Shonan Junai Gumi (湘南純愛組!) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Tooru Fujisawa. It was published in Kodansha's Weekly Shōnen Magazine from October 1990 to October 1996, compiled in 31 volumes. A 15-volume edition was released from May to December 2005. The story follows the youth of Eikichi Onizuka and his best friend Ryuji Danma while they are still in high school but have already formed their shock duo the Oni-Baku Combi. Multiple adaptations were established during the series’ run, such as a five-episode original video animation (OVA) series released on VHS from 1994 to 1997, a television drama, and several live action movies. The edition of the manga was licensed in North America by Tokyopop, which retitled it as GTO: The Early Years, although the editions retain Shonan Junai Gumi as a subtitle. The first volume was released in June 2006. The Tokyopop editions ended with volume 10. Publisher Vertical Inc continued and concluded the series in 2012. The character Eikichi Onizuka would later star in the sequel series Great Teacher Onizuka. By January 2020, Shonan Junai Gumi had over 45 million copies in circulation, making it one of the best-selling manga series in history.

Plot

The story of Shonan Junai Gumi deals with the Oni-Baku (鬼爆コンビ) duo, consisting of Eikichi Onizuka and Ryuji Danma, and their quest to lose their virginity and reach maturity. They are widely feared, and are known for their tenacity and viciousness in a fight. However, this lifestyle does not endear them to the opposite gender, so they decide to change their ways—although that is not an easy task for them. The series focuses on the Oni-Baku's wide range of friends and foes, and the crazy situations they all get into. The story begins as a gag manga, but more serious issues present themselves as it continues.

Characters

Oni-Baku and friends

Foes

Other characters

Media

Manga

Written and illustrated by Tooru Fujisawa, Shonan Junai Gumi was serialized in Kodansha's manga magazine Weekly Shōnen Magazine from October 10, 1990, to October 2, 1996. Kodansha collected its chapters in 31 volumes, published from March 16, 1990, to December 13, 1996. Kodansha republished the series in 15 volumes from May 12 to December 9, 2005. In North America, the series was licensed by Tokyopop in 2005. The version released by Tokyopop was the fifteen-volumes deluxe edition by Kodansha. The first volume was released on June 13, 2006, and the series was discontinued after volume 10, published on February 9, 2009. In May 2011, Vertical announced the license of the series. Vertical release started with volume 11, published on February 21, 2012, and volume 15 was published on October 30 of that same year. In November 2013, the December issue of Akita Shoten's Monthly Shōnen Champion announced a sequel spin-off manga to Shonan Junai Gumi, entitled Shonan Seven, starting on January 6, 2014. The manga is written by Fujisawa and illustrated by Shinsuke Takahashi. The series finished on July 6, 2019. Akita Shoten collected its chapters in 17 volumes, published from June 6, 2014, to September 6, 2019.

Original video animation

An original video animation (OVA) series was produced by J.C. Staff. The series has never been released on DVD.

Episode list

Drama

A five-episode adaptation was made between 1995 and 1997, starring Naoki Miyashita as Onizuka and Yoshiyuki Yamaguchi as Ryuji. An eight-episode live-action web drama adaptation starring Kanichiro as Onizuka and Daichi Kaneko as Ryuji was released on Amazon Prime Video in Japan on February 28, 2020.

Reception

By January 2020, the manga had over 45 million copies in circulation.