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GTO Creator Tohru Fujisawa Expresses Frustration at Kodansha

A few weeks back, it was announced that the classic 1998 live-action GTO (Great Teacher Onizuka) series will get a new TV special. The special, titled "GTO Revival," is set to air in spring 2024, with Takashi Sorimachi returning to the role of Onizuka after 26 years. But while the announcement of the new special has made headlines thanks to GTO's staying power and cultural impact, it also caused GTO author Tohru Fujisawa to speak out about his frustration in regards to how the current GTO manga, GTO: Paradise Lost, is being handled by its publisher, Kodansha.

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Last Wednesday, Fujisawa posted the following on X (formerly Twitter):

久々にＧＴＯが復活するのは嬉しいんだけど講談社のヤンマガでやってたＧＴＯの最終章にあたる「パラダイスロスト」は途中で雑誌から追い出されたまんま中断中だし、そのくせドラマになると前に出てくる・・こんな会社ってどうなのよ・・？・・どこか、別の出版社で版権ごと引取ってくんないかなあ・・

— 藤沢とおる (@fujifuji0001) September 20, 2023

"I'm glad that GTO is getting a revival, but GTO's final arc, "Paradise Lost," published in Kodansha's Weekly Young Magazine, is currently on hiatus after being booted from the magazine midway through its serialization. Even though that's the case, the live-action TV show is being put before the manga... What is this company doing...? ...I wonder if some other publisher could just take over the copyright..."

The last new chapter of GTO: Paradise Lost was published on February 13 in Weekly Young Magazine 2023 Issue No. 11. There, it was announced that the manga would be on hiatus with an expected return date of early summer 2023.

Source: Tohru Fujisawa on X.