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GTO
Vol.1/2002
Publisher: Tokyopop
Writer: Tohru Fujisawa
Artist: Tohru Fujisawa
Translator: Dan Papia
Price: $9.99 US/R135.00 SA
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Tokyopop brings another great manga title to the table with the
strange and humorous tales of ex-gangster come teacher, Eicheko
Onizuka!
When you’re an ex-motorcycle gang member
with an eighties punk hairstyle and your biggest achievement is
looking up high school girls skirts as they climb the local malls
escalator, the last thing on your mind is becoming a teacher. But
when there’s no other work around and Eicheko Onizuka finds
himself desperate for an easy job, the chance of scoring high school
girls and getting paid for it seems too sweet to turn down.
The strength of this book is most definitely in the writing and
within that the slapstick side-splitting humour that Fujisawa brings
into the story. First off this is a great premise for a story, rebel
biker becomes authoritative teacher. We meet Onizuka in
this volume as the misguided rebel and see how he slowly develops
into his new ‘reformed’ image as a teacher.
Of course he’s expecting an easy time as the head of the class,
but when he’s put in charge of Class 0, full of blackmailing
bastard-child gangster type kids, much like himself, he’s
forced to employ somewhat liberal techniques in order to enforce
his teaching ideals. It’s him vs. the kids
and it’s a no holds barred battle to see who can outdo who.
Cliff notes and tips from the writer help the humour tremendously
and in fact act as its main vehicle, pointing out things in the
visuals to add a great slapstick feel to the comedy. In amongst
all the hilarity there is a strange hidden depth
to this book that makes it all the more enduring. A point is made
via Nanako’s story that capitalism and the pursuit of wealth
can destroy the very things we love and cherish within our families.
It’s this added depth mixed with the humour which makes this
manga more than a simple funny book.
It’s great fun and like many manga manages to cover a topic
most Western fans won’t see in other mainstream comics. It’s
entertaining trying to think in which unorthodox manner Onizuka
will try to solve his next problem and at the same time how much
trouble he can cause as the rebel come teacher.
Score 8/10
Reviewed By:Iain Duncan
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Comic Reviews
