The Great Teacher's Beginning

Eikichi Onizuka is the primary protagonist for many series, the most praised being GTO, or Great Teacher Onizuka. But what's the history of the wise-but-dumb teacher? It's all told in the underrated manga by Tooru Fujisawa, Shonan Junai Gumi (湘南純愛組, The Pure Love Gang from Shonan).

The story starts with a notice stating that both Eikichi Onizuka and Ryuji Danma were expelled from their school. They leave with their words of anger, with it later being revealed that they wrote the letter themselves. They then go and get haircuts to start their new lives (which leaves Eikichi bald) and head to a resort, pretending to be college boys, where they meet girls pretending to be college students as well. Those girls turn out to be teachers at their next school.

The rest of the story goes with people hearing the dreaded name Oni-Baku (the gang made up of Ryuji and Eikichi), and the stupid ones picking fights with them. But it seems the main idea of this story is not really the fighting, but about the duo trying to lose their virginity, and no matter how hard Eikichi tries, Ryuji is the one who succeeds. Twice.

Story review

I thought that the storyline was really interesting. This was the first time I'd been able to find a manga that related to bōsōzoku gangs. The times used in this story match over with the dates mentioned in GTO, and the same events match up. I thought the story was gripping, and the balance between the comedy and action was perfect.

Characters

To someone unexperienced with reading manga related to the bōsōzoku, it could be really difficult to match names with faces, especially when every character had a look-a-like. When I first read this I was so confused by the time I reached the middle of the book (it didn't help that the first volume I read was volume three). The characters are well thought out, but some get confusing when it comes to their history, but overall, the characters are what you'd expect from Fujisawa-san.

OVA Adaption

The story had been made into an OVA (Original Video Animation) with five episodes in total. So far I've only seen three and a half out of the lot, but I can honestly say that I love the voices. The voice actors portray the characters as they were written in the book, and the voice of a young Eikichi can melt any fangirl's heart.

Final thoughts

When I first heard about the GTO prequel, I wasn't too keen on it, but I can honestly say that I've re-read every volume that my library holds about thirty times. I love the art and the story, and the stereotypes incorporated into this story of a teenage delinquent. I reccomend this to anyone who loves delinquency, violence, justice, comedy and teenage boys making fools of themselves. Out of ten, I would give this manga a strong twelve. There is so many stupid moments that make you want to continue reading and facepalm at their idiocy (especially Eikichi's).