More of an anime for the minority group of people, it isn't a fanboy anime (love hina, Onegai Sensei; not saying
they're bad or anything) or a cutesy shoujo either (CCS, DNAngel). Most likely the reason it isn't popular is
because it's a very plot/humor-driven manga.
Simply put, this anime is about Yamaguchi Kumiko, a new math teacher at Shirokin Gakuen, a delinquent school. Oh wait,
did I mention that her grandfather is the head of a yakuza group? Another main character would be Sawada Shin, a
handsome intelligent student in her class. Things are pretty hilarious as Yankumi (Yamaguchi's nickname) tries to
handle her reckless students while trying to keep her yakuza background a secret in order to keep her job. Unlike its
live action, the story isn't as tacky and predictable, but it has its hilariously funny moments.
People of some importance-
Kuroda Ryuichirou- The head of a yakuza group and Yankumi's grandfather.
Kumai Teruo-Shin's best friend. Part of Yankumi's class.
Shinohara-The family lawyer and Yankumi's crush. Much amusement in the scenes with him in it.
Tetsu & Minoru- young members of the yakuza group. They're like Yankumi's little brothers.
Fujiyama- The only other girl teacher at their school, who teaches music. Amusement in this too.
There's no real antagonist for the whole anime, because it's really like a bunch of short stories about the same people, until near the end where it gets a little weird. Overall, the story isn't bad.
Rating:
No, you did not read the art rating incorrectly. Suprising for an anime that comes from a manga, its art is pretty
horrible. Although one gets used to the lack of skill, it still causes this anime to become unpopular. For most people,
one look at the characters and you wouldn't bother to watch it. It's that ugly.
At least you can tell the characters apart. Backgrounds get the job done. Nothing particular about them either.
Considering the original manga was as ugly as the anime, you can applaud them for sticking to the manga. However, I
would recommend the live-action of Gokusen if you sincerely can't stand ugly art, because although the live action
is a lot more tacky and shoujo-ish, it won't make you wonder how it got published in the first place.
Rating:
The voices sort of fit most of the characters, if not all, but none really stood out in my opinion. There weren't
any outstanding seiyuus for the japanese version, most of them seeming to be what they are. Bored high school students
that are beating people up. What I thought interesting was Yankumi's sound effects when her yakuza side showed up a
little more.
Musically, the songs weren't badly chosen, if not suprisingly different. Not much to say about them. The beginning
spooked me though.
Overall, it was a mediocre job.
Rating:
The yakuza teacher idea is very original in the way they present it. There have been many 'odd' teachers, (GTO, Onegai Sensei, etc.) this one doesn't hope to attract people through being ecchi or anything. It's pretty much just extremely simple yet amusing humor. Most likely it was enjoyable to me because of the stupid things pretty much everyone does throughout the story. And how stupid the characters are. A truly humor driven anime. It's something nice to watch while surfing the web as you wait for everything to load, since you can pretty much tell when a hilarious moment comes up. The anime is not all fun and giggles though. There are some serious portions to the anime, concerning suicide and beatings. It's not a life-lesson anime, but it doesn't hope to be a gag manga, where there's absolutely nothing going on but stupid humor. What's strange is the akward love triangle that comes up near the end. It confused me as to why it had to come up. I felt it was pretty unnecessary to have it, although it makes the ending sweet (yet extremely tacky).
Rating:
6.3333 (average)
Reviewed by Amrai, Oct 27, 2004
*sigh* Instead of coming up with a new idea, the author made a GTO clone. A mediocre one at that.
I've read the manga and watched the anime in a forced manner and all I can say is that this would be just another manga/anime created by GTO fans who can't come up with a new idea.
For shame.
Oh yeah. I agree with your rating, Amrai.
I never saw the anime..
I never read the manga, however...
I have watched the drama series, and to me it's the greatest thing ^o^''
gokusen = <3~ the drama series but that's just me.
You hit the nail on the head. A decent way to spend an afternoon, but nothing too impressionable. Definitely an aquired taste.
I've just finished watching the Live, it went straight into my heart, I love it.
Yeah..
its so much good.. !
You should all pick it too.. XD
I love Gokusen it rocks, when I first seen it I thought it would of stink but it proved me wrong <3
It's interesting.
page 1 of 1 7 total items
Only members can post replies, please register.