Gokusen

Gokusen

Details

• Title: ごくせん / Gokusen
• Episodes: 12 + Special (Graduation)
• Genre: Comedy, School
• Broadcast network: NTV
• Broadcast period: 2002-04-01 to 2002-07-03
• Viewership: 17.43%
• Theme Song: Feel your breeze by V6
• Related Drama: Gokusen 2

Synopsis

Faito, oh!

The story of a young, idealistic teacher who enters Shirokin Gakuen with hopes of making a difference in the students' lives. However, Yamaguchi Kumiko (Nakama Yukie) is in for a rude awakening when she finds that she will be the homeroom teacher of 3-D, the hardest class to maintain in the school. The students have multi-colored hair, sloppy uniforms, and show absolutely no respect to her. The leader of the class, Sawada Shin (Matsumoto Jun) is lazy but shows some interest in Yamaguchi when he notices that she is very different from other teachers. The students try to bully her to make her quit, but their attempts don't get them very far.

What the class and the rest of the school does not know is that Yamaguchi Kumiko is actually the 4th generation heir to the Ooedo Group, a notorious yakuza clan.

Cast

• Nakama Yukie as Yamaguchi Kumiko (Yankumi/Ojou/Koumichou)
• Utsui Ken as Kuroda Ryuichiro (Kumiko's grandpa / 3rd Generation Oedo Yakuza Boss)
• Kaneko Ken as Asakura Tetsu
• Uchiyama Shinji as Tatsukawa Minoru
• Namase Katsuhisa as Sawatari Goro, Kyoto (School Vice Principal)
• Ito Misaki as Fujiyama Shizuka
• Nakazawa Yuko as Nakashima (School Nurse)
• Matsumoto Jun as Sawada Shin
• Oguri Shun as Uchi (Uchiyama Haruhiko)
• Narimiya Hiroki as Noda Takeshi
• Waki Tomohiro as Kuma (Kumai Teruo)
• Ishigaki Yuma as Minami Youichi
• Sawamura Ikki as Shinohara Tomoya
• Ichikawa Yui as Sawada Natsumi (ep 7)

Production Credits

• Producer: 加藤正俊
• Director: 佐藤東彌, 大谷太郎, 高橋直治
• Screenwriter: Egasira Michiru, 橫田理惠
• Music: 大島ミチル

Review

Kanin's Review

The teacher is played by Nakama Yukie, a new (wonderful) actress to me but apparently she has alot of dramas under her belt like Trick series etc. Does she fit for this one? Yes she does! She's perfect in this role where she's dorky, cute and sometimes even cool. She is actually hilarious in her role.

I thought maybe this was gonna be a Onizuka copy, but that was soon washed away. This had a more comedic touch and although it was built on the same idea of helping students with both school and private issues this still didn't feel like a re-make.

The teacher Yamaguchi Kumiko, later nick named Yankumi by her students had her secret connection to the Yakuza family, and that was used to give her uncontrolled outburst of Yakuza vocabulary which was very funny. It was also used for some neat problem solving.

More on the Yakuza part. Each scene with her grandfather played by Utsui Ken functions like episode wrap-ups and deals with what's right and wrong, much like a psychiatric moment. Ken makes a splendid performance as the clan leader. The other members of the Yakuza family has quite funny scenes where they show complete respect to Yankumi and she in return forgets to hide her role and scolds and tells them off in a roughly manner.

Was there love? Yes a little bit between Yankumi and a police officer, Shinohara, that she accidently meets. Being a law enforcer makes it a bit complicated of course and it adds to the comedy. It's nothing serious to be developed any further, but it's serious enough to be touched in almost every episodes, mostly from a Yankumi point of view. Unfortunately I don't know the actors name.

What's more? Yes same day Yankumi starts in school there's also another new teacher namely Itoh Misaki (You're under arrest). She plays the hot teacher (of course lol) who has no problem with her students. There is also the school nurse played by Yuko Nakazawa (Morning Musume).

One of the fun part is the interaction between the head teacher (Namase Katsuhisa) and Yankumi. Not only because he looks really funny and adds it with some funny moves, but he's always the Mr knows it all, despite it's always Yankumi who pulls the right strings. He is very good in his part and I had trouble not to think of a Japanese Jeff Goldblum throughout the whole series. Laugh

The Morning Musume connection: Yuko makes a nice performance as the school nurse and Shun Oguri (later Mari's boyfriend) plays one of the bigger parts of the students in 3-D.

In the end they have created a wonderfull atmosphere and you would like to be in that class of hers.

The music is as always very good. Sometimes I find it similar to what was used in Sailor Moon.

Summary

A light comedy drama mixed with a serious backbone. Highly enjoyable. I watched this pretty fast cause it was that good, like candy ready to consume.

Grade 10/10

Nuu's Review

The humor in this series was cute and wasn't contrived or hackneyed; the situations were (mostly) fresh, and the characters were charming. Interaction between Shin and Yankumi, Shin and his friends, and Yankumi and Kyoto was extremely entartaining; I found myself laughing out loud for quite some time. For some characters, the character development was brilliant.

However, each of the episodes follows this formula, with only a few exceptions:

1 Students get in some sort of trouble

2 Yankumi barges in to save them

2.5 (optional) They don't believe that she trusts them

2.75 (optional) Yankumi beats up all the bad guys

4 Yankumi gives a lecture which NEVER FAILS to reform everyone who's listening

5 Yankumi gets advice from her kind-hearted grandfather (this one can also go between 1 and 2 or 2.5 and 2.75)

By about Episode 9, this pattern became really annoying. I could pretty much predict what was going to happen.

Yankumi really didn't have any character depth at all. She was nice, determined, wise, and sometimes endearingly clumsy, but she really didn't have any real flaw. Shin, on the other hand, was a very round character.

Unfortunately, the ending left far too many strings untied. It felt a little forced, and I felt frustrated after I finished it.

Overall, this drama was cute and it made me happy, but the ending was very disappointing and for the last few episodes, the series was predictable. I would give this drama an 8.5/10.

Daemonneko's Review

We live in an equal world so its time for an equal counterpart for Onizuka sensei, and who best fits the job but Miss Yamaguchi... or should I say 「お嬢」?

Yamaguchi Kumiko, or Yankumi for her students is our hero in this series. She's not your ordinary teacher, if Onizuka sensei leads a group of bikers, Yankumi is also a leader in her own share... she is just the successor of her grandfather as the new head or leader of their family or should I say group, her Yakuza group.

Things get to get exciting when she became a teacher since it is a taboo for a member of a gang to be a teacher in a Japanese junior high school. Her cover was perfect until one of her student, Sawada Shin found out about her secret. What happened? Things became more interesting and exciting as they try to cover one another in a hillarious way!

If you want to have a nice laugh, and enjoys seeing friends bond thru thick and thin, then Gokusen is the right jdorama for you!

I give this drama 8/10 popcorns

External Links

• JDorama.com
• Emily's Feel Your Breeze Page