What do you get when you take "Great Teacher Onizuka" (GTO) and replace the titular lust-driven but well-meaning character with the Princess of a major Yakuza family with a heart of gold?  The answer is "Gokusen," a series which manages to be almost completely derivative but also a lot of fun at the same time.

Meet Yamaguchi Kumiko.  By day, a teacher in the all-male Shirokin Gakuen, a school with the reputation for collecting more than its share of delinquents and misfits (most if which seem to have ended up in Kumiko's class).  By night, the granddaughter of the head of the Ooedo Yakuza clan, and also that clan's heir apparent.  Kumiko is deadly serious about both of her occupations, although for obvious reasons she strives at all costs to avoid letting anyone at the school know about her connections with organized crime!  In the process, she gives her often-maligned charges a few lessons in loyalty, honor, and adulthood - themes that will probably be very familiar to fans of GTO.  And of course, things wouldn't be complete without a nemesis - in this case the assistant principal who appears to be involved in a shady conspiracy to ruin the school's reputation...

"Gokusen" has been a popular franchise in Japan, spawning 3 seasons of a television drama, a feature film, and several volumes of manga as well as this 13-episide anime series.  This anime displays all of the things that have made the other evolutions of the franchise popular - down-to-earth, sometimes slightly coarse humor, plenty of action scenes without going overboard in the vein of martial arts centered series such as Ranma 1/2 or Dragonball, and a bunch of supporting characters that keep the series moving right along+.  And, like the Godfather films that it tries to evoke (the font used on the box of the American release is the same as that used for the original American Godfather Films) Yakuza stories maintain their fascination for the Japanese public as well as Mafia stories do in this country.

And let's not forget Fuji, the irrepressable bulldog mascot/bodyguard/comic relief.  Cute talking animals never hurt.

Unfortunately, the translators often attempt to take this Mafia=Yakuza thing a bit far.  The subtitles are full of American gangster slang and titles which clearly aren't appropriate in context.   A bit more faithful translation and perhaps some translation notes where needed would have been appreciated.

The DVD is pretty basic in its offerings.  Viewers may choose English or Japanese language dubs; English dub viewers may choose to see or omit English subtitles, while those selecting the Japanese language dub have no option for turning the subtitles off through the setup menu (although they may disable subtitles independently using the subtitle button on their remotes).  Extras are pretty much limited to textless opening and closing and a handful of (English-language) outtakes. 

Parental Advisories:  Lots of coarse language and violence (although nothing particularly graphic).  No sex or particularly adult themes.

Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Good for Groups
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older