chance and not letting her past affect her present. The next day, Mariko appears at the contest, has herself embarrassed, but explains everything to everybody there what she did to herself, how miserable she felt even when things seemed the best, and is resolved to overcome it.
I’m still trying to figure how they are there
My Take
- My first reaction was of slight disgust. Why? Because of the aesthetic. On Youtube about a week ago, I found a video where I guess AKIRA, the actor/member of EXILE, was tricked by everyone else as part of a TV program in Japan. During that video, there were cuts of the TV series, and…it had this quality to it that I can’t describe, but it’s nothing like GTO 2012. Looked to me like one of those music video kind of shots or something, but I don’t know the proper film term. Whatever the case, it seemed kind of odd and out of place to me. I’ll get used to it, probably, but I don’t know if it should be used in this series.
- The other thing that weirded me out is what you see above. Not sure it fits in this type of show. Yes, there will be fun times, but this episode showcased an amateur model attempting to frame a student by prostituting herself. Again, will probably get used to it, but the tone felt out of place.
- Also, they combined the schools?!? WHYYYYYYYYYYYYY? What possessed the staff to do such a thing? I literally gagged as soon as I heard it. Meishu Shonan High — gag!
- Other than that, it’s the same GTO format as you’d expect: some wacky moments, a troubled student who has their issues resolved by Onizuka, and then they become friends.
…Yeah, this might be too wacky
- The theme of this particular episode involved body shaming and fitting in. This is something that’s still common today as people are unable to appreciate who they and others are. Mariko was a fairly normal girl, but she was bullied because she was chubby and had an ugly face. Then, with her self-confidence wavering and her mom I think working too hard to support the two of them, they get into a fight, Mariko’s forehead gets burned by an iron, and the only way to overcome this disaster was to have plastic surgery. Was it the right decision? It probably was in this case. I don’t believe every situation can be solved this way, but there would have been a lot to overcome had Mariko transferred and still had the same body she had.
- But that was the moment she should have used to try to better herself. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case as she used this change to do terrible things to her body (like not eating) and lie to her classmates. So it’s not a surprise that when Mariko tries to get a “friend” in trouble in order to keep her away from her boyfriend, she ends up getting caught…with Onizuka…at a love hotel.
- Onizuka, how do you manage to get in these situations again?!?
At least this moment sort of takes after the original manga series
- One thing that I thought was key in the episode was when Onizuka said, “It’s okay to embarrass yourself.” Of course, that’s something we all manage to do. And honestly, you shouldn’t be attempting to embarrass yourself. Unless it’s for all the right reasons. In this case, Mariko felt like she couldn’t tell anyone of her past because she felt embarrassed, and did everything to make her current life happy, despite that ruining her relationships with everyone around her. Every Friday, ESPN’s Sportscenter program does a Not Top 10 which consists of athletes (and sometimes others) doing something so stupid and or weird that it is funny, and we laugh at it. In this episode, Mariko had her past exposed at the contest, it was clearly weird, and people laughed at her because of how she looked.
- There are obvious differences between the two things I compared, but the one thing that is true of both is that the highlight only lasts for a while, and we — and they — move on and do other, better things with their time. Mariko explained her entire situation, and not only accepted her past, but allowed others to accept her for who she is. And then, just like that, the next day comes, apologies are had, and the “embarrassment” is over and forgotten. In the end, you have to accept yourself and what comes with that, especially since there’s always a new day to change everything.
- By the way, that’s why I thought it was odd Onizuka said, “This will only last 10 minutes.” That was…specific.
- Anyways, I’m weak when it comes to GTO, so of course I thought the episode, aside from its aesthetic, was ok. I blame the fact that Onizuka was crying at the end for why it’s so low. I mean, he didn’t even cry until the graduation special…
W-wait a moment…what is that???
W-who is she?!? Why did she set up Mariko and then help her??? Find out…not 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 GTO 2014 Episode 1 - July 10, 2014
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