Tooru Fujisawa

Tooru Fujisawa (藤沢 とおる, Fujisawa Tōru, born 1967) is a Japanese manga author. His name is romanized as Tohru Fujisawa on the Tokyopop English-language Great Teacher Onizuka books and as Toru Fujisawa on the Kodansha bilingual releases. His first serialized work was Adesugata Junjo Boy, published from 1989 in Weekly Shonen Magazine. Fujisawa's best-known work is Great Teacher Onizuka (GTO) about a biker, Eikichi Onizuka, and his attempt to become and remain a teacher. It is a sequel to Shōnan Jun'ai Gumi! and its side story Bad Company. In 1998, Fujisawa won the Kodansha Manga Award for Great Teacher Onizuka.

Personal

Fujisawa was born and raised in Hokkaido and started drawing as a child. Fujisawa originally wanted to be in animation but decided manga would give him more freedom. He based Shonan Juni Gumi at a seaside location after growing up inland. At the age of 17 he moved to Tokyo by himself to become a manga artist. He wrote Science Fiction Doujinshi and submitted them to publishers. He is a fan of Initial D and was inspired by Akira.

Works

• Love You (1989, Magazine Fresh!, Kodansha)
• Adesugata Junjo Boy (艶姿ç´"情Boy, 1989, Weekly Shonen Magazine, Kodansha)
• Shonan Junai Gumi (湘南ç´"愛組!, 1990â€"1996, Weekly Shonen Magazine, Kodansha)
• Bad Company (1996, Weekly Shonen Magazine, Kodansha)
• Great Teacher Onizuka (1997â€"2002, Weekly Shonen Magazine, Kodansha)
• Rose Hip Rose (2002â€"2003, Young Magazine Uppers, Kodansha)
• Tokko (特公, 2003, Monthly Afternoon, Kodansha)
• Wild Base Ballers (2003, Weekly Shonen Magazine, Kodansha. Artwork by Taroh Sekiguchi)
• Himitsu Sentai Momoider (ひみつ戦隊モモイダー, 2003/2006-2007, Weekly Young Jump, Young Jump Extra Edition Mankaku, Shueisha)
• Rose Hip Zero (2005â€"2006, Weekly Shonen Magazine, Kodansha)
• Magnum Rose Hip (2006, Weekly Shonen Magazine, Kodansha)
• Kamen Teacher (仮面ティーチャー, 2006â€"2007, Weekly Young Jump, Shueisha)
• Reverend D (2006-2007/2008/2009, Monthly Comic REX, Ichijinsha)
• Animal Joe (アニマルJOE, 2006/2008, Big Comic Spirits, Shogakukan)
• Unhappy! (あã‚"ハãƒ"っ!, 2008, Comic Charge, Kadokawa)
• Tooi Hoshi kara Kita ALICE (遠い星から来たALICE, 2008, Big Comic Spirits, Shogakukan)
• GTO Shonan 14 Days (2009-2011, Weekly Shonen Magazine, Kodansha)
• Repoman Soul! (レポマン魂！, 2010, Weekly Young Jump, Shueisha)
• Ino-Head Gargoyle (井の頭ガーゴイル, 2012, Weekly Young Magazine, Kodansha)
• GT-R - Great Transporter Ryuji (2012, Weekly Shonen Magazine, Kodansha)
• Kamen Teacher BLACK (2013-ongoing, Weekly Young Jump, Shueisha)
• GTO: Paradise Lost (2014-ongoing, Weekly Young Magazine, Kodansha)

Onizuka and Danma

Much of Fujisawa's output is built around the characters of Eikichi Onizuka and Ryuji Danma. The two first appeared together in Shonan Junai Gumi as high school aged Bōsōzoku in Shonan. The series was a hit and after its conclusion Fujisawa drew two short stories entitled Bad Company, telling the tales about how the two met and became friends. This was followed by the international hit Great Teacher Onizuka, which follows Eikichi as he becomes a teacher and takes care of a class. In this series Ryuji only appears occasionally, as do a couple of other characters from Shonan Junai Gumi. The two characters were then left alone for several years until Fujisawa picked up the story again for the Great Teacher Onizuka spin-off GTO Shonan 14 Days in which Eikichi returns to Shonan. A year after the end of Shonan 14 days, Fujisawa created the short-lived GT-R, which focuses on the exploits of Ryuji rather than Eikichi.

References

External links

• Official blog (Japanese)
• Tooru Fujisawa at Anime News Network's encyclopedia
• Profile at The Ultimate Manga Page