School Dramas: Part 1 - The Classics

My first “school drama” experience was also my very first Asian Drama experience, so this genre has always and will always have a special place in my heart. When I first saw Gokusen (2002) back in 2004, I was 12 and a total tomboy, so a class full of delinquents and a badass teacher like Yamaguchi Kumiko (Nakama Yukie) was a dream come true. So my drama adventure which started at the age of 12 with Gokusen, continued with a lot of other dramas.

This genre has a lot of examples both from Japan and Korea. These examples can sometimes be very good and are loved by many, or sometimes a failure and disappoints the viewers...

The following classics are the best examples of their kind. Personally I LOVE THEM. They have a great plot, great casts and the greatest of the “messages” that any school drama can give to the viewers.

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Gokusen, short for Gokudo no Sensei (Gangster Teacher), based on the manga series Gokusen by Kozueko Morimoto, is a classic of the genre. A jewel of a proof that a drama can be as good as the manga!

This drama was loved by many and consequently has had 3 seasons, a TV special and a movie. We can’t put all of that in one pot, because each had its own set of cast. 

Starring Nakama Yukie, who is a very popular and talented actress, this drama had a very good chance of being awesome from the first moment of casting.

Nakama Yukie (see the Stalker's Guide on her) was popular before this series, but having done this series continuously for over 7 years, she did shine in this drama and proved that she could do both serious and funny dramas. After this drama series was finalized, she starred in a lot of other films and series.

General Plot:
A daughter of a Yakuza (Japanese Mafia), Yamaguchi Kumiko (nickname: Yankumi) instead of going with the family’s line of work, she becomes a high school teacher. But her training in the family and her ability to deal with delinquents, and with the help of fate, puts her in charge of the 3D Class which is for the hopeless and the worst of all the students. Being the daughter of the Yakuza Leader she proves to be tough and able to bond, to put these boys lives back on track and help these “actually not so bad in the core” students go through their last year in high school and start a life in the real world.

Casting:
It has the best casting in the Gokusen history. Co-starring Matsumoto Jun as Sawada Shin, in my opinion has been the door to fame for Mr. Matsumoto and to the ratings for this drama. Other eye-candy in the drama are Kenichi Matsuyama, Shun Oguri, and Narimiya Hiroki.

Rating: 9/10
The first one ever is always a tad bit special to me :). The story is good. It's very relate-able even though its bizarre at the same time. You have fun all the time but sometimes in serious moments it does make you think about friendship, school and things that happen in your lives. 

The cast does a great job. You may see yourself in some of the characters and compare your school life to it. But still the characters weren't fully developed ...Because there are a lot of side characters, you might find your favorite student not fully developed and it sometimes irritates me personally.

Gokusen - Season 2 (‘05)

Yankumi, after being away from her students for 5 years, is back and she is to handle another bunch of 3-D but this time they are meaner and more violent! The plot is better than the first one, and the characters develop better in this season.

How so? - During the first season, we get a lot about Yankumi and how she struggles to keep her family background hidden, but we don’t get much about the students. During this season we get into the story of the students more since we don’t have to deal with Yankumi anymore.

Casting:
Another boys paradise, a special treat for the KAT-TUN fans. You can watch Kazuya Kamenashi as Ryu Odagiri and Jin Akanishi as Hayato Yabuki. Other well-known actors would be Teppei Koike and Mokomichi Hayami.

Rating: 10/10
WHY NOT? 
EVERYTHING ABOUT THIS SEASON IS PERFECT :D

Season 3 (‘08) - Gokusen Graduation Special (‘09)

Plot:
The plot is very similar to the second one, where a new principle goes to offer the job to teach a 3-D class to Yankumi that no other teacher can control. A bunch of hot delinquents and their problems. But I must assure you, with the side stories of the new students, this drama never gets old! If there was another season made right now, I would hold all the current dramas and watch the fourth season.

Casting:
This time, we’re facing a set of new and fresh students. The main student and Yankumi have a slightly different relationship, not failing to add to this amazing season. The rest of the side characters as always have their own charisma and uniqueness. These guys will never fail to make you laugh!

Takaki Yuya as Ogata Yamato – For me, he fell short for the tough guy image, but believe me, everyone other than me loves him.

Miura Haruma as Kazama Ren – Kyaaaa! The reason for me watching the 3rd Season and the Special

Ishiguro Hideo as Honjo Kengo!

Rating: 9/10
Why not 10 out of 10?

Well there are always those things you don't like in a drama. I rarely give a drama 10/10 and 9/10 is really a very high number on my scale. My main issue with this season is the cast. Don't get me wrong, they were all amazing but the chemistry wasn't as great as the first two seasons. Regardless, this season is my personal  favorite - I simply loved it. This simple fact made me happy that I had stuck through the first 2 seasons.

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Yet we have another classic of the genre. Originally an award winning manga with the same name by Norifusa Mita, this drama tells the tale of an ex-lawyer and a gang member Kenji Sakuraji, and when a chance comes to make some money and get his social status back, he starts as a teacher in the “baka”-school Ryuuzan High School. There he opens up a special class and claims that he can make these students pass the entrance exams and get into the best Japanese university. But all these students have their own problems and Kenji proves to be more than just a teacher.

The TV adaptation first came from the Japanese back in 2005 (second drama I saw in the world of Asian drama). For me, this will always be the “original version”. A very good adaptation as the story and plot line follows the manga. The Korean version came 5 years later in 2010. Being a big gap between the two, I could watch the Korean version with a fresh pair of eyes.



Japanese version has Hiroshi Abe as Kenji, and he did fit the image of the manga perfectly. He was tough, smart and also charismatic. The female lead teacher was the only one I thought that didn’t really match with my image in the Japanese version.

Students of the Special Class:
Tomohisa Yamashita as Yūsuke, Masami Nagasawa as Naomi Mizuno, Teppei Koike as Hideki Ogata
Yui Aragaki as Yoshino Kōsaka, Akiyoshi Nakao as Ichirō Okuno, Saeko as Maki Kobayashi


Korean version renamed as “God of Study” was exactly how I would think a Korean Dragon Zakura would have been like. The main plot had been preserved, though there were plot twists when it came to the students, which worked out wonderfully.

Kenji, in Korean Kim Soo-ro as Kang Suk Ho, is again tough, commending and powerful. He is a very good actor, and does a very good job in this drama.

Two reason why I thought this drama was so good: firstly the teen-actors were very good at acting, secondly they had a great chemistry between them. I thought their chemistry was even better than the Japanese version. Plot wise I wouldn't say the Korean one was better since the Japanese version stuck more with the original manga plot, but both plots have their own country based flavors to themselves. The ending was, in both versions, very good. And both are worth the watch.

Special Class Students:
Oh Yoon-ah as Jang Ma Ri , Yoo Seung-ho as Hwang Baek Hyun
Park Ji-yeon (T-ara) as Na Hyun Jung  , Go Ah-sung as Gil Pul Ip , Lee Hyun-woo as Hong Chan Doo

Deep note:
I am a big Yamapi fan, like hardcore, but other than him, in my opinion the rest of the Korean cast is better looking than the Japanese cast…

My recommendation is that you should first try the Japanese version and then the Korean version because both versions have their own little twists and also because the cultures are different, both dramas have their own “taste” to them.

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If you are new to Asian Dramaland and wish to start off with something light and entertaining yet educating,or if you don't like the heavy dramatic Korean dramas that you cant wrap your head around all the twists and turns of the plot, these dramas are for you.They were the first ones I saw and loved, so maybe I am not a very good judge of how good of a drama they are,so please comment below and let me know if you liked the article and if it was helpful. Let me know if you watched the dramas,read the mangas of these titles.

I don't know if you will watch these dramas after seeing this article or if you will like these dramas or not,but I am sure of one thing, you will appreciate how good they are!