Onizuka is very loyal when it comes to his students. Even though at first, class 3-4 at Seirin (Holy Forest) Academy private school is notorious for driving teachers crazy and forcing them to quit, Onizuka’s relentlessness and reactions towards those attempts made the students slowly able to trust him as they find him ‘interesting’. Onizuka has also displayed his loyalty numerous times by risking his own life to save his students, like the time he saved Noboru Yoshikawa from jumping off the school rooftop.

Later, Onizuka learns that Noboru was bullied into attempting suicide as he was sexually abused and humiliated by Anko Uehara, a spoiled daughter of the president of the local Parent-Teacher Association. Onizuka helped Noboru gets his revenge by humiliating Anko and her gang back and that leads to trouble as her mother was really upset when she found out about this and demanded that the school fire Onizuka.

It might seem obvious that Onizuka isn’t exactly that bright, and as a result, he is often-times easily tricked by his fellow students. One such time involved his whole body getting covered in written ‘spells’ that were meant to free him from a curse (Episode 23 – Superstition). His stupidity knows no bounds but that’s one of the things that you will love him for. Onizuka is truly one-of-a-kind when it comes to being a great teacher.

As absurd as Onizuka can be as a teacher, one of the most fundamental things all teachers should have is the ability to truly believe in their students, and Onizuka truly embraces that. One of the cases involve Tomoko Nomura, a student from his class that’s well known for her clumsiness that often causes trouble for others around her. Onizuka was able to help her regain her own confidence by hooking her up with a producer friend of his who ultimately made Tomoko into a celebrity.

I’m sure in reality, there are students that struggle with their personal confidence and self-esteem in school, and I think it’s really important for a good teacher to have the ability to turn that around and help regain their confidence.

It’s really amazing to see how Onizuka progresses throughout the series. He eventually gets to know each student on a personal level. This makes his students able to trust him and pitch in to help him out, even when Onizuka didn’t ask for it. It’s the really strong bond that Onizuka has with his students that makes him so loveable and reliable at the same time.

This can be seen in Episode 31 – Destination, as Onizuka is framed in a money embezzlement case and struggles to find a way to pay back the money. His students Noboru and Anko offer to help him by pitching in some money of their own. Noboru even sold his games to get extra money, but Onizuka refuses their help and says, “How can a teacher borrow money from his students?”

As you can see from the picture above, one of the things Onizuka loves is looking at women. And what better way to spend a normal afternoon than to enjoy an obscene magazine with his students at school. Boys will be boys. In all seriousness, Onizuka spends a lot of his time with his students, whether it be playing around with water filled rockets, or telling silly ghost stories, Onizuka learns to grow alongside his students (it’s his own way to connect with them).

Despite all those mischievous acts, Onizuka gains respect from the parents as well. One of which is Tomoko’s parents who own a ramen shop. Onizuka will often get ‘special service’, as in larger beer and whatnot when he comes to visit the shop.

At the end of the series, Miyabi Aizawa, one of Onizuka’s students who hates teachers because she thinks they’ll all betray their students, was involved in an attempted murder against her previous homeroom teacher. Knowing this, Onizuka confessed in front of the press media that he was the culprit in order to protect Miyabi. Onizuka eventually escaped from the police and ran away to California to continue his career as the Great Teacher Onizuka.

Outrageous, fun, reliable, trustworthy. That’s how I would sum up Eikichi Onizuka. Despite not being the ‘appropriate’ type of teacher, Onizuka possesses certain qualities in his own way of teaching lessons to his students. It doesn’t always seem like it’s the ‘right’ way to do things, but at the end of the day, he gets it done.
What do you think of Onizuka, do you think he’s the ideal teacher? Do you agree with the points I stated above? Let me know if there are other things you like about Onizuka and leave them in the comments below!

At the end of the series, Miyabi Aizawa, one of Onizuka’s students who hates teachers because she thinks they’ll all betray their students, was involved in an attempted murder against her previous homeroom teacher. Knowing this, Onizuka confessed in front of the press media that he was the culprit in order to protect Miyabi. Onizuka eventually escaped from the police and ran away to California to continue his career as the Great Teacher Onizuka.

Outrageous, fun, reliable, trustworthy. That’s how I would sum up Eikichi Onizuka. Despite not being the ‘appropriate’ type of teacher, Onizuka possesses certain qualities in his own way of teaching lessons to his students. It doesn’t always seem like it’s the ‘right’ way to do things, but at the end of the day, he gets it done.
What do you think of Onizuka, do you think he’s the ideal teacher? Do you agree with the points I stated above? Let me know if there are other things you like about Onizuka and leave them in the comments below!