#kozueko morimoto

[haveyoureadthismanga-poll]

[joseispiral]

CRUISIN’ 4 A BRUISIN’ (Gokusen)

by Kozueko Morimoto | 156 chapters | 1999-2007

9/10

Gokusen is your typical relatable Josei manga: The protagonist, a mousy-looking girl, embarks on a quest to find love while trying to balance work life and home life. Except in this case work life is being a grade school teacher at an all-boys school, and home life is being a Yakuza heiress. This manga balances drama, comedy, and action, and oh my god, it’s so good. I started this review several months ago and I’m just finishing it now, but is it crazy for me to say I want to go back and re-read it already?

There is an unstoppable joy in Morimoto’s characterization of the protagonist, Yankumi. It’s honestly pretty cathartic to watch Yankumi bring her Yakuza know-how to public school, because lord knows the power structure of the educational institution could use a good ass-kicking. Yankumi’s teaching style can only be described as tough love, and none of the romance drama interferes with her ability to persevere and show a great deal of love to her students, family, and friends. It is so delightfully refreshing to read a manga where the protagonist is a compassionate, loyal, unfuckwithable, cop-hating teacher practicing non-hierarchical pedagogy! Emphasis on the cop-hating. I take issue with people who complain about “weak and annoying” female characters (that just sounds like a personal diss to me, ouch), but if you really just want to watch a girl utterly and completely fuck people up, Gokusen is the way to go.

What makes Gokusen so strong is how well it sticks to our Yakuza princess’s moral integrity: Nobody is irredeemable, not even mob bosses and snot-nosed teenage boys. Despite violence being her preferred solution for any problem, Yankumi isn’t hungry for power, nor does she slap people up because she wants to eradicate them. She acknowledges that her power, be it as a Yakuza heiress or a schoolteacher, can be used to improve the world, which very much appeals to me as a believer in transformative justice. I always recall my roommate telling me, after I relayed my firm stance on nonviolence, that some people really just need a punch to the face to really make them stop acting a fool. Gokusen effectively pulls off this ethos by using its buoyant and crisp tone. This manga is about beating people to a pulp and then helping them get back up again.

The second half of the series had moments that made me explode with laughter which I think is pretty hard for a comic to do! If you like Daria or even Beavis and Butthead I think this definitely scratches that itch. Just a note that there are some jokes made about pedophilia in the story, so that’s something to beware of if you’re sensitive to it. Beyond just jokes though, the main love interest is one of the high schoolers, but I actually found that plotline pretty sweet and interesting - Yankumi shows little to no romantic interest in him and most of their relationship is about him trying to prove himself to her as an adult, which hits home for me. Does that make me messed up? Did other people fantasize about a teacher or two when they were in grade school? I found that Morimoto handled that emotional landscape with serious honesty when it could have quickly become rocky territory.

Why do I see so many people complaining about Gokusen’s artwork online? Even in the first volume, when the proportions are a little funny and the lines aren’t as confident, I found the expressions and character designs irresistibly endearing. It’s got a simpler slapstick artstyle common in these older mangas that reminds me of a mix of Stop!! Hibari-Kun! and Urusei Yatsura but with a Josei twist. Ultimately the art style works in service to the writing style, which has serious moments treating characters’ intentions with levity; but also is riddled with hilarious scenarios. The sparse backgrounds allow for the focus to facial expressions and character gestures. 

Just go read this manga, it’s so kickass and sweet and there is so much cop hatred. It’s for the kids who have bottomless amounts of both love and violence burning a hole in our hearts.

[oratokyosaigunda]

Cocohana cover 2023年12月 issue

[sleepless-miles]

Gokusen, by Kozueko Morimoto

[linawu]

covers for Gokusen (2000-2007) by Kozueko Morimoto

[gonagaiworld]

Il manga Janomenome di Kozueko Morimoto va in pausa; esce il manga Ashi-Girl Season 2 Il manga Ashi-Girl Season 2 ~Edo Period~ sarà lanciato il 28 febbraio. Info:--> https://www.gonagaiworld.com/il-manga-janomenome-di-kozueko-morimoto-va-in-pausa-esce-il-manga-ashi-girl-season-2/?feed_id=332159&_unique_id=63b2cd4243e80 #JanomenoMe #Janomenome #KozuekoMorimoto #Manga #じゃのめのめ

[thunderrabby-blog]

Kozueko Morimoto's Janomenome Manga Goes on Hiatus, Ashi-Girl Season 2 Manga Launches - News

Kozueko Morimoto’s Janomenome Manga Goes on Hiatus, Ashi-Girl Season 2 Manga Launches – News

Ashi-Girl Season 2 manga launches on February 28 The February issue of Shueisha‘s Cocohana magazine revealed on December 27 that Kozueko Morimoto‘s Janomenome manga will go on hiatus. The magazine did not announce when the manga will return. The magazine also announced that Morimoto’s Ashi-Girl manga will return with a season 2 manga, Ashi-Girl Season 2 ~Edo Period~ (temporary title). The manga…

[witchandhuntress]

Gokusen - "Yankumi"

[hatsumishinogu]

Ashi-girl Vol.13

[mangagogirl]

One of my earliest ships ♡

[mangashot]

- Gokusen, by Kozueko Morimoto

[himitsusentaiblog]

Deka Wanko was a 2011 live action police series about a Tokyo Metropolitan Police Homicide Detective named Ichiko Hanamori who solved crimes with her incredible sense of smell (better than any police dog's) while always kitted out in Gothic Lolita fashions.

It is based on the manga of the same name by Kozueko Morimoto and published in the magazine You by Shueisha.

(This isn’t really a tokusatsu hero or monster show but I found it while searching for info on one and I had to share it because... well, look at it!)

[otakunews01]

Koudai-ke no Hitobito Manga Gets Special Chapter in December

This year's December issue of Shueisha's Monthly You magazine announced on Wednesday that Kozueko Morimoto's Kōdai-ke no Hitobito manga will get a special side story chapter in the next issue on December 15. 

[sleepless-miles]

Gokusen, by Kozueko Morimoto

[celestialmega]

Gokusen, ごくせん, 極道鮮師 by Morimoto Kozueko.

[jozephina]

Как молоды мы былииииии... Перерисовка арта двухлетней или трехлетней давности ShinKumi is love, as usual