Gokusen

Kumiko Yamaguchi is smart, enthusiastic, and ready to start her dream job as a math teacher at Shirokin Academy. But as her first day opens on atrocious students and cowering teachers, Kumiko realizes that the all-boys high school is a cesspool of delinquents with no intention of improving themselves.

However, what her rowdy students don't know is that behind her dorky facade, Kumiko is the acting head of a powerful yakuza clan, and she has the skills to prove it! Capable of overpowering even the strongest of gangsters in seconds, Kumiko must keep her incredible strength and criminal influence a secret in order to keep her job. Unfortunately, with the vice principal constantly trying to get her fired and Shin Sawada, the leader of her class of delinquents, suspecting she's stronger than she lets on, Kumiko has a difficult teaching career ahead of her.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Yamaguchi, Kumiko Main

Hayamizu, Risa Japanese

Sawada, Shin Main

Suzumura, Kenichi Japanese

Ooshima, Kyotarou Supporting

Wakamoto, Norio Japanese

Fuji Supporting

Katou, Seizou Japanese

Uchiyama, Haruhiko Supporting

Masukawa, Yoichi Japanese

Noda, Takeshi Supporting

Yamagishi, Isao Japanese

Kumai, Teruo Supporting

Sugino, Tanuki Japanese

Minami, Youichi Supporting

Nakakuni, Takurou Japanese

Tsuruta, Ichirou Supporting

Saizen, Tadahisa Japanese

Asakura, Tetsu Supporting

Hirai, Keiji Japanese

Maruyama, Masao Producer

Tamura, Manabu Producer

Yamashita, Hiroshi Producer

Murata, Yoshimichi Producer

Reviews

Sep 13, 2025

OTOZOMO

Recommended

I wish there were more episodes of Gokusen I mean it was perfect, Gokusen should get a manga adaptation fully as Drama series left and skipped many important arcs and storylines which was sad. Frankly speaking, Gokusen anime should continue and completed and for this I even started a petition for this https://chng.it/22DtxJf9Wt, please share this and sign the petition and lets restore and finally end the journey of Class 3-D.

I loved the Anime and IDK why nowdays animes are not made lighthearted or comedy with a pinch of pun, animes of 2020s are full of voilence and blood as well as Hentai while ... anime duirng 1980s-2000s were atleast funny and especially in Gokusen I loved Kyoutarou the young chief of Kuroda Family who gets emotional always and tries to sacrifice himself and lots of drama in Oedo home

Reviewer’s Rating: 9

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Jan 4, 2025

Puri20thboy

Mixed Feelings

This anime centers on Kumiko Yamaguchi, the granddaughter of one of the most important yakuza bosses of the Oedo family. Despite her background, Kumiko decides to pursue her dream of becoming a teacher. She ends up assigned to a school where the students are delinquents who show no respect or interest in her at first.


The anime is primarily a comedy, and this is its strongest aspect. While the humor might not resonate with everyone (it didn’t really appeal to me either), it manages to bring lighthearted moments to the series.

Kumiko herself is a likable protagonist. She’s charismatic, cares deeply about her students, and always believes ... in them even when society judges them harshly. Her unwavering trust in her class is one of the show’s more heartwarming qualities.


One of the anime’s major drawbacks is its dated production. Being made in 2004, the animation quality feels lackluster, especially compared to other works from the same era that achieved much better visuals. This is particularly noticeable during fight scenes, which feel stiff and unimpactful.

Speaking of fights, they are another weak point of the series. They are repetitive, brief, and often follow the same formula: Kumiko arrives just in time to either stop the fight or single-handedly overpower everyone. This lack of variety makes them monotonous and predictable.

Kumiko, while a good character, lacks depth and development. Throughout the series, she remains largely the same, with no notable changes in her personality or worldview. Additionally, the anime doesn’t explore her character deeply enough, which makes her feel flat over time.

The drama in the series also falls short. Emotional scenes often lack weight due to exaggerated reactions or an over-reliance on comedy, which can undermine the more serious moments. The balance between drama and humor feels off, with jokes frequently interrupting scenes that could have had more emotional impact.


Despite its flaws, Gokusen isn’t a bad show. Its comedy can be enjoyable if it aligns with your sense of humor, and the characters, while not exceptional, aren’t terrible either. However, the repetitive storytelling, shallow character development, and lackluster animation prevent it from being a standout anime.

It’s worth a watch if you’re in the mood for something lighthearted, but don’t expect anything groundbreaking.

Reviewer’s Rating: 5

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Jan 2, 2018

GrayRealm

Not Recommended

Alright. Long story short it is a different take on idea from Great Teacher Onizuka, except it is significantly less interesting. This time we have a yakuza boss girl posing as a teacher in a school full of problematic students. She tries to hide her yakuza origin, because that will get her fired....

Basically, same premise or similar premise as Onizuka, except poorly executed and with weaker characters. Story uses many very predictable events, characters act in stereotypical and predictable moment, and antagonists are resembling cartoon villains. Also... that annoying dog. Sigh.

Detailed breakdown below.

Story: 3/10. It is weak and not very interesting. The premise is ... interesting and has better potential than onizuka's it is just you can see where it is going from ten miles away and can have a good idea of what is gonna happen in the next episode. Another problem is ... it doesn't really get anywhere, story-wise. Important elements that were present in Onizuka are missing from this one. Becasue of this the story ultimately fails to deliver.

Art: 5/10
It is actually okay. Most of the characters are not exactly attractive, and are very uncute. However, in a few episodes there are few cute characters in backgroudn, that have very small amoutn of screen time - think seconds, not minutes. Nevertheless, the art does its job, is consistent, and gets the point across. Even though amount of details is low, and shading could be better.

Sound: 5/10:
Also okay. Norio Wakamoto (who usually voices tough guys) voiced one of the supporting roles. It is okay. Just that.

Character: 3/10:
They're completely stereotypical, completely predictable, and none of them have any proper character development. There are some attempts to have some character development, but they ultimately fall flat. After watching the series, there was very little I could say about character's personality. Basically, everyboyd is predictable, and hard to take seriously.Also, I hate the dog in the anime.

ENjoyment: 4/10 :
Didn't enjoy it that much, and thought it would be better. Predictability of the events doesn't help, and neither does relatively weak character portrayal. Basically, they grabbed an amazing idea nad ultimately failed ot deliver.

Overall: 4/10:

This is an anime you can safely skip. There were no amazing moments that would make it worth watching, and the story was not very believable, plus had an occasion deus ex machinas and "trouble out of nowhere". Art didn't stand out either. A lot of time I felt irritation because I could see what is gonna happen next, because characters were acting according to another cliche, or because the story was developing in very predictable way.

So.... not really recommended. You could give it a try, but if you skipped it, I doubt it would be a great loss.

Reviewer’s Rating: 4

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