"Doragon-zakura" (2005) TV series

Director:

Takashi Komatsu

Seasons:

1

Release Date:

8 July 2005 (Japan)

Genre:

Drama

Plot Keywords:

University | High School | Tokyo Japan | High School Teacher | Entrance Examination

Cast

Reila Aphrodite		(4 episodes, 2005)
Hiroshi Abe		(2 episodes, 2005)
Kyoko Hasegawa		(2 episodes, 2005)
Tomohisa Yamashita		(2 episodes, 2005)
Masami Nagasawa		(2 episodes, 2005)
Akiyoshi Nakao		(2 episodes, 2005)
Teppei Koike		(2 episodes, 2005)
Yui Aragaki		(2 episodes, 2005)
Saeko		(2 episodes, 2005)
Yosuke Saito		(2 episodes, 2005)
Debitto Itô		(2 episodes, 2005)
Ryoji Ando		(2 episodes, 2005)
Mayumi Tsukiyama		(2 episodes, 2005)
Masaru Aoyama		(2 episodes, 2005)
Shin Yazawa		(2 episodes, 2005)
Hiroki Murakami		(2 episodes, 2005)
Jun Miho		(2 episodes, 2005)
Mitsuru Karahashi		(2 episodes, 2005)
Ayano Gunji		(2 episodes, 2005)
Mako Ishino		(2 episodes, 2005)
Kyôsuke Yabe		(2 episodes, 2005)
Ikki Funaki		(2 episodes, 2005)
Shuya Yoshimoto		(2 episodes, 2005)
Naoya Ojima		(2 episodes, 2005)
Yûsuke Kitaguchi		(2 episodes, 2005)
Akinobu Ishida		(2 episodes, 2005)
Kiyoshi Kobayashi	...	Himself - Narration (2 episodes, 2005)
Yôko Nogiwa		(2 episodes, 2005)

Also Known As:

Dragon Zakura (International: English title)

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Company:

Media Mix Japan Company (MMJ)

Soundtrack:

Realize

Possible spoilers - great series!

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

I loved this JDorama, there was so much wisdom in it. Ryuzan school is the worst, the students have the lowest grades and most awful reputation as dummies, few ever go on to college and none of the students EVER get admitted to prestigious Todai University. Even such a thought is laughable. Ryuzan is such a failure that it's in danger of bankruptcy, no one wants to enroll their kid in that school or admit that their kid goes there. The kids themselves know there's only one reason they're there, they are considered to be hopeless dummies with no future. The Chairwoman informs the faculty that bankruptcy is imminent, a lawyer is on his way to sort out the details of closing the school. He turns out to be an ex-punk, a streetwise guy who wasn't born with a silver spoon, a guy with a spotty past who worked his way up in the world to become a lawyer. He's also a sort of Sir Richard Branson type of guy, he sees an opportunity to make lemonade out of lemons (the situation of Ryuzan is sour indeed), and in the process possibly make himself famous and sought after. He sees no glory in closing the school, only failure, so he pitches a deal with the Chairwoman to get the school a higher ranking by creating a special class, which he 'bets' he can get 5 students admitted to Todai University by the end of a year's training. The faculty oppose him and his unconventional methods, he has a sort of zen-like understanding of how people learn, memorize, store information, and it's all a mind-body connection martial training system which is way too innovative for them. The reluctant guinea-pig students are subjected to strange teachers that he accumulates, who possess certain teaching properties calculated to bring about his goal of 100% success. Even if you just paid attention to the methods these teachers use, you can learn a lot about how to learn and memorize, and if you pay attention to the themes of the series you would learn a lot about persevering to overcome your own walls and pursue his advise, "If you fall, pick yourself up and do your best. In life there are many correct answers. Go find the correct answers for you, go and have a magnificent life!"