Line #95 Characters/Gokusen


1	List of important characters in the series ''Manga/{{Gokusen}}''.
2	----
3	!Kumiko "Yankumi" Yamaguchi
4	-->'''Played by''': Yukie Nakama (drama)
5	-->'''Voiced by''': Creator/RisaHayamizu (JP, anime), [[Creator/CarrieKeranen Caroline Lawson]] (EN)
6
7	Our heroine. A high school math teacher and granddaughter of one of the most powerful yakuza bosses in Japan.
8	----
9	* ActionGirl: Kumiko was trained to fight by her uncles and is ''very'' effective at it.
10	* BadassTeacher: Of course, since she's incredibly strong, brave, and protective.
11	* BeautifulAllAlong: She's quite pretty when not wearing her nerd glasses and track suit.
12	* BunnyEarsLawyer: She's a proficient high school math teacher, while simultaneously being a weirdo.
13	* CloudCuckooLander: Some of the plans she comes up with are very... imaginative.
14	* DistaffCounterpart: Kumiko is the Distaff Counterpart to [[Manga/GreatTeacherOnizuka Eikichi Onizuka]]. Only difference is Onizuka is a [[JapaneseDelinquents delinquent]] while Kumiko is the {{Ojou}} to a tough as nails {{Yakuza}} clan.
15	* GirlishPigtails: Part of her playing the docile, feminine teacher.
16	* HollywoodToneDeaf: She's an incredibly shit singer, being so bad that she continuously scored a 0% on a karaoke machine.
17	* HotBlooded: As only a yakuza can be.
18	* HypocriticalHeartwarming: She might be a jerk and regularly beat up Tetsu Asakura and Minoru Tatsukawa, but she makes it quite clear only she is allowed to do that to them. It's actually because of how far she would go to protect them is the reason they are so loyal to her.
19	* HypocriticalHumor: She will sometimes lecture her students against something she has done herself. When called out on it she will just tell them to shut up.
20	* IconicOutfit: Yankumi's red jumpsuit, GirlishPigtails, and ScaryShinyGlasses are easily recognizable among the ''Gokusen'' fandom.
21	* KickingAssInAllHerFinery: has a few cases, although this might be a subversion, as mostly those attempts don't end well.
22	* LargeHam: Whenever she passionately starts talking about honor and blood brothers and such.
23	* LoveCanMakeYouGonk: Kumiko does this whenever she is fawning over Shinohara. Her eyes go from their usual fixed glare to big, sparkly, bishojo-standard and can flick back and forth between panels when the situation calls for it.
24	* NeighborhoodFriendlyGangsters: Her and the rest of the Kurodas.
25	* NerdGlasses: Kumiko's glasses are actually arguably multipurpose, and are sometimes used as MaskPower or ScaryShinyGlasses.
26	* ObfuscatingStupidity: She acts like a ditz to cover up her yakuza mannerisms.
27	* ObliviousToLove: Kumiko puts so much of herself into her work and helping her students that she doesn't notice Shin's feelings towards her at all.
28	* {{Ojou}}: Kumiko's yakuza family often calls her Ojou.
29	* OneManArmy: She has been able to take down any opponent in front of her easily and singlehandedly. Except [[AmbiguouslyHuman Yvegney]].
30	* ScaryShinyGlasses: If her glasses go opaque, brace yourself.
31	* SheCleansUpNicely: Kumiko. She wears a sweatsuit and NerdGlasses with her hair in pig tails at school, but she's beautiful when wearing a kimono, a little black dress, or even a girlish nightgown.
32	* SkewedPriorities: The reason she tells her family to not kill her students? If they offed some of her students it would blow her cover.
33	* StealthHiBye: Constantly creeps out her students by just appearing along side them without them even noticing until she speaks up.
34	* TeamMom: Treats her students like their her own children.
35	* {{Tomboy}}: Even her own Grandfather calls her one.
36
37	!Shin Sawada
38	-->'''Played by''': Jun Matsumoto (drama)
39	-->'''Voiced by''': Creator/KenichiSuzumura (JP, anime), Kevin T. Collins (EN)
40
41	One of Kumiko's students. He quickly figures out Kumiko's background and eventually develops a crush on her.
42	----
43	* AmazonChaser: Clearly gained an interest in Yankumi when she showed how tough she was.
44	* BigManOnCampus: Incredibly smart, popular, and athletic, he's loved by everyone in the school. Not that he cares.
45	%%* DeadpanSnarker: Often.
46	* DistressedDude: On occasion. He saves Kumiko just as often, though.
47	* DatingWhatDaddyHates: Shin's police chief dad isn't very happy about his son liking a MafiaPrincess.
48	* EvenTheGuysWantHim: He has his share of admirers, within and without Shirokin.
49	* HelloAttorney: [[spoiler:He decides to become a yakuza lawyer in order to chase after Kumiko.]]
50	* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Shin is very aloof and cold, but he goes to great lengths to help and protect his friends. He even saves Kumiko a few times, though that's arguably after he started developing a crush on her.
51	* LikesOlderWomen: If his crush on Kumiko is anything to go by.
52	* OnlySaneMan: And one of the smarter guys of his entire grade, if not the entire Shirokin Gakuen Private School as well.
53	* PerpetualFrowner: He is rarely seen smiling.
54	* SpeaksFluentAnimal: He appears to be able to understand dog language.
55	* TheStoic: Shin very rarely changes his expression of casual disinterest for anything or anyone. So, when he shows anger when he hears [[spoiler: Kumiko has been tricked to get ambushed by her students]], you can see why OOCIsSeriousBusiness.
56	* SurroundedByIdiots: He was able to convince his friends that his bruises and cuts were from a cupboard falling on him after a huge earthquake... until Minami points out that there hadn't been an earthquake recently.
57	* TeamDad: Shin is a great supporting figure to his friends and the "leader" of his class.
58	* WillTheyOrWontThey: With Yankumi. [[spoiler: [[RelationshipUpgrade They are in a relationship]] in the final chapters, once Shin graduates.]]
59
60	!Teruo "Kuma" Kumai
61	-->'''Played by''': Tomohiro Waki (drama)
62	-->'''Voiced by''': Hiroomi Sugino (JP, anime), [[Creator/TedLewis Ed Paul]] (EN).
63
64	Shin's best friend and classmate since middle school.
65	----
66	* TheBigGuy: He is big boned, and his nickname, "Kuma", means "bear" in Japanese.
67	* BookDumb: He somehow managed to get a ''zero'' on his math test.
68	%%* TheDitz
69	* EvenBadMenLoveTheirMamas: More rough around the edges than bad, but Kuma really loves his mother. There was even an arc in the manga devoted to Kuma considering dropping out of high school to take care of his mom, with his whole class pitching in to help so he wouldn't have to.
70	* GentleGiant: After some CharacterDevelopment.
71	* {{Gonk}}: Mildly, compared with the rest of his classmates.
72	* ShipperOnDeck: Probably the biggest supporter of Shin's crush on Kumiko.
73
74	!Haruhiko "Uchi" Uchiyama
75	-->'''Played by''': Creator/ShunOguri (drama)
76	-->'''Voiced by''': Yoichi Masukawa (JP, anime), Jamie [=Mc=]Gonnigal (EN)
77
78	Part of Shin's circle of friends at Shirokin.
79	----
80	* AdaptationalAttractiveness: A {{gonk}} in the manga ([[ArtEvolution especially at the start]]) and anime, but more attractive-looking in the drama.
81	* CasanovaWannabe: He succeeds near the end of the manga because the girl thought it was cute how he would [[LovableCoward faint all the time]].
82	* CloudCuckooLander: Mildly.
83	* HairTriggerTemper: If there's a fight involving a Shirokin student, expect Uchi to have compulsively instigated it somehow. And he will lose these fights, because he's also a...
84	%%* MilesGloriosus
85	* UglyGuyHotWife: He finally gets a girlfriend late in the series, a beautiful girl named Shiori Imai, who's a [[NightmareFetishist horror fanatic]]. In fact, they first met in a horror booth, with her as a scary ghost woman, and him fainting on the spot.
86
87	!Youichi Minami
88	-->'''Played by''': Yuma Ishigaki (drama)
89	-->'''Voiced by''': Takurou Takakuni (JP, anime), Sebastian Arcelus (EN)
90
91	Friend and classmate of Shin.
92	----
93	* BrokenMasquerade: [[spoiler:He's the one who ultimately outs Kumiko to the entire school, not out of malevolence, but because he was shocked]]. Also, it's because of him that the [[CorruptChurch Laughing Church]] got outed as corrupt.
94	* DelinquentHair: Has a tall, blond mohawk.
95	* {{Gonk}}: With his protuberant eyes, chubby face, and mohawk, he closely resembles a fish.
96	* TheHedonist: Exemplified when he gets mad that his friends are trying to get him to think about his future since he has no plans. He ends up taking up a job that earns a lot of money doing very little work without thinking about what kind of organization it might be, and gets in trouble.
97
98	!Takeshi Noda
99	-->'''Played by''': Hiroki Narimiya (drama)
100	-->'''Voiced by''': Isao Yamagishi (JP, anime), Matt Kaplan (EN)
101
102	Friend and classmate of Shin. Marginally more calm and thoughtful than the others.
103	----
104	* NeverBareheaded: He's always wearing a baseball cap.
105	* TheNicknamer: He was the one who came up with "Yankumi" as a nickname for Kumiko.
106
107	!Ryuuichiro Kuroda
108	-->'''Played by''': Ken Utsui (drama)
109	-->'''Voiced by''': Creator/ChikaoOhtsuka (JP, anime), Creator/DanGreen (EN)
110
111	Kumiko's grandfather and the head of the Kuroda family and Ooedo Clan.
112	----
113	%%* BenevolentBoss
114	* CoolOldGuy: He is very relaxed despite his yakuza's connections. Despite his age, he still can act when something closely happens... [[PapaWolf especially if it's threatening the life of his granddaughter, Kumiko]].
115	* EvenTheGuysWantHim: According to the Kuroda's councilor, Ryuuichiro was such a man in his youth, "Even a guy could fall in love with him."
116	* FatherToHisMen: A very respected mafia boss, between his peers, and many of the guys that form part of his clan see him as a paternal figure.
117	%%* OnlySaneMan
118	* PapaWolf: When Kumiko comes home extremely ill after being kidnapped by [[spoiler:Kudou]], Ryuuichiro orders the destruction of ''the entire Nekomata kumi.'' The kumi had enough sense to scatter before the Kurodas came after them.
119	* NotSoAboveItAll: He might be the OnlySaneMan, but he can get just as emotional as the rest of the clan if Kumiko is upset.
120
121	!Tomoya Shinohara
122	-->'''Played by''': Ikki Sawamura (drama)
123	-->'''Voiced by''': Creator/KatsuyukiKonishi (JP, anime), Josh Mosby (EN)
124
125	The Ooedo Clan's lawyer, who is in a deep emotional debt to Ryuuchiro and the Kuroda.
126	----
127	* DistressedDude: He gets thrown into harm's way quite a bit.
128	* HelloAttorney: He is an attractive lawyer, who serves the Kuroda family.
129	* NonActionGuy: Shinohara is the only man in this series who can't hold his own in a fight. He got in trouble with some gangsters he was still in college and had to be rescued by Ryuuichirou, Kumiko's grandpa.
130	* ObfuscatingStupidity: You may think [[spoiler:Shinohara completely doesn't notice Kumiko's very obvious crush on him]]. You would be wrong. He has his reasons, though.
131	* ObliviousToLove: [[spoiler:Or so it would look like, since he is very aware of what Kumiko feels for him from the very beginning.]]
132	%%* OnlySaneMan
133	* WillTheyOrWontThey: With Kumiko. [[spoiler: They eventually don't, thanks to a couple of reasons -- one is that Shinohara has to take care of his sick father and family, and the heavy one is that being a yakuza lawyer (as Ryuuchiro previously warned him if he stayed with them) would definitely affect his career in a long term. And even though he still has feelings for Kumiko, she had to let him go.]]
134
135	!Kyotaro "Kyo" Ooshima
136	-->'''Voiced by''': Creator/NorioWakamoto (JP, anime), Peter Ganim (EN)
137
138	The young boss of the Kuroda group.
139	----
140	* AdaptedOut: For some reason, he doesn't appear in the drama adaptation.
141	* BigBrotherMentor: He acts as this toward most of the Kuroda group, but especially Kumiko. He was the one who taught her how to fight. He also tries to be this to Shin, though Shin is strongly against it.
142	%%* BoisterousBruiser
143	%%* ChivalrousPervert
144	%%* JerkWithAHeartOfGold
145	* KavorkaMan: He's approaching middle age and it shows, but somehow women are all over him.
146	* LargeHam: '''KNOW THAT YOU HAVE BEEN DEFEATED BY ORE-SAMA!'''
147	* OneManArmy: He ''is'' the man who taught Kumiko how to fight, after all.
148
149	!Tetsu Asakura and Minoru Tatsukawa
150	-->'''Played by''': Ken Kaneko (Tetsu) and Shinji Uchiyama (Minoru), (drama)
151	-->'''Voiced by''': (as Tetsu) Keiji Hirai (JP, anime), Creator/MaddieBlaustein (EN)
152	--> (as Minoru) Hiroaki Yoshida (JP, anime), Creator/SeanSchemmel (EN)
153
154	Kumiko's "younger brothers". You rarely see one without the other.
155	----
156	* AnimalMotifs: Tetsu is sometimes referred to as "octopus," Minoru sometimes as "squid."
157	* FaceOfAThug:
158	-->'''Kumiko''': Stop crying! You both have faces that could kill a cow!
159	* FatAndSkinny: Tetsu and Minoru, respectively.
160	* SmallRoleBigImpact: It was due to how their teacher treated them like garbage is the reason why Kumiko wanted to become a teacher. Since she saw a teacher was supposed to nurture kids not treat them as useless.
161	* ThoseTwoGuys: They are almost always seen with each other since they were younger, especially since they act as bodyguards to Kumiko.
162	* UglyCute: At least Kumiko thinks they look as such. [[invoked]]
163	* YoungerThanTheyLook: They are 22 and 21 years old. Just a year and two years younger than Kumiko.
164
165	!Shizuka Fujiyama
166	-->'''Played by''': Misaki Ito (drama)
167	-->'''Voiced by''': Creator/RicaMatsumoto (JP, anime), Suzanne Gilad (EN)
168
169	Female music teacher at Shirokin.
170	----
171	* BigBreastPride: Apparently she's an F-cup, and she doesn't mind people mentioning it. She also drew herself with giant boobs on her flyer for her choir club.
172	* BuxomBeautyStandard: The students of Shirokin certainly think she is more attractive than Kumiko (the ''other'' only female teacher on Shirokin), just because of her big breasts.
173	* DarkAndTroubledPast: During her previous teaching job at a middle school, [[spoiler:one student attempted to commit suicide due to bullying]], and Fujiyama, as his teacher, was blamed for not noticing it. She went on an [[JourneyToFindOneself aimless journey]] (i.e. she took a vacation), and since then has been determined not to let the same thing happen to one of her students again.
174	* {{Ephebophile}}: She jokes about it, but she might not be serious. She does like her boys young and thin, though.
175	* InLoveWithLove: She claims she used to be called "Love's Busty Savior".
176	* MustHaveNicotine: She is rarely seen without a cigarette.
177	* ShipperOnDeck: For Shin and Kumiko. And it all started because she thought at first that Kumiko had the same preference on (younger) guys as her.
178
179	!Miura
180
181	A teacher sent by Shirokin Gakuen Private School's chairman to spy on Kumiko.
182	----
183	* ButtMonkey: He becomes the butt of many of the jokes once his cover is blew up in the high school, but it becomes even worse once his sexual orientation becomes public.
184	* CampGay: Miura embraces the fact that he is homosexual after he gets some CharacterDevelopment, and after he becomes the adviser of a club that two other CampGay freshmen (who are also coming to terms with their sexual orientation) form with him.
185	* {{Ephebophile}}: Played for creepiness, since he likes being surrounded by younger but attractive male students.
186	* SadistTeacher: Combined with a literal UsefulNotes/{{BDSM}} fetish. He tries to force Shin to become his "pet".
187	%%* ScaryShinyGlasses
188	* StalkerWithACrush: Starts following Shin around for perverted reasons.
189	* StalkerWithoutACrush: He is told to stalk and spy on Kumiko to find something that would definitely get her out from Shirokin.
190
191	!Hiroki Kudoh
192
193	A Shirokin student who was expelled in his third year for bullying.
194	----
195	* TheBully: What he was when still in school.
196	* BoxedCrook: A variation. [[spoiler:After he fails to kill Kumiko a third time, he's captured and brought back to the Ooedo compound, where he's kept as a servant. This is to reform him, and he actually does [[CharacterDevelopment get a lot better]] because he realizes the Kurodas are keeping him in to protect him from all the people he's angered]].
197	* IneffectualSympatheticVillain: He goes up against Kumiko three times and fails three times.
198	* SchoolyardBullyAllGrownUp: Not all that grown up, but even after being expelled from Shirokin, he's fixated on continuing to make the students' lives a living hell.
199
200	!Ichiro Tsuruta
201	-->'''Voiced by''': Tadahisa Saizen (JP, anime), Creator/MarcThompson (EN)
202
203	Kudoh's right hand man from Shirokin Gakuen Private School.
204	----
205	* ArrogantKungFuGuy: His ideology is, "The weak must obey the strong."
206	* BerserkButton: Insulting his looks is asking for an ass-kicking.
207	%%* BigOlUnibrow
208	* TheDitz: He is apparently so dumb that he couldn't remember what class he was in and unwittingly dropped a year to be in Kumiko's class.
209	* TheDragon: To Kudoh.
210	%%* DumbMuscle
211	%%* PunchClockVillain
212
213	!Gonzou Shirakawa (The Principal)
214	-->'''Played by''': Ryosei Tayama (drama)
215	-->'''Voiced by''': Tomohiro Nishimura (JP, anime), Creator/DanGreen (EN)
216
217	The short, bald principal of Shirokin Gakuen Private School.
218	----
219	* AccidentalPervert: He sometimes forgets to put his pants on before letting people see him.
220	* CloudCuckooLander: He does a lot of silly things, like putting on a magic show for some visiting teachers, or posing dramatically while saying something cool-sounding.
221	* DirtyOldMan: He sometimes drools over Fujiyama or lets slip something perverted.
222	* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: As troublesome as the students of Shirokin are, he still believes in them and backs them up.
223	* ObfuscatingStupidity: [[spoiler: He knew full well that Kumiko was a YakuzaPrincess and hired her because of that, knowing full well someone like her wouldn't be pushed around by juvenile delinquents.]]
224
225	!Goro Sawatari (The Vice-Principal)
226	-->'''Played by''': Katsuhira Namase (drama)
227	-->'''Voiced by''': Ken Uosaki (JP, anime), Creator/MarcDiraison (EN)
228
229	Has much more involvement in the anime than in the manga.
230	----
231	* AdaptationalVillainy: In the anime, as many of the intentions of Shirokin's chairman to get Kumiko fired are transferred to him instead for simplicity. He is actually more supportive to her in the manga, as she is bringing good results to Shirokin.
232	* AscendedExtra: Again, in the anime.
233	%%* AsianBuckTeeth
234	* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: He becomes this in the Shibata arc and concedes that Kumiko's [[ToughLove unorthodox teaching methods]] are sometimes effective.
235	* NonGivingUpSchoolGuy: He's desperate to make Shin take the entrance exams for prestigious universities in order to raise Shirokin's reputation. He's apoplectic when he hears Shin doesn't want to go to college.
236	-->'''Vice-principal:''' FINE! I'LL GET A HOLD OF HIM AND PERSUADE HIM MYSELF! leaves office [[TermsOfEndangerment Shawada-kuuuun! <3]]
237	-->'''Fujiyama:''' Oh my... Poor Shin Sawada.
238	-->'''Kumiko:''' It's all right. He won't be caught.
239
240	!Fuji
241	-->'''Voiced by''': Seizo Katou (JP, anime), John Avner (EN)
242
243	Kumiko's dog. Half Tosa dog, half... horse?
244	----
245	* AscendedExtra: He shows up for some silliness in bonus chapters and occasionally provides some help in the manga, but in the anime, he shows up every single episode and even has some [[IntellectualAnimal important acting and speaking roles]] (though no one can understand him except the audience).
246	* FunnyAnimal: In the anime, it's almost as if he's a human in a dog's body.
247	* HalfDressedCartoonAnimal: In the special chapters of the manga, he wears a sweatsuit jacket similar to Kumiko's, though when he shows up in the main story, he's naked except for the ribbon on his tail. In the anime, he wears the jacket all the time.
248	* IntellectualAnimal: In the anime, where you can hear his thoughts.
249	* InterspeciesRomance: It's unknown who Fuji's father is, but judging by his tail, many have presumed it was a horse.
250	* ShipperOnDeck: In the bonus chapters, Fuji seems to be very supportive that Shin and Kumiko would end up as a couple. He even ''teases'' Shin to be more assertive with Kumiko.
251	* TalkingAnimal: Only to Shin in the special chapters of the manga. To everyone besides Shin, it just sounds like barking. Even outside the special chapters, though, Shin seems to know what Fuji is thinking.

Context Characters / Gokusen