Shonan Junai Gumi

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Shonan Junai Gumi
First tankōbon volume cover, featuring Ryuji Danma (left) and Eikichi Onizuka (right)
湘南純愛組!
(Shōnan Jun'ai Gumi!)
Genre
Manga
Written byTooru Fujisawa
Published byKodansha
English publisher
MagazineWeekly Shōnen Magazine
DemographicShōnen
Original runOctober 10, 1990 – October 2, 1996
Volumes31
Original video animation
Directed by
  • Katsumi Minoguchi (1–2)
  • Gyou Suzuki (3)
  • Takeshi Yamaguchi (4)
  • Noboru Matsui (5)
Produced byMitsuo Sejima
Written byHideo Nanbu
Music byMao Saeki
Studio
Released January 21, 1994 – January 24, 1997
Runtime44–51 minutes (each)
Episodes5
Television drama
Directed by
  • Hideo Nanbu
  • Noboru Matsui
Original run January 27, 1995 – April 25, 1997
Episodes5
Manga
Shonan Seven
Written byTooru Fujisawa
Illustrated byShinsuke Takahashi
Published byAkita Shoten
MagazineMonthly Shōnen Champion
DemographicShōnen
Original runJanuary 6, 2014 – July 6, 2019
Volumes17
Television drama
Directed by
  • Eiji Uchida
  • Yusaku Matsumoto
  • Nobuhiro Suzumura
StudioAtmovie
Original runFebruary 28, 2020
Episodes8

Shonan Junai Gumi (Japanese: 湘南純愛組!, Hepburn: Shōnan Jun'ai Gumi!, lit. 'Shōnan Pure Love Gang!') 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 tankōbon volumes. A 15-volume bunkoban 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 bunkoban 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.

  1. ^ a b "GTO: The Early Years -- Shonan Junai Gumi Volume 1". Tokyopop. Archived from the original on January 12, 2007. Retrieved May 3, 2019.
  2. ^ 男の中の男を知る！定番ヤンキー漫画5選. music-book.jp (in Japanese). February 4, 2016. Archived from the original on February 7, 2021. Retrieved April 30, 2020.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference outoforder was invoked but never defined (see the help page).