Takashi Sorimachi, who played reformed biker gangster-turned-teacher Eikichi Onizuka in the live-action television adaptation GTO (1998), is reprising his role in an upcoming TV special.
It is unknown if his co-star, Nanako Matsushima, who is also his wife in real life whom he married in 2001, would return to reprise her role as Azusa Fuyutsuki, a fellow teacher who fell in love with Onizuka.
Sorimachi, 49, said in a press release that he had turned down several offers to play the role of Onizuka again, but decided to accept this time as he thought it would be meaningful.
“It has been 25 years since the last broadcast, and now that I’ve raised two children myself, I wonder what kind of Onizuka I will play,” he said.
“I was interested in what kind of interactions Onizuka will have with students in the current era as they face problems and worries that are unique to present times.”