Dragon Zakura

This drama screams the word ridiculous. From annoying minor characters to ludacris teaching methods to the over the top "bad school."

To start with, I found Abe Hiroshi's character to be a preachy douchbag. He tried to install tough love and discipline into his students but his constant preaching and bickering to the students was way over the top. Instead, he comes off as an ego-driven character who thinks he's some big hot shot. The discipline factor here is not as well done as movies like Gridiron Gang or Coach Carter.

Furthermore I found most of the minor characters annoying, especially the teachers at the school (except for Hagesawa Kyoko's character), and the extremely whiney principal. Not to mention the extremely over the top teachers that Abe's character brung in, who came off as Gandalf the Math teacher, an Albert Einstein rip-off for a Physics teacher, and a break-dancing bar owner as an English teacher. I also felt that even the worst school to be "full of idiots" was also too over the top and unrealistic for my taste.

The student characters themselves were ok, and somewhat redeemed the show for me. I was initially drawn in by Gakky, but I found her character somewhat problematic. At first she iritated me with her constant jealousy and her extreme reliance on Yamapi's character. However, she changed a bit over the course of the series so I didn't mind her as much towards the end. Yamapi's character I was a bit mixed on. He was the driving force of the students in the special class, but his acting in this drama just comes off as boring. He's pretty good in Code Blue but here he's just a flake. I did like Maki, Hideki, and Ichiro, and could sympathize with all of them due to their struggles. However, the one character I really did like was Nagasawa Masami's character, Naomi. With her struggles with her mom at first doubting her then later getting sick and becoming hospitalized. Plus she felt like the one legitimate character that wasn't over the top to begin with. I was really dissapointed when she fell short at the end and wasn't able to complete her exam.

Overall, there are some good things about this drama. I feel the storyline could have worked, but all the over the top ludacrisy really drags it down. I give it 5.5/10.

It's fun if we can use the same method of study like them, we never get bored and will become easier to understand.

Nagazawa Masami and Abe Hiroshi are the two more welcome aspects of this light drama, which follows in the huge footsteps of GTO and Gokusen. But while the latter are among the most successful dramas ever, expectations are high.

I liked Abe Hiroshi's over-the-top performance as a lawyer who tries to revive a dying, under-achieving high school - really, the perfect actor for the role. Nagasawa is always charming, but especially so as a mediocre student destined for a no-future life. But the writing isn't as sharp or clever than it might be, the situations not as dramatic. Several of the incidents impel one to use the fast-forward button more than usual. It's not surprising that Dragon Zakura didn't get any sequels or specials.