for this Drama. Because it deserves it!
I have always been a great fan of high-school-dramas, especially when they have
a "hero-like" main-lead :)
(maybe my addiction to them comes from Gokusen)
But for once I didn´t even plan to watch this Drama. By accident I clicked on it on a streaming website and I must say that this is one of the Dramas which are unexpected gems!
The plot was very well-done and it served it´s purpose. I was glued to the screen each time I was watching the episodes. I even put on-hold currently airing dramas such as "Kill me, heal me" only in order to watch a new episode of this Drama. Besides being a light watch, it involves a few darker themes as well (such as disappointment, bullying, betrayal etc). In my opinion it was the perfect mix of them. My favorite part weren´t only the held speeches but the presidents encouraging of her classmates, teachers etc in the middle of each episode were really touching as well.
I didn´t feel the need to stop to watch the Drama, like I tend to do with many melodramas.
But still it was enough to evoke excitement in me. Especially in the middle of the Drama.
As for the ending it didn´t quite satisfy me (no I won´t spoil it don´t worry) but then again it made me happy as well. You will see what I mean when you have watched it :=)
The female leading role (the president) seemed sweet and sincerly in her role. Her acting portrayed her innocence and ever growing strong will well, though I wouldn´t say that it was outstanding.
It was enough for me that I felt along with her and I really enjoyed her role a lot :)
The male main lead was more like a mysterious side-character who played a major role in achieving her dreams. At first I thought he would only play a gloomy, minor role but it turned out to be different.
I wouldn´t say that I will miss his role as much as from the sweet president, but I really enjoyed the interactions between him and her.
As for the other roles I personally really liked the "platinum" group, the student rulers of the school. I would have wished for even more of their screen time. Instead they more likely became side-characters.
There was no actor/actress whose acting I found to be "bad" and therefor I gave 9 points for the cast.
This definetely isn´t a cheesy drama as you might expect from the synopsis and I am glad that I came to watch it. I can assure you that most likely won´t regret giving it a try as well. It will be worth the time!
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I've never watched a programme this amazing in my entire life, it really has changed my perspective on the power of people. I love Kamiki Ryunosuke and he was spectacular in this drama. This is the first time I've ever watched a drama with Hirose Suzu but I now hope to watch more dramas that she featured in as she was simply riveting. Both their words sent chills down my spines, they were such fantastic characters. You must watch this drama, I promise that you will never forget it.
Never be oppressed, speak your mind, words have as much or more power than actions!!!!
I love this drama!!!!!
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He’s basically one of the most talented young actors in Japan so when I watched this drama I wanted to slam the screenwriter head against a wall.
The plot is ok, I’m not saying I didn’t like it.
But all the characters, except for Kamiki’s one ( but sometimes his character too were a little bit awful) , were so bad portrayed that I almost drop this drama.
Let’s talk about the plot. It’s basically the common high school story about a girl who was bullied by evil and rich classmates and now she take a stand and try to change her rotten school.
The main idea is actually cool, the first episode left me so speechless. But after some episodes, I noticed that the story started to become a little bit boring because of the characters.
The “evil boys” weren’t actually evil at all. It took just one episode to completely make them become good puppies.
Same thing happened to the “bitches squad”.
This plot had a good meaning behind it. Education is an evil creature and basically school and teachers don’t gice a damn about their students.
Kei monologues were AMAZING! He’s so clever and I liked to see that he was actually pretty old compared to other characters age.
His background story was touching but I couldn’t stop myself from laughing when he stood up just like Clara from Haidi anime.
And last but not least, Hirose Suzu.
Let’s be honest, I really hate her. I can’t understand why she’s so freaking famous as an actress when her voice is so annoying but that’s just my opinion.
Her character was cute but at the same time I found her so freaking childish. But it was a good match to Kei’s cold and sassy personality.
This wasn’t a drama meant for a love story so when Haruna kissed Kei I was like “NOOOOO WHAT THE HELL ARE THEY DOING????”
Romance isn’t always the right choice.
Anyway, I would recommend this drama but just for Kamiki’s acting skills.
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The quote says it all!! Kamiki’s acting is brilliant!
I have liked Kamiki since he became Seta Soujiro in Rurouni Kenshin – Kyoto Inferno (tho I actually have seen him since he was 7 years old) but Watching Gakkou no Kaidan made a fan out of me. His acting in this TV Drama is BRILLIANT!I watched this series at the same when it aired in Japan (the magic of internet), it was from January 10 to March 14. The streaming site showed it a week later because it had to wait for someone to translate each episode. I admire the person who had subbed it because Kamiki speaks soooo fast.
To be honest, the story is very simple and in some way isn’t that interesting. There are so many flaws to the story. I have watched a lot of high school drama and most of them deliver a feeling of a whole class…Gakkou no Kaidan doesn’t have that kind of feeling. It focuses more on the two main characters and the rest of the classmates are nothing but shadow or accessories. Even when Tsubame is trying to change them little by little to be a better person, I still can’t see the emotional attach on them. I don’t blame the actors because I know the fault is on the script. Apart from the characters, there are also situation that doesn’t make normal sense at all. They make it just for the sense of dramatization.
HOWEVER,
The best of this drama keeps me wanting to see more of it.
I LOVE seeing Kamiki’s act as Tsuzukui Kei. He delivers the character flawlessly. Here’s a quote I take from Psycho Drama with the right title: Casting agents should be careful whom to cast opposite Ryunosuke Kamiki: Gakko no Kaidan serves as another acting vehicle!
As Kei Shizukui, Kamiki showed a variety of emotions – malevolent and malicious, mischievous and mysterious, revealing and secretive, powerful and helpless. I think he will definitely be enjoying playing this character.
The quote says it all!! Kamiki’s acting is brilliant! He can speak so fast without pausing (reminds me of Benedict Cumberbatch’s Sherlock). What I like the most is how easy it is for him to change emotions and face muscle. One second he acts like an annoying kid and then the next second he turns mysterious. It’s like seeing so many characters and emotion in one person. As the drama progress, we get to see more simple facial expression…simple but somehow it delivers all the feeling of annoyed, sad, tender, caring, anger, love, happy, and many more. There are many scenes where Tsubame’s word can calm the angry Tsuzukui and Kamiki does the change of his face expression so transparently without much gesture, simply relying on his face muscle. Knowing how cheerful Kamiki is in real life (I have seen quote a lot of his interviews), to be playing Tsuzukui who is totally different to the real Kamiki makes me admire this young actor.
Kamiki's Kei
The second thing that I like about this drama is the chemistry between Tsubame and Tsuzukui. Hirose and Kamiki are a great pair. It’s like they have known each other for so long. They make us believe that they really are two people who likes each other. Rather than paying attention to what will happen to the school and the students, I am more concern to know how they relationship goes…whether they admit they like each other or just simply ignore the feeling or nothing but friends.
One thing for sure, I really ship them. I kinda hope they are dating in real life 😉 I am not much of a romance lover, BUT I do like this kind of romance (the main idea of the movie/series is not in the romance, romance is just the side dish)
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Just watch this series.
I love how the series involve leadership and corruption here in the movie. I think it represents the society nowadays where there are a lot of injustices happening caused by the leaders and powerful ones victimizing the lower class in the society. It also shows the problem of having a puppet president who appears to be a leader yet powerless in front of the people. The series also shows how people’s minds and emotions can be swayed by words.The chemistry between the two actors was shown on the few cheesy moments of the drama such as the indirect kiss scenes, hugging and consoling scenes. There’s a bonus at the last episode for you romantic people out there. I don’t want to elaborate since I want to spoil your moods in watching the series.
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It seriously kept me glued to the screen even when I have to fight off sleep.
I haven’t watched Asian dramas in a very long time, but then I came about this video on Facebook and one thing led to another. Soon enough, I found myself watching J-drama after J-drama after J-drama. The latest, which I watched from midnight until morning (hence, the eye bags), is Gakkou no Kaidan.Not going to lie: I thought there would be romance—kind-of why I checked it out in the first place—and there is a sprinkle of it, which is fine by me. Honestly, by episode 6 and 7, I was fine if nobody ended up with anybody.
The story begins with Tsubame Haruna, who presumably because of a prank, becomes student council president. Unbeknownst to her, there’s an unspoken rule that the student council is just a puppet of the Platinum 8, a group of rich, snobby, attractive students who think frowning and being a bully is an Olympic sport. The main character at the beginning has no backbone and is a people-pleasing peacemaker, which I think really hits home for me. When her friend, the vice president, who’s in the same situation she’s in, is unjustly blamed; she meets Shizukui Kei, a guy who mysteriously appears out of nowhere and likes to speak theatrically and cryptically. A brilliant speechmaker, he helps the quiet and naïve Tsubame to change the corrupt system of the school, one speech at a time.
As you can tell, Kei, who is played by Kamiki Ryunosuke, is a scene-stealer. He reminds me of Archie Costello, Elliot Allagash, and Artemis Fowl—all of whom are included in my “Weirdest Crushes I’ll Never Admit (But then, I just did)” list. What do they have in common, you may ask? They’re all freaking brilliant—genius masterminds who know of people’s interest, are skilled in the art of manipulation, and orchestrate and control all with the use of words. Kei, in a way, is kind-of like that. He helps Tsubame by reading people like a teenager would read a celebrity tweet. He reads them well.
Tsubame, on the other hand, may not be as conniving as Kei. They seem to have the same purpose, which is to change the school; but unlike the vengeful Kei, Tsubame just genuinely wants to help people and fight injustice. She keeps this integrity throughout. An example of which is when Kei asks her why she sympathizes with the enemy. But Tsubame doesn’t see people like Kei does, divided into allies and enemies. She sees them as capable of kindness and getting hurt. Even when people turn against her and she feels betrayed most of the time, she still tries to see the good in people. It’s quite funny because while she had no will of her own (and Kei literally had to coach her to take a few steps towards the stage) in the beginning, she ended up having a stronger resolve than Kei in the last few episodes.
I remember someone saying they don’t like anime because in anime, not everything is black and white. The same goes for the characters in this drama—no one is completely evil or wholly good. This drama shows these characters as humans, with flaws and motives that aren’t always callous behind their actions.
Spoiler: there’s a happy ending, and I can’t help thinking about the novel The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier, which is similar to this story, except good and kind intentions didn’t win against evil. Then again, evil wore the face of Archie, and humane Kei is no Archie.
So let me dive into the relationship of Kei and Tsubame, which is unique, lovely, weird, and sometimes downright funny. Honestly, the best scenes are scenes when these two are together. They complement each other so well: one is naïve and the other is a cynic, she is idealistic and he’s more realistic, he’s eccentric and she’s sympathetic, and when one loses hope, the other seems to have a glass full of hope to give. Don’t even get me started with Tsubame’s grandpa who’s one of the coolest characters in the series. I like how he thinks his granddaughter is interested in this mysterious guy from the start. While the pair was never lovey-dovey with each other, which I’m actually pretty happy about, they have this strong bond of trust (though tried multiple times) and friendship.
* It seriously kept me glued to the screen even when I have to fight off sleep.
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A thrilling, captivating show - If it wasn't for the long talking!
I'm relatively new to the j-drama scene, so this was one of the first series I've watched so far. What can I say? My experience absolutely wasnt a disappointment. I would've given a 10/10 rating but as every release this show has some flaws that would've been a dealbreaker for others.STORY 10/10
The story itself got me excited and hooked with every episode. The way it handled pre-existing stereotypes (eg. "unpopular student who is new at school changing to a popular student") and re-eranged them to something completely new. That's creative storywriting for me. There never was a point where I felt that the plot was stagnating, from the very beginning to the last episode. Surely, the story is far from being realistic, but i dont really bother. It's fiction, after all.
ACTING/CAST 9/10 ................I'd actually split this into two parts.
CAST 10/10
I couldn't find any flaws to the cast. They fit perfectly into their environment and their appearances were distinctive enough even for an asian-face-blind silly european like me.
ACTING 8/10
2 points subtracted here, not for the acting itself, but for the way the series chose to convey it. The speeches were too long, not only for my taste but from what I've read, almost everyone feels this way. It's the biggest flaw, although it got better at the second half of the show. Other than that, there's nothing else I could criticize.
REWATCH VALUE 9/10
I'm sure I will get back to this show someday. This could take some while tho.
OVERALL 9.5/10
Maybe I'm giving away too many points for being too subjective. After all, this show will definitely not everyone's taste.
If you can endure long shonen anime like speeches, or even have a thing for those -I highly recommend this show!
Man, I really wish there was a second season or some kind...
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Acting/Cast 9/10 - I'd say it's a pretty good cast. As always Kamiki is good with the psychological roles. It's my first time watching Hirose Suzu so I didn't know what to expect, but she did give a pretty good performance.
Music 8/10 - The music is good but I feel like there's something missing.
Rewatch value 8/10 - I'd definitely recommend this to a friend who would want to watch a jdrama, but it wouldn't be one of my first suggestions. For me personally I don't like re-watching dramas cause then it would take away the excitement I had when I first watched it, but I would still watch it.
Overall 8.5/10
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NOT YOUR TYPICAL HIGH SCHOOL DRAMA
Out of all the high school dramas I have watched, I could say this one's my favorite. Literally not your typical high school drama. Not gonna lie I expected a little romance there but I think it was fine as it was. More focused on friendships and unity. It may seem too idealistic but I liked it that way. I also loved the casts, they are all great. I was also looking forward to seeing Suzu Hirose as it was her first lead drama and well, she never disappoints. Not to mention that she was still 17 here. Also started admiring Kamiki Ryuosuke through this drama.Literally worth the watch!
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It tells the story of Haruna Tsubame, a quiet and nice high-school girl, who is always enduring her high-school life because she wants to get along with others and to smile. Despite her positive attitude, her school is full of unfairness, it is ruled by wrong teachers and by a group of eight students, the Platinum Eight (Hana Yori Dango's vibes, anyone?): all that seems to matter there is power.
One day, Haruna Tsubame meets a young man, very strange and mysterious, who starts to tell her that she can change her school and herself, that all she needs is a strong will and words.
First of all, I have to say that Kamiki Ryunosuke plays his role extremely well! His character seems a little crazy and the way he talks is funny and brilliant, at the same time: Kamiki is able to give his character this aura of strength and weirdness and he is very convincing.
Hirose Suzu is good here and, as others said, she has great chemistry with Kamiki: maybe, the only thing I didn't like about her character is that sometimes, in the first episodes, she seems a bit annoying and I thought sometimes that her first speeches were too much. But I didn't feel that way after a few episodes.
The supporting cast is also great: there is Sugisaki Hana among them! :)
I didn't quite like the teachers, maybe the only one I "liked" was the headmistress, because it seemed an interesting and contradictory character.
I loved this drama because I liked the message it conveys and because of the main characters and the actors.
The message here is: "you have to fight and do your best in order to be yourself and achieve what you want, but you can't do that alone". It is a powerful message and I loved it.
The characters as well...I loved them, I kind of miss them, especially the young man keen on words!
I would be extremely happy if this drama had a sequel!
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Story: Both leads change and grow as the show progresses. The writers flesh them out into actual people, with flaws and fears, hopes and dreams. Haruna's words change the school little by little, and her interactions with her "secret speechwriter" along the way always burst with chemistry and are the highlights of the show.
Haruna Tsubasa - A meek girl who everyone bullies. Her transformation into a strong, capable leader is
grounded in her from the beginning. You can see her potential, with her kindred spirit and
determination. Haruna's strength and enduring willpower makes her a character worth
looking up to.
Shizukui Kei - A man of mystery. Always in a black hood, never giving away too much about who he is, why
he wishes to take down the school, he drives the plot for the second half of the story. Where
Haruna is optimistic in her quest to change the school, he's much more cynical. His character
arc is driven by Haruna, where hers was driven by him, and it makes the show all the more
better.
The show can get repetitive as Haruna climbs up the stairs of high school society, battling problems with speeches that often preach the same, somewhat cheesy morals. Personally, Shizukui's new ways of manipulating the school through speeches is what helped keep the episodes fresh.
The Platinum 8 really take away from the story, with quick character development that in some cases, feel too fast to be organic. Other members of the group have little to no personality (or acting chops, for that matter). They're also a big part of why the show's plot doesn't really kick in until the 5th episode, when the focus shifts from them and onto Shizukui's past.
Acting/Cast: Hirose Suzu acted her role well, with innocence and naivety that seemed to come naturally. The small things she does, straightening her posture as the series progresses, making her voice louder, add to her potrayal of the character. Kamiki Ryunosuke,, however, steals the show in nearly every scene. His intentional overacting gives Kei a touch of madness and a dramatic flair. He can switch from teasing, to bitter, to angry, on the drop of a hat, while managing to make it all seem organic.
Music: The soundtrack was above average and complemented the scenes they were in, dark or light.
Rewatch Value: This definitely seems like a show I'll be watching a few times more. The messages are uplifting and the comedy hits the nail on the head. I'd recommend putting it on a list of shows to watch when you're feeling down
Overall: 9.5/10
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The drama starts with a common girl who eventually has to be a school president of a prestigious school and then she got a help from a weird boy to give a “speech”.
At first i don’t really like the story and the cast too, but after a few episodes or more i began to like it. And i still didn’t really like the cast after a few what i thinks an awkward acting.
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