Bad Company (manga)

Bad Company
Cover of the first volume of manga featuring main characters.
バッドカンパニー (Baddo Kanpanī)
Genre	Action
Manga
Written by	Tooru Fujisawa
Published by	Kodansha
Demographic	Shōnen
Magazine	Weekly Shōnen Magazine
Original run	June 12, 1996 – July 17, 1996
Volumes	1
Live-action film
Shonan Junaigumi! Bad Company
Directed by	Noboru Matsui
Written by	Shunmichi Okowa
Released	5 June 1998
Runtime	93 minutes

Bad Company (バッドカンパニー, Baddo Kanpanī) is a one volume prequel to Shonan Junai Gumi which was followed by the better known series Great Teacher Onizuka. It was created by Tooru Fujisawa while he was still working on Great Teacher Onizuka. The manga was published in 1997 by Kodansha.

Bad Company is made up of two parts, each dedicated in part to how Eikichi Onizuka and Ryuji Danma meet and get their motorcycles.

The story is told from Ryuji's point of view, it begins when Ryuji is trying to avoid attending class at his new school and by chance witnesses the end of a fight that Onizuka has just won. Haunted by the demonic expression on his eyes while his face is covered in blood he becomes obsessed with seeing it again, sure that one day they will have a fight from which only one of them will survive.

To his surprise, he discovers that not only he is in the same school as Onizuka but in the same class as well. Wanting to be the strongest in the school, he tries several times to bring out the demon out again, but soon realizes that Onizuka won't be angered by teenage bravados, although the rest of the bad-asses in the school are soon under his command. Ryuji never gets the fight he desires with him (or at least at the level he desires).

Sakura Yamato, a girl in Onizuka's group of friends tries to show Ryuji Onizuka's true face, and so walks him to the garage where Onizuka, Fukitoshi and Isami are mending a bike they found in a dump, which happens to be the Kawasaki Z400GP that Onizuka drives in the sequels. Sakura tells Ryuji that Onizuka is not the kind of person to be interested in power or who is better, he only wants to have a good time with his friends. Ryuji rejects it at first, again trying to pick a fight but is slowly won over and helps them in repairing the bike.

The next day, Sakura, Ryuji and Onizuka have gone for food to celebrate just before trying the bike, but when they are back, the bike has disappeared and Fukitoshi and Isami are beaten on the floor. It turns out that the Skull Gang also had their eyes set on the bike, and so have waited for it to be repaired so they can sell it at a good price. Onizuka quickly goes to recover it, and is followed by Ryuji. Onizuka fights the leader of the Skulls for his bike, but the fight is interrupted by Sakura, who has brought the Running Wild Angels, another bōsōzoku gang, whose leader, Masaki, becomes their role-model. After seeing the fight, Masaki asks Onizuka and the others to ride with them next time they meet.