Gokusen (2002)

Gokusen is one of my favorite manga. I mean, literally. It is right up there, in the top 5. I have re-read it several times, especially the last volume. It is funny, romantic, silly, entertaining... When I finished it, I was glad that I had at least the anime and the dorama.

If the manga is a 10/10, the anime is 7/10. If the anime was not good enough, the dorama is even less.

What is good:

The actors. Nakama Yukie looks exactly as Yankumi, and when she needs to appear sweet, she does, but when she has to fight, she looks like a bad-ass. The actors have a lot of chemistry: among the students, between Yankumi and her students, between Yankumi and Shin... The best moments of the dorama were all the scenes where the guys were together. And some of them look so young! Oguri Shun, Matsumoto Jun.. even an unknown Matsuyama Kenichi (who barely opens his mouth).

What was bad:

It is like the scripwriter took only the characters from the manga and nothing else. Everything was different. It seems like a crime to change such a wonderful manga. What was changed:

- Fujiyama-sensei: she lacks personality in the dorama; she is a beauty and nothing else. And she is not even a friend to Yankumi; her closer friend is an invented nurse.
- Shinohara-sensei: in the dorama, he is a detective who is not even close to Yankumi. He is always right in the middle of every fight, festival, party, etc. It was like he was working for the school or something.
- The Ooedo clan: they were a merely comic background. And the Kumicho was just a therapist for Yankumi, always there to listen to his Granddaughter issues and to have sympathy for her problems. Kyo-san is non existent, and Tetsu is "in love" with Yankumi (WTH!).
- Yankumi wants to be a teacher and nothing else. She does not want to be the Kumicho and her Grandpa supports her decision (as if Yankumi would refuse her role!).
-Every student's story: Kuma and his dad; Uchi and his mom; Shin and "his sister"... everything was made up. Honestly, I did not care about Kuma and Uchi, but that special episode, where Shin tells Yankumi that he wouldn't go to college and instead, was going to South Africa! That was such a big crime I almost burst in tears. Since when Shin cares to be a missionary?! Shin, who only wanted to study law to be the lawyer of the Ooedo clan and be beside Yankumi forever.
- The fact that she was a Yakuza is barely important. It is only relevant for her language, nothing else.
- Yankumi: this is not the actress' fault, it was the script. She acted silly most of the times. People who have read the manga know she is somewhat childish and silly, but not all the times. She was also a bad-ass, temperamental. And dorama-Yankumi likes to give looong speeches, which were kind of MEH.

Although I have to admit I almost squeal like the Shinkumi fan I am when Shin reveals he is also a rival in the love for Yankumi =D

Ending song: "Feel the breeze" by V6. Catchy song that fits the dorama perfectly.

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De Volta aos Anos 2000

Gokusen foi uma das gratas surpresas recentes que tive. Um drama descomplicado, leve e engraçado. Me senti de volta aos anos 2000 onde as coisas eram mais simples e nada pretensiosas.

O drama não é uma mega produção nem nada do tipo mas tudo funciona, o elenco todo trabalhou bem junto, a história é boba, mas envolvente.

A protagonista é sem noção mas é isto que a torna engraçada. Cada episódio se resolve de forma interessante e simples, nada rebuscado ou complicado bem cara de mangá mesmo. Foi ótimo acompanhar esta heroína doida e divertida!

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I love Gokusen. It was my first contact with the asian world. Before I watched this for the first time I didn't care about the asian world. This drama changed my life and is basically the reason why I'm studying translation right now. Although Gokusen 1 is my favourite of all of them I still have 1 thing I don't like about it. This might be a little spoiler though so if you don't want to know stop reading now...
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...Still here? Ok but don't say I didn't warn you...


The thing is Sawada leaves Japan never to be seen again but during the whole Gokusen 1 it is OBVIOUS that Sawada and Yankumi are in love! So why the hell did he NEVER return? If you read the manga or watched the anime you'll know that they are supposed to get together... So why?? I wish the one who had this stupid idea to never let Sawada return could explain me the reason for it... It has been so many years since I watched this the first time and I still don't get it... Poor Yankumi stays single forever... All of her students come back to meet her one more time... except for Sawada... Why? Because an idiot made him say that he wants to be some kind of profession where you have to leave your home country... The story would have been absolutely doable without making the character leave Japan and not date Yankumi like in the make and anime... And the grandfather? And his buisness? All gone! If Sawada would return he would have taken that business over!

Leaving that aside the actors did a great job and the music was nice too! Thanks for changing my life!

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you will remember this drama

a young and naive woman begins her career as a math teacher in a high school. she is entrusted with the most difficult class. It might be worrisome, but this young woman has a card in her sleeve: she is the granddaughter of a yakuza leader. Throughout the series, she will go through several tests and gain the respect and affection of her students.
The show looks a bit like "great teacher onizuka" but at the same time it has its own stamp. If I have to give an appreciation, I would say that it makes the other school series difficult to enjoy because it sets the bar high!

this drama is the first I watched. it was in the late 2000's, I didn't know anything about this wonderful world of Asian's dramas, and I was just searching for a new series to watch. I came across this drama by accident and decided to give it a try... and now I have more than 100 days of dramas watched thanks to this one! know this: it will let an unforgettable taste in your memory!

you can enjoy this drama any time, and with any one. it's really entertaining, joyful and gives hope in humanity. if you are searching for your next drama to watch, stop right here, you have found it!

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I just finished re-watching it since I watched it in my high school around 8 years ago.Why am I telling this?

I enjoyed it in my first time because the theme was fresh to me! I understand that there are many dramas with the school/youth theme, trying to deal with common high-school issues like rebellion, family pressure and so on. But at that time, it was the first, I would say, with this kind of theme. So I fell in love with this genre.

Now, my second time, I've watched a lot of dramas with similar themes (recently, School 2013). But, nevertheless, I think Gokusen is the best in School/Youth dramas of all times.
All these said, the story was realistic and focused (only on the development of relationships between Yankumi and her 3-D students)

I may be biased when the acting/cast is amazing because I am Matsujun-biased. I became his fan with this drama and Sawada Shin is still my favorite character of Matsujun.

Music, I neither like it nor dislike it.

Well, like I said before, I watched it twice; I enjoyed it. It might not be as fresh as before, but I enjoyed watching the interactions between the casts again. It will never bore me, I guess.


Overall, I think it is a great drama that's worth to watch if you like School/Youth drama, even the second/third time (I might probably watch it again in the future). You might also want to give it a try if you are Matsujun's fan.

P.S. You can read the manga if you think it wasn't enough after finishing the drama!

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Ahh que J-drama maravilhoso

Tinha muito tempo que não me divertia tanto assistindo um drama dessa temática escolar. Gokusen chegou como quem não quer nada e acabou se tornando um dos J-dramas que mais gostei de assistir.

Não tenho o costume de assistir dramas antigos, e confesso que quando vi 2002 no ano de exibição desse drama fiquei com um certo pé atrás. No entanto, tudo isso embora quando embarquei nessa jornada.

O que aconteceria se a herdeira da quarta geração do Grupo Ooedo, um notório clã yakuza, resolvesse se tornar uma professora de ensino médio?

Yamaguchi Kumiko é uma professora nada convencional, que acaba de ser contratada pela escola Shirokin Gakuen para ensinar matemática aos problemáticos estudantes do 3D. Acostumados a espantar qualquer professor com seu péssimo comportamento, esses estudantes sequer sonharam que encontrariam uma adversária à altura desse embate.

Ao longo dos episódios temos a oportunidade de conhecer a história de vida de cada um desses estudantes enquanto aprendem a respeitar e admirar essa excêntrica professora que não mede esforços para ensiná-los importantes lições de vida.

Em meio a tantos dramas que se perdem no caminho Gokusen está ai para nos mostrar que não precisa de muito para entregar uma história engraçada, interessante, repleta de personagens cativantes e boas lições de vida. Vale muito a pena assistir esse J-drama.

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Unexpectedly love it so much!

I've never watched any other genre apart from rom-com/romance, and this was such a thrilling surprise to me, the fact that I actually enjoyed the entire series so much!

This is a really really old series, so you can't expect much from the quality, it's slightly blurry and not very visually appealing, but the acting, the storyline and the overall warm fuzzy feeling just knocks this series right out the park!

I love the chemistry between Yankumi and the entire 3D class, the students all of their own stories, and the teachers have theirs too! Yankumi is a really great teacher, and it was lovely to see her being the only teacher who cares to actually teach the 'bad students' of 3D. The love interest of Sawada Shin was obviously there, but there was 0 romance since he was still underage. But i do know they're a thing in the original manga.

Yankumi can sometimes be seen as being very extra and over-the-top, but only someone like her, completely thick-skinned and shameless and even naive sometimes, can pull off being such a great teacher to the 3D students.

Overall, I have loved this series so much! I'm considering whether to watch s2 and s3, since I've seen that their plots are quite similar and perhaps repetitive, but I'm convinced that I should at least give them a go. So see you guys there!

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