Might need a Yankumi in my life too
I didn't expect Gokusen to become one of those shows for me. The kind you think about long after you finish watching it. But here we are ig.
Yeah, the structure is the same in every episode. One or more of the boys face some type of problem, refuse help, then Yankumi comes in, beats up whoever was the problem and gives an aggressive motivational speech. But guess what.
It works. Every single time. For all 3 seasons. I never got tired of it. Every episode I looked forward to the situation they'll be facing and who the episode will be focused on. That way I got to pay attention more to the characters that I maybe didn't look at that much. It builds character depth and backstory, gives reason for why some characters are the way they are, and it's always so real.
I'm a sucker for stories about found family(it's my favorite trope really), about misunderstood outcasts, minorities, kids who just need a little guidance in life and trust from adults. And Gokusen has all of that and some more.
The boys, self-labeled and also labeled by society as delinquents, are actually layered, emotional, loyal, deeply good at heart and have very strong morals they abide by. They're not stupid or villainous, they just most of the time don't know how to express themselves in a world in which they are being ridiculed for being different.
Yankumi sees past those labels and so begins all. She believes in them, trusts them, and refuses to give up on them when they want her to. She eventually becomes the only adult in their life that they can rely on, be themselves with.
And there's something so comforting about that. Kids who have been let down by everyone else get their hope back and are willing to have dreams about who they would want to be again.
In a few moments, you see that she also grows as a person alongside them.
Just because you're different doesn't mean you're bad. Just because people look down on you doesn't mean you should stop trying. Every episode left me feeling something and to me, that's what great storytelling is all about.
Yeah, the structure is the same in every episode. One or more of the boys face some type of problem, refuse help, then Yankumi comes in, beats up whoever was the problem and gives an aggressive motivational speech. But guess what.
It works. Every single time. For all 3 seasons. I never got tired of it. Every episode I looked forward to the situation they'll be facing and who the episode will be focused on. That way I got to pay attention more to the characters that I maybe didn't look at that much. It builds character depth and backstory, gives reason for why some characters are the way they are, and it's always so real.
I'm a sucker for stories about found family(it's my favorite trope really), about misunderstood outcasts, minorities, kids who just need a little guidance in life and trust from adults. And Gokusen has all of that and some more.
The boys, self-labeled and also labeled by society as delinquents, are actually layered, emotional, loyal, deeply good at heart and have very strong morals they abide by. They're not stupid or villainous, they just most of the time don't know how to express themselves in a world in which they are being ridiculed for being different.
Yankumi sees past those labels and so begins all. She believes in them, trusts them, and refuses to give up on them when they want her to. She eventually becomes the only adult in their life that they can rely on, be themselves with.
And there's something so comforting about that. Kids who have been let down by everyone else get their hope back and are willing to have dreams about who they would want to be again.
In a few moments, you see that she also grows as a person alongside them.
Just because you're different doesn't mean you're bad. Just because people look down on you doesn't mean you should stop trying. Every episode left me feeling something and to me, that's what great storytelling is all about.
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