What’s So Great About GTO?: Evolving Discourses of Japanese Masculinity in Great Teacher Onizuka

Abstract

This paper explores evolving discourses of masculinity in the Japanese socio-cultural context through a textual analysis of two live-action television adaptations of Great Teacher Onizuka ( GTO), a popular manga. Broadcast respectively in 1998, one year after the onset of the Asian Financial Crisis, and 2012, one year after the Fukushima nuclear disaster, the two shows provide a unique opportunity to examine the disruption and/or reconfiguration of hegemonic discourses around gender in their respective historical moments.