The sight of Japanese celebrity couple Takashi Sorimachi and Nanako Matsushima together again in a drama after 26 years has thrilled fans.

The pair – who fell in love on the set of hit J-drama GTO: Great Teacher Onizuka (1998) and have been married since 2001 – will reunite on-screen and reprise their roles in GTO Revival, the much-anticipated spin-off set to air on April 1 in Japan.

In GTO, Matsushima, 50, played teacher Azusa Fuyutsuki, who quit her job in the final episode to realise her dream of becoming a flight attendant. The character gets into a relationship with Eikichi Onizuka, a biker gangster-turned-teacher played by Sorimachi, also 50. In the series, Onizuka has to use creative ways to deal with a class of students facing various issues.

The producers of GTO Revival have been releasing sneak peeks from the TV special on social media in the past month.

The latest photo on the show’s social media accounts shows Sorimachi and Matsushima with co-stars Shun Oguri, Hiroyuki Ikeuchi, Yuta Yamazaki and Yosuke Kubozuka, who played students in the original series.

Other images feature the new cast members who will play Onizuka’s current students, such as Rikako Yagi, Wataru Hyuga, Ryutaro Imai and Mei Hata.

Fans of GTO said in the comment section that the latest image showing Sorimachi and Matsushima together was nostalgic and reminded them of their younger days. Others remarked that a “first look” photo of Matsushima’s character in a flight attendant uniform was reminiscent of a similar role she played in J-drama Perfect Woman (2000).