![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Gokusen, the manga, is about a young woman named Yamaguchi Kumiko (that's her in my icon) who wants to be a teacher... she just also happens to be the granddaughter of a yakuza boss and the heir to the family. She takes a job at a tough, all boys school and goes through the usual teacher of deliquent class rigoramale, only she's not all that good at that since she tends to encourage their fights and the students ignore her most of the time *L* But, she does improve their overall lives and they like her in their own way, so that's something. She tends to mess up and use yakuza words a lot, and she'll forget where she is and switch to her tough, yakuza persona or simply beat someone up when she shouldn't. Meanwhile, she's often handling other yakuza problems at home or having to do with her students, all the while narrowly avoiding revealing her identity (mostly). The only person in her class who knows who she is is Sawada Shin (pic here) who's the smartest kid in school for all he tends to skip class or sleep through it. He's got an attitude problem but all the other guys think he's cool and follow him. He uses his powers of observation to figure out who she is, and after that, tends to get involved in yakuza business, especially in protecting his erstwhile teacher and being called upon to think of plans to get Kumiko and his classmates out of their stupidity. He's got a big crush on her which is a pity since she's got a big crush on the group's lawyer, and yet I wholeheartedly support them dating once Shin graduates...
Why should you read this manga? It's really funny. I was laughing out loud several times. The mangaka has a good sense of comic timing. The story reminds me of a cross between GTO and My Boss My Hero. It goes places I rarely see manga go... in fact, the whole manga is a bit of a role reversal in terms of gender roles - Kumiko gets most of the guy parts and Shin gets most of the girl's. So it's Shin who's always getting beaten up (I'm left wondering if the mangka thinks he's pretty when he's suffering... (he is *slinks off*)) and being told to stay behind when there's a fight. He even gets hit on and stalked by a male teacher. Kumiko is always the one getting in trouble and fighting, and it's Shin who's the voice of reason a lot of the time. They have a great relationship, though it's not hard to see why Shin's got a crush cause she treats him more like a friend and confidant than a student. She comes to him for conversation and advice when he's hanging on on the school roof and she has enough confidence in his brains to expect him to score highest on the national exams. Her gumi calls him 'the young red lion' and have partially adopted him *L*
The fighting is surprisingly realistic for most of the manga, and the only flights into fantasy are the (frankly weird) chapters with Shin and Keiji, Kumiko's dog who thinks he can talk.
Some of the plot can be quite similar to GTO, but the fun is in watching how Kumiko and co. deal with it in their own way. It's not as gritty as GTO, but it is fun. Also, how can you beat such a strong, female protagonist?
The drama looks like it tones down her character and makes her more feminine, which is a pity. Meanwhile, the anime has been a pretty faithful adaptation so far.
So, go read and watch it! You can find the manga free to read online if you look around, and the drama as well.
Why should you read this manga? It's really funny. I was laughing out loud several times. The mangaka has a good sense of comic timing. The story reminds me of a cross between GTO and My Boss My Hero. It goes places I rarely see manga go... in fact, the whole manga is a bit of a role reversal in terms of gender roles - Kumiko gets most of the guy parts and Shin gets most of the girl's. So it's Shin who's always getting beaten up (I'm left wondering if the mangka thinks he's pretty when he's suffering... (he is *slinks off*)) and being told to stay behind when there's a fight. He even gets hit on and stalked by a male teacher. Kumiko is always the one getting in trouble and fighting, and it's Shin who's the voice of reason a lot of the time. They have a great relationship, though it's not hard to see why Shin's got a crush cause she treats him more like a friend and confidant than a student. She comes to him for conversation and advice when he's hanging on on the school roof and she has enough confidence in his brains to expect him to score highest on the national exams. Her gumi calls him 'the young red lion' and have partially adopted him *L*
The fighting is surprisingly realistic for most of the manga, and the only flights into fantasy are the (frankly weird) chapters with Shin and Keiji, Kumiko's dog who thinks he can talk.
Some of the plot can be quite similar to GTO, but the fun is in watching how Kumiko and co. deal with it in their own way. It's not as gritty as GTO, but it is fun. Also, how can you beat such a strong, female protagonist?
The drama looks like it tones down her character and makes her more feminine, which is a pity. Meanwhile, the anime has been a pretty faithful adaptation so far.
So, go read and watch it! You can find the manga free to read online if you look around, and the drama as well.
Tags:
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
From:
no subject
From:
no subject
I'm in the middle of watching the anime (in between dissertation stuff) and it's been quite fun though I'm so far ahead in the manga, I'd almost forgotten what Shin was like at the beginning *L* (I can't be the only one wondering how he managed to dye his hair such a deep red colour too...)