Drama Recommendation: Shizuka-chan to Papa
In J-dramas, there is this classic troupe about troublesome students being positively influenced by a new teacher in the school. These dramas are very heartwarming and usually have a very interesting plot development. The students play a very important role in the story but it’s mainly the teachers that steal the show because of their life lessons and by giving their students a dream they can follow.
Here are 5 dramas with the most inspiring teachers:
Rookies (2008)
This drama is one of my all-time favourites; it has an excellent plot and also a very good cast. Rookies is about a group of students who used to play baseball but due to a violent incident, they end being banned from playing for a season. After this, they lose their dream to go to the national baseball tournament and get labelled as a bunch of delinquents at school so they quit playing baseball. Kawato is the new teacher that arrives at the school — he is very determined and likes to talk about achieving your dreams. He gradually gets involved with the school’s baseball team and one-sidedly decides to help the boys achieve their dream to go to the national tournament.
Rookies is a heartwarming drama. It has many emotional moments and the development of the relationship between the boys and the teacher is very endearing. It’s a drama that gradually builds the teamwork and the friendship between every character involved. Finally, I have to mention the outstanding ending song “Kiseki” by GReeeeN — it fits perfectly into this drama’s story.
Don't forget to watch the movie when you finish the drama, there's also a special, but you can skip that since it's basically a recap of all the drama episodes.
Dragon Zakura (2005)
This is a story about underdogs and their journey to achieve their dreams. Abe Hiroshi is Sakuragi Kenji a former lawyer who also belonged to a motorbike gang. After ending his career as a lawyer, he starts teaching in a school, he announces that his study method is an excellent one and that he can make any student get in Tokyo’s most prestigious university, Todai. He firmly believes that with the right study method any student regardless of their background can get into Todai, and that there’s no such thing as a pathetic or hopeless student.
So he gathers 5 students with the lowest grades in the school and starts preparing them for Todai’s admission test. At first, these 5 students are not motivated and do not believe they could make it into Todai. But Sakuragi’s willpower and encouragement will start to change his students’ attitude towards their goal.
There are very interesting study techniques shown during the course of the drama, so you can look forward to discovering them. And also find out whether Sakuragi’s students will achieve their goal or not!
Yowakutemo Katemasu (2014)
It’s a story that focuses on a high school baseball club which is known for sending a good amount of students to Tokyo University but also for being very weak at playing baseball and never winning a game. Ninomiya Kazunari plays a high school teacher who used to study at that high school and recently started working in it. Due to being a former member of the school’s baseball team, he ends up being assigned as the team’s coach. He slowly starts getting involved with the team and the members, and using unusual strategies and coaching, he declares “this team will win even if it’s weak”.
This drama’s strongest point is its originality, there are other stories of underdog teams, but this one uses a new approach on how the team grows up.
GTO (1998)
GTO stands for Great Teacher Onizuka and that’s why this drama is all about Sorimachi’s character. Onizuka used to be a motorcycle gang leader but decided to go all out for his dream of becoming a teacher. He finally gets hired at a high school, but his students don’t take him so seriously due to his lack of experience. But he gradually starts getting involved with his students’ lives and problems, and with his unusual way of solving things, he’ll win their trust and affection.
This drama is the oldest one within this bunch and it may look outdated but I do recommend this version over the remake.
Gokusen (2002)
This drama has a female teacher, Yamaguchi, as the main character. She belongs to an old yakuza family whose leader is her grandfather. Wanting to follow a different path than being her grandfather’s successor, she decides to become a teacher. Yamaguchi starts working in an all-boys high school and is assigned to the most troublesome classroom in school (every season). She has to hide her family’s business and origins, since being part of yakuza is not well seen and she could lose her job because of that. She is a very good fighter so she always ends up protecting and saving her students from the problems they end up getting involved with and therefore she gains their respect.
So far there are 3 seasons and a movie
What's your favourite drama of this genre??
