Toru Fujisawa does not let readers down in Volume 4 of GTO: 14 Days in Shonan. Previously, readers were left with a cliffhanger as Onizuka discovered Seiya’s plan to get revenge on his mother’s violent and lazy boyfriend who forced him to get a tattoo when he was just a kid. Volume 4 jumps straight into the frantic scene of Seiya dealing with yakuza gang members, and debating whether or not to accept Onizuka’s help to get him out of the situation at the expense of losing his revenge.

Even when Seiya seems to have solved the feelings he has for the man in his mother’s life, with the help of Onizuka, he cannot get away from him. A pair of sisters that Seiya grew up with and made a promise with to never let the parents that caused them such great pain forget what they had done, arrives on the scene. These two girls are not your typical teenagers.

Their foster father is a member of the yakuza and aids their violent tendencies by providing them with weapons, money, and people to do whatever they need. The two girls are best known for stabbing their father when he came to visit them after being away for years and now they are determined to make Seiya keep his promise.

There is something about Seiya that has changed. He may still have those strong feelings of revenge that drew him to create relationships with the wrong crowd, but he has also gained a network of adults that care deeply for him. They consider themselves his family and are not about to let him fall into the voids of his past. The two sisters say that this network of foster caretakers are nothing but paid babysitters, but Onizuka, as well as the rest of the staff, work to prove that money has nothing to do with the feelings they have for Seiya.

As they work to help Seiya from ruining his life, each character faces obstacles they never expected. Onizuka is even forced to face his greatest weakness; scantily clad women. This virgin teacher with street cred must find a way to get past two sexy, mostly naked women assassins in order to get to save Seiya. Readers will not be able to stop laughing when Onizuka struggles to keep the women at bay.

The action continues with even more drama than the last installment and the humor is placed at just the right moments. Even though this volume is heavy with lessons of revenge and defining an individual who cares about another, this volume is better than the last.

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The third volume of Toru Fujisawa’s Great Teacher Onizuka: 14 Days in Shonan is far from a letdown for fans of the original manga or anime series. Although the manga’s humor would fare far better in animation form, the manga does a decent job of incorporating various drawing techniques to show the comic movement and a variety of fonts to convey different emotions and tone of voice.

In the beginning, this volume of GTO seems to be one that is all about the sentimental side of Onizuka and how he has helped a young lady get in touch with her father, but then it takes quite a turn. The manga panels quickly change from a daughter tearfully hugging her long absent father to the rough and tough middle school teacher, Onizuka, trying to lose his virginity at the age of 22.

After a while, it seems that sexual comedy will be the basis of the rest of the novel, but when a few of the children that Onizuka is helping to look after in a group home appear, drama ensues that is more than bleeding noses, perverted older men, and innuendo. Thankfully, the excursions of troublesome middle school kids are something Onizuka has a great deal of experience handling. While many of the characters in the manga at first appear to doubt the reality of someone of Onizuka’s yakuza-like appearance being a legitimate teacher, his thuggish past is what makes him great at protecting the people he comes into contact with.

The one thing that always seems to get in Onizuka’s way are the ladies. While trying to keep one of his youngsters in line he is easily tricked by the boy yelling out that a rather buxom lady is near and loses track of the kid. Beautiful ladies not only hinder his performance while he is trying to be responsible, they also cause difficulties in his attempt to get in a relationship with other women.

Although single and trying to work his way into the life of the adorable Ayame that he helps run the group home known as the White Swan, Onizuka starts to remember Ayame talking about another female worker that was more well-endowed then herself. The fact that he remembers this when Ayame is drunk and fallen asleep may just be a coincidence, but it conveniently places her out of sight when the other woman comes back to the home. Adding further to Onizuka’s problems is the realization that this new woman seems rather familiar and when she realizes who he is she does not give him an easy time.

The women in this novel present obstacles to Onizuka, but they also present some to the reader, too. The names are rather easy to differentiate and remember, but the character design is far too similar. If this manga were an anime than it would be easy to tell the difference because of the coloring of the hair, as well as the different voices. In the manga the main difference is hair length and clothing, but these are not easily differentiated unless readers are playing close attention. Aside from this, volume 3 is an enjoyable read that will leave readers wondering how Onizuka in the next installment will solve his women problems and help the troubled children that live with him.

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