Japanese Drama Freak

1.) Social Injustice

 The drama tries to show its viewers the ugly side of the society. Kenji Sakuragi is  former gang-member who later gains respect after he becomes a lawyer and climbs up the so-called social ladder. Throughout the drama, Sakuragi stresses many times that the society is very judgemental and rather coldblooded. Like what he says in his mini speech in the scene shown above, the society is controlled by the "intelligent people," people with a high education degree and social status; on the other hand, the "stupid" ones, people with a weak educational background and unadmired occupation, can only try to follow while being cheated and tricked. In my opinion, this viewpoint is realistic but negative. In other words, it might not go well with all its viewers. 

Jiro is a student from Shuumeikan, the best high school in the area with students with the highest average, meanwhile the guy showed in the last picture is Hideki, a student from Ryuuzan, the worst high school. After getting into a quarrel with his twin brother from Ryuuzan, Jiro punched him. However, when the police arrives, they immediatly assume Jiro is innocent when they learn that he is from the best high school, and when they knows that Hideki is from Ryuuzan, they accuse him of crime without any actual proof. This bleak example shows how much people are discriminated for their educational background by the society, even from their teenage years.

Likewise, the girl above, Mizuno, is told that she has no future and no possibilities just because she's not acedemically intelligent and that she goes to the worst high school in the area. She suffers under the social injustice towards people with a weak educational background.

2.) Study Skills

Since it is a drama about craming for university admissions exam, Dragon Zakura offers many study techniques. For example, the teacher stresses that math is a sport and by moving and using your reflexes when you solve questions, you can improve in math.

On the other hand, classical Japanese literature often bores its students. Thus, the teacher introduces a method to study literature through slightly censored comic books. He stresses that when the students are interested in the subject, they can study it and improve. Whether these methods are actually effective is questionable, but it does offer a different approach to acedemics than the traditional studying methods.

To be continued in Part II...

"Dragon Zakura." Online Video Clip. GoodDrama.net. 11 October. 2011. Web. 20-24 May. 2014.