Dragon Zakura Season 2

Darker, Modern and Uplifting

I was able to see the first season where the cast are now big names in Japan and I did not expect that there is a S2 of this until I happen to check on Abe Hiroshi's filmography.

What I like here is that everything is modern and diverse. There is a gay educator and the chairmoan supports it, the chairman herself is not the typical Japanese principal who is akways against the villain. I like how the Chairman actually cares about the students and is willing to help Sakuragi sensei make these students pass the Todai exam even if the cost is her position. Also, Sakuragi sensei somehow becomes more intelligent when it comes to sensing unusual things that comes in his way.

There are also more students involved this time and they are diverse. Still, there are parents who are either inferior about their child getting more education than them, parents who has set a plan for their child even if it cause their child to suffer more.

Also, for some reason, the plot summary here is not really the same as how the story progress. Its a different school after all and the problem is way more deep.

I also like how the story progress when I initially thought that some of his former students kind of betraying Sakuragi and Mizuno sensei. I love how they are actually helping him unravel the real villain of the story. I have predicted about Sakamoto but not Yoneyama.

Also, some of Sakuragi sensei's speeches kind of hit home because of what I am feeling during the time that I watched it. Though some of them are overaching and may not be very applicable to the real world scenario but there are some that definitely defines your dilemma and what you can do about it as an adult.

What I only hate here is that, the pedo coach as well as the female lawyer did not receive their punishment. Also, the sakura tree is not highlighted much on this season unlike on S1 where it blossoms after their Todai exam.

All in all, this is a good and refreshing student series and I wish that they make a new season after 2 years or so.

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"Studying is the only equality this country offers"

I have not seen Dragon Zakura S1 (2005) and stumbled upon S2 (2021) on Netflix. Dragon Zakura S2 takes place two years after an unfortunate incident at another school with Sakuragi having gone underground. When a new school needs help motivating their students, it takes an old student to drag Sakuragi back into the land of the living.

Mizuno Naomi was one of the students Sakuragi Kenji helped get into the University of Tokyo (UT) back in 2005. Now a full-fledged lawyer with her own firm she needs fellow lawyer Sakuragi’s help at a high school with a dismal track record of sending kids to UT. With the carrot of a 5-year contract with the school if they can turn the ship around, Mizuno hunts her mentor down. The current chairperson, Tatsuno Kumiko, is firmly against stringent study habits, preferring the students to be autonomous. After Mizuno finds Sakuragi and cleans him up, she puts him back into the trenches. Tatsuno and Sakuragi butt heads with a wager being placed that if 5 students don’t make it into UT, the special course will be shut down.

What I liked:
Sakuragi played by Abe Hiroshi in the only suit he owns, seriously, I’ve never seen him in anything other than a black suit with a white dress shirt. At 169 cm/6’2” is that the only thing he can find to fit in Japan? Okay, that height is not unusual where I’m from but regardless of looking stunning in the uniform, can the next wardrobe department please make him something new to wear? Now, where was I… Right, Sakuragi may have had a Tiger Dad/Tough Love approach, but he never gave up on his students. He also left their life decisions up to them.

Sakuragi did have a point--Education and not memorization was key, the lifetime habit of asking questions and researching the answers was the best way to avoid being a nameless cog only useful for paying taxes.

Thank you, Sakuragi, for telling one mom that boys can do housework and another dad that girls can go to university. It’s the 21st century people!

The bonding of the students and their team camaraderie as they overcame obstacles may have been predictable, but was still satisfying.

What didn’t work for me:
The villain story was clumsily implemented. And what precipitated Sakuragi’s disappearance was never satisfactorily explained.

Mizuno called in a known tiger and then became frustrated when he didn’t act like a pampered house cat.

The handling of a gay character and an autistic savant student were borderline offensive at times.

Not a major turnoff, but problems and obstacles were easily overcome. Bad students made up for years of slacking quickly.

What dragged this drama’s score down for me and what tempts me to reduce it yet again is that they let abusers off the hook. Not once, not twice, not three times, but four. Forgive the abuser if you want, but they needed to be held accountable. ***rant below the date***

To sum up:
If I was still in school, this might have been a motivating drama for me. Sakuragi taught the kids that mistakes were normal and they should emotionally prepare for not being perfect. He helped them discover their weaknesses and how to overcome them so that they could still find joy while studying. Every student had been underestimated, with his program they gained confidence and became happier, freer. They learned to live up to their own expectations instead of living down to the low expectations set by others. Sakuragi guided the students onto a path of their own choosing, one that would lead to a future with more possibilities. Now, if he'd taught them they not only didn't have to take physical and emotional abuse, but could hold their abusers accountable, his job would have been well done. He failed spectacularly in that life course.

26 August 2025
Rant below with spoilery comments:






#1 The badminton coach who nearly ruined Kaede’s body and career purposefully should have been fired at the very least. Was he sleeping with a student as well? Kaede refused to report him, insisting the team needed him because he was a good coach. NO, HE WAS NOT. Good coaches don’t do the reprehensible things he did. Stop excusing men for abusing their power. Kaede's badminton partner working in cahoots with him and who purposely injured her during a tournament should have been kicked off the team. Made me ill seeing her going back and supporting the team and the abusers. Her parents were awful as well, pushing her when her body was broken.
#2- Mari’s dad was physically and emotionally abusive for years. She prevented the teachers and lawyers from turning him in saying TEN YEARS ago he was faced with a stressful situation which changed his behavior. Stop excusing physical abuse against girls/women!!!
#3 They let a villain off the hook in the “best interest” of a student. Wouldn’t holding a person responsible for illegal behaviors have been better for everyone so that they couldn’t ruin more lives? Will the student who was driven to suicide sleep better at night knowing the villain paid no price for any of their bad deeds?
#4 Where were the test monitors when two students abused another DURING and in-between exams? When discovered the miscreants should have been thrown out instead of being given more chances.

And I just talked myself into dropping this from a 7.5 to a 7.0 despite enjoying much of the drama.

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New journey to TODAI!

I didn't like the first episode since it has different vibe with the OG one that I adore so much, so at first I decided dropping it. But, the news that the og cast will appear on the last epi, changed my mind. Turned out, the Zakura engine was started on 2nd episode as the story more focus on the characters one by one and their struggle. Of course the legendary monolog by Sakuragi sensei and the tricks of Todai's entrance exam also made a wholesome come back. The twist by the end was also nicely made, although I already guessed it. Unfortunately, I still can't feel the emotional attachment to the students. The spark just not there and their friendship kind a bland. But, I do hope all these young actors and actresses will have bright future like the OG one.

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Todai no Hike!!!

nostalgic and fitting ending! missing one person physically

story we all know revolved with sakuragi sensee and honing the stupid students take on the todai and taking the bumps to those who want him to fail, episode is too short for the story lines this season, season 3 should be in the works hopefully.

watch the season 1 if you haven't . although seto needs to work on his crying lol, rewatch it on both seasons

my only take away is they should have released the ost for this season, realize was a spectacular ost from season 1
i can replay realize anytime and fiiting on a high school setting series.

season 3?? hahaha how old sakuragi sensee will be. will the math teacher still swinging kendo sticks, fingers crossed!
add this series to your playlist!

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less dramatic continuation of season 1

This was a good show. This season focuses way less on the studying aspect and they didnt show much of the improving process which i actually liked in the first season. It felt a bit rushed towards the last few episodes. Seto was one of the highlights of this show. Good show but kind of lackluster. Lacked something memorable that the first season had. About 7 episodes in we didnt have much progression at all and a few episodes later it was already at the end. This was more of a feel good version compared to the first which felt more realistic.

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too wordy, too artificial and too horrible at times

It reminded me of Great Teacher Onizuka (which I'm not a fan of), especially the beginning when we have two bullies which we make feel terrified to let them know how it is to be a victim. Magically, that instant, they turn into great guys with great personalities. Wow...
My main 2 problems with this drama is that it deals with problems too easy and too artificial and that the show is too wordy. The main hero is reciting a pretty poor script time after time, but it changes everything. The father is abusing his own child. Let a boring teacher give him a boring speech with strong voice. There. Problem solved. Ofcourse, we have friends helping each other and caring for each other (or learning to care), but the focus is still on talking teacher who simply get bolshy, nothing more.
The absolutely WORST thing we see in episode 2, when a coach is willingly destroying his stundent's knee (by damaging training), just for... chances for a date with her rival? It's not only sick as it is, but having an evidence of his wrong-doing, everybody's ok with him staying as a coach for a team and not taking the slightest punishment. I can't believe how horrible idea is this...
There are good parts of the show - the casting (for the most part) were pretty good (especially the students with Kenta on the lead), but the main hero is just a meld of motivation talk and staginess. Overall, I always had the feeling that the guy is not teaching anything, but just mesmerazing with talking and looking cool (or posing to be that way).

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Too much ToDai promotion?

Comparing this drama to its predecessor from 16 years earlier is unavoidable. But since my memory of the first season is vague, the memory of my impression of it will probably be biased. That being said, there are a few angles to analyze as to what worked and didn't work for me in this season.

I'll start with the setting. In the first season, my impression throughout the whole drama was Sakuragi saying it doesn't take a genius to into Tokyo University, just the right tools and tricks to study. ToDai was never presented as this "solve-all" solution. That is the impression I was given in the current season. While students were encouraged to choose their own paths in the end, until they got there all Sakuragi was saying was something along the lines of "if you don't give your all to enter ToDai you will remain a loser. It felt like the whole drama was promoting the university.

Next, while the setting was annoying, I liked how the school was presented. It did not exaggerate it to be all teens rebelling and playing around. It was a normal school. That did make me realize how colourful people were in the early 2ks and how visually dull it is nowadays. I did like how the students were gathered and their individual stories. Some stories were stronger than others. My favourite was Fujii's and the growth he goes through. Suzuka Ouji was great at performing a vulnerable character hiding behind a know-it-all bully.

If anything did annoy me about some of the student backstories, it would be the condoning of all sorts of abuse and not taking any actions whatsoever about it. Some things can be forgiven away, but some require getting people accountable for their actions. While there was more than 1 character abused in the drama, Iwasaki's was the most irrational and ridiculous to not address.

Finally, the biggest detractor of this drama in my opinion is the conspiracy surrounding the school. While it did give the story an interesting angle of not necessarily wanting the special class to succeed, it did consume a lot of time in the drama and was generally written badly. Hayashi Kento was so wasted here, that he barely said anything and spent the whole drama just giving mischievous laughs while his friend and he were too obvious. The characters taking part in the conspiracy were all caricature-like it wasn't even funny.

Overall worth the watch for nostalgia's sake!

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