GTO Live Action ep.1-2

June 1, 2004 | 13 Comments

I'm a bit bored with anime lately and feel like watching something that is a bit different. Since I've heard many good things about the live action version of GTO, I decided to give this series a try. After watching the first two episodes, I have to agree that this is a very interesting take on the GTO story. I originally had reservation about Takashi Sorimachi's version of Onizuka but eventually grew to like his interpretation of the character. I also think that the live action features a more interesting Fuyutsuki. I feel that in the anime she's a rather boring character and doesn't get as much exposure. In here, however, she has a rather large role right from the start and her personality is a standout thanks to an excellent performance from Nanako Matsushima (Ringu, Ringu 2).

Anyway, so far the storyline is quite similar to what I've seen from the anime version. Eikichi Onizuka is an ex-gang member whose aspiration is to become a teacher. So one day his best friend, Saejima, tells him that Musashi Seirin Academy is currently accepting application for a new teacher since the previous teacher had suddenly quit. Upon hearing this, Onizuka races off to the school to get an interview with the Vice-principal. Unfortunately for him, the head teacher, Uchiyamada, turns out to be a real prick. He thinks that 'trash' like Onizuka does not belong in a private school like Musashi Seirin Academy. Onizuka is angry at the head teacher's condescending attitude but decides to not make a scene at the school and quietly retreats to the school's cafeteria to nurse his disappointment.

While he's there, he gets to talk to the cafeteria lady about the fact that teachers always have the tendency to look down on him. Onizuka sincerely tells the lady that if he was a teacher, he'll never look down on his students. This seems to impress the cafeteria lady and she suggests that Onizuka tries to talk to two angry students who are on their way to beat up Uchiyamada and his assistant, Nakamata, for expelling the students from the school. Onizuka tries his best to calm the students down, however, after hearing Uchiyamada calling the students 'trash', he becomes angry and ends up delivering a jump kick to Uchiyamada's head, knocking him down. He tells Uchiyamada that if this were the sort of schools who call their students 'trash', then he'd rather not teach there.

Onizuka's luck is not getting any better afterwards. Two teenagers attempt to bully him into giving them some money. Pissed off with their attitude, Onizuka ends up reversing the situation and scares the two teenagers into buying him some groceries. Upon going home, however, he is told by Saejima that the Director of Musashi Seirin, Akira Sakurai, had just arrived to let him know that if he's still interested to become a teacher, he should come before the end of the day. Onizuka once again races off to the school but since he arrived close to 12 at night, it seems the director has already gone home. Thankfully for him, not long after he almost given up, the Director open a door and invites Onizuka to come to the office. Onizuka quickly realises that the Director of this school is none other than the cafeteria lady that Onizuka saw in the afternoon.

The Director tells Onizuka that she wants to hire Onizuka for the job because even though people view the Academy as a prestigious school, the truth is there are a lot of problem with the students at the Academy and they need people like Onizuka to straight them up. The next day, the series show Fuyutsuki waking up from her sleep. Fuyutsuki is quite an interesting character here because she can maintain a smile and politeness while conversing with someone but then once the conversation ends, she'll pout and get a bit pissy if she finds the conversation to be annoying. She also can't say "No" to orders and requests that she doesn't like but she'll silently complain about it later on. At any rate, her rather schizoid-like personality in this version makes her a far more interesting character in comparison to the calm and boring Fuyutsuki from the anime.

Anyway, it doesn't take long for Onizuka to meet Fuyutsuki and the rest of his colleagues. Unfortunately for him, the majority of his colleagues are a bunch of annoying snobs as well. It's quite a departure from the anime where the teachers are quite a nice bunch. Kotani-Sensei is an Ikebana teacher who is clearly jealous of Fuyutsuki and looks down on Onizuka. Hakamata and Teshigawara are respectively the PE and Mathematics teacher who have the hots for Fuyutsuki. Then there is Nakamata (not to be confused with Hakamata), the snivelling assistant/yes-man to Uchiyamada. Having said that, the teachers are nothing when compared to the students. Just like in the anime, at first they all pretend to be nice kids in front of Onizuka. However, the truth is, they all are scheming to get him out of the school.

Oh yeah, there are more changes in the live action version. To begin with, Onizuka does not teach class 3-4 in this version but rather 2-4. Nanako and the two kids who threatened Onizuka for money are no longer students from another high school in this version. They are actually in the same class with Miyabi, Kikuchi, Noboru, Murai, et all. Anyway, all of the students pretend to be nice kids the first time Onizuka arrives at the class. But the truth is, one of them is secretly taking his photograph for a purpose that is not revealed until the end of this first episode. And just like in the anime, he ends up being set up by Nanako and the two other students who took a him being hugged by a scantily-clad Nanako. The students then tell Onizuka that unless he gives them 10,000 Yen, they'll show the picture to the school or worse, the media.

Onizuka is disappointed with the set-up but he quickly takes effective measures to ensure that the students get their just dessert. He asks his ex-yakuza friends to capture the two male students so he can scare them off into giving him the photograph back. Later on, when Onizuka is about to go home (in his bike, instead of motorbike, yeah this version lose a point in terms of coolness), Nanako once again shows up and asks him to take her to her house. Once they arrived there, Nanako reveals that her parents are not home very often and that she's not happy about that fact. She said that before they became rich, they used to live in the same room and talk to each other a lot. However, now that they have a lot of money, each of the their rooms are separated with thick walls that makes it impossible for them to even greet each other.

Elsewhere in the city, Fuyutsuki is having dinner with some of her friends. It is revealed here that Fuyutsuki actually wants to become a flight attendant but because there was a shortage of position (or so she says), she had no choice but to work as a teacher for the time being. Meanwhile, Onizuka tells Nanako to not stay idly at his house but to go back home to her parents. Nanako is upset and thinks that Onizuka is not any different from any other teacher. However, later on Onizuka pays a visit to her house and destroys the wall between her parents' rooms. Onizuka got in trouble because of this and almost got fired but thankfully, because of his efforts Nanako finally can talk to her parents again and they decide to ask Uchiyamada to not fire Onizuka. Nanako and her two friends are grateful to Onizuka and begin to see him in a different light. However, this is not the end of the trouble for Onizuka.

In the next episode, Onizuka finds out that someone has posted a kinky image of him engaging in an S&M act on the school's message board. The problem is, he never has done such a thing. Onizuka then angrily tells his class that he knows that one of them was the one who created the image. However, being the cold, calculating bitch that she is, Miyabi Aizawa tells Onizuka that unless he has a proof, he should stop accusing them. She also demands Onizuka to apologise to the class and tells him that unless Onizuka can prove his innocence, she'll report this incident to her mother, who happens to be a PTA member. Meanwhile, Fuyutsuki encounters her old friend, Miyuki, who now works as a flight attendant. It's obvious that Fuyutsuki is jealous of Miyuki's high life but she tries her best to contain that jealousy as her friend flashes some of her expensive belongings.

Anyway, back to Onizuka, thanks to Nanako and her two other friends, Onizuka finds out that the student who's been creating the naughty image is none other than the class genius, Kikuchi Yoshito. When Onizuka confronts him about the fact, however, Kikuchi calmly tells him that it was just a joke and pretend to act as if he's sorry. He then tells Onizuka that since he doesn't have anything to learn from Onizuka, he will not come to the class from now on. The incident angers Uchiyamada and he forces Onizuka to try to get Kikuchi back or else. Onizuka does end up making a visit to Kikuchi's house but it is simply to ask for his help to create a fake porn picture, much to Kikuchi's surprise. When Onizuka comes back to the school without any result though, Fuyutsuki ends up being sent to persuade Kikuchi instead.

However, instead of having a success in persuading the kid, Fuyutsuki ends up becoming depressed of her future after Kikuchi tells her a few well-known facts about a teacher's life. Fuyutsuki then decides to ask for Onizuka's help to persuade Kikuchi and the two then go to visit Kikuchi's cram school. Apparently Kikuchi has been attending this school so he can enter Todai University quickly. While waiting for Kikuchi, however, Onizuka and Fuyutsuki end up arguing with each other after Onizuka realises that Fuyutsuki doesn't really want to become a teacher but managed to become one so easily while he has a hard time to become one even though he wants nothing but to be a teacher. Their argument eventually ends when Kikuchi finishes his lesson and the two then try to prove that there are things that Kikuchi can learn from them but both fail miserably.

While trying to return home, however, Kikuchi bumps into a few juvenile students and they dislike his snotty attitude and decide to rough him up a little bit. Kikuchi cunningly tries to tell them that his teacher, Onizuka, is good at fighting and that Onizuka will beat them up if they try to hurt him. Onizuka, however, tells Kikuchi that he's not his teacher at all and tells him not to call someone a 'teacher' just because he needs him/her. Kikuchi ends up getting beaten up by the juvenile students and the next day, her mother comes running to the school to complain. I guess at the end of the day, he is nothing more than a bitter momma's boy. Once again Onizuka's position as a teacher is in jeopardy, much to the delight of Miyabi and Murai. Seeing the ugliness of the teacher's world and fear for her own future, Fuyutsuki decides to apply for a flight attendant position again.

However, while filling in the application form inside a restaurant, she overhears Kikuchi telling Miyabi and Murai that after introspective, he now realises that Fuyutsuki is not any different than other teachers. Angered by the comment, Fuyutsuki decides to confront Kikuchi at his house again. But before she can get through him, Onizuka ends up upstaging her by giving a heartfelt speech to Kikuchi under a heavy rain. He believes that Kikuchi actually knows nothing about life because all that Kikuchi knows is actually taken from textbooks. Onizuka then asks Kikuchi if it's worth it to miss out on school social life just because Kikuchi can learn on his own. Just when Kikuchi is about to buy the speech, however, Onizuka tells Nanako and her two friends to stop the show. It turns out the rain has been generated from the nearby water sprinkler. Onizuka tells Kikuchi that it was all just a bet to see if he'll buy his speech but he feels that he lost the bet.

Nanako, however, can see through Onizuka and tells him that she doesn't believe that because although the first couple of lines were rehearsed, the rest sincerely came from Onizuka's own heart. Nanako and the other two students are also afraid that they won't know what to do if Onizuka is fired. Onizuka, however, assures them that even if he is fired, he'll always be with them, much to their relief. Nanako then throws away the winning money bet that she got from Onizuka in front of Kikuchi to let him know that the money means nothing to her in comparison to being able to keep Onizuka as her teacher. The next day, just as Onizuka is about to get fired, he is saved because Kikuchi decides to come back to the school. Kikuchi also tells Miyabi and Murai that he is no longer interested to hang around them anymore. It seems things go back on track for Onizuka but then one night he and his loyal students witness Noboru about to jump off the rooftop.

All in all, I've really enjoyed these episodes. Despite some of the differences, such as the fact that Onizuka is actually less perverted in this version, the series does feature solid writings throughout the first two episodes. I find all of the characters are appropriately cast, especially Onizuka and Fuyutsuki. I'm also quite impressed with the actors who play the students. They sure successfully convey the nasty natures of these teenagers. Storyline-wise, just like in the anime, I do often question the methods that Onizuka uses to 'teach' his students. However, within the confine of this series, the methods work quite well since I think, half of the time, the series is not meant to be taken seriously. Having said that, I can't wait for some character development to happen to Onizuka. Although from the look of things, it seems Fuyutsuki is probably the one who'll more likely get a rather good character development in this series.

© memento 2003