The story that began the GTO franchise and helped launch a manga revolution in North America rides again! From the moment Eikichi Onizuka and Ryuji Danma formed the Oni-Baku team, life on the shores of Shonan has been a string of rough-and-tumble moments. Like most youth biker gangs, these two and their allies lived in the moment and claimed not to fear death. But now, deeper into their high school years, thoughts of love, friendship and family have begun to creep into their lives. When toughs from Yokosuka come calling for blood, the Oni-Baku must remind their Kanagawa neighbors that being real involves more than modded choppers.
In the twelfth volume of The Early Years, Danma wishes are about to come true. The troubled teen might have a family but his dad has not provided much of a home for years. Living out of an abandoned school bus, he never thought he would have friends let alone a steady girlfriend. And now the time has come for him to make a major life choice. Will Danma take the next step into adulthood? He may have to leave his friends behind as well as his beloved OniBaku. But then again isn’t that what the gang was made for to start? For love and strength and a whole lot of fun in between! And to teach a teen with a death wish the true meaning of fear Onizuka joins a drag race along Shonan’s most vibrant roadways. Ride on!
American Outlaws The Oni-Baku have dealt with misfits and ruffians all over the greater Tokyo area all throughout their high school years, but now a new world threat has settled along the shores of Shonan. A bizarre mix of American midshipmen have turned this surfers’ paradise into a war-zone! PRAISE FOR THE WORK: “If you love tales of delinquents who will fight with all their youth for what they believe in, tales of love and missed chances or just the occasional comedy of the absurd then GTO: The Early Years is a title you are looking for as it is bursting with tales of those living their youth to its utmost. Recommended—A Grade.” —Fandom Post “I had fallen way behind in my [GTO: The Early Years] reading, but was able to pick up where I left off with minimal confusion… There’s also some terrific comedy here—the author likes to break up all the gang fights with one-shot chapters that are hilariously silly.” —A Case Suitable for Treatment “While this part of the story is a bit cruder than later parts of Onizuka’s story it also has its own energy… I feel the humor is a bit ruder, the action a bit wilder, and the stakes a bit higher… This is the raw and uncut Onizuka.” —Reverse Thieves
Before the GTO made his mark on the Japanese educational scene, there was another legendary teacher from Shonan and she could motivate her students in ways most school boards have never imagined. Using all of her assets at her disposal, Nao Kadena will raise GPAs, and pulses, by teaching her Tsujido High kids the ABCs and much more with her Ts an A. Finally, a reason to go to school…Ms. Kanade’s unique brand of physical education.
The time has come…High School is almost over and their future awaits. Onizuka must figure out what his relationship with his best friends are and Danma must make his final decision on his romance life. Both have been through a lot over the last 6 years but in a matter of days their entire lives will be decided. So how best to resolve these problems than by doing what teenage bikers do best…Ride the streets with their best buds and settle things with their fists! A quick trip to the shore with Shinomi gives Onizuka a chance to tell this tough girl how he has felt about her all this time (it’s a relationship that began in 7th grade). And the OniBaku have their legend come to a formal conclusion as the two brothers-in-arms take on each other before hundreds in Shonan for the first and final time! And when the dust settles the two friends, beaten and battered, leap from a 5-story building to their end… The end of their time as Street Performers! Now they will go their separate ways—one to Tokyo and one to Yokohama—to make it on their own as adults! It’s the Shonan way!