Onizuka kicks conformity to the curb by helping students in his own ways, even disregarding the legality of the procedure, so long as it gets the job done. The show systematically follows this formula by dedicating arcs to different students, each typically surfacing familiar problems that require unorthodox solutions, and Onizuka excels at that, remaining humorous throughout. His techniques are especially perverse and crude, initially repugnant to everyone, yet capable of developing trust over time due to his considerate intentions. Few arcs, however, aren’t consistently engaging and meaningful, either restating previous difficulties or simply not providing enough motive for the characters. It suffers from pacing issues here and there, most notably in the last arc, which ends the show in an unsatisfying manner. But despite these problems, GTO manages to sufficiently shed light on the challenges faced by both teachers and students and proposes ways to repair the system, the major one being mutual trust and concern. Onizuka breaks the notion of an inspiring teacher being a prim and proper one; perhaps the best guide is one equally as imperfect as us.
