Sometimes I get really lazy, procrastinate and refuse to do anywork. When I do I turn to this Drama for motivation. Dragonzakura, one of my favorite J-Drama ever.
Dragonzakura is a live action drama based on a manga of the same name by Norifusa Mita. The old manga art is pretty old fashioned and not towards my taste that's why I preferred the live action version better.
The story is about a poor Lawyer bringing up 6 of the students in the bankrupting Ryozan High School aka "School for Idiots" and forming a special class in order to get these students into the most pretigous school in Japan, Tokyo University (TouDai)
Main Characters: Sakuragi Kenji- a poor Lawyer who was assigned to take care of the Bankrupting Ryozan high, founder of the special class. Ex-Bike gang member.
Ino Mamako- English teacher, with high education moral values teaching at Ryozan, Dragged around by Sakuragi as a sort of side kick.
Yajima Yusuke- A student from a poor family in debt, part of a band, plays the trumpet, works many jobs on the side.
Mizuno Naomi- Childhood friend of Yusuke, works at her mother's family restaurant as a low wage waitress. Worst grades out of the 6 special class members.
Ogata Hideki- Kid from a rich family, member of the band with Yusuke, Usually spoiled by her mother and dislikes it. He's a very high spirited and easy going guy.
Kosaka Yoshino- Yusuke's girlfriend, usually pretty jealous at Naomi, only in the class because of Yusuke.
Okuno Ichirou- An older brother of someone who studies hard to get into Toudai, his younger brother has always been favored and Ichirou is always looked down upon by his younger brother.
Kobayashi Maki- A girl that likes to wear a lot of make up. Member of the special class, Doesn't want to lose to her friend who is currently an idol
The story is pretty amazing and it actually makes you want to study. Love Sakuragi Kenji's teaching style, that none traditional, pragmatic but still awesome. The students all have their own circumstances, of which some you can really relate to. I really wanted to share this gem with everyone.
I donno how the Japanese one is, but the Korean one was pretty bad imho (it was pretty popular in korea though). A lot of the educational methods presented were just unconventional and more efficient ways of drilling facts into your brain. In other words, it doesn't provide any solutions to the fundamental issues of East Asian education. Schools should teach how to learn, rather than putting emphasis only on repetitive practice (although this is sometimes useful).
Furthermore, the basic premise of the show is that anyone can succeed if they just work hard and have an optimistic attitude WITHIN the institutionalized educational system. This is an extremely narrow-sighted way to help the misfit characters find a purpose in life. Imho, governments should work to promote specialized careers that do not force people to waste time in the primary and secondary educational system that is solely designed to produce kids that score high on college exams (basically the educational system in Korea and Japan right now). Society should not portray competition in school as the sole purpose of a student's life, because doing so often leads to high suicide rates in teens in Korea and Japan.
On May 30 2012 03:16 .Sic. wrote: I donno how the Japanese one is, but the Korean one was pretty bad imho (it was pretty popular in korea though). A lot of the educational methods presented were just unconventional and more efficient ways of drilling facts into your brain. In other words, it doesn't provide any solutions to the fundamental issues of East Asian education. Schools should teach how to learn, rather than putting emphasis only on repetitive practice (although this is sometimes useful).
Furthermore, the basic premise of the show is that anyone can succeed if they just work hard and have an optimistic attitude WITHIN the institutionalized educational system. This is an extremely narrow-sighted way to help the misfit characters find a purpose in life. Imho, governments should work to promote specialized careers that do not force people to waste time in the primary and secondary educational system that is solely designed to produce kids that score high on college exams (basically the educational system in Korea and Japan right now). Society should not portray competition in school as the sole purpose of a student's life, because doing so often leads to high suicide rates in teens in Korea and Japan.
On May 30 2012 03:16 .Sic. wrote: I donno how the Japanese one is, but the Korean one was pretty bad imho (it was pretty popular in korea though). A lot of the educational methods presented were just unconventional and more efficient ways of drilling facts into your brain. In other words, it doesn't provide any solutions to the fundamental issues of East Asian education. Schools should teach how to learn, rather than putting emphasis only on repetitive practice (although this is sometimes useful).
Furthermore, the basic premise of the show is that anyone can succeed if they just work hard and have an optimistic attitude WITHIN the institutionalized educational system. This is an extremely narrow-sighted way to help the misfit characters find a purpose in life. Imho, governments should work to promote specialized careers that do not force people to waste time in the primary and secondary educational system that is solely designed to produce kids that score high on college exams (basically the educational system in Korea and Japan right now). Society should not portray competition in school as the sole purpose of a student's life, because doing so often leads to high suicide rates in teens in Korea and Japan.
Dude relax, it's a drama.....
A DRAMA THAT INSTILLS FALSE HOPES TO KEEP THE KIDS SHACKLED TO THIS SHITTY SYSTEM!!
on a side note, have you ever read/watched Great Teacher Onizuka? It's got a similar premise, and I found it pretty inspirational.
On May 30 2012 03:16 .Sic. wrote: I donno how the Japanese one is, but the Korean one was pretty bad imho (it was pretty popular in korea though). A lot of the educational methods presented were just unconventional and more efficient ways of drilling facts into your brain. In other words, it doesn't provide any solutions to the fundamental issues of East Asian education. Schools should teach how to learn, rather than putting emphasis only on repetitive practice (although this is sometimes useful).
Furthermore, the basic premise of the show is that anyone can succeed if they just work hard and have an optimistic attitude WITHIN the institutionalized educational system. This is an extremely narrow-sighted way to help the misfit characters find a purpose in life. Imho, governments should work to promote specialized careers that do not force people to waste time in the primary and secondary educational system that is solely designed to produce kids that score high on college exams (basically the educational system in Korea and Japan right now). Society should not portray competition in school as the sole purpose of a student's life, because doing so often leads to high suicide rates in teens in Korea and Japan.
Dude relax, it's a drama.....
A DRAMA THAT INSTILLS FALSE HOPES TO KEEP THE KIDS SHACKLED TO THIS SHITTY SYSTEM!!
on a side note, have you ever read/watched Great Teacher Onizuka? It's got a similar premise, and I found it pretty inspirational.
I'm surprised this is the first thread about this show. I saw this a long time ago, and it's definitely one of the better J-dramas that I've watched and enjoyed. Kind of reminds me, I should start finding more J-dramas to watch.
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