So, after a two-week interim, I finished the final episode of "Dragon Zakura," a drama about a lawyer (Abe Hiroshi, who stars in the now-airing "Shiroi Haru") who preps six students for the Todai (Tokyo University) entrance exam in order to pull their high school out of debt. His goal: send 5 students from the worthless Ryuuzan High School, where the average grade is 36%, to Todai. Oh, and he has one year to do this.
Throughout the series' 11 episodes, Kenji (Hiroshi) and his posse of eccentric teachers assign the students studying tasks that seem contrary to typical belief but which (at least the ones I've done) really do work. For example, the students improve speed in answering math problems by playing ping pong, learn English from listening to popular American love songs, and understand basic historical and literary concepts by reading manga.
Like the six students in the show, I've used some of the techniques. I study Japanese kanji while working out at the gym, and about half of what I've learned comes from outside the classroom by listening to Japanese music and watching J-doramas (like "Dragon Zakura"). Who says listening to J-pop is a waste of time?
If you need some study tips, you should watch this show - then you'll have to study harder to make up for the time you missed by watching this, but at least you'll know how to.
The cast includes Yui Aragaki (from the movie "Koizora"), my favorite babyfaced-detective, Koike Teppei, and the so-cool-he-has-a-nickname YamaP (from Johnny's NEWS and dramas like "Nobuta wo Produce" and "Code Blue"). Teppei's pink-streaked hair and always-changing rocker nail color kept me amused. That and how he's the only left-handed one in the group, so if you saw someone with black nail polish writing left-handed, you knew it was Teppei. Cue the heads up for screen pausing. :)
Like most Japanese dramas, I never see the ending before it comes. There usually is no ultimate happy ending for all main characters, which surprisingly is much more satisfying than a superficial, all-ends-well story.
Something I did predict: From the beginning, I had joked to myself, "It would be fantastic if somehow they all ended up working together at the restaurant/bar Nao-boo runs. Now, that would be the strangest group of employees..." Predictably, they did - and Teppei as a waiter is the definition of げんき (lively).
My favorite parts:
Episode 6: When they danced around the classroom singing Captain and Tennille's "Love Will Keep Us Together" in order to learn English... I sincerely hope I don't look like that singing to KAT-TUN. I don't, right?
Episode 8: Teppei and the others return after summer vacation, and he freaks out because he realized he didn't get any girls over the summer.
Episode 11: Maki's internal monologue before the Todai exam: "The other candidates are not enemies. They're all pumpkins... er, no, watermelons...er, melons... YOSHI! *smile* It's not the right season, but let's go for melons." You have to watch her expression and voice - too cute.
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