The Armchair Empire - Anime Reviews: GTO Volume 7 (DVD)


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Great Teacher Onizuka

Volume 7 (DVD)

I think I’ve put my finger on why GTO is such a good series. It’s because Onizuka has a heart of gold, has an inordinate trust in people and really cares for his students (while maintaining a level of complete wackiness). In return, fate (and luck) always put him out of harm’s way and brings him what he needs to get by, continue his teaching career and stay involved with the students in homeroom 3-4 (who need him almost as much as Onizuka needs them).

This disc sees a near-conclusion to the story arc started several discs ago.

gto volume 7 review

Lesson 28 has big-chested Toroko competing in a completely rigged beauty/model contest. Onizuka tries his best to make sure she wins. Quite a few good turns in this one. It’s also the first time I’ve noticed a difference between the original Japanese and the dubbed English. It’s not drastic but it makes one scene fall flat if it’s in English. It’s a much funnier moment if viewed with subtitles.

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Lesson 29 through 31 concentrates on one of Miyabi’s last attempts to bring down Onizuka. It’s a relatively complicated setup. There’s an annual school trip and the money is collected in cash. The entire wad of it goes missing according to Miyabi’s plan – a frame-up that sees Onizuka spend all the money without knowing where it came from. There’s a subplot directly attached to this involving Fujioshi who collected the cash in the first place. When word reaches the

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student body that Onizuka has apparently stolen the money, Onizuka makes a dramatic announcement to the assembled students (who are ready to kill him) that he’s taking everyone to Okinawa – and paying for it out of his own pocket. This stuns the teachers and Onizuka’s cadre of student followers who quickly realize that such a trip will cost more than 8 million yen. But it gets the students cheering. Now he just has to come up with the money… and part-time jobs won’t cut it.

gto volume 7 review

GTO deals with real issues, even if they’re hidden behind some oddball humor and exaggerated situations. The moral of this disc centers on Responsibility – owning up to mistakes and being true to yourself and others. The fact you’ll take that message away even while having a laugh speaks to just how well GTO’s stories are crafted. In fact, GTO should be shown in highschools! Truly, GTO will be remembered 20 years from now as a classic.

- Omni

(May 10, 2003)