Jdorama review: Dragon Zakura ep 2-7

After a slow beginning Dragon Zakura is picking up and is proving to be a very entertaining dorama.

Nagasawa Masami seems to be getting hotter the more I watch the series......

The main plot for the middle of the series is Sakuragi (Hiroshi Abe) bringing in teachers to teach the special class. Oni sensei is really funny with his long beard and kendo stick as well as the english teacher who runs a Filipino bar. Too bad the other two don't get much air time.

Another part of the series that I enjoy is that they show you 'techniques' for their studying. I totally agree with reading manga to study history. Problem is there's probably a lot of historical inaccuracies in there. As I've said before, wtf did Onizuka and Yankumi ever teach their students anyway.

Sometimes the 'techniques' feel a bit preachy and cliched but its what makes this series different from GTO and Gokusen. Also there's not much teacher solving student's problems like Kinpachi sensei, rather Sakuragi uses the students' problems to 'control' them.

If I study for Todai, can I get her to interview me?

In ep 6, word of the special Todai class gets out and the media comes in to do a report on them. Sakuragi is pissed off with the inteference and everyone else just wants their 15 minutes of fame.

Another shot of the uber kawaii idol reporter. (Anyone know her name?)

Nice shot of Yazawa Shin's er.... legs. Too bad they're, I mean she's not in the dorama more.

Group shot of the legendary teachers. Oni sensei seems to have discarded his kendo stick...

Ep 7 ends with them taking a practice exam for Todai but with the previews for ep 8 and the fact that the series has a way to go, we know how they did.

Saeko with a fierce glare. She kinda reminds me of Otsuka Ai.

On the whole, this series is shaping to be a very watchable one. Its not great but it does the high school genre differently from the others that I'm not bored. Not to mention there's plenty of eye candy for all the sukebes out there.

Thanks to junkboy for uploading the series and PB Fansubs for subbing eps 1 and 2. On a related note, its a bit harder to understand the dialogue without subs but its still accessible for ppl with only know words and phrases like me.

It looks like Densha Otoko ep 10 will be airing in Japan on the 15th and will be an hour in length and the final 1 1/2 hour ep will air on the 22nd. Fingers crossed that the final two episodes are really good.