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Avatar:The Last Airbender

July 15, 2008 by rainbowdream

REVIEW

Avatar: The Last Airbender takes place in a fantasy world, home to humans, fantastic animals, and supernatural spirits. Human civilization is divided into four nations: the Water Tribes, the Earth Kingdom, the Air Nomads, and the Fire Nation. Each nation has its own natural element, on which it bases its society. The Water Tribes base their society on water, the Earth Kingdom on earth, the Air Nomads on air, and the Fire Nation on fire. Within each nation exists an order called “Benders”, who have the ability to manipulate the element of their nation. The show’s creators assigned each Bending art its own style of martial arts; each Bending art inherited the advantages and weaknesses of the martial arts it was assigned. The Bending types are Waterbending, Earthbending, Firebending, and Airbending.

Each generation yields one person who is capable of Bending all four elements. This being is referred to as the Avatar, the spirit of the planet manifested in human form. When an Avatar dies, they are reincarnated into the next nation in the Avatar Cycle. The Avatar Cycle parallels the seasons: winter for The Water Tribes, spring for the Earth Kingdom, summer for the Fire Nation, and autumn for the Air Nomad. Legend holds the Avatar must master each bending art in order, starting with their native element. This can sometimes be compromised when the situation requires it, as Aang demonstrates in the show. For the Avatar, learning to bend the element opposite their native element can be extremely difficult. This is because opposing Bending arts are based on opposing fighting styles and disciplines. Firebending and Waterbending are opposites, as are Earthbending and Airbending.

The Avatar possesses a unique power called the Avatar State. It empowers the Avatar with the knowledge and abilities of all past Avatars, and is used as a defense mechanism. When an Avatar enters the Avatar state, their eyes and tattoos begin to glow. If an Avatar is killed in the Avatar State, the reincarnation cycle will be broken, and the Avatar cycle will end.

Through the ages, countless incarnations of Avatar have served to keep the four nations in harmony, and maintain world order. The Avatar serves as the bridge between the physical world and the Spirit World, allowing him or her to solve problems that normal benders cannot.

Episodes

Book One: Water (2005)

# Title Director Writer Original Release Date Production code
0 “Unaired Pilot (Not Part of continuity)”  Michael Dante DiMartino, Bryan Konietzko Michael Dante DiMartino, Bryan Konietzko N/A 0
Sokka and his sister Kya must travel the world to find masters for Aang, who is the Avatar. However, they must evade a critical foe, Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation, who wants to capture Aang. 
1 “The Boy in the Iceberg”  Dave Filoni Michael Dante DiMartino, Bryan Konietzko February 21, 2005 101
Sokka and Katara, teenage siblings living in the South Pole, discover Aang and his pet flying bison, Appa, trapped in an iceberg. After Katara accidentally frees him, Aang learns that he is the last surviving Airbender. Meanwhile, his unfreezing attracts Zuko, a disowned Fire Nation prince. 
2 “The Avatar Returns”  Dave Filoni Michael Dante DiMartino, Bryan Konietzko February 21, 2005 102
Prince Zuko attacks the Southern Water Tribe seeking to capture the Avatar, Aang. Katara and Sokka fly in on Appa to save Aang from the Fire Nation. 
3 “The Southern Air Temple”  Lauren MacMullan Michael Dante DiMartino February 25, 2005 103
While journeying to the North Pole, Aang, Sokka and Katara explore Aang’s former home, the Southern Air Temple. Aang learns of his people’s genocide at the hands of the Fire Nation; his anger triggers his Avatar State, which in turn alerts the world that the Avatar has returned. Meanwhile, Zuko and his uncle, Iroh, have their ship repaired at a Fire Nation port commanded by a rival, Commander Zhao. 
4 “The Warriors of Kyoshi”  Giancarlo Volpe Nick Malis March 4, 2005 104
As Aang and his friends begin crossing the expansive Earth Kingdom, they are captured by the female warriors of Kyoshi Island. Sokka is trained by the Kyoshi Warriors while Aang lets the villagers’ reverence go to his head. 
5 “The King of Omashu”  Anthony Lioi John O’Bryan March 18, 2005 105
While in Omashu, Aang and the gang accidentally destroy parts of the city on a joyride. The King of Omashu challenges Aang to three tasks that require creative thinking before allowing Aang and his friends to leave the city. 
6 “Imprisoned”  Dave Filoni Matthew Hubbard March 25, 2005 106
Aang, Katara, and Sokka camp at a small Earth Kingdom town where all the town’s Earthbenders are enslaved by the Fire Nation. Katara accidentally gets an Earthbender, Haru, arrested; in her guilt, she tricks the Fire Nation into arresting her so that she can help to free the Earthbenders from the inside. 
7 “The Spirit World (Winter Solstice, Part 1)”  Lauren MacMullan Aaron Ehasz April 8, 2005 107
The gang find themselves in a small Earth Kingdom village under attack by a Spirit World monster. Aang attempts to stop the monster from destroying the town but is accidentally transported into and trapped within the Spirit World. Meanwhile, Iroh gets captured by a group of Earth Kingdom soldiers and Zuko must track him down. 
8 “Avatar Roku (Winter Solstice, Part 2)”  Giancarlo Volpe Michael Dante DiMartino April 15, 2005 108
Aang must travel to the Fire Temple, while battling Zuko and Zhao, to receive a message from Avatar Roku. He soon finds that even the once loyal sages of the Avatar are against him. 
9 “The Waterbending Scroll”  Anthony Lioi John O’Bryan April 29, 2005 109
Katara steals a Waterbending scroll from a band of pirates and begins to teach Aang waterbending before they reach the North Pole. Zuko and Iroh learn that the pirates were robbed by the Avatar and team up with them in order to capture Aang. 
10 “Jet”  Dave Filoni James Eagan May 6, 2005 110
A band of guerrilla fighters, led by the rogue Jet, rescue Aang, Katara, and Sokka from a small group of Fire Nation soldiers. The Freedom Fighters request their help to rid the neighboring town of the Fire Nation, but Sokka soon grows suspicious of Jet’s true intentions. 
11 “The Great Divide”  Giancarlo Volpe John O’Bryan May 20, 2005 111
While crossing a canyon on foot, Aang has to mediate between two tribes, the Zhangs and the Gan-Jins, who have been feuding for almost 100 years. After sending Appa to the other side with the sick and elderly, they are all trapped in the canyon when their Earthbender guide’s arms are broken. 
12 “The Storm”  Lauren MacMullan Aaron Ehasz June 3, 2005 112
While a storm approeaches, Aang tells Katara why he ran away from the Air temple 100 years ago. Meanwhile on Zuko’s ship, Iroh tells the crew the tale of how the prince received his scar and was banished from the Fire Nation. 
13 “The Blue Spirit”  Dave Filoni Michael Dante DiMartino, Bryan Konietzko June 17, 2005 113
Aang must travel to an herbalist to retrieve a cure for the ill Sokka and Katara. While returning to his friends, he is attacked and captured by the Yu Yan Archers, sent after him by the newly promoted Admiral Zhao. A mysterious masked swordsman assists Aang in escaping his imprisonment. 
14 “The Fortuneteller”  Dave Filoni Aaron Ehasz, John O’Bryan September 23, 2005 114
Katara convinces Sokka and Aang to go to a village after hearing of a fortuneteller named Aunt Wu. Aang and Katara become excited when the fortuneteller predicts their love-lives. Sokka, however, doubts Aunt Wu’s predictions and tries to convince the villagers not to believe them blindly. 
15 “Bato of the Water Tribe”  Giancarlo Volpe Ian Wilcox October 7, 2005 115
Sokka and Katara meet Bato, a warrior from the Southern Water Tribe, at an abbey. When Aang overhears that Sokka and Katara are excited over the prospect of reuniting with their father, he hides a map leading to their father’s location. Meanwhile, Zuko, using Katara’s necklace, hires a bounty hunter named Jun to track down Aang. 
16 “The Deserter”  Lauren MacMullan Tim Hedrick October 21, 2005 116
After being chased out of a Fire Nation festival, Aang, Sokka, and Katara encounter a group of Fire Nation deserters, led by Firebending master and ex-general Jeong Jeong. After realizing that this could be his only chance to learn Firebending, Aang- with the help of Avatar Roku’s spirit- convinces Jeong Jeong to teach him Firebending. Meanwhile, Admiral Zhao continues his chase for the Avatar. 
17 “The Northern Air Temple”  Dave Filoni Elizabeth Welch Ehasz November 4, 2005 117
After hearing tales that people with the ability to fly are inhabiting the Northern Air Temple, Aang and the crew travel there, eager to meet Airbenders. However, they instead find a misplaced tribe of Earth Kingdom natives, who, much to Aang’s disappointment, have renovated much of the temple. 
18 “The Waterbending Master”  Giancarlo Volpe Michael Dante DiMartino November 18, 2005 118
Finally reaching the North Pole, Aang finds a Waterbending Master. However, the Master refuses to teach Katara because she is a girl. Meanwhile, Sokka spends time with Yue, Princess of the Northern Water Tribe. Admiral Zhao hires the pirates (from The Waterbending Scroll) to assassinate Zuko while he prepares a massive fleet to invade the North Pole. 
19 “The Siege of the North, Part I”  Lauren MacMullan John O’Bryan December 2, 2005 119
The Northern Water Tribe braces against the attack by the Fire Nation. Meanwhile, Zuko sneaks into the North Pole to capture the Avatar. Aang, realizing that the Water Tribe cannot defeat Zhao’s fleet alone, decides to visit the Spirit World to get help from the Moon and Ocean spirits. 
20 “The Siege of the North, Part II”  Dave Filoni Aaron Ehasz December 2, 2005 120
Sokka, Katara and Yue follow Zuko to save Aang. In the Spirit World, Aang learns the identities of the Moon and Ocean spirits, and that they are in danger. As Aang returns to the real world, he is saved by Katara. Meanwhile, Zhao succeeds in capturing the Moon Spirit, the source of all Waterbending. 

Book Two: Earth (2006)

# Title Director Writer Original Release Date Production code
21 “The Avatar State”  Giancarlo Volpe Aaron Ehasz, Elizabeth Welch Ehasz, Tim Hedrick, John O’Bryan March 17, 2006 201
After leaving the North Pole, Aang and the group travel to an Earth Kingdom military base to receive an escort to Omashu, so Aang can learn Earthbending from King Bumi. The general there reveals a surprising plan, suggesting that Aang trigger the Avatar State to defeat the Fire Lord immediately. Meanwhile, Zuko’s sister Azula says that the Fire Lord will pardon both him and Iroh if they return home with her. 
22 “The Cave of Two Lovers”  Lauren MacMullan Joshua Hamilton March 24, 2006 202
While on the way to Omashu, Aang and the crew meet a group of traveling bards, who take them through a vast tunnel known as “The Cave of Two Lovers”. In the cave, Aang, Katara, and Appa become separated from Sokka and the bards. Elsewhere, Zuko and Iroh are sheltered by kind people after Iroh “accidentally” drinks the tea from a poisonous plant. Song, a young and compassionate healer, shows Zuko the effects of war from a normal citizen’s perspective. 
23 “Return to Omashu”  Ethan Spaulding Elizabeth Welch Ehasz April 7, 2006 203
Aang and the crew are shocked to find Omashu captured by the Fire Nation. They sneak in and are caught by Fire Nation soldiers, but released when pox marks on Sokka create the illusion of an illness. They then meet the resistance and allow the whole city to escape by creating a fake epidemic with the same pox marks. While they are leaving, the Governor of Omashu’s son, TomTom, accidentally leaves with the Earthbenders who are willing to trade him for King Bumi. 
24 “The Swamp”  Giancarlo Volpe Tim Hedrick April 14, 2006 204
While flying over a swamp, Aang, Katara, Sokka, and Appa get separated by a tornado. After landing on the swamp, Appa and Momo are captured. Meanwhile, Sokka sees visions of Princess Yue, Katara sees visions of her mother, and Aang sees visions of an unknown girl. Elsewhere, Zuko steals food for himself and Iroh. 
25 “Avatar Day”  Lauren MacMullan John O’Bryan April 28, 2006 205
After getting attacked by a band of Fire Nation soldiers, the gang stumbles upon a town celebrating Avatar Day. However, they find out that this is an “Anti-Avatar” celebration, and Aang is arrested for killing Chin the Great in a past life. Sokka and Katara go to Kyoshi Island to find clues to prove Aang’s innocence. 
26 “The Blind Bandit”  Ethan Spaulding Michael Dante DiMartino May 5, 2006 206
Still looking for an Earthbending master, Aang and the crew stumble upon an Earthbending tournament. While there, they see the blind master Earthbender Toph, a girl whom Aang saw as a vision in The Swamp. Aang challenges her and easily defeats her with Airbending, but she refuses to teach him Earthbending. Both Aang and Toph are captured by the owner of the Earthbending Tournament. 
27 “Zuko Alone”  Lauren MacMullan Elizabeth Welch Ehasz May 12, 2006 207
After leaving his uncle, Zuko continues his solo journey. He meets a boy in an Earth Kingdom town who brings him home to dinner. While this happens, Zuko has flashbacks about his life before banishment, such as his loving mother and cruel sister, Azula. 
28 “The Chase”  Giancarlo Volpe Joshua Hamilton May 26, 2006 208
Aang, Katara, Sokka and Toph are chased by an unknown machine, which prevents them from stopping to sleep. After Toph and Katara keep arguing, Toph leaves and runs into Iroh, who is tracking down Zuko. After cleaning Appa so his fur doesn’t leave a trail, Aang goes one way as a decoy and Sokka and Katara go another direction on Appa. 
29 “Bitter Work”  Ethan Spaulding Aaron Ehasz June 2, 2006 209
Aang tries to learn Earthbending from Toph, which he finds very difficult as it is antithetical to his Airbender experience. Sokka is stuck in a hole after trying to hunt an animal. Elsewhere, Iroh teaches Zuko how to re-direct lightning so he will be better able to fight Azula. 
30 “The Library”  Giancarlo Volpe John O’Bryan July 14, 2006 210
A professor tells the gang about a Spirit Library full of information, hidden in the desert. Sokka decides to find the desert library in hopes of finding secrets and weaknesses about the Fire Nation. When the group gets to the library, they find that much of the information on the Fire Nation has been destroyed, but they still find crucial information about firebenders that could possibly end the war. 
31 “The Desert”  Lauren MacMullan Tim Hedrick July 14, 2006 211
Since Appa was captured, the gang walks across the desert to tell the king of Ba Sing Se about the Fire Nation’s secret. Aang is angry and sad over Appa’s capture. Elsewhere, a secret society helps protect Iroh and Zuko from the Fire Nation and bounty hunters. 
32 “The Serpent’s Pass”  Ethan Spaulding Michael Dante DiMartino, Joshua Hamilton September 15, 2006 212
After leaving the desert, the group and Suki attempt to lead a couple who are expecting through the dangerous Serpent’s Pass. While Zuko and Iroh are on the ferry to Ba Sing Se, they meet Jet, who is trying to turn his life around. Jet takes an instant liking to Zuko and asks if he wants to join him and his Freedom Fighters. 
33 “The Drill”  Giancarlo Volpe Michael Dante DiMartino, Bryan Konietzko September 15, 2006 213
Aang discovers a secret Fire Nation super weapon heading straight for Ba Sing Se and must stop it before it destroys the great wall that protects the city from invasion. Meanwhile, Jet wishes to recruit Zuko for his Freedom Fighters, but learns a dangerous secret about him instead. 
34 “City of Walls and Secrets”  Lauren MacMullan Tim Hedrick September 22, 2006 214
Aang and the kids finally arrive in the Earth Kingdom’s capital, Ba Sing Se, to tell the Earth King about the opportunity the coming eclipse offers to attack the Fire Nation, only to be stopped by mysterious forces within the city. Meanwhile, Jet tries to prove that Zuko and Iroh, supposedly simple refugees, are actually Firebenders. 
35 “Tales of Ba Sing Se”  Ethan Spaulding Aaron Ehasz September 29, 2006 215
Katara and Toph have a girls’ day out. Iroh helps out people in town. Aang helps a zookeeper build a new zoo. Sokka accidentally ends up in a poetry club. Zuko goes out on a date. Momo looks through Ba Sing Se for Appa. The end of Iroh’s tale features a dedication to Mako, the late actor who did the voice of Iroh for seasons 1 and 2. 
36 “Appa’s Lost Days”  Giancarlo Volpe Elizabeth Welch Ehasz October 12, 2006 216
This episode starts during the events of “The Library” and shows Appa’s abduction and his various adventures over the next few weeks. These include performing in a Fire Nation circus, revisiting the former site of Wan Shi Tong’s library, fleeing a startled farmer, and fighting with a porcupine boar. Suki and her fellow warriors from Kyoshi Island help him recover from his injuries, then the group is also attacked. He flees to the Eastern Air Temple, where a mysterious guru provides him with aid on his search. 
37 “Lake Laogai”  Lauren MacMullan Tim Hedrick November 3, 2006 217
The gang continues looking for Appa, so Long Feng tries to throw them off by sending Jet to make them leave the city. They meet up with Longshot and Smellerbee and realize Jet was brainwashed. Elsewhere, Zuko discovers that Aang is in the city and begins his own search for Appa. 
38 “The Earth King”  Ethan Spaulding John O’Bryan November 16, 2006 218
The gang breaks into the Earth King’s palace to talk to him about the war, Long Feng, and the Dai Li. At their new house, Zuko falls spiritually ill as his latest action has set a different course for his future. 
39 “The Guru“  Giancarlo Volpe Michael Dante DiMartino, Bryan Konietzko December 1, 2006 219
Aang starts to learn control of the Avatar State from Guru Pathik at the Eastern Air Temple. Sokka is reunited with his father. Toph teaches herself “metalbending” while Xin Fu and Master Yu are transporting Toph back to her parents. Katara and the generals plan the invasion of the Fire Nation. Later, she sees Zuko and Iroh running their tea shop. Suprised, she tells this to the “Kyoshi Warrior” who is actually Azula in disguise. 
40 “The Crossroads of Destiny”  Michael Dante DiMartino Aaron Ehasz December 1, 2006 220
A coup is staged in Ba Sing Se by Azula and the Dai Li now under her control. In the climax of the plan the Earth Kingdom falls, Aang is critically injured and Zuko betrays his uncle. The group escapes along with the Earth King and Bosco but must now form their battle plans from scratch. 

Book Three: Fire (2007-2008)

# Title Director Writer Original Release Date Production code
41 “The Awakening”  Giancarlo Volpe Aaron Ehasz September 21, 2007 301
Aang wakes up on board a Fire Nation ship with the gang to discover Bato and Hakoda are all in Fire Nation disguises. Aang finds out what has been occurring and is told to keep his continued existence a secret until the eclipse. Zuko and Azula return home to be greeted by Fire Lord Ozai. 
42 “The Headband”  Joaquim dos Santos John O’Bryan September 28, 2007 302
Aang and the rest steal Fire Nation clothes but Aang finds out he stole a school uniform and is taken to a Fire Nation school by soldiers who believe he is skipping class. Meanwhile, Zuko pleads with Iroh for advice. 
43 “The Painted Lady”  Ethan Spaulding Joshua Hamilton October 5, 2007 303
As Aang and the gang travel towards the Fire Lord they come across a village that is starving. That night, a mysterious spirit comes to aid the village. As Appa seems to be ill, the gang is forced to remain in town for him to heal. 
44 “Sokka’s Master”  Giancarlo Volpe Tim Hedrick October 12, 2007 304
In order to contribute better to the group and not feel left out, Sokka looks for a sword master to train him. Meanwhile, Iroh devises a plan to escape prison and starts exercising in secret while appearing feeble in front of the guards. 
45 “The Beach”  Joaquim dos Santos Katie Mattila October 19, 2007 305
Zuko, Azula, Mai and Ty Lee go on vacation to Ember Island where they learn much about themselves and one another. Meanwhile, Aang and the rest are being chased by an assassin that Zuko hires who firebends from his mind. 
46 “The Avatar and the Firelord”  Ethan Spaulding Elizabeth Welch Ehasz October 24, 2007 306
Aang and Zuko are taken on parallel adventures that give them insight into their ancestors’ pasts. We learn that Avatar Roku and Fire Lord Sozin were best friends as children, but as they grew older, their opinions began to differ. 
47 “The Runaway”  Giancarlo Volpe Joshua Hamilton October 25, 2007 307
Katara expresses her disapproval when Toph discovers a way to make quick cash, resulting in a rift that leaves the group in a disastrous situation. 
48 “The Puppetmaster”  Joaquim Dos Santos Tim Hedrick October 25, 2007 308
The gang looks into strange disappearances in a spooky town. There, an old lady named Hama teaches Katara secret waterbending techniques. Meanwhile, Toph hears strange voices calling out from below the earth. 
49 “Nightmares and Daydreams”  Ethan Spaulding John O’Bryan October 26, 2007 309
The group arrives at the rendezvous point for the invasion four days ahead of schedule but Aang begins to get nervous about confronting the Fire Lord, leading him to have nightmares and then stop sleeping entirely. The group tries to help him relax in their own ways. 
50 “The Day of Black Sun Part 1: The Invasion”  Giancarlo Volpe Michael Dante DiMartino November 23, 2007 310
The invasion begins on the day of the eclipse and Sokka’s invasion plan is carried out. 
51 “The Day of Black Sun Part 2: The Eclipse”  Joaquim dos Santos Aaron Ehasz November 26, 2007 311
As the invasion force fights their way to the Fire Nation capital, Sokka and Toph help Aang to find the Fire Lord in time for the eclipse. 
52 “The Western Air Temple”  Ethan Spaulding Elizabeth Welch Ehasz, Tim Hedrick December 14, 2007 312
Seeking redemption and a chance to be on Team Avatar, Zuko follows Aang and his friends to the Western Air Temple. There, he desperately tries to prove to them that he’s changed for the better. 
53 “The Firebending Masters”  Giancarlo Volpe John O’Bryan January 4, 2008 313
After Zuko finds himself unable to firebend effectively, he and Aang go to find the origin of firebending in the ruins of an ancient civilization of firebenders known as the Sun Warriors. While there they make two shocking discoveries. 
54 “The Boiling Rock, Part 1[3][4]“  Joaquim dos Santos May Chan May 6, 2008 314
In hopes of finding the captured invasion force, Sokka and Zuko venture to the Boiling Rock—the highest security Fire Nation prison. 
55 “The Boiling Rock, Part 2[3][4]“  Ethan Spaulding Joshua Hamilton May 6, 2008 315
Sokka and Zuko redouble their efforts in escaping the Boiling Rock, involving Hakoda, Suki, and Chit Sang in their plans. However, problems for the gang arrive in the form of Azula, Mai, and Ty-Lee, with surprising actions and consequences for all. 

Upcoming episodes

# Title Original Release Date Production code
56 “The Southern Raiders[6]“  July 17, 2008[7] 316
Katara decides to confront the Fire Nation soldier responsible for her mother’s death.[5] 
57 “The Ember Island Players[6]“  July 18, 2008[7] 317
A play recounting the gang’s adventures does not sit well with Aang and his friends.[8] 
58 “Sozin’s Comet, Part 1: The Phoenix King[6][9]“  July 19, 2008[7] 318
 
59 “Sozin’s Comet, Part 2: The Old Masters[6][9]“  July 19, 2008[7] 319
 
60 “Sozin’s Comet, Part 3: Into the Inferno[6][9]“  July 19, 2008[7] 320
 
61 “Sozin’s Comet, Part 4: Avatar Aang[6][9]“  July 19, 2008[7] 321
 

Elements

Avatar draws on the four classical elements common to most ancient philosophies (rather than the five classical Chinese elements) for its bending arts: Water, Earth, Fire and Air. Although each has its own variation, most ancient philosophies incorporate these four elements in some way: examples include the classical Hindu, Buddhist, Greek and Japanese elemental traditions.

In the show’s opening, each element is accompanied by 2 Chinese characters: an ancient Chinese seal script character on the left, and a modern Chinese character on the right:

Awards and Nominations

Awards Outcome
2005 Pulcinella Awards:[44]
Best Action/Adventure TV Series Won
Best TV Series Won
33rd Annual Annie Awards:[45]
Best Animated Television Production Nominated
Storyboarding in an Animated Television Production (The Deserter) Won
Writing for an Animated Television Production (The Fortuneteller) Nominated
34th Annual Annie Awards:[46]
Character Animation in a Television Production (The Blind Bandit) Won
Directing in an Animated Television Production (The Drill) Won
2007 Genesis Awards:
Outstanding Children’s Programming (Appa’s Lost Days) Won
Primetime Emmy Awards:
Outstanding Animated Program (City of Walls and Secrets) Nominated
Individual Achievement Award (Sang-Jin Kim for Lake Laogai) Won
Kid’s Choice Awards 2008:
Favorite Cartoon[47] Won
Annecy 2008:
TV Series[48] Nominated

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Great Teacher Onizuka (グレート・ティーチャー・オニズカ, Gurēto Tīchā Onizuka?)

July 15, 2008 by rainbowdream

Great Teacher Onizuka (グレート・ティーチャー・オニズカ Gurēto Tīchā Onizuka?), officially abbreviated to GTO, is a shōnen manga, anime, and live-action series created by Tohru Fujisawa. It is the story of Eikichi Onizuka, a 22 year-old ex-bōsōzoku member, and his quest to be the greatest teacher in Japan. GTO is a continuation of Tohru Fujisawa’s other manga series Shonan Junai Gumi (lit. “Shōnan True Love Group”) and Bad Company. It won the 1998 Kodansha Manga Award for shōnen.[3]

Both the anime and manga have been licensed in North America by Tokyopop.

Contents

Story

While peeping up girls’ skirts at a local shopping mall, Onizuka meets a girl who agrees to go out on a date with him. Onizuka’s attempt to sleep with her fails when her current “boyfriend”, her teacher, shows up at the love hotel they are in and asks her to return to him. The teacher is old and unattractive, but has enough influence over her that she leaps from a second story window and lands in his arms.

Onizuka, seeing this display of a teacher’s power over girls, decides to become one himself. In his quest, he discovers three important things:

  1. He has a conscience and a sense of morality. This means taking advantage of impressionable schoolgirls is out… but their unusually attractive mothers are a different matter.
  2. He enjoys teaching and most of the time, he teaches life lessons rather than schoolwork.
  3. He hates the systems of traditional education, especially when they have grown ignorant and condescending to students and their needs.

With these realizations, he sets out to become the greatest teacher ever, using his own brand of philosophy and the ability to do nearly anything when under enough pressure. He is hired as a long-shot teacher by a privately operated school to tame a class that has driven one teacher to a mysterious death, one to nervous breakdown, and one to joining a cult. He embarks on a mission of self-discovery by breaking through to each student one by one, and helping each student to overcome their problems and learn to genuinely enjoy life.

Characters

Holy Forest Academy faculty and staff
Eikichi Onizuka (鬼塚 英吉 Onizuka Eikichi?)
A 22 year-old, hormonal, blonde-haired biker, virgin, and former bōsōzoku, Eikichi Onizuka is the protagonist of GTO. He graduated from a bottom-rung university by cheating and, as such, cannot get a decent job. His primary way of spending time is peering up girls’ skirts at a local mall. He is very athletic, as he can bench press 150 kg (331 lbs), has a second dan black belt in karate, and claims he performs 500 push ups, 1000 pull ups and 2000 Hindu squats daily.
Through the events explained in the manga, Onizuka decides to become a teacher, even though it is implied he has an IQ of about 50. His initial training is in the Musashino Public High School, where he meets Nanako Mizuki. His experience taming the rowdy gangs in his assigned class hardens his convictions that teaching is the way to go, and when he learns of Mizuki’s problems, he also decides to abstain from sexual experience with schoolgirls, opting to solve their personal issues for them, instead.
Unfortunately, he nearly messes up by forgeting to take the public teachers’ civil service exam; as a result, no public high school will accept him, but he is still eligible for private school teaching. He manages to get a job at the upper-crust Holy Forest Academy, despite the objections of Vice-Principal Hiroshi Uchiyamada, whom he continues to aggravate well into his tenure. One of the conditions of having the job at Holy Forest is that he must sleep at the school – in the storage room at the top floor, with roof access – and it is here that Onizuka officially starts his career in teaching, when he stops Noboru Yoshikawa from committing suicide.
Onizuka is put in charge of class 3-4, a class so bad it has driven past teachers insane and one to death. Not only does he survive their brutal, bullying tactics, but he also befriends his students, and the backbone to the story of GTO consists of his unique experiences in turning his students around and learning lessons of his own.
During the national examinations, it seems at first that Onizuka might actually be a genius. His exam results were swapped: once for full marks, and once for just short of full marks. However, when Yoshito Kikuchi is asked whether he is curious about Onizuka’s actual test score, he checks the answers himself and the result amazes him (though this could be due to a horrible test score). He double-checks with Onizuka, who states that he definitely got perfect from his own effort (which would be incredible, since he did a 5 hour exam in 1 hour, while bleeding profusely, having 3 bullets lodged in his abdomen). However, in a later scene, the Chairwoman Sakurai implies that she changed his score in the national rankings when the man she is speaking to says that “what you have done was illegal.”
Onizuka has incredible physical resilience. On more than one occasion, he has fallen from heights that would instantly kill most people and claims to have a sort of healing factor, as he healed from a broken arm in less than a day, and even endure multiple gunshot wounds. Onizuka often presents his strength in unintentionally flamboyant ways, such as arm-wrestling over 100 men of exponential strength in a row and winning. His fighting abilities are not to be taken lightly either, as Onizuka is capable of fending off multiple opponents, even if they are well-armed.
In spite of his impressive fighting skills, Onizuka is often roughed up by his students, and others, whenever he behaves badly. It could be speculated that deep down, Onizuka knows when he’s acting immature, and allows others to keep him in line. An example of this is when he forces his students to dig for buried treasure during the Okinawa trip. Urumi Kanzaki kicks Onizuka into a hole, and later forces him to wear S&M garb and has him crawl around on all fours, with Urumi riding on his back. Yet another example is when Vice-Principal Uchiyamada has Onizuka over for dinner and hits him on the head with a wooden bench, after finding out that he was acting lecherous with his daughter at a karaoke bar (Onizuka was playing “Where’s The Nipple?”).
His mode of transportation is a Kawasaki Z750RS Z2 motorcycle, and is also the protagonist in the GTO prequel, Shonan Junai Gumi.
Azusa Fuyutsuki (冬月 あずさ Fuyutsuki Azusa?)
A 22 year-old female teacher, employed at the same private school as Eikichi Onizuka, Azusa Fuyutsuki is the heroine of the series. Unlike Onizuka, she led a relatively normal life, graduating from Waseda University. Her quiet manner and moderate ideas are misleading, as she proves to be very tough on her own, which scares the overconfident, zealous Onizuka. To prepare him for the test which would determine his teaching career, she makes a mountain of jelly with eyes of Maguro tuna fish as fruits and imposes an impossibly tough schedule that would have killed anyone or drove them mad. Her field of expertise is Kokugo or Japanese language (English, in the live-action). She falls in love with Onizuka, but as both are quite reluctant to admit their affections and show them in the open, they claim they are “just friends”. This friendship is not something major, except under the eyes of the cunning Suguru Teshigawara, who finds it most aggravating that a woman with her qualifications would fall in love with one with such a crude background as Onizuka. She has difficulty with the female students in her class, due to all the boys having crushes on her, but brings them around fairly quickly, after Onizuka’s advice. She has a younger sister named Makoto Fuyutsuki.
The Azusa portrayed in the live-action differs greatly from the manga and anime counterparts. In this version, Azusa became a teacher because she felt she was forced to, and envies the life of one of her closest friends, who became a stewardess and frequently dates male celebrities. She eventually decides to remain a teacher, thanks to some convincing from Onizuka, though the two are continuously depicted at odds with each other, with the notion of romance strongly implied. Azusa also has a general dislike for men, finding them too possessive over women, though Onizuka states she too is guilty of the same sin.
Ryoko Sakurai (桜井 良子 Sakurai Ryōko?)
Ryoko Sakurai is the director of the Holy Forest Academy. She is a caring woman who believes that Eikichi Onizuka and his “methods” will work positively for the school, contrary to the beliefs of the faculty. The only time in the series that she did not approve of his behavior is when Onizuka endangered her grandson, Mayu Wakui, but she later admits this is due to his manipulative nature. She is also Daimon Misuzu’s former teacher.
The Sakurai portrayed in the live-action is not as initially confident in Onizuka’s abilities, sometimes blocking the door to her office in fear, when she hears what Onizuka has done, by eavesdropping on Vice-Principal Hiroshi Uchiyamada’s conversations.
Hiroshi Uchiyamada (内山田 ひろし Uchiyamada Hiroshi?)
The vice-principal at the Holy Forest Academy, and the Mr. Wilson to Eikichi Onizuka’s Dennis the Menace, Hiroshi Uchiyamada is commonly seen throwing fits over two things: Onizuka the “parasite”, and his beloved and frequently-totaled Toyota Cresta.
According to a self-explained biography in the manga, Uchiyamada was born and educated in a small rural town. He was discovered as a prodigy and recommended to become a teacher at the Tokyo College of Education, where he first met his wife-to-be, Ryōko. 29 years of hard work eventually earned him his current house and position at the Holy Forest Academy. His daughter is Yoshiko Uchiyamada.
Uchiyamada holds very conservative ideals on how peoples’ backgrounds determine their future performance. Despite his attempts to thwart Onizuka’s plans, Uchiyamada is not so much a classic villain than merely dogmatically serious about the job of teaching (at least in his mind). He is a not-quite-extreme example of the punishment an ordinary, older middle-aged, Japanese man takes from his home and workplace. He is forced to work with a young man like Onizuka, who easily breaks the rules and does things that don’t make sense to him. His superior, Headmaster Ryoko Sakurai, seems to think it is fun to have a presence like Onizuka. At home, his wife, daughter, and dog openly disdain him in his often deluded imaginings, and feels that they’re only satisfied with the luxuries that his work earns.
Uchiyamada eventually accepts Onizuka’s views of teaching, when the latter yells at and punches Uchiyamada, when he interferes with Onizuka, trying to save Urumi Kanzaki, on the verge of death, for the sake of his job. With Onizuka’s help, he also reconciles with his family, though he remains viciously defensive, when Onizuka tries to make a move on his daughter.
A running gag in the manga has Onizuka constantly destroying Uchiyamada’s Cresta, mostly as a side effect of rescuing students, such as falling from the top of the school building and landing on the car. Another running gag involves Uchiyamada frequently getting injured, or assaulted by accident, from an oblivious Onizuka.
Suguru Teshigawara (勅使河原 優 Teshigawara Suguru?)
Suguru Teshigawara is a ruthless, perfectionist mathematics teacher and a graduate cum laude of Tokyo University. He grew up trying to follow in the footsteps of his successful, older brother and father, the latter of whom is a high-ranking Parliament minister. He dresses very neatly and even wears a white velvet glove – his symbol of perfection.
Teshigawara is obsessed with Azusa Fuyutsuki and her dedication and relatively clean, prestigious background – far past the point of stalking. The walls of his apartment, which overlooks Azusa’s, is completely covered with photos of her, and keeps tabs on her every move in her apartment, with extensive surveillance equipment. He even has a large pillow with a full-body shot of Azusa imprinted onto it. Suguru ends up having to drape white cloth all over the walls to conceal his fetish, when he tries to invite her over to his apartment.
Teshigawara absolutely loathes Eikichi Onizuka, not only because of his poor educational background, but because his students love him, and Azusa appears to love Onizuka more. As a result of his hatred, he pulls in a favor with the head of a local Parent-Teacher Association group, the mother of Hidemi Ohta, a student he tutors, whose father is a member of Japanese Parliament, eventually leading Onizuka to take a national high-school aptitude test, to prove he is capable of teaching. Sadly for Teshigawara, Onizuka places first nationally, keeping his position, much to his dismay and frustration. It is later revealed (exclusive to the manga) that his mental instability and fanatically perfectionist behavior arose from the pressures placed on him by his father, who expected him to live up to his brother’s high standards.
Teshigawara’s appearance in the live-action is mostly faithful, without the white gloves, and he still stalks Azusa and has a room whose walls are plastered with photos of her, albeit only his bedroom, in a trendy condominium. This counterpart of Teshigawara is heavily stripped-down from the manga, where he is portrayed to be rather more timid, cowardly and anti-social.
Hajime Fukuroda (袋田 はじめ Fukuroda Hajime?)
The stereotypically macho-muscular gym coach at the Holy Forest Academy, Hajime Fukuroda (more commonly known as “Moleface”, due to a rather large mole on the side of his cheek) is a graduate of a prestigious physical education academy. Fukuroda admires his body and does his very best to keep it, and those of his pupils (the female ones, in particular), in tip-top shape. He even enjoys famously macho theme songs at karaoke bars with his colleagues. However, he also has a closeted sexual longing for young girls – in his case, the aforementioned female students.
Tadashi Sakurai (桜井 ただし Sakurai Tadashi?)
The 42-year-old English teacher at the Holy Forest Academy, Tadashi Sakurai is not very fluent at the language he teaches. His last name was changed to Sakurada in the anime, in order to avoid confusion with Headmaster Ryoko Sakurai, with whom he shares no relation. Though he makes few appearances in the earlier volumes of the manga, he gets a more important role when Miyabi Aizawa blackmails him into embezzling the funds for the class trip.
In the manga, Miyabi uses Sakurai’s fetish for looking up girls’ skirts in the bathroom stalls, with a hidden camera, as blackmail, and his downfall comes at the hands of the police. In the anime, Miyabi blackmails Sakurai with pictures showing him as a cross-dresser, and he simply flees from school.
A flashback in the manga reveals he was bullied a lot during his high school years. He sent a love letter to a girl, but she didn’t share Sakurai’s feelings, and as a result was beaten up by his male peers for even sending the letter, in the first place. One day, while Sakurai was skipping class, hiding in the boys’ washroom stalls, the same girl needed to use the boys’ washroom, because the girls’ washroom smelled bad. Sakurai was able to watch her, leading to his fetish.
Naoko Moritaka (森高 尚子 Moritaka Naoko?)
Naoko Moritaka is the eccentric, school nurse at Holy Forest Academy. Often acting as the teachers’ muse, Naoko is quite helpful and knows her trade well, though she seems to derive some erotic pleasure from her regular blood donations. She’s extremely attractive, and Azusa Fuyutsuki notes that she’s heard “quite a few love confessions” about her from students.
In the anime, she is replaced by a former street racing queen named Nao Kadena (originally from Shonan Junai Gumi, the prequel to GTO), who took the nursing position at the Holy Forest Academy, in order to help pay for her brother’s surgery – a result of him racing in her place.
Hiroshi Kochatani (小茶谷 宏 Kochatani Hiroshi?)
The primary science and biology teacher, Hiroshi Kochatani is obsessed with trying to find a woman for marriage. He is nicknamed “chihuahua“, because his facial features closely resembles one (even more so, after a prank by Urumi Kanzaki).
Itagake Kinoshita ( Kinoshita Itagake?)
Itakagake Kinoshita was originally one of Headmaster Sakurai’s attendants, until he appeared to work for Misuzu Daimon, so as to help her rid the school of any useless teachers and students. However, it was Headmaster Ryoko Sakurai who ordered him to do so, as a ruse for Daimon to keep an eye on her and her actions. He was the one who gives a software CD to Takumi Ishida, a former student from Holy Forest, to shut down Daimon’s network and surveillance control over the school.
Ippachi Maruyama (丸山 一八 Maruyama Ippachi?)
One of Holy Forest Academy’s Vice-Principals, with jurisdiction over administration, Ippachi Maruyama is nicknamed “Xavier” by Eikichi Onizuka, due to his resemblance to Francis Xavier. During the latter half of the series, he is transferred to another school.
Misuzu Daimon (大門 美鈴 Daimon Misuzu?)
Misuzu Daimon is the new vice-principal, hired during the second semester, after Vice-Principal Ippachi Maruyama’s transfer. She was placed by the board, in order to weaken the position of Headmaster Ryoko Sakurai and to force Eikichi Onizuka to leave. To that end, she deploys a school wide intranet and gives each student and faculty member a palm device. Additionally, she institutes a point system for the faculty, in an attempt to cause Onizuka’s resignation and employs a special force in the school known as the “Angels”, to further control the school and its faculty. One particular Angel, Sho Shibuya, regards her as a surrogate mother and the only person he has no animosity towards.

[edit] Live-action exclusive

Mr. Nakamata
Nakamata is Hiroshi Uchiyamada’s faithful personal assistant and the equivalent of Hiroshi Kochatani (at least in appearance) and Ippachi Maruyama (in behavior). Nakamata is the one who receives Tomoko Nomura’s “invitation” to Miyabi Aizawa’s trap, though Miyabi doesn’t catch him in the act. Instead, she watched Eikichi Onizuka pass by in the other direction (his envelope contained a paycheck, for sending in some photos of Asuza Fuyutsuki to a magazine) and then watched Nakamata head into the clinic, where Tomoko was supposed to wait.
Ms. Kotani
In the anime and manga, there is a diminutive, unnamed female teacher with glasses, who often warns teachers in a sneaky manner about the troubles ahead. In the live-action, the teacher is given the name Ms. Kotani. She is the home economics teacher, educating her female students about skills they can use around the house, such as sewing and flower arranging.
She is firmly committed to ensuring that her students become good housewives, especially Tomoko Nomura, who aggravates her, due to her constant distractions. She also berated Tomoko for sewing a duck puppet (Tomoko would use it in her audition), instead of knitting in class. She is also obsessed with finding a husband, and although she espouses dressing properly and conservatively, Eikichi Onizuka Onizuka and Azusa Fuyutsuki encounter her shopping at a high-end fashion outlet, at one point in the live-action.
Mr. Fujitomi
The classic literature teacher assigned to Eikichi Onizuka’s class, Mr. Fujitomi is depicted as an aging, sad, meek individual, marred by the stress of dealing with troublemaking students. In fact, Eikichi Onizukaa does not meet Fujitomi on his first day of work, because the latter was taking a good amount of time off, due to stress. Fujitomi is also looked down upon by other teachers, as well as Vice-Principal Hiroshi Uchiyamada, for failing to deal with his students. He had been demoralized enough that he was tendering his resignation, and Asuza Fuyutsuki was told to collect donations for his retirement party.
However, Noboru Yoshikawa’s bravery and some counseling from Onizuka convinced him to withdraw his resignation and gave him the confidence to keep teaching, though he is still regarded lowly by most other teachers. During a summer break pool party for students (held at the school pool by Onizuka), Fujitomi could be seen playing go with his students and socializing.

Holy Forest Academy students

Class 3-4

Noboru Yoshikawa (吉川 のぼる Yoshikawa Noboru?)
Noboru Yoshikawa is a student at the Holy Forest Academy, and did not have a good time before Eikichi Onizuka arrived, being the victim of bullying, mostly from Uehara Anko and her group (Miyabi Aizawa replaces Anko’s role in the live-action). He is extremely good with video games and is somewhat of an otaku, but proves to be quite handy with making things.
Anko’s bullying is so bad it makes Noboru attempt to commit suicide twice, both times by leaping off the roof of the school, and both times resulting in him being saved by Onizuka, at the cost of Vice-Principal Hiroshi Uchiyamada’s car (note that only the second attempt was caused by Anko’s gang in the manga version; Noboru mentions some thugs in Class 2 as the cause of his first attempt). The two strike a quick friendship, which works for Onizuka, as Noboru has plenty of items that he wants to “borrow”. His loyalty to Onizuka is by far the strongest, seen when he willingly sells his game collection to help cover Onizuka’s debt.
While on the school trip to Okinawa, he gets room assigned with Anko and her friends by Onizuka. In retaliation for Onizuka and Noboru’s antics, he gets tied up and led away into the dense jungle by the girls, but they all end up getting lost and rely on him for help. Despite the abuse, he saves Anko’s life after she falls off a cliff, getting separated from the others. As the rest of the events of the manga unfolds, Noboru begins to enjoy Anko’s company enough that she begins to feel affectionate to him.
Anko Uehara (上原 杏子 Uehara Anko?)
Anko Uehara is one of the first of the class to start trouble for Eikichi Onizuka, due to her and her friends’ constant mistreatment of Noboru Yoshikawa. When one of their pranks go to far, they get taught a lesson by Onizuka, who literally spanks them at a karaoke bar and takes pictures of himself committing the act. Afterwards, Anko gets her mother, the president of the local Parent-Teacher Association, who believes her daughter is incapable of wrongdoing, to get Onizuka fired. This backfires, with the help of Noboru and Yoshito Kikuchi, who reveal her cruel, bullying nature in front of the student body and PTA. Anko tearfully confronts her mother about their relationship and perfectionist expectations of her, which leads to some family reconciliation.
She and her friends keep their distance from any other attempts by students to get Onizuka fired, despite giving their verbal support. While still cold to Onizuka, Anko allies with him, after being fed up with Miyabi Aizawa’s manipulation of others for her own gain. When Onizuka is framed for embezzeling funds for the school trip, she offers her credit card for use, but he flat-out refuses.
On the school field trip to Okinawa, her mean streak towards Noboru continues to persist, even escalating, as he and Onizuka start playing pranks of their own against her and her friends. In an ironic twist, Noboru saves her life, after her own prank fails. During a near-death experience, a flashback reveals her bullying stems from growing up with an abusive, older brother, who in turn, was abused by their father.
Shortly after, she develops feelings for him, and unsuccessfully tries to deny them. It takes an Onizuka scheme to get her to admit it.
Kunio Murai (村井 國男 Murai Kunio?)
The class “jock bully”, Kunio Murai is not very bright and loses his temper easily. When Eikichi Onizuka arrives at the Holy Forest Academy, Kunio and his gang (consisting of Kouji Fujiyoshi and Tadaaki Kusano) attempt to kill him several times with seemingly innocent pranks, such as a cockroach planted in his school lunch. The plans backfire (such as Kunio eating the cockroach, instead) and he goes insane, nearly ending up with his face impaled on a pair of razor-sharp scissors. Onizuka then takes advantage of Kunio’s 27 year-old mother, Julia Murai, after trouncing Kunio at several arcade games. It is later revealed that Julia was carrying her son at the age of 13, and her parents and boyfriend abandoned her, making Kunio overprotective of his mother.
Kunio and his gang befriend Onizuka, after he saves them from a group of ruffians, but not before Onizuka joins the ruffians and has Kunio bungee jump off the Tokyo Bay Bridge. Kunio still gets very angry when Onizuka tries to make a pass at his mother, especially with the possibility that Onizuka may well be his new stepfather. His fear of a new father also rears its head when he suspects his mother may be marrying a man who resembles Dr. Elefun from Astro Boy.
Kouji Fujiyoshi (藤吉 晃二 Fujiyoshi Kōji?)
Kouji Fujiyoshi is part of Kunio Murai’s gang, usually tagging along with him and Tadaaki Kusano. He was an unwitting part of Miyabi Aizawa and Tadashi Sakurai’s plan to get rid of Eikichi Onizuka, by making him collect money for the annual school trip and then lose it. The money was planted into Onizuka’s jacket, which he quickly spent in one night, thus leading to Onizuka being charged with embezzlement. Feeling responsible because he had also stolen some of the money to buy a new watch, Fujiyoshi worked dropped out temporarily to earn the money back, and his actions helped lead to a school trip to Okinawa, courtesy of Onizuka.
He is also romantically interested in Miyabi, to the point of hijacking a car to get her to take a ride with him.
Tadaaki Kusano (草野 忠明 Kusano Tadaaki?)
Tadaaki Kusano is part of Kunio Murai’s gang, usually tagging along with him and Kouji Fujiyoshi. He doesn’t do much, except help Murai with his mischief. He is quite attracted to Ai Tokiwa, to the point of obsession, even stealing her socks. Unfortunately, Daimon Misuzu’s Angels used this to their advantage, and accuse him of also stealing her urine sample. His mother, in stark contrast to Murai’s mother, is a rather portly woman that he seems quite ashamed of.
Tomoko Nomura (野村 朋子 Nomura Tomoko?)
A stduent in Eikichi Onizuka’s class, Tomoko Nomura has a large chest (her cup size is F), but is not too bright, leading to people calling her Toro-ko (Toro meaning “slow” in Japanese; she is nicknamed Slo-mo-ko in the English version). After initially messing up her role in one of Miyabi Aizawa’s plans to get Onizuka fired, she is cut off from Miyabi’s group. Seeing her rather slow, clumsy nature, Onizuka enters her into a local beauty contest. He even arranges two porn producer friends to dress her up for the competition. Rather than read the given script for the acting category, Onizuka gives her a couple of action figures and she ends up doing an excellent improvised piece (with Vice-Principal Uchiyamada getting an accidental role). In the anime, Onizuka throws a cellphone on stage and she leaves a sentimental message on Miyabi’s answering machine instead. She doesn’t win, but she gets noticed by several television producers and begins starring in various commercials. Her young male manager, impressed with her natural beauty, and after falling in love at first sight, makes it his lifetime goal to help her succeed.
She was friends with Urumi Kanzaki since childhood, and their close bond likely arose out of their opposite personalities (Tomoko is clumsy and rather docile with a heart of gold, compared to Urumi’s intellect and potential to be savagely cruel).
A side-story in the manga features Tomoko and her manager, also called GTO, only it stands for Great Tomoko Oppai (Oppai meaning breasts). In it, Tomoko’s manager embarks on one very madcap adventure to save her from her dubious producers. In the live-action, instead of her succeeding dramatically in subsequent episodes, she would part for an Okinawa acting school.
Miyabi Aizawa (相沢 雅 Aizawa Miyabi?)
Miyabi Aizawa is another student in Eikichi Onizuka’s class and hates all teachers severely. She is easily the most popular girl in school, though her queen-like manner can irritate anyone. At the beginning, she appears to be the ringleader of the classmates that want to get rid of Onizuka. Like Anko Uehara and Kunio Murai, she has her own crime trio. She also used Tomoko Nomura for a blackmail trap against Onizuka, but the attempt is foiled and she expels her from the group, putting the blame solely on Tomoko. Originally just out to be rid of Onizuka on principle, she quickly makes it personal, when she loses to the Onizuka-sponsored Tomoko at a beauty contest.
Miyabi is also behind the school trip funds embezzlement, where she blackmails Tadashi Sakurai into asking parents to submit the money in cash, and has Sakurai put Kouji Fujiyoshi in charge of collecting it. This allows her to steal the money from Fujiyoshi by cunningly playing on his family’s tight financial situation, then planting it on Onizuka, who manages to lose it all in a step up, involving a faux female student hostess club and drugged drinks. However, Urumi Kanzaki, wanting to aid Onizuka in paying off the debt, cruelly sets her and her two friends up with an S&M group, where she is narrowly saved from being raped, when Onizuka crashes into their room of their hotel through the window after swinging from a rope, suspended by a blimp, all the way from another skyscraper. Of course, before he could actually save them, he demanded a sincere apology from Miyabi (in the anime, Urumi hires a group of yakuza, instead).
Urumi later insults Miyabi at a carnival, leading her to reveal Urumi’s secret. Urumi retaliates by posting a website where it claims to post pictures of Miyabi in the bathroom taken with a hidden camera. Miyabi attempts to commit suicide by overdosing on sleeping pills, but survives. The website is revealed to be a ruse.
Miyabi was the one who led class 2-4 (as they were known then) onto the path of terrorizing teachers (previously, it was only Urumi who would occasionally do the terrorizing). Her motives behind this, however, varies between the manga and the anime.
In the anime, Miyabi was a model student, who turns this way due to a teacher who indirectly caused one of her closest friends to commit suicide, over an illicit affair between them. This, compounded by her family problems, became the root cause of Miyabi’s mistrust (and often outright hate) for all adults. Her personal convictions are shattered, when she was accused of attempting to murder the aforementioned teacher, as well as assaulting a member of the Japanese Board of Education (who she sees as taking only the teacher’s side). She is shocked when Onizuka takes the fall for her, by announcing he committed all of the crimes she was accused of. Arriving in time to see Onizuka being led away in handcuffs, Miyabi finally asks Onizuka to forgive her for everything she had done. One would assume that this event has restored in Miyabi the capacity to trust in adults again.
In the manga, Miyabi had a crush on their former, homeroom teacher, Ōgi, and started to believe that her feelings may be reciprocated, when he invites her to dinner. However, Ōgi already had a fiancé, whom he wanted to introduce to Miyabi. Crushed, she takes illicit photographs of herself (knowing that his hobby was photography) and tells the class that he took advantage of her. Things go out of hand when fellow classmate, Takumi Ishida, takes matters into his own hands and assaults Ōgi. Distraught over the events (Ōgi and Takumi were fired and expelled, respectively), Miyabi decides to turn the class against all teachers, thus beginning class 2-4’s rebellion.
Miyabi’s guilt, as well as her deteriorating family situation, makes her colder and distant to friends and classmates, leading to the events in the carnival and her rivalry with Urumi, mentally breaking her down. Her guilt is further compounded when she discovers just how much her friends still care for her. Things take a turn for the worse when she returns to her already broken family, forcing Onizuka to intervene, which results in him and a few students holding Miyabi “hostage”, on the condition that her father demonstrates his love for her. The plot works, but this doesn’t please Misuzu Daimon and her Angels, who then expose Miyabi’s secret, forcing her to attempt a suicide from the school roof, but before that happens, Takumi, who had flown in from Okinawa, appears on the roof, to try to convincing her not to jump, despite the guilt she feels for all she’s done. However, Onizuka accidentally bumps her off the ledge. Miyabi, not willing to end her life, after having settled her guilt, calls out to him, who leaps after her, landing on Uchiyamada’s Cresta.
In the live-action, she is set up by Shinichi Todō (Urumi does not exist in the live-action), who studies at the Jindan Academy, a first-class institution. He looks exactly like her dead ex-boyfriend, and Todou and his gang use this to their advantage and attempt to rape her, until Onizuka arrives.
Urumi Kanzaki (神崎 麗美 Kanzaki Urumi?)
The antithesis to the “dumb blonde” stereotype, Urumi Kanzaki is a prodigy, with an IQ over 200. She is also a heterochromatic, possessing different colored eyes: one brown and one blue. However, she is psychologically disturbed, having her fair share of hate toward teachers. Her genius is displayed repeatedly by such abstract actions as the detonation of time bombs (i.e. firecrackers in disposable boxes) and making a harmless snake look like a cobra using paper cutouts. Her intellect is also shown through actions, such as shouting curse words in French and being able to speak fluent Mandarin. On the trip in Okinawa, Toshito Kikuchi noted that she can speak 5 languages, but ironically, she doesn’t understand what her Gundam otaku roommates say.
Her hatred for teachers stems from her time in elementary school. Urumi’s teacher, Ms. Fujimori, while initially welcoming and receptive, wasn’t able to handle her intellect properly, since she went to a second-rate college, and it was her first year teaching. Urumi’s constant requests for the teacher’s time, both inside and outside of school, as well as the fact that the lessons she wanted to learn from the teacher included extremely advanced, college-level subjects (such as differential calculus) eventually made the teacher snap. When Urumi interrupted Ms. Fujimori’s lecture to correct her in front of the whole class, the teacher then told Urumi’s secret to her class. While it isn’t stated explicitly, it can be deduced that her intelligence is derived from her biological father, when Urumi tells Eikichi Onizuka that her mother had selected a sperm-donor, based on his intellect and nothing more. It is even suggested that her mother took the sperm from an American scientific genius (this information can be gleaned from a scene where Urumi and her mother visited some friends in the United States, and Urumi was led into a dark storage room by a doctor, who explains to her that her father is actually just a bottle of donated sperm); this also explains Urumi’s natural, blond hair. Naturally, this caused a great deal of psychological trauma to Urumi, and quite an understandable hatred of teachers. It is still unclear what happened to Ms. Fujimori, as her last appearances in the storyline was begging Onizuka to help Urumi before something terrible happens to her.
She is later found by Miyabi in a small apartment, and hired to torture Onizuka. Formerly a student at Holy Forest for a while, but stopped attending regularly after some time, she begins almost immediately, as she frames him for lechery and sends him to jail overnight, only to appear in class and on his homeroom roster the morning after. Onizuka’s frustration with her vastly increases, when Vice-Principal Uchiyamada strictly advises him that he cannot inflict physical harm on her due, to her educational potential. Urumi is eventually able to turn Onizuka into her slave (more-or-less, her “genie“) by threatening to have him arrested, after she fakes her death when he accidentally pushes her off a building.
However, all this changes when she encounters her Ms. Fujimori again, awakening her deepest hatred and causing her to direct her wrath at the student body. Onizuka responds by bringing his biker gang to school and “kidnaps” her from class. He is finally able to get through to her by almost killing the two of them by jumping over – and nearly falling into – a gap at a suspension bridge, despite her attempts to convince him that she is not afraid of anything, including death. Onizuka makes her see past her trauma, however bad, just isn’t worth messing up the present with (in the manga, he does this by having his biker friends share their life experiences with her). Inspired, she allies with Onizuka, and helps with his troubles.
Despite her switch in allegiance, Urumi continues her feud with Miyabi, until Miyabi reveals her origins to the student body. Urumi retaliates by setting up a web page, where she promises to post pictures of Miyabi in her bathroom (Urumi had earlier placed a hidden camera), after a countdown timer reaches zero. However, the site reveals only a single photograph of Urumi, Miyabi, and Tomoko Nomura during their younger years. Urumi never had any intention of ruining Miyabi; she just wanted to scare her. Urumi attempts suicide at an indoor skiing arena by freezing to death, but Onizuka rescues her. It is after this incident that Urumi considers Onizuka to be her “favorite”.
She grows extremely infatuated with Onizuka, to the point of wanting to elope with Onizuka. Urumi takes a more stereotypical role of a character that prefers the use of violence, in response to jealousy – she is often seen beating Onizuka mercilessly every time he tries to fulfill his pervertednes. Urumi states Onizuka should wait for her hormones to start kicking in, because she’s sure that she would have a bouncing body by then. Like Noboru Yoshikawa, her loyalty to Onizuka is extremely strong, to the point that she would consider suicide, if he were to leave, knowing that her own life is worthless without him around.
Yoshito Kikuchi (菊地 善人 Kikuchi Yoshito?)
Yoshito Kikuchi is one of Eikichi Onizuka’s students. This computer prodigy (scoring the highest without certain “aid” in the country, on a standardized test) serves as class president and is also notorious for making pornographic composite photos, during Onizuka’s arrival at the Holy Forest Academy. He tries to blackmail him into resignation with several pictures posted all across the school for everyone to see. Onizuka catches Kikuchi and instead of punishing him, hires him to make composite pictures of Azusa Fuyutsuki and other female teachers, much to his surprise.
Kikuchi eventually befriends Onizuka, and later helps Noboru Yoshikawa prevent Anko Uehara’s mother, the president of the local Parent-Teacher Association, from getting Onizuka fired. Kikuchi is an amateur martial artist, having prior experience in judo and other techniques learned from Mayu Wakui (in the live-action, he claims he only knows it, and does not demonstrate this claim). It is revealed after the examinations that he was the one who switched Onizuka’s test papers for a perfect score. When questioned about the actual results that Onizuka has, Kikuchi calculates it himself, and is thoroughly surprised at the score (it is unknown whether Onizuka actually did score perfect, or a score befitting his intelligence), and asks him directly, to which his teacher replies that he definitely received a perfect score.
In the manga, a possible relationship is hinted between him and Ai Tokiwa, after some intervention and a forced embrace from Onizuka. In the live-action, Kikuchi has a long distance relationship with Tomoko Nomura.
Mayu Wakui (和久井 繭 Wakui Mayu?)
The grandson of Headmaster Sakurai, Mayu Wakui attended Holy Forest Academy, until the incident involving Miyabi Aizawa and Ōgi left their class scarred and traumatized. Continuing with Miyabi’s scheming to get rid of Eikichi Onizuka, she calls on Mayu’s aid to return to Holy Forest and get him removed. This handsome, mischeivious, unprecedented young man accepts and immediately rubs Onizuka the wrong way, which forces Sakurai to chastise his actions. Vice-Principal Hiroshi Uchiyamada takes the opportunity to suspend Onizuka, but the decision is overturned, when Sakurai, who knows her grandson needs to cease his self-destruction, begs Onizuka to try and bring him back onto the straight path.
After unsuccessful attempts to have Onizuka out of the picture, Onizuka decides to settle their feud with a 100-man arm-wrestling match. Onizuka comes out undefeated, with Mayu left as his one hundredth opponent. Already physically and mentally unstable, he collapses. At the hospital, it is revealed he has been taking triptophan, an emotional stabilizer, to treat his anxiety issues, but exactly what is the cause behind his condition is never revealed (there are several allusions where he speaks with Yoshito Kikuchi on the subject of dying young). There is also the suggestion that his instability is due to some familial or societal factor, when he explains that with enough finances from becoming a teen idol (he is in the same agency as Tomoko Nomura), he can expose those that have harmed him publicly. Additionally, a cover-up involving Mayu may explain his ready access to large sums of money, although he already comes from a wealthy background.
Seeing how Onizuka has proved his worth, Mayu relents and stops his pranking, stating that he’s glad to have met Onizuka, but it would’ve better if he had knew his teacher sooner. Although Mayu does not return to class, he occasionally shows up to assist Onizuka, whenever it appears the odds are against him, in terms of manpower.
Yūki Miyamori (宮森 勇気 Miyamori Yūki?)
Enrolled in Eikichi Onizuka’s class, but never shows up, Yūki Miyamori is the son of the head of the local yakuza. When his “friends” did not show up for his mother’s funeral (he claims they were only “friends”, because of his father’s status as a yakuza member), he became withdrawn and isolated, displaying symptoms of hikikomori. Onizuka only knew of his existence when he tried to get some high points in the point system, set up by Misuzu Daimon. One of the criteria to get more than 100 points is to persuade a student who has not attended class for over a year to return, thus, Onizuka sets out to bring Yūki back.
Despite his family background, he is an ordinary boy who likes to play video games and would sneak out every 15th and 20th of each month in order to buy timetables for the bullet train. Onizuka and Noboru Yoshikawa manages to talk him out of his seclusion, saving Onizuka’s salary in the process. He strikes a quick friendship with Noboru, when he returns to Holy Forest, and becomes somewhat of a defender of the weak, mostly via namedropping of his father’s profession to frighten the school bullies.
Ai Tokiwa (常盤 愛 Tokiwa Ai?)
A transfer student to Eikichi Onizuka’s class during the second semester and one of Misuzu Daimon’s “Angels”, Ai Tokiwa is adept at Tae Kwon Do, and holds an extreme grudge towards men, willing injuring them, no matter who it is. When Yoshito Kikuchi sees pass her innocent persona, Ai knocks him out cold, with the notion that he should inform Onizuka of what she’s doing. After incurring the wrath of several high school students, they enter Holy Forest to confront Ai, with the intention of beating her to a pulp. Onizuka, with some help from Mayu Wakui and his friends, evens out the odds, while Onizuka heads to settle her personal demons.
Ai reveals that prior to joining the Angels, she was gang raped by her ex-boyfriend and his buddies. Feeling insecure around any boy, Daimon recruited her into the Angels, allowing her to inforce her vengeance back at men. Onizuka sees through this façade – Ai is but a simple, fightened little girl, who only uses violence to deal, rather than cry it out. Realizing the truth, she breaks down and heavily cries. To make things up to her, Onizuka forces an embrace between her and Kikuchi, and though the two don’t share mutual feelings for one another, it is hinted through the rest of the manga there is some form of affection and care between them. Ai summarily drops out of the Angels, and her allegiance with Daimon.
Sho Shibuya (渋谷 翔 Shibuya Shō?)
Sho Shibuya is a transfer student to Eikichi Onizuka’s class and the leader of Misuzu Daimon’s “Angels”. In his former school, he was bullied to the point of insanity, reinforced with a flashback where he is stripped down to his underwear, with his classmates writing obscenities and symbols on his body with permanent markers. His own parents even thought of institutionalizing him, but instead, gave total guardianship over to Daimon. For this reason, he has a severe fear of parental abandonment, and keeps a tight, obedient relationship with Daimon (it is implied in another flashback that he was sexually abused by his mother, leading to a murder-suicide attempt that brought Daimon into his life as his counselor, before claiming guardianship status).
Sho fakes a frienship with Noboru Yoshikawa and institutes the plan to unveil Miyabi Aizawa’s incident with Ōgi to the entire student body. Unfortunately, the plan backfires, no thanks to Onizuka, and Sho, having had enough of his interfering with Daimon, goes out to kill Onizuka. Though he successfully puts Onizuka in critical condition, Daimon sees Sho too out-of-control, and denies any involvement in his doings. Feeling abandoned again, he sets out to totally destroy Holy Forest.
Ruruka Hikita (引田 留々香 Hikita Ruruka?)
A side-character from the manga, who appears in a brief story arc, Ruruka Hikita, like Anko Uehara and Miyabi Aizawa, is the head of her own trio, with two other girls, Madoka and Miko. In a parallel to the American television series, Charmed, the trio are heavily superstitious in magic and charms, though mainly out of fandom as magic does not exist in GTO. Over the course of her story arc, she attempts to get Itō, the class soccer star, to fall in love with her, but her plans backfire, leaving her in fear, if not, paranoid, that Eikichi Onizuka is sexually attracted to her. The three subsequently dedicate themselves to using black magic to destroy him (he is barely aware of her existence outside of their little “encounters”).

Gundam Otaku (Gunji Mishima (三島 軍人 Mishima Gunji?), Haruo Tokida (時田 晴男 Tokida Haruo?), and Mokuba Shirai (白井 木馬 Shirai Mokuba?) )

Gunji Mishima, Haruo Tokida and Mokuba Shirai are Class 3-4’s resident Gundam otakus. During the trip to Okinawa, they ended up rooming with Urumi Kanzaki, who proceed to call her “Sayla“, after the character from the original Mobile Suit Gundam, since Urumi has natural blonde hair. They even cosplay as various Gundams, when Onizuka has the class take a walk through an abandoned apartment.
Takumi Ishida (石田 拓海 Ishida Takumi?)
A former student of Class 2-4, Takumi Ishida was expelled from Holy Forest after assaulting their homeroom teacher, Ōgi, with a baseball bat, when Miyabi Aizawa claimed accusations of rape. Although Ōgi revealed what really had happened, Takumi, feeling too guilty for his actions, retreated to Okinawa. However, he still kept in touch with Yoshito Kikuchi, using the pseudonym, Sunakujira (Sand Whale, in the English translations), and assists him throughout the series (Kikuchi did not know Takumi was Sunakujira). When Miyabi reveals the rape incident was a lie and attempts to set things right through suicide, Takumi returns to Holy Forest to convice her not to do it.
He assists Itagake Kinoshita, when he is handed a CD program to shut down Misuzu Daimon’s network and surveillance control over the school. Takumi questions Itagake’s motives behind this, since he was working for Daimon, but shrugs it off, realizing these events mean next to nothing to him.

Other students

Aoi Fukada (深田 葵 Fukada Aoi?)
One of the more popular and attractive girls at Holy Forest, Aoi Fukada is a girl Kunio Murai secretly has a crush on. Prior to Eikichi Onizuka’s arrival, during a rainy afternoon, Murai was at a bus stop, with only his schoolbag to keep himself dry, until Aoi came along and shared her umbrella with him; he was instantly smitten. When he finds a love letter addressed to him, Murai believes Aoi is the one who sent it.
Kumiko Fukada (鱶田 久美子 Fukada Kumiko?)
Kumiko Fukada’s family name is pronounced the same way as Aoi Fukada’s, which leads to mulitple situations where Kunio Murai gets confused, when one of their names are mentioned. A small, shy girl with an outstretched face and gaping jaw, she has a crush on the tough and hardened Murai, who requests the help of Fuyumi Kujirakawa to deliver a love letter to him. Murai eventually takes her out on a date, much to his horror when he finally meets Kumiko in person.
Fuyumi Kujirakawa (鯨川 冬美 Kujirakawa Fuyumi?)
A member of the girls basketball team and manga club, Fuyumi Kujirakawa is notably tall for a girl her age, and much to her displeasure, since boys tend to prefer girls who are smaller in height than themselves. When Kunio Murai receives a love letter, with the name of the sender written out, except for the kanji “冬” (“Fu”, in the English version), he believes it is Aoi Fukada, but Kōji Fujiyoshi and Tadaaki Kusano states it could also be Fuyumi herself. Although the sender was Kumiko Fukada, Fuyumi does carry some affection for Murai, but is afraid to tell him, due to their difference in height. Murai also states he finds it too unnatural and weird to be with her.

Friends of Onizuka

Ryuji Danma (弾間 龍二 Danma Ryūji?)
Ryuji Danma’ is Eikichi Onizuka’s drinking buddy and “sidekick” during their bōsōzoku days in Shonan Junai Gumi prequel to GTO. In the years since he went “straight”, Ryuji has set up his own used motorcycle shop and profits greatly from it. He is the one who refers Onizuka to Holy Forest Academy, when he forgets to take the public teachers’ civil service exam.
Ryuji is not adverse to showing Onizuka some tough love, such as refusing to lend him any money to cover the cost of the school trip to Okinawa – at least not until he clears up his own debts with Ryuji, although it can be interpreted that deep down, Ryuji is concerned for his friend’s well-being; after all, the deeper the trouble Onizuka is in, the less likely Ryuji will ever see his money again.
Toshiyuki Saejima (冴島 俊行 Saejima Toshiyuki?)
One of Eikichi Onizuka’s and Ryuji Danma’s old friends from their bōsōzoku days in Shonan Junai Gumi prequel to GTO, Toshiyuki Saejima is a corrupt police officer, and spends his time selling seized police evidence. He tries to convince Onizuka to buy into his scams, such as selling goods off the locker, Mercedes-Benz vehicles, counterfeit Prada handbags, handguns, poppies, pandas, Chinese immigrants among other things and “testing” out weapons from crime scenes. He apparently also hires prostitutes on a regular basis, and attempts to get Onizuka to join in his operations, so as cut costs.
Unlike Ryuji, Saejima seems to have difficulty in letting go of his bōsōzoku ways. Aside from his illegalities, he is willing to execute the psychotic Suguru Teshigawara in cold blood, during his rampage, so as to get a promotion, but also justifying it as “protecting the kiddies”.
Saejima receives a side-story in the manga, set entirely in Onizuka’s perspective, where the reader learns more of his life and the fate of other characters from Shonan Junai Gumi. In the live-action, Saejima’s name is rewritten to Ryūji, since the producers decided to merge the two characters.
Nagisa Nagase (長瀬 渚 Nagase Nagisa?)
Briefly seen in the manga, Nagisa Nagase is Ryuji Danma’s attractive, grad-school girlfriend, where they first met in the GTO prequel, Shonan Junai Gumi. In the manga, when Eikichi Onizuka is exceptionally angry, and does not wish to teach the class, he is shown sitting behind his desk contemplating, while the students watch a lesson given by Nagisa through a videotape, albeit reluctantly, through its footage.
In the anime she first appears when Onizuka and Danma are having a conversation in a bar after Onizuka’s interview. Onizuka tries to dive right into her bosom when Danma grabs him right by the collar and shortly starts throwing punches at Onizuka for being a bit of a lech towards Nagisa. She does not appear in the live-action.

Other characters

Nanako Mizuki (水樹 ななこ Mizuki Nanako?)
Nanako Mizuki is a student at the Musashino Public High School, in a class of troublemakers that Eikichi Onizuka is assigned to for teacher training. Initially, she agrees to set Onizuka up, seducing him into taking her back to his apartment, where she undresses for him. At that moment, some of the boys from the class take a picture of Onizuka and Nanako together, threatening to release it to the media, if he doesn’t pay a large sum of money. However, Onizuka is able to “persuade” the boys to keep quiet, with a little help from his old biker gang.
Despite the set-up, Onizuka agrees to take Nanako back to his apartment, after she insinuates he might be able to sleep with her. However, this is just a ruse, when she explains that due to her parents having no time for family bonding anymore, because of their tight jobs, Onizuka’s small apartment reminds her of the time when her family used to live in these conditions and were much closer. This moment sparked Onizuka’s revelation of actively resisting the urge to sleep with his female students.
Onizuka solves her problem by walking into Nanako’s home with a sledgehammer, bashing a hole in the wall separating her parents’ bedrooms, assuring her the wall will not act as a barrier between Nanako and her parents. Her parents have the physical hole filled, but she realizes that time and her efforts can heal the spiritual rift in their relationship. To show her appreciation, she briefly, and without panties, flashes for Onizuka, promising that he’ll be the one to take her virginity. She does not reappear in the manga or anime, after this.
In the live-action, Nanako studies at Holy Forest, so as to keep her character. Fortunately, her story remains the same as her manga and anime counterparts. Here, she affectionately calls Onizuka, “Onichi”, and fills in the group role of Kunio Murai for Kōji Fujiyoshi and Tadaaki Kusano.
Hidero Ohsawa (大沢 秀郎 Ōsawa Hiderō?)
The first teacher Eikichi Onizuka meets at Musashino Public High School during training, Hidero Ohsawa has a reputation for sleeping with his female students and convinces Onizuka that teaching high school is the way to lose one’s virginity. He states the prospect of having a beautiful, 16 year-old wife, even at the age of 40, is irresistible to the ears of the 22 year-old Onizuka. Upon learning that Nanako Mizuki has been staying over at Onizuka’s apartment, with no action going on, Ohsawa insists that he forces himself on her, and videotape it to keep her quiet about it (ensuring that Onizuka’s “merchandise” won’t go to waste). However, Onizuka does not follow-up with Ohsawa’s advice.
Ohsawa is not seen, after Onizuka finishes his training, but it is revealed that he was caught having an affair with a student, and left for another training session, away from Musashino High.
Makoto Fuyutsuki (冬月 まこと Fuyutsuki Makoto?)
Makoto Fuyutsuki is Azusa Fuyutsuki’s 17 year-old sister. She is in the detective club in her high school, which helps her and Eikichi Onizuka a great deal, when they are trying to find a missing Azusa, who left a cryptic fax message to her parents and sister. Makoto is also adept in judo, carrying a white belt. Surprisingly, she is a big fan of hentai pro-wrestling.
Hidemi Ohta (太田 秀美 Ōta Hidemi?)
Hidemi Ohta is the spoiled daughter of a Tokyo legislator and president of a concerned parents’ group (not the Parent-Teacher Association group). Suguru Teshigawara is her math tutor, and through him, develops a dominatrix-type of persona, having him lick her feet. She tries to get Eikichi Onizuka to do the same, on threat of having him fired from Holy Forest from her legislator father, but is summarily kidnapped by the yakuza, who wants to use her as blackmail against her father. However, Onizuka follows the kidnappers to their hideout, where he engages them, rescues Hidemi and hurries back to finish his examinations, even though he is heavily wounded during the fight.
Hidemi’s parents eventually arrive at Holy Forest, and though it seems they are there to chastise Onizuka’s presence as a schoolteacher there, they see in him a “true edcuator”, and are moved to tears for rescuing their daughter. Mr. Ohta gives Onizuka his full support, just as the results of Onizuka’s examinations are being printed.
Yoshiko Uchiyamada (内山 田好子 Uchiyamada Yoshiko?)
The daughter of Hiroshi Uchiyamada, Yoshiko Uchiyamada is into designer handbags, ganguro fashion, and according to her father, “single handedly keeps the taning salon industry alive”. Although Eikichi Onizuka abstained from any sexual relations with students, he and Yoshiko meet at a karaoke place and strike a quick friendship, the connotations of which severely anger her father. The “gap” between Yoshiko and her father is already large to begin with, as she openly disdains him for his deluded imaginings and not living up to her own material expectations.
It is implied in the manga that she may not be Hiroshi Uchiyamada’s biological daughter, but the meat delivery man’s, though this could be argued as another one of Uchiyamada’s paranoid delusions.
Julia Murai (村井 樹里亜 Murai Juria?)
Kunio Murai’s attractive mother, 27 year-old Julia Murai carried Kunio at the age of thirteen, and chose to run away to be able to keep him, when her parents disowned her and Kunio’s father abandoned her. Julia works as a crane operator at a local construction yard, and is known to wearing skimpy outfits and no bra. On occasion she would also model bridal gowns for his boss (which led her son to think she will be married to a man who looks like Dr. Elefun). Although Eikichi Onizuka swore off relations with female students, their mothers are still available, thus, he attempts to woo her on multiple occasions, even asking her out once.
Kyousuke Masaki (真樹 京介 Masaki Kyōsuke?)
Kyousuke Masaki is Eikichi Onizuka’s old idol, during his bōsōzoku days. Although he first appeared in the GTO prequel, Shonan Junai Gumi, Kyousuke appears in Onizuka’s visions, urging him to go on and become the greatest teacher in Japan

[edit] Live-action

A 12-episode live-action Japanese television drama was aired, based loosely on the manga. Takashi Sorimachi stars as Onizuka, and Nanako Matsushima as Azusa Fuyutsuki. It is directed by Masayuki Suzuki, with music composed by Takayuki Hattori and the opening song, “Poison”, sung by Sorimachi himself. There are several drastic changes from the manga to fit the 12-hour format of the live-action series, such as the following:

  • Nanako Mizuki also studies at the Holy Forest Academy.
  • Uehara Anko does not appear in the live-action; instead, her characteristics are merged into Miyabi Aizawa’s character, thus making Miyabi the daughter of the PTA President. Most notably about Miyabi is that she is not nearly as vicious an antagonist to Onizuka as she was in the manga and anime.
  • Ryuji Danma does not appear in the live-action, but rather is combined with Onizuka’s police friend, Toshiyuki Saejima, and becomes Ryuji Saejima.
  • Julia Murai, Kunio’s mother, conceived Kunio at age 17, instead of 13.
  • Onizuka has his own apartment away from the school, but chooses to sleep at the school during the summer (he states his home has no air conditioning)
  • Yoshiko Uchiyamada, the daughter of Vice-Principal Hiroshi Uchiyamada, has a serious love interest in Onizuka (though not reciprocated).
  • Many of the events in the live-action appear out of sequence to the manga and anime adaptations

Nevertheless, the changes in the live-action accomplishes to capture the spirit of GTO very well. According to Tokyopop, the final episode was the most watched television program ever in Japan.[4]

Thanks to the series, Matsushima is now married to Sorimachi. They first met on the set of GTO. After a long-term relationship, they married in 2001, and in May 2004, she gave birth to their first daughter.

A two-hour television special followed in August 1999, and a theatrical movie in January 2000.

Pop culture references

Attempting to be a realistic work of fiction, a great number of cultural references abound in the course of the GTO series:

People & Places

  • Eikichi Onizuka shares his name with Challenger astronaut, Ellison Onizuka.
  • The school where Onizuka teaches at, Seirin Gakuen (Holy Forest Academy), is probably based on the high school of Seikei University, a part of a wider educational institute which teaches from elementary school right through to university level, located in Kichijōji.
  • Headmaster Sakurai refers to Onizuka as “a young Karl Gotch“. Gotch was a professional wrestler famous for his trademark German suplex.
  • When Murai makes Onizuka set his hair on fire, he laughs and says “He went up like Michael Jackson! Do the moonwalk!”.
  • Onizuka calls Principal Maruyama “Francisco Xavier“.
  • Munakata gives away Tomoko’s address so that “she’ll be as well known as Anna Umemiya“.
  • When Onizuka warms up for Fukuroda’s swimming contest, he tries to do several clumsy figures in water, including “The Michelle Kwan“.
  • Murai, Kusano and Fujiyoshi try to break into the school wearing masks of Yasuhiro Nakasone (with “unsinkable aircraft carrier” written on it), John Fitzgerald Kennedy and Mikhail Gorbachev (the birthmark on his head being shaped like the continent of Asia), respectively. When they are breaking in, they say they have the “heart of Lupin“, and sing part of its theme song. Then Murai states, “Let’s go Kennedy. And bring Gorby.”, while Fujiyoshi says, “Roger, Perestroika!”.
  • During the revision for the test, Azusa asks Onizuka which Mongolian warlord conquered China. The correct answer is Kublai Khan; instead, an exhausted Onizuka mistakenly names famous Japanese wrestler, Killer Khan, and singer-songwriter, Chaka Khan.
  • In the chapter title page of volume 12, Onizuka asks Urumi: “Who is sexier: me or Sorimachi?”, directly referring to Takashi Sorimachi, who portrays Onizuka in the live-action television series, based on the manga.
  • Right before they leave for Okinawa, Asuza is mistaken for albino singer, Sonoko Suzuki, due to the excessive amount of white make-up she used to cover up her botched makeover.
  • In Okinawa, Anko meets Onizuka, Murai, Fujiyoshi and Kusano disguised as masked punks, and they bring her to a van which has a giant portrait of Seiko Matsuda painted on it.
  • When Onizuka competes in an arm wrestling match against a hundred opponents, he faces the following:
    • A misshapen and obese Suzunosuke Akao, whose throat is “thicker than Kazushige Nagashima’s“. An unnaturally muscular and red-skinned man, he resembles the monster Red King from the classic tokusatsu series, Ultraman. When Onizuka defeats him, Onizuka shouts, “Look at my Ultraman’s power!”
    • Heihachi Mishima from Namco’s 3D-fighting game franchise, Tekken.
    • A man with the facial features of a sphinx and screws on its face, resembling a mechanical man, with a boy in the background wearing a round white helmet screaming “Go! Robo!”, is a homage to the classic tokusatsu series, Giant Robo.
    • A tall, muscular student wearing an ice hockey mask called Jason, in reference to American horror film character, Jason Voorhees. Onizuka antagonizes his opponent by mistakenly calling him Freddy, in reference to another horror film character, Freddy Krueger.
  • After Onizuka wins the arm wrestling matches, Mayu faints and is sent to the hospital, where a chestburster explodes out of his stomach. It is revealed to be nothing more than a hand puppet, all thanks to Mayu’s trickery.
  • When Onizuka wrestles with a dummy depicting Mayu, he crushes it and stands in a wrestler outfit, saying he is Antonio Inoki, another professional wrestler.
  • In both the manga and anime, Onizuka’s claims his favourite actress is Nanako Matsushima, who portrays Azusa Fuyutsuki in the live-action television series.
  • In episode 4 of the live-action series, Onizuka briefly considers having Nanako sign up for a teen idol competition, but quickly changes his mind after she sings horribly off-key. Ironically, Kirari, who plays Nanako in the live-action, sang one of the ending themes for the anime.
  • In volume 24 and 25 of the manga, Urumi is seen wearing a University of Notre Dame top.

Manga & anime

  • In the first episode of the anime, Hidero Ohsawa sees Onizuka’s eagerness to date teenage schoolgirls. He tells Onizuka, “Take it easy Golden Boy.”
  • When Murai tricks Onizuka into wearing bowling balls stuck to his hands with superglue, he calls him Doraemon, due to his round hands, which make him look like titular robot cat. Onizuka later completes this look with Doraemon written in kanji on his forehead, painted whiskers on his cheeks and a helicopter fan (Doraemon’s trademark gadget) on his hair, as he goes rescue Murai, Kusano and Fujiyoshi from a group of misfits. He changes his disguise again, impersonating Kenshiro from Fist of the North Star, with the same Ursa Major shaped scars (drawn with a marker) on his bare chest, Kenshiro in kanji written on his forehead, and swollen veins drawn on his face. In the anime, he adds the reference further by executing Kenshiro’s trademark move Hokuto Hyakuretsu Ken, complete with his Bruce Lee-like yells, against the misfits.
  • When Onizuka investigates a female teacher who joined a cult after her students bullied her, he discovers her overweight, eating junk food, and watching Speed Racer on television. That same cult shows its members praying to a shrine with an SDF-1 Macross figurine.
  • Onizuka makes Tomoko dress up as Cutey Honey for a talent audition.
  • Onizuka cosplayed as Devilman during a class.
  • When Onizuka tries to cheat at a pachinko game, the machine he uses has a Lupin III-theme.
  • When Onizuka suggests a way of making money for the Okinawa trip, he suggests to go to Mount Akagi and dig the lost treasure of the Tokugawas. His students reply “What do you think this is, the Kindaichi Mysteries?”
  • There are several references to Initial D, a manga based on street racing:
    • After Onizuka and his students escape the police in a frantic car chase, Fujiyoshi says it was “just like in Speed“. Onizuka adds that “the best drivers always get away. Don’t you read Initial D?”
    • When Onizuka drifts the Mercedes-Benz SL that Mayu gave him as a gift, he wears a headband labelled “Onizuka Tofu Shop (For Private Use)” , similar to the sticker on the side of the protagonist’s car in the Initial D manga.
    • When Uchiyamada was chasing Onizuka, he was drifting with his Toyota Cresta. Onizuka remarked, “You’re too old to play Initial D!”. In that same chase, Uchiyamada passes a Nissan Skyline GT-R, whose driver comments that they have just been passed by the “Phantom Cresta”, another reference made to the protagonist’s car in the Initial D manga.
  • There are several references to Neon Genesis Evangelion, a popular science-fiction anime:
    • When Onizuka rounds up a biker gang to scare a student straight, he is wearing a mask with a swastika and the symbol of the SEELE organization from Evangelion.
    • Noburu has several Evangelion posters decorating his room.
    • When Onizuka wins the swimming contest against Fukuroda, he says he wants to buy Evangelion trading cards with the winnings.
    • After shaking hands with Azusa, Teshigawara wears white gloves and glasses, like Gendo Ikari, and also fixes up his glasses on his nose and grins like the character.
    • When Miyabi dyes her hair light blue, Onizuka believes she tried to look like Rei Ayanami.
    • In the story involving Urumi selling Myabi and her friends to a group of older men for sex, one of their bondism toys has the SEELE symbol painted on its headrest.
  • There are several references to Mobile Suit Gundam, a vast, Japanese mecha franchise of anime, models and games:
    • Upon visiting the Nerima Ward, while searching for Ms. Kahara, he bears witness to “alien prayer verses”, which cultists chant. The Gundam references include:
      • “Dom-dom-murick-dom” (in reference to the MS-09 Dom)
      • “Zaku-zaku-bigu-zom” (in reference to the MS-05 Zaku I and the MA-08 Big Zam)
      • “Zogock-zogock-agga-ii” (in reference to the MSM-07 Z’Gok and MSM-04 Acguy)
      • “Azunaibel, azunabiel, sha-sha-sha” (in reference to Char Aznable)
    • In Okinawa, Urumi is forced to share her room with three Gundam otakus. They talk non-stop about it and even call Urumi, Sayla Mass, one of the characters in the first Gundam anime. They even point out that their room number, 0080, is a reference to Mobile Suit Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket. When Urumi confronts Onizuka about her room assignment, she complains that she had dreams about a boy named Heero, the protagonist from New Mobile Report Gundam Wing. In the “haunted house” game, they impersonate various Gundam characters and wear Gundams V-fins, where one of the otakus dressed himself like the WD-M01 Turn A Gundam.
    • Coincidentally, in the GTO anime, Kikuchi’s voice actor is Hikaru Midorikawa, who also did Heero Yuy’s voice in Gundam Wing. Kotono Mitsuishi, Urumi’s voice actor, has appeared in three Gundam series herself: After War Gundam X, Mobile Suit Gundam SEED and Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny. Onizuka’s voice actor, Wataru Takagi, has also appeared in Gundam X.
    • Four voice actors in the anime had previously voiced a leading role in a Gundam series. Toru Furuya, Teshigawara’s voice actor, portrayed Amuro Ray from the original series. Tomokazu Seki, Kunio Murai’s voice actor, did Mobile Fighter G Gundam’s Domon Kasshu. Midorikawa did Gundam Wing’s Heero Yuy and Takagi as Garrod Ran in Gundam X.
    • When Urumi makes her first run of school vandalism, she is confronted by a trio of female upperclassman, who are collectively known as the Black Stars, a play on the Black Tri-Stars, while having their respective names (Gaia, Masha and Ortega). They also bear plenty of physical resemblances to the characters, with their dark skin and their notably wide loose socks, which are described as Dom-styled.
    • When he and Noboru set out to rescue Urumi from her attempted suicide, Onizuka is wearing a t-shirt with the text “Mono-Eye Series” and a Zeon cross etched in.
    • Among Onizuka’s belongings that were trashed by Misuzu Daimon is an action figure of Char Aznable’s MS-14S Gelgoog Commander Type, complete with its trademark beam naginata and shield, and a Sailor Moon figurine. Onizuka’s voice actor portrayed Rubeus, an antagonist in Sailor Moon R
  • The ex-students attending the arm-wrestling tournament say that Onizuka is like Cyborg 009, like “Space Apeman Gort”, adding “so where the hell is Spectreman?” (Gort is a villain from the sentai Spectreman series) and “anyone read the old Tetsujin 28 comics?”
  • When Murai suspects his mother is going to marry an elder man with balding curly hair, he nicknames him Professor Elefun, a character from the Astro Boy franchise. Later, Kusano even makes fun of Murai, saying that if his mother married “Professor Elefun, that would have made him Astro Boy”.
  • In one of his rests at the hospital, Onizuka rolls on a hospital bed on wheels screaming, “I am Ultraman!”
  • Shun Oguri, the actor who portrayed Noboru Yoshikawa in the live-action, also played as Uchiyama Haruhiko in Gokusen. In GTO, he is the one being bullied, but in Gokusen, he is one of the class bullies.
  • Nao Kadena’s nickname, the Queen of Hakosuka, is derived from the car she used to race: a Nissan Skyline 2000GT-R, which is frequently called Hakosuka (ハコスカ) by fans. Hako（ハコ）means Box in Japanese, and suka（スカ）is short for Skyline (スカイライン; Sukairain).

Film & Television

  • In episode nine of the anime, Onizuka wears the same jumpsuit that Bruce Lee wore in Game of Death.
  • When Fujiyoushi and Kusano are looking for Onizuka in a movie theater, The Ring can be seen playing on the screen.
    • During the “haunted house” challenge in Okinawa, when the Gundam otakus find and watch “the tape”, Azusa, disguised as Sadako, scares them. Incidentally, the actress who plays her in the live-action, Nanako Matsushima, played the protagonist in the original Japanese versions of The Ring and Ring 2.
  • Murai goes to watch a Jaws movie with a young girl called Fukada.
  • Urumi tricks Miyabi and her two friends into being seized as sexual maids for horny masked sadomasochistic clients. The clients wear masks of different color mimicking the visors of the Sentai series Himitsu Sentai Goranger, and call themselves the same names as this series’ heroes.

Video Games

  • Onizuka is seen to be playing Dance Dance revolution in an arcade.
  • Murai is seen playing an arcade fighting game against a bear named Kuma. Kuma is a character that was first introduced to the popular 3D-fighting game series from Namco, Tekken.
  • When Kusano shows up tired at class, he claims he played Onimusha all night, although he doesn’t “have a PlayStation 2“. Onizuka is also seen playing Ape Escape without an analog pad.
  • When Onizuka brings a mentally beat-down Miyabi to Tomoko’s house, Miyabi overhears Onizuka and Tomoko yelling in a way that leads her to believe Onizuka is forcing Tomoko to mess around against her will. When she bursts into the room, she finds them playing Biohazard, the Japanese name for Resident Evil.
  • Several references to the Final Fantasy series are made in the manga, including Onizuka “borrowing” a copy of Final Fantasy VII from someone’s desk in the faculty room of Holy Forest, and a cameo appearance of Selphie Tilmitt, one of the main characters in Final Fantasy VIII.
  • Yoshikawa mentions to Onizuka that he had cleared Wild Arms 3 three times.
  • Onizuka wears a helmet from megaman in episode 11*

Music

  • Punk rock music is sometimes referenced throughout the series. At one point, Onizuka sings the Ramones’ “Rock & Roll High School”, and later, Ryuji sings The Undertones’ “Teenage Kicks”.
  • Onizuka is depicted wearing an Atari Teenage Riot t-shirt. In the anime, he is seen wearing an “All Rightz Reserved T-Shirt”.
  • In the anime, Onizuka is seen wearing a rat outfit while confronting Anko’s mother. The costume bears a resemblance to the outfits from the Bloodhound Gang music video, “Bad Touch”.

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Ballons – Dong Bang Shin Ki

July 15, 2008 by rainbowdream

jinagabeorin eorin sijeoren pungseon eul tago naraganeun yeppeun kkumdo kkueotji
noran pungseoni haneureul nal myeon nae maeumedo areumdaun gieokdeuri saenggangna

nae eoril jeok kkumeun noran pungseon eul tago haneul nopi nareuneun saram
geu jogeuman kkumeul ijeobeorigo san geon naega neomu keobeoryeosseul ttae

hajiman goeroul ttaen aicheoreom ttwieo nolgo shipuh
jogeuman naui kkumdeureul pungseone gadeuk sitgo

jinagabeorin eorin sijeoren pungseon eul tago naraganeun yeppeun kkumdo kkueotji
noran pungseon i haneureul nal myeon nae maeumedo areumdaun gieokdeuri saenggangna

wae haneureul bo myeon naneun nunmuri nalkka geugeotjocha al su eopjanha
wae eoreuni doe myeon ijeobeorige doelkka jogeumateon ai sijeoreul

ttaeroneun nado geunyang haneul nopi naragago shipuh
ijeotdeon naui kkumdeulgwa chueogeul gadeuk sitgo

jinagabeorin eorin sijeoren pungseon eul tago naraganeun yeppeun kkumdo kkueotji
noran pungseoni haneureul nal myeon nae maeumedo areumdaun gieokdeuri saenggangna

lalalalala lalalalala lalalalala lalalala lalalala lalala
sewori heulleodo ijeobeoryeodo
noran pungseon e dameul su isseulkka

jinagabeorin eorin sijeoren pungseoneul tago naraganeun yeppeun kkumdo kkueotji
noran pungseon i haneureul nal myeon nae maeumedo areumdaun gieokdeuri saenggangna

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Bandung e ikimasu!!!

June 23, 2008 by rainbowdream

Ima atashi wa bandung e iru…

Samuii…

Demo, ureshii… yatto yasumi kara…

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Langkah Pertama part 1

June 8, 2008 by rainbowdream

Pagi itu, langit cukup cerah, benar-benar suatu cuaca yang cocok untuk menghabiskan waktu di luar ruangan, buat liburan mungkin?!? Namun, hal ini nampaknya tidak berlaku bagi mereka yang dari pagi buta sudah sibuk di halaman kampus fakultas teknik, duduk jongkok sambil diteriaki oleh kakak-kakak kelas mereka. Yah… namanya juga lagi ospek. Ya capek, ya kesel, ya panas, ya ngantuk, pokoknya campur-campur deh!
Dari sekian banyak mahasiswa baru yang asyik diteriaki oleh para senior, ada seorang gadis muda, cenderung culun, rambutnya dikepang dua, berkaca mata, badannya kecil, tapi… ketusnya sama panitia, nggak tanggung-tanggung, terutama pada “bapak-bapak”, bisa buat mereka marah sampai ke ubun-ubun.
Awalnya, ia diberi sanksi karena memakai seragam ospek yang salah. Seharusnya, selama ospek, para maba itu memakai kaos putih dan pita warna orange, tetapi gadis itu justru memakai kaos abu-abu dan dilengkapi pita abu-abu pula. Hal itu jelas memancing amarah para senior, terutama yang bertugas menjaga tata tertib selama ospek. Gimana nggak marah, warna salahnya aja, mencolok banget!
“Heh… mau lo apa?? Peraturannya kan udah jelas banget! Otak lo ditaruh dimana sih?? Jangan mentang-mentang cewek, trus berani macem-macem. Emangnya kita takut apa sama cewek kecil kayak lo? Kalian maba sama. Nggak ada dispensasi. Apalagi yang keterlaluan kayak gini. Abu-abu?? Apa maksud lo, hah?!?”
Saat itu, tangan panitia sampai hendak mencengkeram lengan gadis itu. Mungkin, karena jengkelnya sudah sampai ke ujung otak, tapi… sebelum tangan itu menyentuh lengan gadis itu, gadis itu segera menghindar.
”Ngapain, Kak, mau pegang-pegang saya? Maaf ya Kak, nggak segampang itu. Trus, Kak, kalo soal baju ini, saya cuma punya baju warna abu-abu. Dan saya juga CUMA mau pake baju warna abu-abu. Hak saya donk, mau pake baju or pita warna apa. Saya di kampus ini juga bayar, Kak! Gak usah sok senior gitu, mentang-mentang cowok, beraninya menindas wanita…”
“Ho… jadi elo mau nantang ya?”
“Nggak. Aku nggak pernah ngerasa nantang Kakak. Aku kan cuma mau mempertahankan hakku aja. Kalo emang situ ngerasa tertantang ya… bukan salahku donk!!!”
”KAMU…” Tangan Kakak itu hampir saja menampar pipi mungil gadis itu. Tapi…
”Udah Fa’, yang ini serahin ke aku aja.”
”Gi, elo nggak usah ikutan deh! Nih cewek, kecil-kecil dah berani ngehina gue. Gue nggak terima, Gi.”
“Fa’… please… I’ll give her a detention. Pasti.”
“Ya udah, up to you, Gi.”
Faiz akhirnya menyerah dan menitipkan gadis ketus itu ke Argi, koordinator tata tertib ospek teknik tahun ini. Setelah itu, Argi menyuruh gadis itu mengikutinya ke tempat detensi.
“Jadi…”
“…”
“Hm… namamu…”
“Dea Nianandita. Puas?”
“Ck… Ck… pernah diajarin sopan santun nggak sih? Gue kan tanyanya kan baik-baik, kalo anak yang dididik bener sih, pasti tau gimana jawab pertanyaan orang dengan baik.”
“Ya… ya… terserah.” ‘Beraninya ngehina orang tuaku, dasar cowok gila! Dimana-mana cowok tuh emang nggak ada yang bener.’
“OK. Gue nggak pengen kepancing ma omonganmu. Lagipula, Gue juga nggak suka marah-marah ma orang kok. Makanya Gue lebih suka jadi koordinator.”
“…” ‘Emang gue pikirin?’
“Hm… namaku Argi. Lengkapnya Argi Natsu Rahmantyo.”
“Siapa yang…” ’Natsu? Lucu juga, ada unsur-unsur jepangnya gitu… Tapi… kenapa malah jalan bareng gini sih? Aku padahal pengen cepet kabur ’n balik ke barisan aja.’ pikir Ania sambil agak kesel karena kata-katanya dipotong sebelum selesai.
“Jangan dipotong dulu… Elo cukup diem dan dengerin, OK?”
“…” ’Apaan… yang motong kata-kata tuh siapa?’
“Oh ya, enaknya manggil Elo apa ya? Hm… Dea Nianandita. Dea? Biasa ah… Andita… juga biasa… Oh ya… Dea Nia… De’ Ania… OK, Ania aja!”
“Huh… seenaknya manggil-manggil orang.” ’Ania? Lucu juga. Kok aku nggak kepikiran ya, buat pake nama itu.’
Argi melirik sekilas, dan dibalas dengan tatapan tajam Ania. Melihat tatapan yang seperti mata elang itu, tegas, namun, dalam, membuat Argi sedikit tergetar. Senyum kecil pun tersungging di ujung bibirnya.
“Ania, tolong mengerti kami. Kami juga bukannya mau nyalah-nyalahin anak baru. Sok senior. Dan apa-apa yang Ania tuduhin tadi. Kami hanya melakukan tugas, yaitu menanamkan kedisiplinan pada maba.”
“So, what?”
“Yah… sebagai peserta seharusnya Ania bisa mematuhi peraturan yang udah ditetapin dari atas. Kami juga bukannya nggak ngerti hak-hak maba. Tapi, sekarang kan lagi ospek. Ania juga tahu kalo ospek punya peraturan sendiri. Seragam itu ada juga untuk menjaga agar nggak ada kesenjangan sosial.”
“Hm…” ‘Iya… iya… Ania tuh dah tau, eh… loh? please deh, kok aku jadi kebiasa sih, pake Ania-Ania segala??’
“Trus…”
“Trus apa?”
“Trus… Ania udah ngerti dan nggak akan ngelawan lagi kan?”
“Maksudnya Ani… eh aku bener-bener nggak boleh pake baju abu-abu, gitu?”
“Selama ospek? Iya.”
“Nggak. Aku nggak mau. Lagipula, aku nggak punya baju selain warna abu-abu. Ngerti, Kak?”
‘Mulai ketus lagi nih cewek!’
”Ania tuh, eh… aku tuh nggak mau pake baju selain abu-abu. Aku nggak suka warna selain abu-abu. Terserah Kak Natsu mau gimana… Aku nggak peduli!”
”Natsu? Hm… kok manggil Gue pake nama itu sih?”
”Eh…”
”Kenapa?”
”Eh… Eng… Apaan sih?? Emang penting ya mbahas itu sekarang. Udah deh, katanya mau kasih aku detensi. Cepetan aja! Kenapa? Takut?” ’Bodohnya… aku nih pake keceplosan manggil-manggil pake nama Natsu segala! Ntar dikiranya aku ngefans lagi?!?’
”Waduh… galak lagi deh! Ya udah… karena Ania yang minta…”
”…” ’Emangnya kalo gak gara-gara kamu, sapa juga yang suka ma detensi?’
”Hm… Elo lari aja muterin teknik tiga kali.”
”Apa? Tiga kali?” ucap Ania dengan nada sedikit meremehkan. ’Huh… ternyata cuma segitu aja!’
”Kenapa? Takut?”
”Nggak.”
”Ya udah. Silakan dimulai…”
Sambil melemparkan senyum cemberutnya dan muka yang paling galak, Ania mulai berlari mengelilingi kampusnya, fakultas teknik. Sebenarnya hukuman itu bukan masalah besar, karena dulu, Ania suka ikut lomba lari maraton, dan… walaupun belum pernah juara satu, dia selalu dapat peringkat sepuluh besar. Dulu… itu dulu… Tapi sekarang….

to be continued..

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ロング・ラブレター～漂流教室 – Long Love Letter

June 4, 2008 by rainbowdream

Title: ロング・ラブレター～漂流教室
Title (English): Long Love Letter
Tagline (English): Drifting Classroom
Genre: Science fiction, human, romance
Episodes: 11
Viewership ratings: 16.3
Broadcast network: Fuji TV
Broadcast period: 2002-Jan-09 to 2002-Mar-20
Air time: Wednesday 21:00
Theme song: Loveland Island by Yamashita Tatsuro

Synopsis
Yuka Misaki, whose parents run a flower shop, casually begins dating college student Akio Asami, and later falls for him. But due to some type of accident, the two lose contact with one another.

One year after the accident, the two suddenly meet again. Yuka is still working at her father Shigeo’s flower shop, and Akio is a teacher at a nearby high school.

It’s January 7, just right after the New Year begins. Make up classes are being held for students that aren’t keeping up with their daily studies. Taking the classes are the popular Tadashi Otomo, and the leader of the delinquent students, Sho Takamatsu. And giving the lecturers is Noriko Sekiya, a teacher that has taken out all kinds of loans to pay for the popular brand items that she buys.

Yuka comes to the school to collect money from Noriko. While at the school, with thoughts of the past in the back of her mind, Yuka and Akio meet, and get into a fight. Then all of a sudden, there is a small tremor, and after it subsides..

Cast
Tokiwa Takako as Misaki Yuka
Kubozuka Yosuke as Asami Akio
Yamada Takayuki as Takamatsu Sho
Yamashita Tomohisa as Otomo Tadashi
Tsumabuki Satoshi as Fujisawa Ryuta
Ohsugi Ren as Misaki Shigeo
Nakajima Hiromi as Sekiya Noriko
Ishibashi Kei as Nakazawa Junko
Mizukawa Asami as Ichinose Kaoru
Suzuki Emi as Kamo Midori
Karina as Maioka Azusa
Koizumi Emiko
Moro Morooka
Uchida Asahi

Production Credits
Producer: Yamaguchi Masatoshi
Director: Mizuta Narihide
Screenwriter: Oomori Mika
Music: Yoshimata Ryo

Awards
32nd Television Drama Academy Awards: Best Music (Yoshimata Ryo)

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岡田准一 – Okada Junichi

May 31, 2008 by rainbowdream

Hajime ni wa, I didn’t realize that Jun is one of V6….

I just falling in love with him in SP special…

Jun wa Sugee Kakkoiiiii!!! Hontou hontou kakkoii….

Actually I acknowledge hime chotto chotto onaji with my little crush… *_*

Profile
Name: 岡田准一
Name (romaji): Okada Junichi
Nickname: Kun-kun (given by his sister), Okatchi
Profession: Actor and singer
Birthdate: 1980-Nov-18
Birthplace: Hirakata City, Osaka, Japan
Height: 170cm
Weight: 46kg
Star sign: Scorpio
Blood type: B
Talent agency: Johnny’s Entertainment

TV Shows
SP Special as Inoue Kaoru (Fuji TV, 2008)
SP as Inoue Kaoru (Fuji TV, 2007)
Niji wo Kakeru Ouhi as Li Eun (Fuji TV, 2006)
Tiger & Dragon as Yanaka Ryuji (TBS, 2005)
Fuyu no Undoukai as Kitazawa Kikuo (NTV, 2005)
Taika no Kaishin as Nakatomino Kamatari (NHK, 2005)
Suekko Chounan Ane Sannin as Kashiwakura Ichiro (TBS, 2003)
Kisarazu Cat’s Eye as Tabuchi Kouhei (TBS, 2002)
Renai Hensachi as Ryuji (Fuji TV, 2002)
Hanran no Voyage as Sakaue Kunpei (TV Asahi, 2001)
Chuushingura 1/47 as Oishi Chikara (Fuji TV, 2001)
Oyaji as Kanzaki Tadashi (TBS, 2000)
Mona Lisa no hohoemi as Okajima Takuro (Fuji TV, 2000)
Dear Friend as Yamamuro Yuuji (TBS, 1999)
Shin Oretachi no Tabi as Kumazawa Shinroku (NTV, 1999)
Pu-Pu-Pu jump as Omine Kazuya (TBS, 1998)
D×D as Kihara Toranosuke (NTV, 1997)
V no Honoo (Fuji TV, 1995)

Movies
Kagehinata ni Saku (http://kage-hinata.jp/) (2008)
Gedosenki (2006)
Kisarazu Cats Eye: World Series (http://www.tbs.co.jp/catseye/) (2006)
Hana Yori mo Naho (http://www.kore-eda.com/hana/) (2006)
Hold Up Down (2005)
FLY, DADDY, FLY (http://www.f-d-f.jp/site.html) (2005)
Tokyo Tower (http://www.tokyo-tower.jp/) (2005)
Hard Luck Hero (2003)
Kisarazu Cats Eye: Nihon Series (2003)
Cosmic Rescue (2003)

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Watashi no Yume

May 31, 2008 by rainbowdream

Konnichiwa, minna-san. Watashi wa Gadjah Mada Daigaku houshiki no san nen gakusei no Siti Luzviminda to moshimasu. Ima watashi wa [Watashi no yume wa yappari Nihon e ikitai] no koto hanashite imasu.
Hontou ni wa, watashi wa iro-iro no yume ga arimasu. Dakedo, ichiban saikou no yume wa yappari nihon e ikimasu. Nande desu ka? Chuugaku kara watashi wa nihon no koto suki desu. Hajime ni, nihon no koto ga suki kara hontou ni nihon e ikitai desu. Nihon no dorama ya nihon no ongaku ya nihon bunka ga daisuki desu. Sore de, nihon no dorama ga daisuki wa attention please! kamo shiremasen. Sono dorama wa atashi ni reikan shimashita kara. {Yume no koto ga attara zettai ni akiramenai de kudasai} ga moratteimashita.
San nen no daigaku de yatto chansu ga arimashita. Watashi wa tohoku daigaku no STUDENT EXCHANGE PROGRAM no Gadjah Mada Daigaku de goukaku shimashita. Dakedo, sono jiken wa mada tohoku daigaku ni yotte hanketsu sarete shimasendeshita. Ureshiite, demo doki doki shite, nanka, watashi wa hontou ni sonna kantan ni yatto nihon e ikimasuka, to omoimashita. Nantonaku watashi wa goukaku shina katteimasu. Demo ne, watashi wa kanashikunai desu. Sore wa tabun watashi wa jishin ga arimasu. Itsuka watashi wa kitto nihon e ikimasu kara.
Sono keiken ga watashi no yume ga chotto kaette kimashita. Watashi no yume wa tada nihon e ikitai ja nai desu. Ima watashi wa hontou no saikou yume ga arimasu. Watashi wa Tohoku Daigaku de Earthquake Disaster Research Laboratory Laboratory ni benkyou shimasu. Watashi wa Indonesia no Jogja no tame ni ii hito ni narimasu. Yatto watashi wa nanika ga benkyou shitai ga arimasu. Sono kibou wa watashi no yume ni narimashita.
Sore de, nihon no koto sukittara watashi wa tomodachi ga takusan arimasu. Minna wa nihon no koto mo suki desu. Watashi tachi wa 2015nen ni nihon de yasumi o totte yakusoku shimashita. Sono toki wa atashi tachi wa donna hito desu ka naa to omoimashita. Mou 7nen desho? Kekkon shita ka kodomo ga atta kamo shiremasen. Omoshiroi desu ne. Tanoshimi matteimasu.
Sore kara watashi wa makerimasen, zettai ni kachimasu, kitto nihon e ikimasu, chanto tohoku e benkyo shimasu.

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Bedok no Journey

May 22, 2008 by rainbowdream

Moshi moshi atashi wa upik to moshimasu. Atashi wa atashi no singaporu no journey ga chotto hanashimasu.

Ano toki, atashi to tomodachi wa subarashii journey ga hoshii. Soshite, MRT station kara, atashi wa atashi-tachi no hoteru e ikimasen deshita. Futari wa yatto Bedok e ikimashita. Nande bedok? Atashi wa Bedok ga omoshiroii to omotta. Nanka kira kira to omotte imashita.

Sono toki, atashi-tachi wa bus de kaette dekiru to kangaete imashita. Sore de, atashi-tachi wa Bedok de asobishimashita. Ureshii desu. Singaporu no Bedok wa tabun Yogyakarta no Beringharjo ga onaji desu.

Asobishimashita ato de atashi-tachi wa bus shelter ni ikimashita. Demo, chotto tooi. Sore de, nani bus wa sappari wakarimasen deshita. Takusan hito ni kite miteimashita, demo minna-san wa nanka atashi-tachi no ei-go ga wakarimasendeshita. Singaporu de wa iro iro ei-go ga arimasu kara. Hontou ni komachatta. Yoru kara atashi wa kowakatta yo. Sugoku kowakatta. Demo ne, atashi wa tsuyoku ni narekereba narimasendeshita. Ato de, atashi wa Jakarta de lost journey ga atta kamo shiremasen deshita, soshite, singaporu de tsuyoku narimashita. Atashi wa kowakattara atashi no tomodachi wa motto motto kowakatta to omoimashita. Atashi wa atashi no tomodachi ni ikimashou ga sasoshimashita kara. Sore kara, atashi tachi wa yuuki ga nanka arimashita. Aruita… aruita… Police Station o mitsuketai deshita demo mitsukenai deshita. Komachatta to kowakatta deshita.

Ato de, atashi wa chikaku apartement ni ikimashita. Takusan hito ga iru to omoimashita. Yokatta, futari no malay-jin ga deatta. Yatto hontou no bus ga shiteimashita. Yatto hoteru de kaerimashita. Hontou ni hontou yokatta.

Sono journey wa ima kara wasurenai desu, nanka takusan imi ga moratte imashita kara. Atashi wa hoka no kuni wa hoka no journey ga attara daijoubu to omoimashita. Kantan janai, demo sono kanji ga arimasu.

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Jing Jing De – Harlem Yu (OST. Silence)

April 21, 2008 by rainbowdream

Kong qi li duo zhe shen me
You dian lang man de xin dong
Wo tou tou kan ni
Ni ye tou tou kan wo
Shi jie shang duo le shen me
Hao xiang bian de hen bu tong
Zhan zai ni shen bian
Zhe yi qie dou hao kuan kuo
Wo hai zai deng zhe ni
Jing jing de ai wo
Zhi yao you ni pei wo
Jing jing de jiu zu gou
Ni ye zai deng zhe wo
Jing jing de wen rou
Jiu zhe yang shou qian shou
Jing jing de kan zhe tian kong
Xin li mian cang zhe shen me
Ni zhi xiang yao rang wo dong
Yuan lai wo de meng
Ye jiu shi ni de meng
Wo~
Zhi tiao shang xie le shen me
Wo hao xiang yao ting ni shuo
Rang zi zi ju ju
Chong man wo men de xiao rong
Wo hai zai deng zhe ni
Jing jing de ai wo
Zhi yao you ni pei wo
Jing jing de jiu zu gou
Ni ye zai deng zhe wo
Jing jing de wen rou
Jiu zhe yang shou qian shou
Jing jing de kan zhe tian kong
Yong yuan yao ji de na tian bi ci xu xia de cheng nuo
Shun jian dian liang de huo hua
Shi wo men de yongyou
Wo hai zai deng zhe ni
Jing jing de ai wo
Zhi yao you ni pei wo
Jing jing de jiu zu gou
Ni ye zai deng zhe wo
Jing jing de wen rou
Jiu zhe yang shou qian shou
Jing jing de kan zhe tian kong
Jing jing de shou qian shou
Shi zui jian dan de meng

This song is so…. sweet…I just love Silence (Shen Qing Mi Ma – mandarin title) cast Vic Chou from F4, and Park Eun Hye, korean artist that played Jewel In The Palace as the best friend of Da Jang Geum… Romantic, happy, but also sad…

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