g o k u s e n . 3

Ah yes the third season of Gokusen. Back in the day when I first started watching dramas I watched the first season of Gokusen. I am not sure I ever finished it now that I think of it. Around that time I was probably more interested in watching Korean dramas than Japanese ones. Still am. Well anyway, my first impression of the show...ah yes. I knew there was a manga and anime version. Not that my knowledge of that is pertinent. Well around that time I probably watched it because of Matsumoto Jun, being that the first Japanese drama I ever watched starred him. I grew fond of Oguri Shun while watching that. I am glad he is playing main leads now. Ah yes the good old days.

I must add that I haven't watched the second season. Which is a shame since my beloved Kame was in that season. As was Moko and Jin. So I should watch it. Notice the word "should" as if it were a chore for me to spend my time watching the show. Painful.

Well, I hate to break it to you but if you are familiar with the first two seasons (and my sister Marz is very familiar. I vaguely described the plot and she guessed immediately what I was watching) the third one will seem EXTREMELY familiar. Recycled story/plot. I understand the idea that Yankumi is a woman that is very good at handling delinquents, but we don't need to see the same situations. I need variation. Please. I swear they changed the names of characters and the school and BAM! told the same story. Keep in mind I haven't seen Gokusen in quite a while so my judgment could be off. But I think not.

So the story goes: There are some delinquents (I'll address these supposed delinquents in a bit) that are in danger of not graduating. So in comes Yankumi (tricked or otherwise) into the situation. She enters the classroom, being pleasant and cheerful while the kids are..being delinquents. She's is ignored. She spots the leader(s). She does some sort of trick to maintain some order (which fails to some extent). The kids are taken aback. But their suspicions are quelled when she acts the fool. However the leader(s) senses something...shall we say...special about her.

One of the students will get in trouble right off. She stands up for them. She trusts them. Trust and her believing in them. That's what it's all about. Now let me rant about why I don't buy that these kids are all that bad. Apparently Japanese men (I am assuming the writer/writers for this show, and previous ones, are men) believe that what all those naughty boys really need is someone to believe in them and help them out. Because deep down these kids don't want to slice your throat to shreds with a broken bottle. No. They are just acting up because no one trusts them. Are all these kids magically going to become good? I am waiting for some students to come along and the only thing that will cure them is a few years, or decades, in jail (not that I think jail "cures" anyone). I mean, really. These tough guys are touched by the smallest display of dedication and trust by anyone. I guess Yankumi only encounters the baddies with the hidden hearts of gold. Blah.

Ah yes, another phenomenon that occurs in the dimension of the Twilight Zone known as Gokusen: pretty boy felons. No, delinquents faces should not make you involuntarily retch. The Gokusen boys' faces apparently reflect the angels they truly are. Not that I mind pretty boys, it's just not realistic. Throw in some cauliflower ears and bent noses. Bah, who wants realism anyway...I'll stick with pretty boys.

Speaking of pretty boys, the main characters. Wow...in a bad way I guess. Ogata (Takaki Yuya) scares me. He reminds me of my cousin...who is a girl (not that she scares me...much). Is he trying to look like a girl? With bad hair mind you. And he actually wears eyeshadow, I am not lying. Oh goodness. I have to say I really laughed at the scene in the first episode were Ogata is getting beat up. I narrated it myself, "You take him. No, you take him. I don't want him, you take him." I've never seen anyone play hot potato with a person before. Hilarious. Beat up! Ha. Yeah right.

Now Kazama (Miura Haruma) on the other hand, I like. Haha. For all the shallow reasons in the world. Then again, who is the target audience for this show? Why do they have pretty boys in Gokusen? For me. Of course.

Haruma I heard was a bad actor, but it is not painfully obvious (not that I buy that he is gangsta). Plus I never saw him in anything else, except a trailer for the movie Naoko (which also stars Ueno Juri). And I have to mention the music on the Naoko website, every time I hear it my ears bleed but I don't turn it off. Masochistic? Or do I secretly like the song? Haha, I better not!

I kind of like the whole Gokusen storyline. So I don't mind terribly much that is recycled to the point it is a little ridiculous. The students couldn't be female? I'd like a little change. Or a little character development in Yankumi.

I have to mention that it always seems like foreigners are always portrayed as angry. "You stupid Japanese person, speak English or I'll shoot you." Something along those lines. And it's always nerds and people with badly damaged hair. And supposed Americans with thick European accents. But then again the majority of Americans can't differentiate a Korean person from a Japanese one.


My Rating: ★★★★☆