Ryuji, Eikichi, and Sakura
Bad Company is an Origins Episode prequel to the manga GTO: The Early Years, better known for its sequel Great Teacher Onizuka. The single-volume (10-chapter) manga tells the story of how Eikichi Onizuka and Ryuji Danma first met as teenagers, and became Bōsōzoku.
It was created by Tooru Fujisawa while he was still working on GTO, and serialized in 1996 by Weekly Shōnen Magazine. The collected volume was published by Kodansha in 1997, and a live-action film adaptation was released in 1998, but no subtitled version was ever made.
Provides examples of the following tropes:
- Adaptation Deviation: The film broadly follows the same story, though the characters know Natsuki from the beginning (the porn-buying scene in the manga where they meet her is changed to a filler scene where Ryuji and Eikichi sneak into a video store and steal a porno tape from a guy who just rented it). Ryuji gets a stray dog as a Morality Pet, which didn't appear in the manga. The ending was also slightly changed, with Akira actually dying of his wounds, but taking the blame for stabbing himself to protect Natsuki so she doesn't go to jail.
- Adaptation Distillation: The film of Bad Company condenses the storyline a little, having Eikichi and his friends know Natsuki from the beginning, and her owning (and living at) the cafe where they hang out. She's the one who saves Ryuji and Eikichi from the Skull Gang.
- Adaptational Nice Guy: Downplayed. In the film version, Ryuji adopts a dog he found in a box, and rushes it to the school nurse's office when it's injured. He's just as mean and violent to humans, though.
- The Cavalry: Just when it looks hopeless for Ryuji and Eikichi, the Running Wild Angels show up to chase the Skull Gang off their territory. It turns out Sakura asked them to help. Overlaps with Summon Bigger Fish.
- Cool Big Sis: Middle school-aged Onizuka and Ryuji meet 18-year-old Natsuki, who takes them riding in her car, and even lets Ryuji try driving it (which she quickly regrets). She lets Ryuji sleep over at her place when his parents lock him out, and gives him her old motorcycle. Ryuji is willing to die for her (and almost does, when her abusive ex-boyfriend shows up).
- Cool Bike: Onizuka has a custom Kawasaki Z400GP
, which he and his friends rebuilt from scrap. His best friend Ryuji rides a Honda CBX, though he got it unmodified as a gift. Masaki Kyosuke, the leader of the Running Wild Angels, rides a red Kawasaki Z2. - Death Glare: Ryuji's default expression at the beginning.
- Defeat Means Friendship: Ryuji attempted to establish his dominance at his new school by picking a fight with Eikichi, the strongest delinquent there, but after neither of them could defeat the other, they gain a grudging respect for each other. They become Fire-Forged Friends after taking on the Skull Gang together.
- Domestic Abuse: Natsuki's boyfriend, Nezu Akira, shows up in the second half and beats her, threatens Ryuji, and demands a huge amount of money for the motorcycle Natsuki gave him. He almost kills Ryuji several times, and would have if not for Natsuki stabbing him.
- Escalating Brawl: The fight between Ryuji and Eikichi quickly grows to include every male student.
- Face of a Thug: Ryuji and Eikichi. Justified since they are delinquents.
- The Heart: Sakura is the only girl who hangs out with Ryuji and Eikichi's gang
- High-Altitude Interrogation: Ryuji dangles one of the other students out a third-floor window to get him to admit he wrote the graffiti on Ryuji's desk.
- Honor Among Thieves: Ironically, stealing the motorcycle that Eikichi and his friends worked so hard to restore is a serious offense to the Running Wild Angels.
- Improvised Weapon: Eikichi beats up the Skull Gang leader with his bicycle. When more of them show up he uses a brick.
- Japanese Delinquents: Pretty much every teenage male character.
- New Transfer Student: Ryuji starts the story as this.
- Resurrect the Wreck: Eikichi and his friends find an old motorcycle in the trash and repair it. When the Skull Gang steals it once the kids have put in all the work, Eikichi and Ryuji go fight them to get it back.
- Shameless Fanservice Girl: Downplayed with Sakura, the only girl who hangs out with Ryuji and Eikichi's gang. She frequently offers to show them her panties to get them to stop fighting, or to take her along when they go somewhere.
- The Smurfette Principle: Sakura is usually the one to calm the group down and de-escalate fights.
- Stock Shoujo Bullying Tactics: The other delinquents cover Ryuji's desk in obscene graffiti. It doesn't end well for them.
- Stop Hitting Yourself: Ryuji is about to punch Eikichi in the face when Eikichi suddenly turns to hear what his friend said, causing Ryuji to hit his own face.
- A Truce While We Gawk: Sakura stops the free-for-all brawl in the schoolyard by blasting everyone with the hose, though that may have less to do with it than her giving everyone in the yard below a Panty Shot.
