Shonan Junai Gumi (湘南純愛組!, Shōnan Jun'ai Gumi?, lit. "The Pure Love Gang from Shōnan") is a manga by Tohru Fujisawa which was published from March 1990 to December 1996, and initially released in 31 volumes. It has subsequently been released in a deluxe edition of 15 volumes, from May to December 2000, and the pocket-size print run, which began in May 2005, is currently at the 10th volume. Five 50 minute anime OVAs were released on VHS in the early 1990s, which basically followed the storyline of the manga, note that in one episode there will be two-in one instead. A live action drama and a few live action movies were also released under the name in Japan. This is the manga that originally featured the character Eikichi Onizuka, who would later go on to appear in the worldwide hit Great Teacher Onizuka (or "GTO" as it is often called).
The deluxe edition of the manga has been licensed for North America by Tokyopop, which retitled it 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 will continue the series beginning February 2012.
Read more about Shonan Junai Gumi: Plot