The third episode of the drama series "GTO" (Kansai TV/Fuji TV, Mondays at 10 PM), starring actor Takashi Sorimachi, aired on August 3rd. Kazuki Kawaguchi, who played the young Ieyasu in the 2023 NHK Taiga drama "What to Do, Ieyasu," gave a great performance as a student, attracting attention on social media.
◇The following contains spoilers.
Kawaguchi was born on December 8, 2008, and is from Kanagawa Prefecture. In the 2022 drama "My Wife Becomes a Grade Schooler" (TBS), he played Takeru, a classmate of fourth-grade elementary school student Marika (played by Maida Haruno). He has also appeared in other popular works such as "What Will Ieyasu Do?".
In "GTO," he plays Ayumu Yoshida, a student in class 1-B, which is taught by Eikichi Onizuka (Sorimachi). In episode 3, he is shown gathering the courage to confess his feelings to his classmate Kotone Wakatsuki (Kajiwara Kana), for whom he has a crush.
On social media, comments included: "He's so young! He's grown up so much!!", "Kazuki was perfect for the role of Ayumu Yoshida", "Ayumu is so cute", and "Kazuki Kawaguchi gave a wonderful performance."
"GTO" is a school drama based on the manga of the same name by Tohru Fujisawa, about Eikichi Onizuka, a former biker gang member turned teacher who tackles student and school problems head-on with his unconventional actions. The TV series that aired in 1998 recorded high ratings, with an average household viewership of 28.5% in the Kanto region for all 12 episodes, and the final episode reaching 35.7% (according to Video Research). In April 2024, it made a one-night-only comeback with the special drama "GTO Revival".
This season of "GTO" is set at Seishin Academy, a private high school whose philosophy is to "nurture future leaders." The story depicts an educational environment where both teachers and students carry tablet devices, and information and evaluations of students and teachers are managed using digital data.
