YMMV / GTO: The Early Years

• Accidental Innuendo: Chapter 180 has a scene where Tsukai has just beaten two guys in his second two-on-one fight in as many days. However, the wording lends itself to... other interpretations.
  Tsukai: [panting] Four guys in two days really might be overdoing it. No joke.
• Alternative Character Interpretation: Is Eikichi really just an awkward virgin who keeps screwing up his chances to have sex? Or is he actually afraid of doing the same thing his father did and becoming a Disappeared Dad, so he sabotages himself to prevent any chance of that happening?
• Awesome Music: The ending theme to the 2020 Live-Action Adaptation, by T-Bolan: "I Don't Want to Let Go".
• Bizarro Episode: In Chapter 91, Ryuji meets a girl at the beach trying to drown herself. He saves her, and they start hanging out. However, when he introduces his friends to his new "girlfriend", it's revealed that she's a drowned corpse.
• Catharsis Factor: Pretty much anytime Eikichi or Ryuji give the more cruel villains a No-Holds-Barred Beatdown
• Fair for Its Day: Despite the casual homophobia and transphobia of the main characters (see Values Dissonance below), the arc where Eikichi's girlfriend Misato reveals that she's transgender is surprisingly progressive. Eikichi reacts with shock, but he doesn't reject her, and he waits for her at the train station — it's actually her who breaks up with him. Some fans are puzzled that such a storyline came from the same author who had the Unsettling Gender-Reveal gag of the Oni-Baku's neighbor not that long before this one.
• Hollywood Homely/Hollywood Pudgy: From the "before" picture of Shinomi, she really doesn't look ugly at all (definitely not gonk like some female characters) and not that fat either. Of course, the Comical Overreacting of the boys saying "Who's that monster!?" could be intended to show how immature and shallow they are.
• Nightmare Fuel: Yagiou Atsuki and his zombie-like henchmen using pencils to carve the kanji for the word Demon on the bodies of their victims while showing an unnerving smile on their faces.
• Sequel Displacement: It's not as if Shounan Jun'ai Gumi! didn't have its fans—it achieved a decently long run and ran for half a decade— but GTO is much better known, to the point that Shonan had been rereleased in foreign markets as GTO: The Early Years or Young GTO. Hell, even Japan advertised its adaptations the same way.
• Values Dissonance:
  • The 90s were a different time, but the casual sexism, homophobia and transphobia of the main characters can still be jarring. See the constant teasing that Eikichi can't get a woman because he must be gay, or the Unsettling Gender Reveals of the Oni-Baku's Drag Queen neighbor and Misato.
  • Fans have also criticized the handling of the villains Takezawa and Akutsu, both rapists who got, if not a Heel–Face Turn, a Reformed, but Not Tamed treatment (and Akutsu was a full-on kidnapper and attempted murderer as well).
  • Shinomi, an otherwise highly sympathetic character, is very transphobic after she finds out Misato is a trans woman (though part of this may be because she felt threatened by Eikichi liking another girl).
  • In the 2020 live-action adaptation they had Eikichi find out about Kaoru Kamata's status as a crossdresser, and (s)he is treated sympathetically by Eikichi and the narrative.
• What Do You Mean, It's for Kids?: The series ran in a shonen magazine, despite having frequent graphic violence and Rape as Drama. Its better-known sequel Great Teacher Onizuka is a little toned down, but still features many of the same themes. The English translation was released with a "Mature Teens" rating.

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