Great Teacher Onizuka TV Animation

Released by: Animation Video

Languages: Japanese Audio (2 CH) w/ English/Chinese Subtitles.

Contents: All 43 Episodes

Region: 0

Item: DVD-842-E

# of discs: 5

Purchase Information:

Paid: Was part of a bulk, can't really say, about $45 + shipping.

Ordered From: Florachanxxx on ebay

Comments/Info by: Rich

Note: This is a Preliminary Review, meaning I HAVEN'T WATCHED all 43 episodes...

...only 26 of the 43...

Packaging:

    Nifty.  The slipcase, while not as sturdy as the old Anime Cartoon ones, is very nice, using puffy, shiny graphics and shiny lettering.  This comes out looking quite nice, and gives the casing a rather unique look to it. Onizuka and a shadow of another character of the contained 3 covers inside the slip case, atop a selection of shots from the show.   The shots are actually well fitting, containing of many of the shows interesting facial expressions.  Overall, very nice.

Content:

      To start, I've only seen the first 26 episodes of this show, I stopped when the subtitles did (more on this in Subtitles).  But I must also admit, this is my new favorite Anime.  There is something about GTO that makes it watch-able in huge chunks, during which time flies.  It isn't greatly animated, it isn't an overly unique premise, what it is, however, a collection of highly likeable characters in realistic yet very entertaining and humorous situations.  It is highly entertaining, and it manages to maintain interest by having numerous unique storylines - focusing in on certain kids or teachers for a few episodes but not forgetting about the others.  The first episode of this show is what many consider "The GTO Movie" it isn't, it's a 48 minute "pilot"-style episode, and is both very well made and downright hilarious.  The other 25 episodes I have seen have been equally impressive, and I've yet to see an episode that drags one bit.  The basic premise of the show is simple: ex-biker Onizuka, age 22, decides he wants to be a teacher to achieve the immortal dream of having a 16 year old bride at the age of 40.  He's after the skirts, until he gets shafted and ends up in a Junior High class.  The problems start to escalate as new female teachers arrive and he meets his students, that have a problem with any and every teacher ever given to them.  This show, despite a description that seems it'd be rather shallow, has many morals in it and keeps them nicely wrapped up with both hilarious activity and extremely enjoyable characters...and that damned squeaky chemistry teacher.

Subtitles:

     Decent/good.  I mean, they're in fairly good English, use some punctuation, and butcher the names, so it's not big deal (As far as names go, they also change during episodes, but you get the drift pretty easily, unless your deaf, the students have fairly distinctive names.) They're improving though, and I'll commend AV for that.  Just a lot of awkward phrasing and a few puzzling quotes and really REALLY REALLY off names (with exception of Teacher Onizuka of course.) , but overall - not bad.  I would have to say it's not quite as good as One Piece but not too far off, One Piece is actually a crowning achievement in the field of HK originals and even those aren't that great :).  Overall, more than watchable and keep much of the shows humor intact, quite good.  

     There are, however, three big problems.  First) The subs run off the screen, A LOT.  I know some aren't bothered by this but I will admit it is distracting.  Second) Names change mid-episode or from episode to episode, but you get used to this quite fast, as they rarely mention someone who isn't on screen at the time.  Third) and this is a BIG problem with a lot of people.  Episodes 27 - 31 have incorrect/basically missing subtitles, they all use the sub track from episode 32 (I believe.) and it is extremely annoying.  I stopped watching the show at 27 just because I want to see it all in order, here's to hoping AV releases a replacement disc.  Overall though, the subs are good and do warrant purchase of this set, despite the missing episodes.

Video: 

    Very Good.  No DVD problems to speak off, but this show appears to be LD ripped (Due to the shaking.) I could be wrong, however.  The video is pretty crisp, colors are a little dull, but this wasn't exactly a high budget show (damn you Ayashi No Ceres.) It looks pretty good for the most part though, and the shaking is kept to a bare minimum, in fact I'm a little surprised I noticed it.  For those who have seen Flame of Recca HKDVD Sets, you should know what I'm talking about - where the screen shakes on scene change.  However, unlike Flame of Recca, it is only once in a while on here and it only does some minor shaking - no where near the seizure Recca gets in the later episodes.  Aside from this, however, I have no problems with this set, and it could be direct from the R2 DVDs (if they're out.) but I've never seen 'em so I'll just say the shaking is from the LD -> DVD Transferring.  Artifacting is kept to a minimum and there is no pixelization to speak of.  Overall - Very Good.  Note: The main reason I question if this is LD or DVD is simple: The Intro.  The Intros (both) look phenomenal where the show looks a little dated, so I'm guessing the shaking was on the DVD and this was a DVD transfer, but I can't be certain.

Audio:

    Nothing special, nothing bad.  Japanese 2 CH Stereo, minimal directional effects.

Menus/Chapters/Extras:

     Basic, simple menus. One chapter per episode. No Extras.

Overall:

     BUY THIS SET, it is far from the best HK set I've ever seen, the animation in this show is lacking, and the subs are broken from episodes 27 - 31.  Then why buy it? Simple.  It's one of the best animes made in the past couple of years.  It is just so damn entertaining, it's excellent.  There is a rumor going around the Animation Video is going to do something about Disc 4 (eps 27 - 31 problem.) but I wouldn't count on it.  Buy this set, buy it from someone you trust and someone who would replace the disc should they issue a recall-style-thing (Recalling HK Discs is a bit iffy.) just BUY IT.  This show rules, the subs aren't half bad, the video is quite good, and the audio is fine. BUY THIS NOW...and then buy the R1s when they're out too :-).  Just to note - my enthusiasm for this set is coinciding with the subtitles as well, much of the humor is intact so you don't have to worry about that.

Screenshots:  

Page created on  2-23-02. 

Page Last Updated on 2-23-02.

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