(just for the record, this is a slight alteration of my anime review)

School comedies became a trend after the success of Urusei Yatsura in the mid 80’s. Many others tried to repeat the success but none managed to get to the same heights, mostly because all that followed had less to offer. Less likable characters, less context, less things to ponder about. All that changed when GTO came to be and proved how even a school comedy can be educational and entertaining at the same time. This is the story of Onizuka, an ex-gang member who decides to become a teacher mostly to fulfil his deviant fetish of being constantly surrounded by cute schoolgirls. The plot sets it as if one can become a teacher if he can just cope with a problematic class for a while and Onizuka is more than willing to do anything it takes to succeed.

Before you read further, please try not to rationalize what is going on in the manga. It is still a comedy and despite its various takes on social problems, very few are things are practical in real life. For you see, Onizuka keeps making all sorts of unorthodox acts, such as bullying bullies with his gang and hitting on his female students, or doing really messy experiments, like rockets made of plastic bottles. All that would never pass in a real-life school but in the case of Onizuka, all it takes is for his class to get along and cope with its various problems. As long as you don’t mind this element, then GTO will be a comedy that makes movies like Dangerous Minds to feel boring.

The meat of the show is the crazy antiques of Onizuka as he tries to have fun and teach his students various life lessons. And by “teach” he doesn’t mean the textbooks. They are nothing but mostly useless theories that someone needs to learn by force just so he will get a good score. What Onizuka teaches is things that seem silly or not moral and political correct, but are otherwise far more productive and likable. He is a contrast to all the other teachers, who are nothing but uncaring workers, doing their joyless job just to get paid, full of hypocrisy at how good marks and hard study is all that matters in life.

This is of course an appeal to the target audience, anyone going to junior high or high school who witnesses how boring and not-really-helpful the educational system is. But beyond that, this is a feeling that even adults can identify with, many years after they graduate and figure out how 99% of all the stuff they wasted years to learn are now completely useless and probably forgotten entirely. As unrealistic as the plot may be in this comedy, the messages it tells us are completely true.

The manga is not sticking to just a zany teacher and a few boring co-workers. It is also focusing on various students and the problems they face in a cruel society that treats them as nothing but future workers and consumers. Each one of them has his own issues with his/her family, get bullied, turns to vandalism for fun, finds pleasure in mocking the teachers in any way possible, acts all nihilistic and violent. These are all problems most of us have experienced, personally or while looking at others, and thus the whole atmosphere of the show again feels far more real than any other manga with giant robots or teenagers with superpowers. The show is talking to you directly.

As I said, the manga is not very realistic at how Onizuka deals with such problems. In real life he would have ended up fired and imprisoned every weak for the rest of his life. The setting of the show is otherwise presenting how laws mean less than an appeal to emotions, and thus all the mischief he performs are constantly forgiven because they have a positive effect on his class. And by the end of the day we are all happy to see the students being happier and the nasty teachers or moral committee members getting all angry and incapable to punish him. It is a situation where you love the bold solution and not if it’s practical. Although it is true that sometimes all it takes to snap someone out of his misery is a simple slap or punch…

Another good thing about this manga is that there is an on-going plot amongst all the craziness. Most comedies are storyless but GTO is a fine example of a show where progress takes place and it’s affecting future events. You clearly see how in the beginning all the students are cruel towards Onizuka and try their best to ridicule him but steadily his improbable behaviour is making them to like him as he seems to care more about having fun and telling them interesting stuff about real life rather than getting paid or being afraid of some committee to sue him for some moral mishap. His supporters increase as the story goes on and eventually he is the king of the hill in his school.

Other than that, the artwork is fine for its type and there is a fair amount of fan service to keep interested even those not interested in the social drama. Thus its presentation is also great and it is not just a cool premise with lousy production values.

To close up, GTO is a cornerstone of good manga comedy. Not only it manages to be funny, but it also speaks directly to you AND packs a plot. A combination very rare to find in recent titles.