[SPOILERS] Great Teacher Onizuka ending thoughts

I wish to share my thoughts on the ending of this anime series. So if you haven't seen this show and don't want to know what happens, you should stop reading this thread now!


!!!THIS IS YOUR FINAL WARNING!!!

Spoiler

The series ends with Onizuka running away from the police after taking the fall for one of his students who was involved in a teacher getting stabbed. We then see Onizuka teaching in California.

What I found odd about the ending is that it suggests Onizuka is now a fugitive in Japan but the teacher that was stabbed survived and cleared up any misunderstanding (as the school is still running) so Onizuka would have been cleared of any wrong doing. This doesn't make sense to me but it happened and that is the way it is.

I'm going to assume that Onizuka was not a fugitive and I will focus on why he didn't go back to Holy Forest Academy.

From the start of the show it was clear that Onizuka wanted to become the best teacher ever and be the teacher he wished he had when he was at school i.e. being there solely for the students. It is obvious that Onizuka's class (most troublesome class in the whole school) had a complete distrust of adults and teachers and one by one Onizuka addresses their problems and concerns winning their trust and support. All except for Miyabi Aizawa who is his biggest challenge. I won't go into detail here but upon finally getting her to see the error of her ways and say a heartfelt "sorry", Onizuka had finally sorted out the class.

However, I don't think that was the reason for him to leave as there were many other students he still could have helped from other classes. I believe that Onizuka had a bigger goal he wished to achieve, that being changing the way the other teachers dealt with the students and adopt into his philosophy about teaching. And I believe he left as the other teachers finally understood what he was saying and so would carry on his legacy and thus he was no longer needed. This was clearly demonstrated when Hiroshi Uchiyamada the Vice Principle gave his speech and called out to Onizuka when he was being taken away by the police.

With regards to his relationship with Azusa Fuyutsuki, many people on other forums say that this was left at a loose end but I have to disagree. In my opinion, when Azusa declared her wish for him to stay he declared his love to her by telling her the meaning of Fuyutsuki (Winter Moon) and then saying he prefers the Moon. Also, it is implied that she follow Onizuka to California.

Overall, I really enjoyed this anime but would have preferred a more complete ending and him not ending up in California (I just don't get why he went there).

Sorry for going on a bit but I just had to share my views. Thank you for taking the time to read this.

 

Onizuka was cleared of any suspicion but before that happened he took off because he was going to be arrested, and considering his past record this wasn't going to be a minor thing even if it was all speculation at that very point in time. Him teaching in California threw me off a bit, I thought he always wanted to go to Hawaii so if anywhere I was sure it would of been there, but I guess it makes sense. He wanted to be the greatest teacher to ever live, simply teaching in one country is no way to go about that so gaining the experience from others would help him achieve this goal. Even if the rest of the school had problems I'm confident that his class alone could now handle them.

About Ms Fuyutsuki I'm glad it was left inconclusive, the entire show we were shown just how unlucky in love he is. Had it of concluded with anything too much hinting that their relationship would continue or even a kiss I believe it would of been too much. Onizuka being "pure" was one of the focal points to change it in the final moments would of killed everything they had going for his character [even in California he couldn't catch a break with he blonde he helped being with the huge guy].

Regardless it was a masterpiece.