Gokusen

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Alternative Titles

Synonyms: Gangster Teacher

Japanese: ごくせん

Information

Type: Manga

Volumes: 15

Chapters: 156

Status: Finished

Published: Dec 15, 1999 to Feb 15, 2007

Genres: Action, Comedy, Romance, Slice of Life

Themes: Delinquents, Organized Crime, School, Workplace

Demographic: Josei

Serialization: YOU

Authors: Morimoto, Kozueko (Story & Art)

Statistics

Score: 8.06¹ (scored by 7,243 users)

¹ indicates a weighted score.

Ranked: #645²

² based on the top manga page. Please note that 'R18+' titles are excluded.

Popularity: #1073

Members: 17,880

Favorites: 446

Resources

Wikipedia

8.06

Ranked #645Popularity #1073Members 17,880

MangaYOUMorimoto, Kozueko (Story & Art)

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Volumes: /15

Chapters: /156

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Synopsis

Fresh out of college, Kumiko "Yankumi" Yamaguchi becomes a math teacher at an all-boys high school. Unfortunately for her, she's assigned by the school board as the homeroom teacher for class 3-D, which happens to be the class of delinquent students. When the class attempts to make a living hell out of Yankumi's career, they fail as her persistence and aggression gain her respect. However, little does anyone in the school know that Yankumi is actually heir to the Kuroda Ikka—one of Tokyo's most powerful yakuza clans.

(Source: ANN)

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Background

Gokusen was adapted into three-season live-action TV drama by Nippon Television that aired in 2002, 2005 and 2008. A live-action movie that followed the drama's storyline was released in 2009.

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Characters

Yamaguchi, Kumiko

Main

Sawada, Shin

Main

Ooshima, Kyotarou

Supporting

Fuji

Supporting

Uchiyama, Haruhiko

Supporting

Noda, Takeshi

Supporting

Kumai, Teruo

Supporting

Asakura, Tetsu

Supporting

Tatsukawa, Minoru

Supporting

Minami, Youichi

Supporting

Reviews

Dec 3, 2023

LuxuriousHeart

Recommended

I actually remember watching the anime with my older sister, and then reading the manga. I never even realized it was a Josei anime tbh.

It was a cute anime with an funny plot. Gokusan is basically about a Yakuza woman becoming a teacher. She's there to help her students pass and be successful. The twist to this is that she doesn't want her students to know that she's a Yakuza, which leads to hilarious moments.

As a character, Yamaguchi Kumiko (Yankumi) is very stubborn and stuck in her ways. She has values that she will not bend with. She believes ...

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Jul 20, 2024

typewritermonkey

Recommended

Gokusen is a feminist riff on GTO. Daughter of a powerful yakuza gang become teacher to a (all-male) class of bad apples. The protagonist isn't pervy and there's two male romantic interests, but the formula is much the same: a random hoodlum decides to mess with our demure looking sensei or her beloved students, and she opens a can of whoop-ass to save the day. With a cast of yakuza and yakuza-tolerant characters, there's plenty of idiosyncrasies to go around for running gags.

Gokusen takes its time, meandering, so don't expect to binge thru the 150 chapters. The story and drama are light, each "lesson" ...

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Nov 3, 2021

uptoolate

Recommended

It's tough for me to describe just how much I love this manga. I have read it at least four or five times at this point, over and over again over the course of the past 6 or 7 years. I don't write this review strictly to recommend this manga, more to try and articulate why I like it. By all means, go read it, but just so you know, I'm writing this review sort of just for me (sorry?).

This manga single handedly made me watch the entire existing video canon of this IP. I have seen all three seasons of the J-drama (twice), the ... movie, and the anime. If you enjoy this manga, I do recommend you seek out its other iterations. It's pretty much all fantastic stuff, though imo the manga is the best out of the lot.

The main facets of this manga that I think about when I try to boil it down are truly the characters and the comedy. The manga can be serious, but leans towards gut-wrenchingly funny. It's even more difficult to describe humor than it is to describe why someone likes something, so I will simply say I find it hilarious, even on reread, even when I remember what the punchline will be. The sense of humor also ranges wildly, from straight up physical humor and blue humor, to more clever or stinger/gotcha based humor. One moment characters are farting and laughing about it, the next someone comes up with a quippy double-entendre that actually takes a minute to unravel itself, the next someone does a classic pratfall. It's beautiful.

Yankumi, the main character, is my favorite character in the entire work - which in my opinion shows that the writer did their job, because frequently I can't stand the main characters of manga (even when I'm clearly supposed to like them). Her antics are hilarious, the situations she gets herself into are increasingly ridiculous, she is strong physically, emotionally, and morally, and she can be a little bit thick/prudish/innocent at times. It's such a refreshing characterization of a main female character to find in manga. She is complex, her history and upbringing affect her in clearly understandable ways, and I would even call her a role model, by the end of the manga for sure.

I also love that every single character, at least the main ones, have clearly defined character arcs as well as clearly defined backstories - the world building is seriously well done in terms of character continuity. There are several flashbacks in the story to Yankumi in high school and to her students as middle schoolers, and you can see the lessons they learned then and the actions they took, and how that shapes who they currently are in the story.

I'm not an art critic, nor am I widely read enough in manga to talk about art even semi-confidently, but I will say I like the style. It is sort of dated, at least compared to more contemporary styles I've seen kicking around, but it's so stylistic that for the most part you don't really notice. I admire the strong choice behind the art style, especially as I think it is equally able to service the comedic moments as well as sober up for the more serious or heartwarming scenes. Also, the faces Yankumi makes are some of the best non-verbal jokes I've seen in a manga.

In reality, it's just a really good manga, with solid storytelling that makes sense, likable characters, ridiculous scenarios, hilarious content, and an interesting style. I think the reason I like it can be more easily explained by simply asking: what's not to like?

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