Hyouryuu Kyoushitsu won the 20th Shogakukan Manga Award in 1975. It received a live-action film adaptation on July 11, 1987, as well as a loosely adapted television drama called Long Love Letter on January 9, 2002.
The series was published in English as The Drifting Classroom by VIZ Media under the VIZ Signature imprint from August 15, 2006 to April 15, 2008. It was also published in Spanish by Ponent Mon from October 2008 to August 2010.