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Live-Action GTO Show Returns in July After New Manga Debuts
posted on by Egan Loo
This year's 16th issue of Kodansha's Young Magazine is announcing on Monday that the live-action television series of Tohru Fujisawa's GTO (Great Teacher Onizuka) manga will return this summer. The setting of the new series will be the Shōnan area where Eikichi Onizuka, a former gang member who becomes a "legendary" unorthodox teacher, grew up. Onizuka is assigned to his own alma mater.
Actor Akira reprises his role as Onizuka, and the cast also includes Yuu Shirota as Onizuka's old friend Ryūji Danma and Yūsuke Yamamoto as Onizuka's policeman friend Toshiyuki Saejima. The new live-action series will premiere this July and run every Tuesday at 10:00 p.m. on Kansai TV, Fuji TV, and other stations.
The magazine is also announcing that Fujisawa's new GTO manga series is titled GTO: Paradise Lost. The series will debut in this year's 20th issue on April 14.
Akira is also starring in GTO Taiwan, the four-episode mini-series which will premiere on Taiwanese cable television channel GTV on March 22.
The original manga has over 45 million copies in print, and it previously inspired a 1999-2000 television anime as well as a 1998 live-action television series with Takashi Sorimachi in the title role. The earlier live-action version garnered an average rating of 28.5% and a series-high rating of 35.7% for the finale. The 11-episode remake live-action series starring Akira aired from July to September 2012. Akira already reprised the role in three specials in October 2012, January 2013, and April 2013.
Tokyopop and Vertical published the various GTO manga titles in North America, including GTO: The Early Years. GTO: The Early Years got a sequel with artist Shinsuke Takahashi (Duel Masters Rev.) in January. Fujisawa is writing the series.
He is also currently penning Kamen Teacher Black (the sequel to his four-volume Kamen Teacher manga series) in Shueisha's Weekly Young Jump magazine. He is involved in the Tokko Zero manga with Yukai Asada and the Soul Reviver manga with Manabu Akishige.
