Expect to see him and Nanako Matsushima in a married couple’s gorgeous collaboration! Takashi Sorimachi “volunteered” to revive “GTO” after 26 years

It has been announced that a one-off special program of “GTO” (Fuji Television), a serial drama series starring Takashi Sorimachi (49) that caused a social phenomenon in ’98, will be broadcast next spring under the title “GTO Revival.

In “GTO,” Sorimachi plays Eikichi Onizuka, a high school teacher who used to be a motorcycle gang member and solves school problems in an unorthodox way, which became a big hit with the theme song “POISON” sung by Sorimachi. The heroine, an English teacher, was played by his current wife Nanako Matsushima (49), and the drama became a monster with an astounding 35.7% average household rating for the final episode. The public is excited about the “sudden revival” after 26 years since the serial drama version, but there were several “backgrounds” and “circumstances” that led to the realization of the revival.

Sorimachi’s passionate performance was the driving force that ignited the boom. Sorimachi’s passionate performance was the driving force that ignited the boom, but the tag team with Matsushima, who starred in the NHK morning drama “Himawari” in 1996 and became the “second generation pretty lady” in a Panasonic commercial in 1997, was also a factor in the success of the film. The two married in 2001 after co-starring in “GTO. They have an eldest daughter, now 19, and a second daughter, now 15, so the storyline is very much linked to their personal lives. That is why the world is paying attention to this special edition.

Naturally, there are growing expectations for a “married couple starring together” in “GTO Revival.” On September 15, when Kantele, the production company, and Fuji Television announced the broadcast of “GTO Revival,” only Sorimachi was publicly announced as the star of the movie. However, the September 28 issue of “Josei Seven” reported that Matsushima will make a spotlight appearance, their first collaboration since becoming husband and wife.

The official announcement of the ban on their co-starring could create a buzz and serve as a bright catalyst for Fuji, which is starved for popular dramas. Sorimachi made a comment through the station at the time of the announcement, in which he confessed that he had been approached many times about doing “GTO” in the past. Finally, he said that he thought “it makes sense to revive the show at this time,” and revealed that he had approached the production team himself about doing a revived version of the show.

It is said that there are multiple reasons behind the special broadcast. Sorimachi appeared in the popular TV drama series “Partners” (TV Asahi) starring Yutaka Mizutani from 2003 to 2010 as the fourth sidekick every year. In recent years, as an actor, Sorimachi’s “sidekick” image has become too strong.

Sorimachi, who will be 50 years old when “GTO Revival” airs, may want to break away from the image of sidekick that has become too attached to him in a positive sense, and establish a new “leading actor” image as an actor at the age of 50. He may have chosen to go on a rampage in “GTO” as the best catalyst for this.

A film version of “GTO” was released in December 1999. There was another sad incident involving the series in the past.

The station advertised the series as being “back after 26 years,” so it may not have been counted, but a sequel special “GTO Drama Special” was broadcast in June 1999, and a stuntman in his 40s was killed in an accident while on location in Shizuoka Prefecture. Sorimachi has long been reluctant to do anything about it. Sorimachi was in a state of shock and deep sadness for a long time. Perhaps this is why Sorimachi did not accept the station’s invitation to work on a content series that was sure to be a big seller, even though it had been a big seller for many years. However, more than 20 years have passed, and he is now in his 50s, so the time has come. Incidentally, Matsushima did not appear in either the movie version or the special program.

In his comment, Sorimachi explained that he decided to appear in the movie because he wondered “what kind of Onizuka I would be able to play now that I have raised two children of my own.

It was also surprising that Sorimachi, who has not performed with his wife Matsushima and has rarely spoken about his private life regarding his children, mentioned his two children as his own motivation for reviving “GTO. Both of his daughters are reportedly studying abroad, and he and his wife Matsushima may have changed their mode of raising their children…. This naturally makes it even more exciting to see how the “collaborative acting” with Matsushima has matured.

The photo of Sorimachi released with the announcement of the special program shows him holding a chainsaw in front of a large group of students. Will he be able to “break out again” with his wife as the passionate teacher Onizuka in the modern TV world?