Gokusen 

Gokusen is the story of recently graduated Kumiko Yamaguchi, aka. Yankumi, and her life as a new high school teacher. Unlike the other new teachers at her school Kumiko gets placed with teh... See full summary »

Stars:

Yukie Nakama, Katsuhisa Namase, Ken Utsui

Cast

Series cast summary:
Yukie Nakama	...	Kumiko Yamaguchi 24 episodes, 2002-2008
Katsuhisa Namase	...	Goro Saruwatari / ... 14 episodes, 2002-2008
Ken Utsui	...	Ryuichiro Kuroda 13 episodes, 2002-2008
Ken Kaneko	...	Tetsu Asakura 13 episodes, 2002-2008
Shinji Uchiyama	...	Minoru Tatsukawa 13 episodes, 2002-2008
Yôsuke Kawamura	...	Yosuke akiyama 12 episodes, 2002-2005
Masayuki Izumi	...	Masayuki Ohuchi 12 episodes, 2002
Ken'ichi Matsuyama	...	Ken'ichi Mori 12 episodes, 2002
Ryôji Morimoto	...	Ryoji Horibe 12 episodes, 2002
Ryûji Sainei	...	Ryuji Sengoku 12 episodes, 2002
Shô Tomita	...	Sho Takeda 12 episodes, 2002
Mikihisa Azuma	...	Seiga Baba / ... 11 episodes, 2005-2008
Moto Fuyuki	...	Takashi Kameyama 11 episodes, 2002-2005
Kyosuke Hamao	...	Kyosuke Teruachi / ... 11 episodes, 2008
Atsumi Kanno	...	Atsumi Ishibashi 11 episodes, 2008
Yûya Kido	...	Yuya Okuma 11 episodes, 2008
Gôki Maeda	...	Goki Hamaguchi 11 episodes, 2008
Masei Nakayama	...	Masei Tanaka 11 episodes, 2008
Ryûya Wakaba	...	Ryuya Yoshida 11 episodes, 2008
Tomoya Warabino	...	Tomoya Wakatsuki 11 episodes, 2008
Yûji	...	Yuji Yamamoto 11 episodes, 2008
Jutta Yûki	...	Jutta Murayama / ... 11 episodes, 2008
Kazuya Kamenashi	...	Ryu Odagiri 10 episodes, 2005
Jin Akanishi	...	Hayato Yabuki 10 episodes, 2005
Teppei Koike	...	Keita Takeda 10 episodes, 2005
Mokomichi Hayami	...	Hikaru Tsuchiya 10 episodes, 2005
Keisuke Koide	...	Kosuke Hyuga 10 episodes, 2005
Otoha	...	Hitomi Shiratori 10 episodes, 2005
Shôsuke Tanihara	...	Takuma Kujo 10 episodes, 2005
Yukiko Ikeda	...	Sayuri Wanibuchi 10 episodes, 2005
Jun Inoue	...	Kurokawa 10 episodes, 2005
Masahiro Kuranuki	...	Masahiro Tamura 10 episodes, 2005
Kengo Kôra	...	Kengo Funaki 10 episodes, 2005
Ryosuke Miura	...	Ryosuke Muto 10 episodes, 2005
Momosuke Mizutani	...	Momosuke Omori 10 episodes, 2005
Yuichi Nakamura	...	Yuichi Kawata 10 episodes, 2005
Yûki Satô	...	Yuki Kojima 10 episodes, 2005
Ryuhei Watanabe	...	Ryuhei Hashimoto 10 episodes, 2005

Storyline

Gokusen is the story of recently graduated Kumiko Yamaguchi, aka. Yankumi, and her life as a new high school teacher. Unlike the other new teachers at her school Kumiko gets placed with teh toughest kids there. And has to deal with all their rebellious actions. However as time passes she gains her students respect by helping them out both in school and in their daily lives. Which is easy for her to do as her students remind her of her life at home, since she is a fourth generation crime syndicate member and next in line to head it up. She's gone straight and wants to be a teacher though, but she's one person in whose class you don't want to be caught fooling around!

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Plot Keywords:

student | school | school teacher | yakuza | teacher student relationship | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Details

Official Sites:

NTV [Japan]

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

5 April 2002 (Japan)

Also Known As:

Gokusen 2

Filming Locations:

Nikkatsu Studios, Tokyo, Japan

Company Credits

Production Co:

Nippon Television Network (NTV)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

54 min 45 min (12 episodes)

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Connections

Version of Gokusen: The Movie (2009)

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Soundtracks

Feel your breeze
Performed by Masayuki Sakamoto (as V6)

User Reviews

"Fight-to, oh!"

Imagine you were the homeroom teacher of a bunch of the wildest, most rebellious delinquents in an ill-reputed school. What would you do?

Yamaguchi Kumiko (Nakama Yukie), better known as Yankumi to her students, decides to love and trust them. That is basically what she does in the 12-episode drama (including the special), though of course a lot of punches and lectures are involved. Yankumi, herself a 3rd generation heir of the Oedo family, the Yakuza, isn't in the least fazed by her multi-coloured punkish students. She takes them on to the end, protecting and believing them, and proving that a teacher's first concern should always be the safety and growth of her students.

'Gokusen', though formulaic and predictable, shines through because of its characters. Yankumi is a funny, interesting person who has unorthodox ideas. The students do her justice. Sawada Shin (Jun Matsumoto), the ringleader and quiet rebel, is the key - the one who makes the difference. Because of his anger, resentment, and fiercely loyal and quietly humorous personality, Shin really brings a different angle to the students. Though of course it's not to say that the other boys aren't lovable, because they are. The Head Teacher is a joy to have...a real comedic character.

The acting is more than adequate. Yukie, Matsujun, and the other students and staff play their roles very well. Although the music is limited, the humour is sometimes campy/lame, and the episodes are very formulaic, Gokusen nonetheless manages to carry its storyline off. The teacher-student relationships are endearing, the characters are above likable, and the overall presentation of this show is good.