GTO Revival: A pure nostalgia trip.

 

One of my old favourite dramas is GTO. I love both the first one that aired in 1998 and the remake that aired in 2012. Much like everyone else, I was surprised when it was announced that a special would be airing, featuring some of the cast from the 1998 drama. I was cautiously optimistic about it and well, when I finally sat down to watch it, I couldn't stop smiling through the entire watch time. 

Years have passed since the original drama and Onizuka has been working as a delivery man after having been kicked out of several schools for his unorthodox teaching style. One day after having made a delivery, he encounters one of his former students, Yoshito Kikuchi. Kikuchi asks Onizuka to work as a teacher at Aibou academy. At the academy, there is a certain influencer that is exposing the untoward activities and behaviour of both the students and staff members as well as celebrities and various other citizens. Onizuka attempts to help his students whilst also learning the identity of the expose style influencer.  

It's incredibly fun seeing Onizuka navigating the modern era with things like smartphones, TikTok, YouTube and even slang terms that he has no clue about being fun stumbling blocks for him to learn about. He's very much a fish out of water in the modern environment, but it makes him that much more endearing. 

I feel like the identity of the influencer is obvious right from the start as I was able to guess it straight away. That's not the worst thing in the world, as the choice of character made perfect sense for the story that the special wanted to tell and was handled decently well. 

Prior to watching the special, I had read some comments online that criticised the production values. After having watched it, I thought that the production was fine and that the usage of some POV-like shots were a neat touch. The one minor complaint I would have is in regard to the editing as several scenes cut to black for a few seconds too long, making the transitions a little awkward. 

The one big stand out for the entire thing is just how well Takashi Sorimachi slipped back into the role of Eikichi Onizuka. It had been years since he last portrayed the character and yet, he nailed the same facial expressions, gestures and even his manner of speaking. It was as if playing Onizuka is second-nature to him. It was also really cool and nostalgic to have him interact with Nanako Matsushima's Azuza Fuyutsuki, even if it wasn't for long. 

It was also really nice to see Kikuchi, Masaru, Murai and Nobaru again. Their inclusion worked nicely and didn't feel forced as they had a role to play in regard to the plot, with the trio interacting with Onizuka in some neat scenes. Yosuke Kubozuka, Yuta Yamazaki and Shun Oguri all portrayed the characters with tremendous aplomb. It feels great seeing them all mature both physically and in their acting capabilities. 

Overall, I would recommend Revival over the movie as I think it was handled a bit better and more entertaining in general. It's worth the watch for the members of the old cast getting to interact again and even for Sorimachi's excellent portrayal of Onizuka again.