''Great Teacher Onizuka'', officially abbreviated as ''GTO'', is a Japanese

manga Manga ( Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is ...

series written and illustrated by Tooru Fujisawa. It was originally serialized in

Kodansha is a Japanese privately-held publishing company headquartered in Bunkyō, Tokyo. Kodansha is the largest Japanese publishing company, and it produces the manga magazines ''Nakayoshi'', '' Afternoon'', '' Evening'', ''Weekly Shōnen Magazine'' ...

's ''

Weekly Shōnen Magazine is a weekly ''shōnen'' manga anthology published on Wednesdays in Japan by Kodansha, first published on March 17, 1959. The magazine is mainly read by an older audience, with a significant portion of its readership falling under the male hig ...

'' from January 1997 to February 2002, with its chapters compiled into twenty-five ''

tankōbon is the Japanese term for a book that is not part of an anthology or corpus. In modern Japanese, the term is most often used in reference to individual volumes of a manga series: most series first appear as individual chapters in a weekly or ...

'' volumes. The story focuses on 22-year-old ex- bōsōzoku member Eikichi Onizuka, who becomes a teacher at a private middle school, Holy Forest Academy, in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.46 ...

, Japan. It is a continuation of Fujisawa's earlier manga series '' Shonan Junai Gumi'' and ''

Bad Company Bad Company are an English rock supergroup that was formed in 1973 by singer Paul Rodgers, guitarist Mick Ralphs, drummer Simon Kirke and bassist Boz Burrell. Bad Company ''AllMusic'' Peter Grant, who managed the rock band Led Zeppelin, a ...

'', both of which focus on the life of Onizuka before becoming a teacher. Due to the popularity of the manga, several adaptations of ''GTO'' were created, including a twelve-episode

Japanese television drama , also called , are television programs that are a staple of Japanese television and are broadcast daily. All major TV networks in Japan produce a variety of drama series including romance, comedy, detective stories, horror, jidaigeki, thrill ...

running from July to September 1998; a

live-action Live action (or live-action) is a form of cinematography or videography that uses photography instead of animation. Some works combine live-action with animation to create a live-action animated film. Live-action is used to define film, video ...

film directed by Masayuki Suzuki and released in December 1999; and a 43-episode

anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...

television series produced by

Pierrot Pierrot ( , , ) is a stock character of pantomime and '' commedia dell'arte'', whose origins are in the late seventeenth-century Italian troupe of players performing in Paris and known as the Comédie-Italienne. The name is a diminutive of ''Pi ...

, which aired in Japan on

Fuji TV JOCX-DTV (channel 8), branded as and colloquially known as CX, is a Japanese television station based in Odaiba, Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Owned and operated by the it is the key station of the Fuji News Network (FNN) and the Fuji Network S ...

from June 1999 to September 2000. A second live-action series aired in Japan during 2012, and two more in 2014. A sequel manga series, titled '' GTO: 14 Days in Shonan'', ran in ''Weekly Shōnen Magazine'' from June 2009 to September 2011. Another sequel, titled '' GTO: Paradise Lost'', began in '' Weekly Young Magazine'' in April 2014. Both the anime and manga were licensed in North America by

Tokyopop Tokyopop (styled TOKYOPOP; formerly known as Mixx Entertainment) is an American distributor, licensor and publisher of anime, manga, manhwa and Western manga-style works. The German publishing division produces German translations of licensed ...

. The anime series was re-licensed by

Discotek Media Discotek Media is an American entertainment company based in Altamonte Springs, Florida, focused on distribution and licensing Japanese anime, films, and television series. Formed in 2005, Discotek primarily focuses on licensing retro titles fr ...

in 2012. The manga is licensed by

Kodansha USA Kodansha USA Publishing, LLC is a publishing company based in New York, USA, and a subsidiary of Japan's largest publishing company Kodansha. Established in July 2008, Kodansha USA publishes books relating to Japan, Japanese culture, and manga, ...

. As of November 2007, the manga had over 50 million copies in circulation, making it one of the best-selling manga series in history. In 1998, ''Great Teacher Onizuka'' won the 22nd

Kodansha Manga Award is an annual award for serialized manga published in the previous year, the event is sponsored by the publisher Kodansha. It is currently awarded in three categories: '' shōnen'', '' shōjo'', and general. The awards began in 1977, initially ...

in the '' shōnen'' category.

Plot

Eikichi Onizuka is a 22-year-old ex-gang member and virgin. While peeping up girls' skirts at a local shopping mall, Onizuka meets a schoolgirl who agrees to go out on a date with him. Onizuka's attempt to sleep with her fails when her current "boyfriend", her teacher, shows up at the love hotel they are in and asks her to return to him. The teacher is old and ugly, but has sufficient influence over her that she leaps from a second-story window and lands in his arms. Onizuka, upon seeing this display of a teacher's power over girls, decides to become a teacher himself. However, he earns his teaching degree, just barely, at a second-rate college. In his quest, he discovers two important things: he has a conscience and a sense of morality. This means taking advantage of impressionable schoolgirls is out of the question, but their unusually attractive mothers are a different matter. He enjoys teaching and, most of the time, he teaches life lessons rather than routine schoolwork. He hates the system of traditional education, especially when other teachers and administrators have grown ignorant and condescending to students and their needs. With these realizations, he sets out to become the greatest teacher ever, using his own unique brand of philosophy and the ability to do nearly anything when under enough pressure. He is hired as a long-shot teacher by a privately operated middle school, in

Kichijōji __NOTOC__ is a neighborhood in the city of Musashino in Western Tokyo, Japan. It is centered on a compact but popular commercial area to the north and south of Kichijoji Station, with a full range of shops, restaurants, bars, and coffee hous ...

to tame a class that has driven one teacher to a mysterious death, another to a nervous breakdown, and one other to joining a cult. He embarks on a mission of self-discovery by reaching out to each student one by one and helping each student overcome their problems and learn to enjoy life. He uses methods that are unorthodox, illegal, and life-threatening, yet he manages to succeed in educating and opening up his students.

Production

When writing ''GTO'', Fujisawa was influenced by the writing style of Kōhei Tsuka. The series was originally intended to run for 10 volumes; however, it was extended at the request of the publisher. Fujisawa began to run out of characters as a result. When faced with writing block he would write stories without Onizuka. Onizuka's first name, Eikichi, was taken from musician

Eikichi Yazawa is a Japanese singer-songwriter, and a prominent figure in Japanese popular music. Yoko Yazawa of The Generous is his daughter. He has been nicknamed as Ei-chan (永ちゃん), Boss or The King of Rock. Biography Sources: 1949-1967: Early Lif ...

. When developing Onizuka's character for the series, Fujisawa sought to incorporate real character traits from Japanese gangs often referred to as "Yankees". Onizuka's look is modelled on such gang members and was not intended to convey an "American look". Onizuka acts tough and confident but is actually shy and lacking in confidence to follow through on some of his desires. He is a simple character that stands by his own reasoning and principles and has his own conscience. Fujisawa gave him the viewpoint that you should take responsibility for your actions, something he sees as important. Onizuka's role in the school is to provide a bridge between the students and teachers. The character of Fuyutsuki reflects the point of view of the average teacher. Fujisawa highlights his own school experience where teachers were mostly focused only on a good performance record rather than the teaching itself. However, he was able to take an interest in mathematics because of the approach of his teacher. He used this experience to build the series. Tatsuya Egawa has claimed that ''GTO'' plagiarized his debut manga, ''Be Free!''.

Media

Manga

Written and illustrated by Tooru Fujisawa, ''Great Teacher Onizuka'' was serialized in

's ''shōnen'' manga magazine ''

'' from January 8, 1997, to February 13, 2002. Kodansha collected its chapters in twenty-five ''

'' volumes, released from May 16, 1997, to April 17, 2002. The series was licensed in English by

and was one of Tokyopop's first releases in the "Authentic Manga" lineup of titles using the Japanese right-to-left reading style. In doing so the artwork remained unchanged from the original compared to previous publishing methods. The twenty-five volumes were published between April 23, 2002, and August 9, 2005.

republished the series digitally on February 2, 2022.

Sequels and spin-off

A side story series, titled '' GTO: 14 Days in Shonan'', was serialized in ''Weekly Shōnen Magazine'' from June 10, 2009, to September 14, 2011. Kodansha compiled its chapters into nine ''

'' volumes, released from October 16, 2009 to November 17, 2011. A three-chapter spin-off, titled ''Black Diamond'', was later published in ''Weekly Shōnen Magazine'' in November 2011. A spin-off manga, titled ''GT-R'', focused on Onizuka's friend Ryūji Danma, was published in ''Weekly Shōnen Magazine'' from June 27 to October 3, 2012. Kodansha published a compiled ''tankōbon'' volume on November 16, 2012. A sequel, titled '' GTO: Paradise Lost'', started in Kodansha's ''seinen'' manga magazine '' Weekly Young Magazine'' on April 14, 2014. The manga went on hiatus in June 2015 and resumed publication in December of the same year. The series' first part finished in October 2017, and went on hiatus due to a staff shortage. The manga resumed its publication on May 27, 2019. Kodansha has compiled its chapters into individual ''tankōbon'' volumes. The first volume was published on August 6, 2014. As of July 6, 2020, thirteen volumes have been published. In North America, Vertical announced the English-language release of ''GTO: 14 Days in Shonan'' in May 2011. The nine volumes were published from January 31, 2012 to May 28, 2013.

Crunchyroll Crunchyroll is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned by Sony through a joint venture between Sony Pictures and Sony Music Entertainment Japan's Aniplex. The service primarily distributes films and t ...

published ''GTO: Paradise Lost'' digitally in English. In April 2017,

announced the digital release of the manga.

Anime

A 43-episode anime adaption was produced by Studio Pierrot and directed by

Noriyuki Abe Noriyuki (written: 紀之, 紀行, 敬之, 記之, 徳行, 憲幸, 範之 or 範幸) is a masculine Japanese given name. Notable people with the name include: *, Japanese anime director *, Japanese musician *, Japanese motorcycle racer *, Japanese ...

, was broadcast on

from June 30, 1999, to September 24, 2000. Yoshiyuki Suga provided scripts, having also written scripts for the live-action adaption.

licensed the series for release in North America and released it across 10 DVDs between March 22, 2002, and September 16, 2003, and for American TV broadcast on Showtime's SHONext channel in 2004 and

Comcast Comcast Corporation (formerly known as American Cable Systems and Comcast Holdings),Before the AT&T merger in 2001, the parent company was Comcast Holdings Corporation. Comcast Holdings Corporation now refers to a subsidiary of Comcast Corpora ...

's Anime Selects on Demand network in 2006. The series was re-released in a 7-disc box set by

on September 24, 2013.

began streaming the series in January 2015.

Live-action

A 12-episode

adaption was broadcast on

from July 7 to September 22, 1998. The series starred Takashi Sorimachi as Onizuka and had an average audience share of 28.5% with the final episode recording a rate of 35.7%. The final episode was the 8th-most-watched broadcast in the

Kantō region The is a geographical area of Honshu, the largest island of Japan. In a common definition, the region includes the Greater Tokyo Area and encompasses seven prefectures: Gunma, Tochigi, Ibaraki, Saitama, Tokyo, Chiba and Kanagawa. Sl ...

during 1998. Several changes were made for the live-action adaption. For example, Fuyutsuki ( Nanako Matsushima) is an eager teacher who supports Onizuka in the manga, whereas in the live-action adaptation she initially dislikes Onizuka and wants to leave teaching to become an Air Hostess. A television special was broadcast on June 29, 1999. This was followed by a theatrical movie in January 2000. The film was successful at the box office grossing ¥1.32 billion, becoming the tenth-highest-grossing film of the year. The movie was released in North America by Tokyo Shock on July 26, 2005. During 2012, it was announced that a new live-action series would be broadcast in Japan. Produced by KTV and Media Mix Japan, the series ran from July 3, 2012, until September 11, 2012. Originally,

Jin Akanishi is a Japanese musician, singer, songwriter and actor. He has been active since 1998 as one of the two lead vocalists of the J-pop boy-band KAT-TUN before starting a solo career in 2009. Akanishi has also acted in several films and dramas. Biog ...

was to play the role of Onizuka; however, he was forced to withdraw by his management. Instead, Akira of Japanese band

Exile Exile is primarily penal expulsion from one's native country, and secondarily expatriation or prolonged absence from one's homeland under either the compulsion of circumstance or the rigors of some high purpose. Usually persons and peoples suf ...

was selected to play Onizuka. An Autumn special was broadcast on October 2, 2012, followed by a New Year's special on January 2, 2013, and a Spring special on April 2, 2013. On March 22, 2014, a 4-part mini-series aired in Taiwan, before being broadcast in Japan at a later date. The mini-series places Onizuka in a Taiwanese school as part of a training program and is a joint Japan/Taiwan co production that contains both Japanese and

Mandarin Chinese Mandarin (; ) is a group of Chinese (Sinitic) dialects that are natively spoken across most of northern and southwestern China. The group includes the Beijing dialect, the basis of the phonology of Standard Chinese, the official language ...

dialogue. The series has been announced for English subtitled release via the

streaming service. A new series set in Japan aired from July to September 2014.

Reception

As of November 2007, the manga had over 50 million copies in circulation. ''Great Teacher Onizuka'' won the 22nd

for the '' shōnen'' category in 1998. In '' Manga: The Complete Guide'', Jason Thompson refers to the series as "shameless, frequently sexist and totally hilarious". He praises the series for staying fresh through imagery, detailed art, and pop culture dialogue. Lastly, he states that the manga "approaches true social satire". He gave the series four stars out of four. In ''The Dorama Encyclopedia'',

Jonathan Clements Jonathan Michael Clements (born 9 July 1971) is a British author and scriptwriter. His non-fiction works include biographies of Confucius, Koxinga and Qin Shi Huang, as well as monthly opinion columns for ''Neo'' magazine. He is also the co-auth ...

and Motoko Tamamuro note that television adaptation's subject and humorous approach was well received by the teenage audience. In '' The Anime Encyclopedia: A Guide to Japanese Animation Since 1917'',

and

Helen McCarthy Helen McCarthy (born 27 February 1951) is the British author of such anime reference books as ''500 Manga Heroes and Villains'', ''Anime!'', ''The Anime Movie Guide'' and '' Hayao Miyazaki: Master of Japanese Animation''. She is the co-author o ...

noted the use of computer cloud and water effects in the anime adaptation. While appreciating the advantages of the anime adaption allowing for more violence, they call the first live-action adaption the "quintessential GTO". In 2008, Russian network 2x2 came under investigation by Rossvyazkomnadzor, the government watchdog, for allegedly promoting child pornography by broadcasting ''GTO''.

References

External links

Studio Pierrot website
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