Shonan Junai Gumi (Japanese: 湘南純愛組!, Hepburn: Shōnan Jun'ai Gumi!, "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. Source: Wikipedia (en)