Chris Magee over at JFilm Pow Wow related an old adage a friend of his who worked in the Japanese film industry told him, "There's a formula in Japan. First you have a manga, then you have a TV show, then you have a movie". So it would seem that the hugely popular manga turned television series Gokusen is following that exact pattern. The popular drama series "Gokusen" is getting a movie version this summer. After three highly-rated seasons, the film will be the last time that lead actress Yukie Nakama plays the role of the teacher Yankumi.
Newly graduated Kumiko Yamaguchi wants to make her mark on the Japanese educational system as a teacher. All well and good until she finds out that the class she’ll be in charge of is full of troublemakers and rabble-rousers. But those guys don’t frighten her though for she has a secret of her own - she’s a fourth generation crime syndicate member and next in line to head it up. She’s gone straight and wants to be a teacher though, but she’s one person in whose class you don’t want to be caught fooling around! AsianMediaWiki
Watch the best of clips after the break and keep an eye out for Shun Oguri of Crows Zero fame. If the clips are any indication as to how funny the series were I think we're in for a treat. There would appear to be a lot of familiar faces from the television series, as well there should, so I will assume the quality of comedy will carry over into the film this July.
Nooooooooooooo. I certainly hope not. Don't get me wrong Gokusen was great tvshow. Season 1 that is. season 2 was just a copy, the EXACT same storyline, same episodes as 1, but with a different class. That aside, they also made a movie for GTO, which was a SUPERB drama. But the movie just didn't reach that level. Agh I just hope it will have the same level as the show.
yeah the 2nd season of gokusen was a bit disappointing in that it was basically the same thing just with a different class.i assumed the 3rd season would be the same, so i skipped it.
i hope this film turns out good though, since i really liked the first season
Thanks for chiming in guys. I've found the first season subtitled and streaming online. Watched the first two eps. VERY Japanese, at least it goes along like some of the JDramas a former roommate would show me. There is a definite charm to the show. Sad to hear that 1 and 2 basically repeat themselves. You'd think in the three years between seasons they'd at least come up with something different. But if it ain't broke don't fix it, right? My concern now, after watching a couple eps and likely seeing the season through, is that this movie will just be a local movie only. It was reported that it would be a continuation of the story from a special showing the end of this month. Clearly the studio is thinking only about the local audience and not about any international potential. Perhaps that just shows how limited the reach of this show really was/is. Right now I think you'll have to be a fan of the show or know the background to appreciate the film.