Gokusen VS Misaki Number One!!

Ah, Gokusen. It's still one of my favourites. It's a show about a teacher who kicks ass to protect her students - what's not to love? Well, I recently found a show called Misaki Number One!! and it's fairly new. It's about a hostess who becomes a teacher and brings her students together, and it bares many similarities to Gokusen. Naturally, my first thought was that was going to be a very sparkly copy, but regardless of whether it was or wasn't, I've definitely fallen in love with it.

  Let's start with Gokusen, shall we? Gokusen stars Nakama Yukie as Yamaguchi Kumiko, a woman who has dreamt about becoming a high-school teacher her entire life. Her parents died when she was young, and ever since she has lived with her grandfather, who happens to be the boss of a yakuza syndicate. This means that Kumiko is tough - unnaturally tough - and she's equipped with quick reflexes and sharp martial-art skills. She has no intention of taking over from her Grandfather, and so it's very important that she keep her private life top-secret when she begins to teach. Anyway, Kumiko begins her first teaching job at an all-boy's school, and is immediately given the responsibility of looking after a class. But this isn't just any class - it's Class 2D, which is filled with the kind of boys which the other teachers consider complete scum. It's because of people like this that these boys are  directionless and are not trusting of people. The same applies to Kumiko at first, but she just refuses to give up on them.
  Honestly, what's so wonderful about Gokusen is that it's just so heart-warming. Kumiko genuinely cares for each and every one of her students and would go to extreme lengths to keep them happy and safe. Once they realise this - once they realise they have someone they can trust - they start to depend on her and become better people because of it. This was always Gokusen's charm, and I can't be the only one who thinks so since Nakama Yukie returned for two more seasons and a movie. I have to say, whilst seasons two and three were half as good as the original and followed the same repetitive formula throughout every episode, it was that heart-warming aspect of Gokusen's basic make-up that made me keep coming back for more.

  Obviously, given my immense love of Gokusen, I had to give Misaki Number One!! a try. Like I said, the two shows share many qualities - they're both about a rookie teacher with a secret they must hide. They're both full of unfailing optimism and the desire to help their students regardless of the problem or the cost. But despite this, our heroines are incredibly different.  Misaki  is glamorous and charismatic from the get-go after working to please people for so long. Her resilience is a quality that has always proven her to be a very capable, which stems from when she first became a hostess and had to work tirelessly to perfect herself. One thing I appreciated about Misaki Number One!! was the insight I was given to Misaki's past, whilst Kumiko's past was rarely touched on and rarely an obstacle, Misaki had to overcome heartbreak and unemployment to become who she is today, and it's made her all the wiser, which means she can actually empathise with her students because she was once just as hopeless as they are. Bravo to Karina for a wonderful performance, Although some of the storylines were similar to the ones in Gokusen, they came with a fresh perspective - one of the key differences between the two shows is that Misaki's school is co-ed, which opens a few more doors to explore in the narrative. Gokusen even began to repeat it's own storylines in the later seasons when they just ran out of ideas, which I'm still kind of fuming about. What did I like about Misaki Number One!! the most? They didn't create a sequel, because that's exactly where 'Gokusen' went wrong. 

I guess I just have a soft spot for school drama. I highly recommend both of these shows - I was pleasantly surprised by how much I loved Misaki Number One!! and I think it would be a better use of your time to watch it over seasons two and three of Gokusen. I suppose you could try Misaki Number One!! for more glitter, and Gokusen for more fighting. If you want something a little more brash and brazen, I'd recommend Great Teacher Onizuka (1998), and for something a little more dramatic, I'd try Seito Shokun.