Gokusen

Kumiko Yamaguchi is smart, enthusiastic, and ready to start her dream job as a math teacher at Shirokin Academy. But as her first day opens on atrocious students and cowering teachers, Kumiko realizes that the all-boys high school is a cesspool of delinquents with no intention of improving themselves.

However, what her rowdy students don't know is that behind her dorky facade, Kumiko is the acting head of a powerful yakuza clan, and she has the skills to prove it! Capable of overpowering even the strongest of gangsters in seconds, Kumiko must keep her incredible strength and criminal influence a secret in order to keep her job. Unfortunately, with the vice principal constantly trying to get her fired and Shin Sawada, the leader of her class of delinquents, suspecting she's stronger than she lets on, Kumiko has a difficult teaching career ahead of her.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Yamaguchi, Kumiko Main

Hayamizu, Risa Japanese

Sawada, Shin Main

Suzumura, Kenichi Japanese

Ooshima, Kyotarou Supporting

Wakamoto, Norio Japanese

Fuji Supporting

Katou, Seizou Japanese

Uchiyama, Haruhiko Supporting

Masukawa, Yoichi Japanese

Noda, Takeshi Supporting

Yamagishi, Isao Japanese

Kumai, Teruo Supporting

Sugino, Tanuki Japanese

Asakura, Tetsu Supporting

Hirai, Keiji Japanese

Tatsukawa, Minoru Supporting

Yoshida, Hiroaki Japanese

Minami, Youichi Supporting

Nakakuni, Takurou Japanese

Maruyama, Masao Producer

Tamura, Manabu Producer

Kobayashi, Mikiko Assistant Producer

Satou, Yuuzou Director, Episode Director, Storyboard, Key Animation

Reviews

Dec 19, 2022

Jhintelman

Recommended

Gokusen is the female onizuka-ish, there I said it.

I love digging from the garbage pits of hell olden years of anime shows that I can watch, without all the complexities of modern time anime, there's a sense of innocence and non-try-hard writing that makes me chuckle.

Writer: And then, he doesn't remember anything that happened before the car crash, muhahaha, they would never see this coming.

(Not spoiler for the show, just a tragically common trope in old anime)

Gokusen is nice, but I can't fully judge until I've read the manga, because the anime feels like a sample, but I consider anime that makes you want ... to view the original material successful.


What to expect:

It's old, it'll tell old stories, nothing shocking, but nice pacing.

Cheesy, feels good, sort of funny, and nostalgic.

Absolutely love the lead. She just isn't something you see often, or ever, she's not a trope or fetish.

Enjoy it, I'll probably edit with a review of the manga.

Reviewer’s Rating: 8

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Sep 26, 2017

Cyanice

Mixed Feelings

STRUCTURE / PRESENTATION: (7.0)

Gokusen is a semi-episodic semi-serial anime in the sense that each episode is usually someone getting into trouble and Yankumi having to go and save them or something like that, but slowly in each episode you can really see these rowdy students getting used to their new teacher and even starting to like her a bit, as well as Yankumi bonding with Shin, and (failing) to hide her identity to the school district. This style did this show justice as it highlighted some of the best parts, being able to fit in some good action fighting scenes in each episode, and since ... each episode usually deals with a specific character, you really get to bond with them and understand them a bit more.


STORY / SETTING: (4.0)

Honestly the idea that the students were brainless hot-headed thugs didn't last long enough. It was really only present in the first two episodes, and after that they already warmed up to their new teacher, and kinda became softies. The affection towards their teacher grows stronger and stronger in each episode. That aspect could've been paced or spread out a little better, but it was pretty alright. One other thing I noticed (or rather didn't) was the importance of Yankumi keeping her identity hidden to the school. Shin realized it almost straight away, and the other students knew something was up pretty early too. It didn't really feel like she was trying very hard, or perhaps just didn't care, because wow it didn't last long at all. I did really like the story though. It may not be the most original but it did leave me wanting to see what would happen next. The setting on the other hand was quite boring. The school may as well been a 2 room building. The classroom and the teachers' office are pretty much the only parts we ever see, no hallway shots, or pans around the school, or anything. Besides the school and the Ooedo hideout, there are few places which hold much significance and they are few and far between. It really was quite bland.

AUDIO / VISUAL: (5.0)

The art is abnormal compared to what you see in most anime, as the characters aren't your typical "Aryans" and look more realistic (yet still goofy). Overall though it was average, and so was the animation. (For 2004 at least.) There wasn't a whole lot of music, but there wasn't a time when I think it needed any when there wasn't any. Voice acting was slightly above average, portraying voices which fit the characters quite nicely.

CHARACTERS: (3.5)

Honestly I had a tough time identifying all the different characters in the class from each other. Half of them look the exact same, and their personalities couldn't be more copy paste. No student stood out to me more than any other, and there wasn't a single time when one student couldn't been in the shoes of another during the story, as they're all the exact same (Besides Shin). Yankumi is pretty cool but it's kind of hard to believe she's the leader of a famous Yakuza clan when she's so clueless and laid back sometimes. Yeah, It's part of her personality, but the way she treated the issue and the fact that she was so bad at hiding it, really didn't make me feel the importance of it at all. The quirky personalities of the staff of the school and the Ooedo clan gave some comic relief, and some lightheartedness. One character I especially like is Fuji the dog. The fact that he's a bipedal talking dog in an otherwise realistic show is the least of my concern when his prime voice acting, and red track suit are a welcome addition in almost every scene, and his inner monologues help shed some insight on the situations as well.

OVERALL: (4.9)

Gokusen doesn't excel in one area, but it's quite a charming show that had me keep clicking "next episode" despite it's many shortcomings. I wouldn't recommend it, but If you want to give it a try, it won't be a complete waste of time.

Reviewer’s Rating: 5

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Jan 2, 2018

GrayRealm

Not Recommended

Alright. Long story short it is a different take on idea from Great Teacher Onizuka, except it is significantly less interesting. This time we have a yakuza boss girl posing as a teacher in a school full of problematic students. She tries to hide her yakuza origin, because that will get her fired....

Basically, same premise or similar premise as Onizuka, except poorly executed and with weaker characters. Story uses many very predictable events, characters act in stereotypical and predictable moment, and antagonists are resembling cartoon villains. Also... that annoying dog. Sigh.

Detailed breakdown below.

Story: 3/10. It is weak and not very interesting. The premise is ... interesting and has better potential than onizuka's it is just you can see where it is going from ten miles away and can have a good idea of what is gonna happen in the next episode. Another problem is ... it doesn't really get anywhere, story-wise. Important elements that were present in Onizuka are missing from this one. Becasue of this the story ultimately fails to deliver.

Art: 5/10
It is actually okay. Most of the characters are not exactly attractive, and are very uncute. However, in a few episodes there are few cute characters in backgroudn, that have very small amoutn of screen time - think seconds, not minutes. Nevertheless, the art does its job, is consistent, and gets the point across. Even though amount of details is low, and shading could be better.

Sound: 5/10:
Also okay. Norio Wakamoto (who usually voices tough guys) voiced one of the supporting roles. It is okay. Just that.

Character: 3/10:
They're completely stereotypical, completely predictable, and none of them have any proper character development. There are some attempts to have some character development, but they ultimately fall flat. After watching the series, there was very little I could say about character's personality. Basically, everyboyd is predictable, and hard to take seriously.Also, I hate the dog in the anime.

ENjoyment: 4/10 :
Didn't enjoy it that much, and thought it would be better. Predictability of the events doesn't help, and neither does relatively weak character portrayal. Basically, they grabbed an amazing idea nad ultimately failed ot deliver.

Overall: 4/10:

This is an anime you can safely skip. There were no amazing moments that would make it worth watching, and the story was not very believable, plus had an occasion deus ex machinas and "trouble out of nowhere". Art didn't stand out either. A lot of time I felt irritation because I could see what is gonna happen next, because characters were acting according to another cliche, or because the story was developing in very predictable way.

So.... not really recommended. You could give it a try, but if you skipped it, I doubt it would be a great loss.

Reviewer’s Rating: 4

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