Gokusen

Gokusen is an action, adventure, drama, comedy, dark comedy, Japanese anime series. It was based on a manga series which was written by Kozueko Morimoto and published by Shueisha for the Josei magazine You. It originally ran from August 23, 2000 to February, 2007, and it lasted for 15 volumes in total. After that came a television drmaa. It originally aired from April 1, 2002 to July 3, 2002, and it lasted for 12 episodes in total. After that came a live action television film, titled Gokusen Special: Sayonara 3-nen D-gumi, which was orginally released on March 26, 2008. After that came the anime series. It was directed by Yuzo Sato, written by Yasuko Kobayashi, musically composed by Tomoki Hasegawa, and produced by Studio Madhouse. It originally aired from January 6, 2004, to March 30, 2004, and it lasted for 13 episodes in total. After that came another live action drama titled Gokusen 2. It originally aired from January 15, 2004 to March 19, 2005, and it lasted for 10 episodes in total. After that came yet another live action drama, titled Gokusen 3. It originally aired from April 19, 2008 to June 28, 2008, and it lasted for 11 episodes in total. After that came another live action television film, titled Gokusen 3: Graduation Special 2009. It was originally released in 2009. And finally after that came a live action theatrical film. It was directed by Toya Sato and was originally released on July 11, 2009.

Plot
The plot involves Kumiko Yamaguchi, the granddaughter of a Yakuza boss, Kuroda of the Kuroda Ikka. Her parents died when she was at the age of seven, and her grandfather had no other descendants, so Kumiko is next in line to head the family business with the title of Ojou. 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.

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 (her subject is Mathematics), 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.

Why It Rocks

 * 1) Outstanding main female character.  She's incredibly strict and can be a bit of a bitch at times, but she's ultimately likable and truly does care for her students.
 * 2) Amazing animation.
 * 3) This series proves that you can have an anime series with a main female character that has literally no fanservice in it whatsoever.
 * 4) Excellent soundtrack.
 * 5) Gokusen is very similar to the Great Teacher Onizuki in many ways.  The only surface level differences are the genders of the characters and the fact that the main female character of Gokusen is the daughter of the Yakuza.  This would lead people to believe that it's just a ripoff, however, the similarities are only surface level, it does its own thing and is able to stand alone as its own entity.
 * 6) Great voice acting in both sub and dub.
 * 7) Phenomenal dark comedy.  Whenever there isn't action or drama, comedy is what carriers the show.  Hell, sometimes the comedy is mixed in with the action, and when that happens, it blends together very well.
 * 8) Good pacing.