Dragão Zakura (2005)

Loved: Abe Hiroshi is excellent in this role (it was the first I saw him in and probably still my favourite) - he maintains the balance of strictness, understanding and self-interest well and the students develop a real rapport with him. While the students were all quite young when Dragon Zakura was filmed most of them are now big names (Yamashita Tomohisa, Koike Teppei, Nagasawa Masami, Aragaki Yui) and it's interesting to see where they started out (although the acting of some has definitely improved with time!).



Didn't Love: The student's homeroom teacher (played by Hasegawa Kyoko) can be annoying at times but she always has the student's best interests at heart. Like most high school doramas there is a whole bunch of anti-change teachers to irritate the viewer and an incompetent but well-meaning principal with a penchant for hats tops it off.



Dragon Zakura isn't just another high school dorama - it's unique, funny and focuses on encouraging the students to want to improve themselves and their lives, rather than just mass-producing exam bots who can't think for themselves. A feel good show with some wacky characters and teaching methods thrown in for good measure.



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