Gokusen

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is a Japanese manga, drama, and anime. The plot involves Yamaguchi Kumiko, the granddaughter of a Yakuza boss. Her parents died when she was younger, and her grandfather has no other descendants, so Kumiko is next in line to head the family business. However, her lifelong dream has been to become a teacher. While her grandfather approves of her choice, others in the family want her to become the next boss, especially Tetsu, who is secretly in love with her.

Kumiko (known by her students as "Yankumi") becomes a teacher at an all-boys private high school. Her class is full of delinquents, but she tries her hardest to teach them not just about academics, but about lessons of life, much like any "dedicated teacher" story. Though she's forced to keep her family a secret from the public, her Yakuza upbringing gives her the strength and the experience to reach out to her students, while also providing comedic relief.

Contents

1 Manga
2 Drama

2.1 Season 1 Cast
2.2 Season 2 Cast
2.3 Special Episode Cast

3 Anime

3.1 Characters
3.2 Cast(Japan)
3.3 Cast(US)
3.4 Episodes

4 Trivia
5 External links

Manga

The manga is written by Kozueko Morimoto and is serialized in You. It currently consists of 13 tankōbon that are released under the You Comics label.

Drama

The drama aired on Nippon TV from April 1 2002 to July 3 2002. The series consisted of 12 episodes. Nippon TV began airing a second season on January 15 2005, with several returning cast members (including Yukie Nakama). It lasted 10 episodes. There is also a special episode titled Gokusen Special: Sayonara 3-nen D-gumi (Goodbye Class 3-D), it's a sequel to the first season and the prequel to the second season.

Season 1 Cast

Jun Matsumoto as Shin Sawada
Yukie Nakama as Kumiko "Yankumi" Yamaguchi
Hiroki Narimiya as Noda
Katsuhisa Namase as Goro Sawatari (Shirokin Gakuen Vice Principal)
Kazuki Sawamura as Shinohara
Ken Utsui as Ryuichiro Kuroda
Misaki Ito as Shizuka Fujiyama
Ryosei Tayama as Shirokin Gakuen Principal
Shun Oguri as Haruhiko "Uchi" Uchiyama
Tomohiro Waki as Teruo "Kuma" Kumai
Yuuma Ishigaku as Minami
Kento Handa as Jinguji Student
Masayuki Izumi as Masayuki Ouchi
Ryoji Morimoto as Akira Osamu
Yuko Nakazawa as Kikuno Kawashima
Eiji Wentz as Masato Yuuki (guest star: episode 6)

Season 2 Cast

Jin Akanishi as Hayato Yabuki
Kazuya Kamenashi as Ryu Odagiri
Keisuke Koide as Kosuke Hyuuga
Mocomichi Hayami as Hikaru Tsuchiya
Teppei Koike as Keita Takeda
Yukie Nakama as Kumiko "Yankumi" Yamaguchi
Katsuhisa Namase as Goro Sawatari (Kurogin Gakuen Vice Principal)
Ken Kaneko as Tetsu Asakura
Ken Utsui as Ryuuichiro Kuroda
Otoha as Hitomi Hakucho
Shinji Uchiyama as Minoru Tatsukawa
Tomohiro Waki as Teruo "Kuma" Kumai
Fuyuki Moto as Takashi Kameyama
Jun Inoue as Ginji Kurokawa
Kenji Anan as Kozo Wakamatsu
Magii as Shinji Inomata
Mikihisa Azuma as Seiga Baba
Shosuke Tanihara as Takuma Kyuujou
Toshiya Saki as Taichi Inuzaka
Yukiko Ikeda as Sayuri Wanibuchi

Special Episode Cast

Jun Matsumoto as Shin Sawada
Yukie Nakama as Kumiko "Yankumi" Yamaguchi
Ryoji Morimoto as Akira Osamu

Anime

The anime series aired in Japan in 2004. It lasted 13 episodes. It has been licensed by Media Blasters for North American distribution.

Characters

Kumiko "Yankumi" Yamaguchi -

Shirokin High School:
*Shin Sawada -
*Youichi Minami -
*Haruhiko "Uchi" Uchiyama -
*Teruo "Kuma" Kumai -
*Take Noda -
*Shizuka Fujiyama -
*Vice-principal -
*Principal -

Ooedo Clan:
*Grandfather -
*Kyotaro Oshima -
*Minoru -
*Tetsu Asakura -
*Fuji -

Others:
*Shinohara -
*Kudoh -
*Tsuruta -

Cast(Japan)

Kenichi Suzumura as Shin Sawada
Risa Hayamizu as Kumiko "Yankumi" Yamaguchi
Hiroaki Yoshida as Minoru
Hiromi Sugino as Teruo "Kuma" Kumai
Isao Yamagishi as Take Noda
Katsuyuki Konishi as Shinohara
Keiji Hirai as Tetsu Asakura
Norio Wakamoto as Kyotaro Oshima
Seizo Katou as Fuji
Takurou Nakakuni as Youichi Minami
Yoichi Masukawa as Haruhiko "Uchi" Uchiyama
Ken Uosaki as Vice-principal
Rica Matsumoto as Shizuka Fujiyama
Tomohiro Nishimura as Principal

Cast(US)

Kevin T. Collins as Shin Sawada
Caroline Lawson as Kumiko "Yankumi" Yamaguchi
Sean Schemmel as Minoru, Kohei Iwamoto
Ed Paul as Teruo "Kuma" Kumai
Matt Kaplan as Take Noda
Addie Blaustein as Tetsu Asakura
Peter Ganim as Kyotaro Oshima
John Avner as Fuji
Sebastian Arcelus as Youichi Minami
Jamie McGonniga as Haruhiko "Uchi" Uchiyama
Marc Diraison as Vice-principal
Jimmy Zoppi as Principal
Dan Green as Ryuichiro Kuroda
Ed Napier as Eguchi
Mike Pollock as Kouzou Wakamatsu
Suzanne Gilad as Shizuka Fujiyama

Episodes

Arrival of the Rookie Teacher with a Secret!!
Duel!! Shin vs Ojou?
Kuma's First Experience?
Ojou with Blond Hair! Who's the Real Criminal?
Ooedo Group in Danger!
Kyo-san's Great Act?
What is Mingenhiinaa!?
A School Field Trip with Angry Wares!!
School Battle Breaks Out Without the Moral Code!
The Targeted School!
Shin-san is Quitting School!?
Shirokin Gakuen Is Closing...!?
Yankumi's Final Duty!

Trivia

Gokusen is an abrevation of Gokudo no Sensei which means Gangster Teacher.
Much of the cast (specifically the "students") later on appeared in various tokusatsu shows. Many of them becoming Kamen Riders.
Teruo Kumai is nicknamed "Kuma" (Bear) not only because it's a derivative of his last name, but also because he tends to look, act and eat like a bear.
Kumiko Yamaguchi's name evokes her family business. "Kumiko" (久美子) is partially homophone to "Kumi" (組=group), the usual suffix for crime syndicates (and class groups). The Yamaguchi-gumi (based in Kobe) is the largest and most notorious criminal organization in Japan. Her nickname "Yankumi" is the abbreviated of her full name- "Ya" in Yamaguchi and "Kumi" from Kumiko. Her nickname also evokes the word "Yankee," a word used to refer to delinquent youngsters of the bike gang type, especially women (like Uotani in Fruits Basket).
KSCI LA-18 in Los Angeles, CA, broadcast the first season drama untranslated. Season 2 had English subtitles.
Gokusen has been compared to Great Teacher Onizuka since both started out as a manga, then were adapted into a drama and finally an anime.

External links

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