Gokusen ごくせん TV drama
Gokusen is a story of a teacher named Yamaguchi Kumiko (played by Yukie Nakama) but being teacher is not all that she is. Kumiko is a 3rd generation Yakuza. When her parents died, she is taken care of her grandfather. She is next in line in taking care of the family business but her lifelong dream was to become a teacher. Her grandfather approves though other members of her family wants her to become the next boss and they often call her “Ojou”. She teaches a class full if delinquents in an all boys school and her students call her “Yankumi”. Her academic specialty is Math.
The story is pretty much a story of a teacher who wanted to inspire her students. Though she is forced to hide her family secret because she might get fired, she uses her Yakuza upbringing to protect her students.
All three seasons are pretty much the same except of course her students changes and her love interest also changes. The situation becomes more and more intense and the fight scenes are also becoming more kick ass in every season.
Though the story every season is pretty much the same I can’t help but still watch it for no reason at all. I guess I’m interested on whose going to play her students cause believe me they are all pretty good-looking. But the story isn’t all action but it also have drama and comedy. (I wish she was my math teacher hehe most of the math teachers I had are all hot headed and scary...)
Each season consists of 10 to 11 episodes 45 minutes long and will end in a special episode 90 minute long usually ending in the graduation of Yankumi’s students.
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Recurring themes (from Wikipedia)
~ Yankumi begins each season with a long speech about her career as a teacher. On Season 2, she makes her speech in front of a Kindergarten class, while on Season 3, her speech is in front of a class of foreign students in the Japanese countryside. On both instances, she is promptly fired for teaching her students Yakuza slang.
~ When Yankumi bumps into her love interest for the first time without knowing his name, she temporarily uses an object or location as a nickname for him. On Season 1, after meeting Shinohara in a crowded bus, she nicknames him "Sakurazashita-sama" after the bus stop where he departs. Kujo from Season 2 is nicknamed "Burberry-sama" from the Burberry handkerchief he drops after meeting her in front of the school. On Season 3, Natsume is nicknamed "Romeo-sama" after a book copy of Romeo and Juliet he drops on his first encounter with Yankumi.
~ When Yankumi first has a fight in the beginning of each of the seasons, it begins in a warehouse and she knocks down the door. In season 1, she goes after the men who have stolen the money Kumai originally stole from the head teacher. In season 2, she rescues Ryu from a gang of men intent on keeping him in their job. In season 3, she rescues Yamato from a man he has accused of framing one of his classmates.
~ Yankumi switches from her teacher mode to her Yakuza mode by pulling out her ponytails and taking off her glasses before every fight. In season 2 she added a slight head toss as well.
When Yankumi is especially proud of her students, she often ruffles their hair in an affectionate way, to which they respond with disgust and confusion.
The theme songs for the drama are:
"Feel Your Breeze" by V6 (Ending) (S1)
"No More Cry" by D-51 (Ending) (S2)
"Kizuna" by Kazuya Kamenashi (insert song) (S2)
"Oretachi no Seishun" by Yuya Takaki (insert song) (S3)
"Niji (Rainbow)" by Aqua Timez (Ending) (S3)
Cast includes members from pop groups like Arashi, Kat-tun and Hey! Say! JUMP as the leader of the class.
Season 1 features Arashi member Jun Matsumoto as Shin Sawada, also on the cast are Shun Oguri as "Uchi" / Haruhiko Uchiyama, Hiroki Narimiya as Takeshi Noda and Yuma Ishigaki as Youichi Minami. Ken’ichi Matsuyama was also on season 1 but he wasn’t a lead role.
Season 2 features Kat-tun members Kazuya Kamenashi as Ryu Odagiri and Jin Akanishi as Hayato Yabuki, also on the cast are Teppei Koike as Keita Takeda, Mokomichi Hayami as Hikaru Tsuchiya and Keisuke Koide as Kosuke Hyuga
Season 3 features Hey! Say! JUMP member Yuya Takaki as Yamato Ogata, also on the cast are Haruma Miura as Ren Kazama, Hideo Ishiguro as Kengo Honjo, Akito Kiriyama as Satoru Kuraki, Junta Nakama as Rikiya Ichimura and Shohei Miura as Shunsuke Kamiya.
Recurring cast are Katsuhisa Namase as Goro Sawatari the vice principal of all the schools Yankumi worked on. Tomohiro Waki as Teruo "Kuma" Kumai he played as Yankumi’s student on season 1 and on season 2 and 3 he owns a ramen shop where they always eat. Mikihisa Azuma as Masayoshi Baba he first appeared on season 2 as a PE teacher who have a huge crush on Yankumi and season 3 he played the same role.
Yankumi’s family the Oodo family also reprised their role on every season Ken Utsui as Ryuichiro Kuroda (Yankumi’s grandfather), Kenji Anan as Hiro Wakamatsu, Ken Kaneko as Tetsu Asakura, Shinji Uchiyama as Minoru Tatsukawa and Hiroshi Ryogoku as Makoto Sugawara.
originally posted: April 16, 2010
Hard Gay or Razor Ramon HG is a popular character created and performed by 住谷 正樹 (Sumitani Masaki). HG is first introduced in a show called the Japanese show Bakushō Mondai no Bakuten on 2002, but became more popular on 2005. HG is known to go about in various cities helping people out all the while trying to be as flamingly gay as possible, incorporating hip thrusts and shouting out various catchphrases. Some of his catch phrases includes "Come and Get some" (where he bends over and slaps his ass), "Say say say" (according to HG he usually say this when he's not happy), "Okay" (he just says this a lot... =P) and my favorite "Whoooo~!" (it is said that this is imitated from WWE wrestler Ric Flair). His entrance music is Livin' La Vida Loca by Ricky Martin. And his outfit... just look at that picture, he looks funny when he does his hip shaking and stuff on that outfit.
HG also appeared in various shows like Atashinchi no Danshi and Hana yori Dango (but I still haven't confirmed this), he mostly got these roles as himself because he barge in the set and do crazy things to earn these roles. One of my favorite episodes of HG is with Hiroki Go (who had a Japanese version of the song Livin' La Vida Loca). But HG claims it was destiny because they both have the same intials. He was following around Hiroki while doing his secret mission to make a Promotional Video without Hiroki's consent. And the result is hilarious! Hiroki was so nice about it too which makes it a lot funnier. HG also did the same thing with Matsumoto Jun of Arashi while on set of Hana Yori Dango and it was hilarious as well, I think it was the reason why he got that small role on HYD.
Sumitani Masaki likes to keep his private life and Hard Gay character seperate, so he usually say "Sumitani-san" or something like that when in his HG character. Sumitani actually wrestles in his college days in a pro-Western type of school called Doshisha University where he majored in Commerce. During his wrestling years in college he met Makoto Izubuchi, his partner in a comedy duo called Razor Ramon. After college he got a job, delivering grocerys but his will to become a comedian led him to quit his job and join Yoshimoto Kogyo with his partner Makoto Izubuchi. He appeared in a Yoshimoto Kogyo-produced program Yoshimoto Shin-kigaeki, which was one of the most popular stage acts in Japan.
According to some articles on the internet, he's married to Anne Suzuki (a former member of Mini skirt Police) on 2006, but some info still say engaged.
Go watch レイザーラモンＨＧ, okay? WHOOOO~!!!
originally posted: March 25, 2010
花より男子F (ファイナルF)
The story is set one year after the 2nd season, Tsukasa announced to the world his marriage to Makino. Though it no seems against it they still faced problems. A heirloom of the Dōmyōji is given to Makino as a gift and while they were staying at a hotel the tiara (heirloom) is stolen right in front of Tsukasa and Makino. While pursuing the culprit, Tsukasa and Makino realizes thier dream.
I've always wanted to watch but only get the chance to watch it today. I'm never really a fan of shoujo manga/anime but I can't help but watch this cause of Oguri Shun.
I never expected the ending though, it pretty good, I must I was fooled by it. The story is, as always, very very sweet. A love story that seems to only exist in story (but what do I know). Like every other drama I've seen this has something to say to and that revolved around the story.
The theme song is called "One Love" by no other than Jun Matsumoto's band Arashi. And Makino's theme song is called "KissHug" by Aiko. The original mangaka Yoko Kamio and Takayuki Takuma wrote the screenwrite and the film is directed by Yasuharu Ishii.
originally posted: March 22, 2010
Naruse Ryou is a lawyer for defending the helpless but though his known as the angelic angel, he is plotting revenge for his younger brother who was killed. Serizawa Naoto is detective whose pursuing the criminal in a series of murders that reminds him of his dark past.
The story is very intriguing from the very first episode. Though it was quite obvious who was plotting the murders, the suspence here is how Naoto would solve the crime and how the Naruse would end this with all the people surrounding him believing he is someone to love. The ending is alright and a bit tear jerking, I was expecting some kind of twist cause the ending is a bit obvious for me. I like the referrence to novels, I've always wanted to read those but never found a copy.
Ohno Satoshi played Naruse Ryou, he portrayed a kind hearted lawyer then he would portray the vengeful brother the next, with his little reactions made him effective for the character. Naruse Ryou's character somehow reminds me of Light Yagami (Death Note), his has woven an intricate plan to exact his revenge and covered his traces along the way.
This drama is a remake of the drama from S. Korea called The Devil.
originally posted: March 22, 2010
The movie opens up with previous scenes from the first two movies. In the 2nd movie, it ended with Occho escaping from prison with a mangaka (comic artist) and so the 3rd movie started when they both successfully entered the walled city of Tokyo in 2017. The city has strict rules and people are taken away from their families. Occho met two kids and told him about the ‘Ice Queen’ and a song that has been playing on radio when there is no broadcast. On both information he thinks it’s Kanna and Kenji.
This movie is just plain awesome!! From the first time I saw both movies I became intrigued by it. I haven’t seen the manga but I bet it’s really good too (I’m just too lazy to check it out). The songs used are perfect for the movie, especially that last one they used and in the ending credits. I find myself singing that song after watching the film. The very last scene on the movie was said to be just added for the film and something to just look out for.
20世紀少年 <最終章 > ぼくらの旗
Nijisseiki shônen: Saishû-shô - Bokura no hata
This movie is also known as 20th Century Boys: Redemption
originally posted: March 14, 2010
As the the title says, it's my favorites on theOtaku today!
