GTO Reading Order (Great Teacher Onizuka Manga Universe)

Not all manga are about facing demons, battling villains, or surviving the Apocalypse. For Eikichi Onizuka, it’s about becoming the world’s greatest teacher. Eikichi Onizuka is the main protagonist of Great Teacher Onizuka, sometimes simply referenced as GTO, a Japanese shōnen manga series written and illustrated by Tooru Fujisawa. While GTO is certainly the most famous manga featuring Onizuka, it is not the only one and it’s also part of a bigger media franchise.

Tooru Fujisawa started writing Eikichi’s story in the nineties, from his delinquent days as a middle schooler in Shonan to his work as a teacher at a private middle school, Holy Forest Academy and beyond. Many spin-off series were created, featuring supporting characters and other stories set in the same universe. The popularity of Great Teacher Onizuka led to several adaptations in anime and live-action.

So let’s go to class with Eikichi! As it is said, “his curriculum may not rely on the reading, writing and arithmetic but he has more than a few good lessons in personal development, fisticuffs and fun to teach a new generation of troubled teens.”

GTO Manga Order

Great Teacher Onizuka Manga List

The following list consists of the mangas set in the GTO Universe featuring the one and only Eikichi Onizuka! With maybe the exception of GTO: 14 Days in Shonan which can be considered a more optional reading, those are the main series to read!

Bad Company (1996) – A prequel to Shonan Junai Gumi! relating how Eikichi Onizuka and Ryuji Danma met and got their motorcycles. One Volume. There is no official English translation.
GTO The Early Years: Shonan Junai Gumi! (1990-1996) – Sometimes considered as a prequel to GTO, Shonan Junai Gumi was actually published before and recounts the adventures of Eikichi Onizuka and his best friend Ryuji Danma while they are still in high school. 31 Volumes.
Great Teacher Onizuka (1997-2002) – Often referenced as simply “GTO”, this is the main manga and one of the best-selling manga series in history. It follows Eikichi Onizuka, a 22-year-old ex-gang member and virgin who sets out to become the greatest teacher ever. 25 volumes.
GTO: 14 Days in Shonan (2009-2011) – Taking place between chapters 157 and 158 of GTO, during the academic year’s summer break, the story follows Onizuka as he returns to the shores of Shonan for a break. 9 volumes.
GTO: Paradise Lost (2014-ongoing) – The ongoing sequel to the main Great Teacher Onizuka manga series and last manga in the GTO series.

The Complete GTO-verse Timeline

While Great Teacher Onizuka is at the heart of the GTO Universe, Tooru Fujisawa created a shared universe with several series. The following listing consists of the main series focusing on the exploits of Eikichi Onizuka and the spin-off series centered on supporting characters, friends, and acquaintances of Onizuka, as well as stories set in Shonan and its surroundings. The spin-offs have no official English translation.

Bad Company (1996)
GTO The Early Years: Shonan Junai Gumi! (1990-1996)
Great Teacher Onizuka (1997-2002)
Kamen Teacher (2006-2007) – Follows Gota Araki, a teacher part of a special program of masked teachers with exceptional combat ability. 4 volumes. No official English translation.
Animal Joe (2006/2008) – Follows Joe Kirishima, the womanizing vice-president of an investment banking firm in Roppongi Hills, Tokyo. No official English translation.
GTO: 14 Days in Shonan (2009-2011)
- Black Diamond (2011) – A spinoff focusing on the twins Riko and Miko Sakaki. Published in Days in Shonan Vol. 14
Ino-Head Gargoyle (2012-2014) – Spin-off focusing on Saejima’s life as a police officer. 5 volumes. No official English translation.
- Goblin Mad Dog (2012) – Crossover between Ino-Head Gargoyle and GTO: 14 Days in Shonan published in Ino-Head Gargoyle Vol. 3. No official English translation
Great Transporter Ryuji (2012) – Focused on Ryuji Danma, Eikichi Onizuka’s best friend. 1 volume. No official English translation.
Kamen Teacher Black (2013-2014) – Sequel to Kamen Teacher in 5 volumes. No official English translation.
- Kamen Police (2013) – Crossover between Kamen Teacher Black and Ino-Head Gargoyle. Published in Ino-Head Gargoyle Vol. 5 and Kamen Teacher Black Vol. 2. No official English translation.
GTO: Paradise Lost (2014-ongoing)
- RE: Animal Joe (2019) – A reboot of Animal Joe. RE: Animal Joe published in GTO: Paradise Lost Vol. 12. It reintroduces Joe Kirishima and his nemesis, Sho Murakami.
Shonan Seven (2014-2019) – A sequel to Shonan Junai Gumi!, it focuses on Ikki Kurokami as he enrolls at Tsujido High School. 17 volumes. No official English translation.

Great Teacher Onizuka, All The Volumes

GTO: The Early Years

Following Eikichi Onizuka and his best friend Ryuji Danma while they are still in high school, GTO: The Early Years was published between 1990 and 1996 in Japan. The manga was licensed in United States by Tokyopop in 2006 with ten volumes released. Publisher Vertical Inc (an imprint of Kodansha USA) took over and concluded the publication in 2012. Those volumes are not always easy to find and you will have to track some of them on the second-hand market.

GTO: Great Teacher Onizuka (1997-2002)

Meet Eikichi Onizuka, a 22-year-old virgin and ex-biker. He’s crude, foul-mouthed, and has a split-second temper. His goal: to be the Greatest High School Teacher in the world! Onizuka may think he’s the toughest guy on campus, but when he meets his class full of bullies, blackmailers and scheming sadists, he’ll have to prove it.

GTO: 14 Days in Shonan

This spin-off series takes place between chapters 157 and 158 of the main series GTO (in volume 19), though you can finish GTO before reading 14 Days in Shonan. This is a side story that has no impact on the main manga.

After guiding the infamous Tokyo Kissho Academy through a crash-course of his unique brand of life-lessons, a battered and bruised Eikichi Onizuka takes a well-deserved trip to his hometown of sorts, a typically quiet surfers paradise called Shonan.

GTO: Paradise Lost

Great Teacher Onizuka is back, and the next stage for his legend is…prison?! The trouble magnet of a teacher reveals that this stint behind bars is thanks to a certain incident with the class he became assistant homeroom teacher of half a year earlier… A story still ongoing!

You can buy many volumes of GTO on Kodansha.us in a digital edition.

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