It’s been announced that Shun Oguri and Hidenori Tokuyama will appear in the finale of GTO, the Monday 10pm drama starring Takashi Sorimachi. This marks the first continuous TV adaptation of the original manga in 28 years, and actors who once played students taught by Onizuka are reuniting for the occasion. On the thread, someone asked “Who’s Tokuyama?”, prompting a string of replies citing his Kamen Rider and other drama credits to explain. Talk also swirled around how Oguri came to join — some said it was planned from the start, others claimed Oguri’s side made a reverse offer — while comments split between griping about sluggish ratings and vowing to tune in just for the finale.
GTO finale to feature Shun Oguri, Hidenori Tokuyama and others — former students reunite as Onizuka faces a crisis
A preview for the next episode of GTO, the Kansai TV/Fuji TV Monday 10pm drama starring Takashi Sorimachi, has revealed that Shun Oguri and Hidenori Tokuyama will appear in the final episode.
GTO is based on the manga of the same name by Toru Fujisawa (published in Kodansha’s Weekly Shonen Magazine KC). It’s a school drama about Eikichi Onizuka — “Great Teacher Onizuka,” a former biker-gang member turned teacher — who tackles student and school problems head-on with his unconventional methods. Starring Sorimachi, the series returns as a continuous TV drama for the first time in 28 years, depicting Onizuka now in his 50s.
Source: news.yahoo.co.jp / Original article here
He's the guy famous for Perfect Harmony — you don't know him?
Kamen Rider Zabee or Kick Hopper.
Kick Hopper from Kamen Rider Kabuto.
There's a 20th anniversary movie coming up.
People are buzzing that Hiro Mizushima might make a comeback for it.
He was booked from the start.
Didn't you know Oguri actually made a reverse offer to be in it?
https://www.instagram.com/p/Dc5fKIDy6M7/
Looking at this, it seems like drama filming.
Maybe she'll actually show up.
Guess he feels like he owes GTO for making him popular.
That's what made him popular? lol
It was Gokusen and Yaguchi, wasn't it.
Of course I do, but I'm a binge-watcher.
I don't have a TV so I use TVer instead.
Wish they'd drop episodes all at once, though.
Something like Vivant only has up to episode 3 streaming, so I can't binge it until they release more.
Right now on Netflix I'm watching Fumo Chitai (Barren Zone) from 2009 for terrestrial dramas.
I don't have an NHK contract but I'm watching Aoi Tokugawa Sandai on NHK On Demand.
On TVer I'm only watching GTO, Sokomade Iinkai, and Seigi no Mikata.
Starting next month I think I'll just watch Aibou.
I dropped it after a boring first episode, but if Oguri's in it maybe I'll watch the finale.
Even on Netflix's Gas Ningen, someone like Yutaka Takenouchi showed up in a role so ridiculous it was laugh-out-loud funny.
It's really a question of whether the production side even cares.
Just maybe.
If guys like Kubozuka or Ikeuchi don't count as "making it big," then almost no school drama has any success stories.
Actually first heard about it from some news story about a string of blunders at an Asian sports event — and still not watching.
In the finale, Oguri, Tokuyama, Ikeuchi, and Yuta Yamazaki are all appearing.
Was he actually in the original?
He played a kid who got bullied and wet himself — had a decent amount of screen time.
This is the GTO that AKIRA didn't star in, remember.
He played Noboru, the bullied kid.
Didn't she actually sell them for real too?
Never expected that Onizuka's landmark "first real student" would turn out to be Kajiwara's daughter — that caught me off guard.
Makes me wonder what all the viewing I've done, including the '98 version, was even for.
Apparently Jin Akanishi was originally supposed to play the role.
But then, because of the independence controversy, AKIRA got cast as his replacement.
Guess up until now it's all just been "buddy" vibes.
I see… so up to now they've all just been "buddies," and this time's students are all "buddies" too, while only that Kajiwara kid counts as Onizuka's "true student" — kind of sets up a weird wall between them compared to the others lol.
Surprised Murai is still hung up on Miyabi after all this time.
Miyabi's name actually came up yesterday.
Like how Mito Komon has the fake Komon-sama gimmick — maybe he shows up as a fake Onizuka instead.
Background and talking points
GTO is a school-life manga by Toru Fujisawa; the 1998 TV drama adaptation was a ratings hit at the time, and many of its cast — including Takashi Sorimachi as well as Shun Oguri, Hidenori Tokuyama, and AKIRA — went on to build bigger careers afterward. This time around, Sorimachi returns to star in the first continuous TV adaptation in 28 years, with Eikichi Onizuka, now in his 50s, once again fighting the good fight as a teacher. The thread mostly revolved around what happened to the original cast members since then, with opinions split over who “made it” and who didn’t. No specific ratings figures appear in the article itself, but several commenters noted the show seems to be struggling, with some speculating that the star-studded guest appearances are meant to make up for it. That a fair number of posters didn’t recognize Hidenori Tokuyama reflects just how much time — 28 years — has passed since the original 1998 broadcast.
*This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Geinou/Sports News+) thread “[Entertainment] GTO starring Takashi Sorimachi — Shun Oguri, Hidenori Tokuyama and others to appear in the finale as “former students” reunite amid Onizuka’s crisis.”
