GTO: Outcasts (vol. 3) (1999)
Review by Dindrane
Film:
DVD:

Written by Tohru Fujisawa (original manga)
Directed by Hiroto Kato, Yutaka Kagawa, Yoshiki Odaka, Naoyasu Hanyu, and Kazunori Mizuno
Animation Character Design by Koichi Usami

Features:

• Textless Opening/Closing
  
• Eye-Catches
  
• Original Character Sketches
  
• Cultural Notes
  
• Previews
  
• Motion Menu
  
• Japanese and English audio
  
• English subtitles
  

Dindrane's Anime Warnings:

• Onizuka's nekkid butt
• pornographers running wild
• dominatrix high school girl
• unhealthy stalker-like behaviour
• suspicious elephant costume

Rating: 16+ for sexual allusions, tobacco use, mild violence, and profanity

Anamorphic: N/A

My Advice: Buy it.

In Outcasts, we have five more episodes of the popular Anime series, GTO (for Great Teacher Onizuka). In the first two episodes, Onizuka must assist one of his students, Tomoko Nomura, who has been ousted by her peer group for being too "slow" and always ruining things. Since she is actually just very kind and naive, Onizuka thinks the best way to help her is to make her a Japanese pop idol. In the next three episodes, a math teacher, Mr. Teshigawara, is stalking Ms. Fuyutsuki and decides that Onizuka is in his way.

As with previous volumes of this title, Outcasts is a perverse blend of hysterically funny and serious commentary on the educational system. The characters continue to develop, as we learn more about Fuyutsuki and other teachers in the school. Onizuka is, well, Onizuka, but he continues to show that there's more to him than it seems. These episodes show him being quite clever, arranging a talent show and more, all to the benefit of his students. We also see him being vulnerable as our study-challenged hero has to take a written test, and then determined, as he works toward that goal. How the other characters react to Onizuka is also revealing, and an interesting feature of the show.

The production quality of this disc is typically high. The sound is clear and solid with no crackles or skips in both languages, and the voice actors know what they're doing. The English version of Onizuka I find particularly talented, as he can go from earnest and sincere one minute, to perverted and child-like without missing a beat. The music is similarly free of distortion and appropriate, and makes me look forward to seeing the soundtrack disc.

The extras are also pretty interesting. The Nightjar motion menu is the same as on the other discs, but continues to delight me with its cleverness and artistry. The eye-catches, which are basically the commercial break graphics from the Japanese release, are a fun inclusion. The opening theme of Outcasts, the same as the other discs, is just amusing as all get-out and gives you an amazingly good idea of who Onizuka is...especially where he shoots himself in the mirror. The textless openings and closings are nice, as are the few character sketches.

In short, if you've missed the previous volumes of GTO, run out and get them now. I'll wait. If you've seen them already, then you're going to love this latest installment just as much. The only downside is that this disc ends with a sort of cliff-hanger, and the fourth volume won't come soon enough. It never fails to amaze me how a show can contain some of the issues this one does without losing its laugh-factor. But GTO, even while showing deviance, horrible characters, borderline abuse, and criminal behaviour continues to be entertaining and normally positive. If you love comedy, character development, school stories, or basically anything, you'll enjoy GTO, and luckily for us, the series just gets better as it goes along.