Sunday, November 27, 2005

Jyoou no Kyoushitsu (Queens Classroom) ep 4

The Queen is good, damn good. When she found out about the rebellion in ep 3, she not only managed to diffuse but also to turn the girl they were trying to help traitor. Nothing pisses me off than suck-ups trying to save their own skin while damning their friends.

In order to prevent another uprising, the Queen punishes the whole class, ensuring that there will be a mole next time. The Queen then starts her plan to destroy any semblence of unity in the class by diving them into groups and appointing weak leaders. Any transgression and the whole group will get punished.

Again we see Kanda trying to be true to her 'friends' and non of them standing up for her. The Queen bumps into her on a rainy night and tell her that she is alone.

Now I start to see why the writer chose to place the story in a primary school setting: so that the naevity and good nature of Kanda does not seem like idiocy. Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me. If Kanda were a high school student, we'd think of her more like a idiot for trusting her friends. Instead, we are appalled that primary school kids can sell out their friends and have no remorse.

Its hard to believe that currently my favourite dorama to watch does not really have any idols for me to perv at. Maybe its due to the fact that everyone can relate to a school settings and classmates who sell ppl out and suck up to teachers. God, I hate those suck up kids.

I'm still waiting for the enigmatic Hikaru to make her move. My prediction: she'll have some great plan to topple the Queen later in the series...

The missing part of the story so far is Hikaru. Kanda asks the question we all want to know: why is she so indifferent to the Queen and her machiavellian ways. Unfortunately, we don't get an answer. She and Yusuke are the only ones left to defy the Queen but her motives are unclear. The preview of ep 5 shows the whole class turning on poor Kanda and we'll have to wait till the 2nd half of the series to get our answer.

Mrs Kintaro as Kanda's mom. God, what I wouldn't give to watch Salaryman Kintaro seasons 3 and 4. Its one of the most fun series to watch, ever.

The other plotline to ponder is the motive of the Queen. She claims to want to turn her students into hard working people who listen to their superiors and afraid of punishment. Personally I think that's a load of crap. Working smart is better than working hard and superiors aren't always right.

Fear of punishment is directly from Machiavelli's book, the Prince. The most effective way to rule is through fear. Another 'tip' from the Prince is to make the people hate one of your subordinates and then execute them when the time is right. Clearly she is slowly making the class hate the group leaders and I think she'll turn on those who suck up to her when the time is right to appease the rest of the class.

Its more likely she's not as evil as she seems. I'm guessing she's more of a ends justifies the means person. She seems to have the agenda of breaking Kanda down and turning her into another self serving, suck-up student. As with eps 1-3, there a great scene at the end of the ep. With more 6 episodes to go, I can't wait to see what happens next.

Hara Sachie as the lame teacher Kanda goes to for advice. See I told you there's no idols to perv at, unless you find the Queen hot......

1 comment:

silos said...

I love your list of must watch dramas. I am following them one by one. Finished Dragon Zakura.
Now watching Joou no Kyoushitsu. Will watch densha otoko after this.
Dragon was good but I prefer Abe Hiroshi as the bumbling physicist Ueda from Trick than this lawyer who will change the lives of students. Nakama Yukie was wonderful too :)
Kyoushitsu is turning out to be wonderful. I'm on episode 4 and I can't wait to see more.
Keep up the great reviewing!