Mixed Reaction

"The most important thing for a woman, I think, is being able to have confidence in herself. Waiting for a prince in shining armor to come, that's no way for Nomura to spend her life." - Azusa Fuyutsuki

Continuing from the cliffhanger of last episode, episode 4 shows that the entire class of 2-4 (except those whom Onizuka befriended in previous episodes) have boycotted the class! As punishment, the director of the school is forced to cut Onizuka's salary by half while also taking away his end of the year bonus. As summer vacation approaches, Onizuka seeks ways in making up for that money by recommending shy and air-headed girl, Tomoko Nomura (Miki Kuroda) in joining an idol contest. The problem is, Miyabi Aizawa (Aimi Nakamura) from the same class is joining, and she looks to be a sure winner!

Oh boy, oh boy. I have mixed feelings about this episode, as it contains some of the worst elements of Japanese shows (anime or live action)... and also some of the best. As you know, creepy sexual humor is abundant in Japanese media, especially with Japan's loose promiscuity about the concept of sex. This episode takes that to the next level with a scene involving a fantasy of statutory rape. Yeah... Real uncomfortable (and dated) in this day and age, I'm afraid. There's also a scene where Tomoko, having been brought to Onizuka's house to meet the makeover artists for the idol competition, mistook that he was going to enter her into an "Adult Video"... basically "pornography" in Japan. Yikes! So many warning bells ringing here.

Having seen these moments, I almost wanted to dismiss any scenes I've previously seen tackling women's issues in Japan, specifically those involving Azusa's frustrations about adhering to the status quo of how a woman should act like. I felt like they were merely played for laughs and not taken seriously. There were conversations about how her clothing is too "flashy" for a teacher in a comedic light, and I barely thought much of it by that point because I thought it's all for mere comedy's sake.

Thankfully, this was not really the case in this episode. It might be hypocritical of the writers, but they did manage to incorporate the theme of how a woman should have the confidence to be herself regardless of the dated culture on women's proper behavior, largely through Tomoko's struggle to find her own voice and individuality throughout the episode. The teachers tried to suppress her more adorable side in class (trying to convert her into a "proper Japanese woman"), but both Onizuka and Azusa managed to encourage her to remain true to herself.

Azusa also has a nice character moment where we learn more about her childhood complex, how she used to be unconfident like Tomoko and tried to imitate everybody else before she came to like herself more (through the aid of a teacher no less). I enjoyed her involvement in this episode, because it felt like she was trying to help Tomoko the same way her teacher aided her. We don't really get to see Azusa participate much in Onizuka's crusade to help his students, so it's nice to see her being involved in a storyline that's more personal to her.

Furthermore, the end of the episode features yet another tearjerking moment (these seem to be abundant in this show), yet again involving Onizuka's wise words, but Tomoko's speech is the main reason for the "feels" here. As someone who isn't very confident myself, her words kinda made me tear up a little bit. Okay, a lot. This show really knows how to hit you in the feels.

The uncomfortable sexual humor aside, this could've easily been at least the second best episode of the series. But I suppose that when you have a pervert main character like Onizuka in the story, these things come with the territory and they are expected elements.

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