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I've thrown in some comments/jokes in with (some of) the pictures. Hover your cursor over them. Oh, I've chosen mostly "AFTER" pictures of the Cresta. P.S. I'm NO car expert... so what's below is SOME guessing and speculation, while the rest is fact. |
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This particular section was last updated on: May 6, 2005. DISCLAIMER:Great Teacher Onizuka/GTO belongs to the original creator Tohru Fujisawa, and all related companies involved with GTO(like Tokyopop, etc). The Toyota Cresta obviously belongs to Toyota! I do not own any of this! This page was created for entertainment/informative purposes only/ as part of a GTO fansite. If there is a problem with this, or any other part of the GTO part of my website, please do not hesistate to contact me here and I will promptly remedy the situation. No harm is intended by the creation, maintenance, and existence of this page. |
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Overview Cresta #1 Cresta #2 Cresta #3 Cresta #4 Cresta #5 Crests # 6 (manga only) - Back to the
Hallway
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Above: An approximate picture of the real deal... (left) The Cresta in a rare 'BEFORE' shot: Anime Version (right) The Toyota Cresta is indeed a real life car. It's just a model of Toyota's that never made it here to the United States. Maybe some of you thought that Tohru Fujisawa just made up some car to destroy. Nope, this car gets some.... um... interesting publicity in a sense. Is there something we're not aware of? From the light research that I've done, the Cresta model of cars existed for at about 20 years. If the Anime and Manga both came out in/around 1997, then it's assumed that the Toyota Cresta either could be a 97' or a 98' model. Based on the light research, I believe it's a 1998 model (picture wise). It's hard to find a picture of an exact Cresta (the first time and the second time after losing the first picture I had up)... I had to perform a Google Image search to find something that resembled the make/year of the Cresta used in Great Teacher Onizuka. I do not own the picture of the real Cresta above. I got it from this site. Hiroshi Uchiyamada, the vice principal of Holy Forest Academy, purchased this car (specifically a Model 2.5 Liter Super Lucent Cresta with the GPS Voice Navigation System, AV Station, 4-wheel drive double wishbone suspension system, slick power steering, Twin Cam-6, 200 Horse Power Engine, and numerous other options) after seeing a television commercial. He believed that the beauty, comfort, style, class, etc. that the television commerical promised would be enough to revive the weak family life that existed. Unfortunately a huge roadblock suddenly came into view... and his name is Eikichi Onizuka. The Cresta gets smashed more during the manga version (simply because of the length). Below: the 3-d rendition of the Cresta shown during the anime
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| The very first appearance
(and destruction) of Uchiyamada's Cresta:
Anime: Volume 1-Lesson 3, Manga: Volume 2-Lesson 13 In both cases, it got smashed when Onizuka prevented Yoshikawa from killing himself after the jump from the school roof. The car-although totally wrecked in the imaginative ways possible-manages to save them both from any serious injury. **Anime version difference: Onizuka had a near run-in with the Cresta BEFORE meeting Yoshikawa. He stopped the moving track just inches away from Uchiyamada and the front of the car. Also Uchiyamada had too much to drink at the picnic, which is why is left the Cresta at the school. **Manga version difference: Mrs. Sakurai was the sole witness to this accident (Yoshikawa NOT counted). Uchiyamada finds out about the car the next morning. Verdict: This was really an accident-Uchiyamada shouldn't have gotten overly pissed off about this. ~-~Back to the top of this parking lot~-~ |
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| The destruction of the
second Cresta:
Anime: Volume 2-Lesson 5, Manga: Volume 3-Lesson 21 Uchiyamada manages to get car fixed in time, so that he can take his wife Ryoko and his daugher Yoshiko out on a drive for a picnic. Unfortunately, Uehara, Asano, and Izumi bullied Yoshikawa that night-resulting in Yoshikawa attempting to stop the pain (by jumping off the roof again)... and Onizuka to save him again. This time, Onizuka's arm gets broken as a result of the land. Uchiyamada miraculously gets out of the car before it explodes. The only other witness to this (well after the Cresta dies) was Kikuchi. Verdict: Again, the cause of car's destruction is an accident. Though Onizuka DID use the Cresta as a launching pad/trampoline to get himself into the air to catch Yoshikawa, the overall intent was to save a life, NOT to destroy the car. A person's life is far more valuable than a car. You can get a car fixed/repaired, but it might not be so easy with a person. ~-~Back to the top of this parking lot~-~ |
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The destruction of the
third Cresta:
Uchiyamada gets his car fixed for the third time. Unfortunately, some thugs steals the car. Fast forward to a few hours later that very night. Doraemon... ur Onizuka just saved Murai, Kusano, and Fujiyoshi from some thugs, and some bungee jumping just took place. Onizuka wanted to get back at the thugs... and takes the only car left. Gee... what are the odds that the white car was a certain vice principal's Cresta? In anime, it's damn good odds. The car gets trashed during the chase... **Alas in the manga... a car gets trashed during the chase, but it WASN'T the Cresta. Verdict: The blame can be put on BOTH Onizuka and the thugs. Manga: Volume 8-Lesson 66 (after Kanzaki unleashed her wrath onto the entire school) It certainly took a long time for Uchiyamada to get back the Cresta. At this point in the manga/timeline, Urumi Kanzaki had come back to Holy Forest, and was making everyone's life a living nightmare. Onizuka 'kidnapped' her in order to teach her a lesson. Kikuchi, Murai, Kusano, and Fujiyoshi wanted to stop Onizuka before doing something dangerous/stupid. Since Onizuka (and his friends) were on motorcycles, going on foot to persue him was not an option. Kikuchi came up with the most dangerous (and violent) scheme yet. After managing to get the keys from Uchiyamada, the four boys start off in their task. Unfortunately for the Cresta, Kikuchi's driving skills were limited to the Gran Turismo videogame for the Playstation (that and he wasn't old enough yet), and it 'magically'/'strangely' gets trashed from the school to the river/bridge area where Onizuka was at. There wasn't much left of the car by the time it got fished out of the river and put into the transport truck. OUCH! **The anime version of the Cresta's destruction during the Kanzaki sequence was different. Refer to Anime portion of Cresta #5 below. Verdict: The majority of the blame can be put on Kikuchi, with the rest on Murai, Kusano, and Fujiyoshi. ~-~Back to the top of this parking lot~-~ |
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| The destruction of the
fourth Cresta:
Anime: Volume 4-Lesson 18 (when it's revealed to the guys that Onizuka is now Kanzaki's magic genie, but BEFORE Kanzaki unleashes her wrath onto the school) Just after Onizuka becomes Kanzaki's slave, Uchiyamada magically gets back his car. He tries everything to try to 'outsmart' Onizuka, but it backfires. In an attempt to protect his car, Uchiyamada puts the car in reverse, and ends up crashing into a tree. **In the manga, the car manages to go scot-free. Onizuka did touch it (he sweeped the roof), but the car held up. Verdict: This was plainly Uchiyamada's fault. Manga: Volume 17-Lessons 139 & 140. Uchiyamada needed to find Onizuka quickly... or else it would be his job on the line. He chases Onizuka in his newly repaired (fourth) Cresta starting in Lesson 137. Despite Onizuka and Yoshikawa being on a motorcycle and the awesome stunts pulled, Uchiyamada surprisingly kept up with the former Onibaku... at the cost of his car's life. Note the Initial D references found throughout the car chase scene in Volume 17. The "Phantom Cresta" was making a reference to the "Phantom (Toyota Trueno AE-)86," a nickname given to the car by Keisuke Takahashi, after he was beaten in their first 'encounter' (Initial D Volume 1 in both the anime and manga versions). The second reference was the "He's drifting like he's on Akina." Onizuka was really trying to not only move quickly to save a certain student's life, but he was also trying to evade Uchiyamada. Akina is an actual mountain in Japan... and one where the Initial D story begins at. Many races were held there... with many a drift techinique executed! The third was the obvious "You're too old to be playing Initial D!" In case you already didn't know, Tokyopop is handling the anime and manga releases of Initial D. Um anyway... Verdict: Only Uchiyamada was to blame. He chose to go after Onizuka in such a matter-purposely ignoring the traffic laws, and common sense... to save his own career at Holy Forest. Uchiyamada risked his car, and the lives of Kanzaki, Yoshikawa, and the other drivers on the road by what he attempted to do. The car did get destroyed by the end of this sequence (though it can't be considered an accident though because Uchiyamada was willing to do ANYTHING to get Onizuka)... and if I were Uchiyamada's insurance agent, I'd more than triple his insurance premiums... ~-~Back to the top of this parking lot~-~ |
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| The destruction of the
fifth Cresta:
Anime: Volume 4-Lesson 19 (after Kanzaki unleashed her wrath onto the entire school) It seems like NOT A LOT OF TIME passed between Lessons 18 and 19... because the car manages to get repaired somewhat quickly. Anyway... Onizuka has taken Kanzaki for the lesson, and again Kikuchi and co. decides to follow him. In the 'tamer' version of the Cresta's destruction during the Kanzaki sequence, Kikuchi simply trips Uchiyamada to get the keys. The boys then manage to get Miss Fuyutsuki involved in this mess. She does all the driving... right up to where Onizuka was. Unfortunately for the Cresta (and fortunately for the fans of the show): Miss Fuyutsuki is an inexperienced driver. The car goes down a very steep hill because the emergency brake wasn't pulled. The end result: SMACK! It was weird that this 'Cresta event' died down... with no followup or mention of consequences, etc. Verdict: This was the fault of Fuyutsuki, Kikuchi, Murai, Kusano, and Fujiyoshi. Technicality: Can you see what's wrong with these two pictures? The answer is below the picture. Just highlight...
Answer: Kikuchi was in the front seat... then for some reason ended up in the back seat. Vice versa for Murai. There's NO good reason why these two had to change seats midway through the trip. Also, Kusano and Fujiyoshi had a change in position... it seems like an animator REALLY MESSED UP! Keep in mind that in Japan, they drive on the left side of the road, and that the driver's side is located in the right side of the vehicle. Manga: Volume 22-Lesson 181 Just after Ai Tokiwa gets lured to Onizuka's side, Daimon's 'Angels' start to really turn up the heat. They start to spread nasty and dishonest emails to the students of Holy Forest about some of the students at the school. One such student, Onodera from Class 2, had an email sent out about her. Not being able to take being called a 'slut,' she attempts to committ suicide by jumping off the roof of the school, but instead pulls a 'Yoshikawa,' and lands not on the asphault surface, but on the Cresta. (Comitting suicide as Holy Forest using this method is apparently destined to fail it seems.) This of course upsets Uchiyamada to no end. Verdict: This is not the student's fault. She was so intent on ending her own life-not being able to take the pressures and pain that resulted from the email. I'm sure she wanted to end it quickly and as painlessly as possible. I'm sure she didn't go through the trouble of looking for the Cresta when she jumped... it just happened that the point where she jumped off would lead to the Cresta. If anything... this is the fault of one Misuzu Daimon and her angels. Their actions led to this... ~-~Back to the top of this parking lot~-~ |
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| The destruction of the
sixth Cresta:
MANGA ONLY: Volume 24-Lesson 189 Too bad the Cresta only got smashed so many times during the course of the 43 episode Anime series. The manga managed to squeeze in another tasteless or funny destruction of the Cresta. At this point (Volume 23), Uchiyamada's insurance company has had enough with the Cresta. 1.5 Million Yen was spent on this car alone, and this supposedly caused the branch manager to retire. The company restores the car AGAIN, but nulls the contract. Uchiyamada is on his own should something happen to the Cresta from here on in. Yeah... but of course you KNOW something has to happen... it's just a matter of when. Uchiyamada attempted to protect the Cresta this time, by putting an inflatable raft on the roof on the car. In case anyone attempted to jump off the school roof again, the raft would supposedly break the fall of the student, and save the car from getting (heavily) impacted in the process. Of course that was just a dream/theory and normal physics doesn't apply much in "Great Teacher Onizuka." Cars weren't made for this sort of impact, and of course a raft wouldn't help things either. That and Uchiyamada never properly calculated the fact that the impact of landing on a car is greater from heigher distance (i.e. the school roof) than from say the second floor. Uchiyamada had to make a choice when certain events had Onizuka jumping off the roof to save Miyabi Aizawa, who also fell off the roof. It was either save the car or lose two lives. Well there wouldn't be this segment on the destruction of the sixth Cresta if something didn't happen to it. So Uchiyamada valiantly and heroically sacrifices his Cresta. Of course the expected impact was great... great enough where the raft didn't really do what it was meant to do... and great enough to have the car EXPLODE right there at the lot here at Holy Forest. Wow. They really don't make cars like they use to... Well they say if things are going to end... go out with a big bang... Verdict: No
more Cresta, that's for sure. As for why Onizuka had to leap off
to save Miyabi, the blame could be set to one Sho Shibuya... If that
DIDN'T HAPPEN, then the car would be safe (although it would have lived
the rest of its car life living in fear...)
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