Dragon Zakura (TV series)

Dragon Zakura (ドラゴン桜, Dragon Zakūra), also known as Dragon-Zakura, is a Japanese live action television series based on the manga of the same name.

Dragon Zakura
Poster
Genre	School drama
Written by	Takehiko Hata
Directed by	Renpei Tsukamoto, Marehiro Karaki, Takashi Komatsu
Starring	Hiroshi Abe
Theme music composer	Kyo Nakanishi
Country of origin	Japan
Original language	Japanese
No. of seasons	2
No. of episodes	22
Production
Editors	Kouichi Enda, Mayumi Shimizu
Production companies	Media Mix Japan Co., Ltd, TBS
Original release
Network	TBS
Release	July 8 (2005-07-08) – September 16, 2005 (2005-09-16)
Related
Master of Study

Cast

Teachers

• Hiroshi Abe as Kenji Sakuragi, a lawyer and the homeroom teacher for the special class
• Kyōko Hasegawa as Mamako Ino, an English teacher from Ryūzan High School. She takes care of History lessons for the special class.
• Yōko Nogiwa as Yuriko Tatsuno, the director of Ryūzan High School and the wife of former owner
• Yôsuke Saitô [ja] as Tokihisa Kondō, the vice-principal of Ryūzan High School.
• David Ito as Masanao Ochiai, a teacher from Ryūzan High School
• Tōru Shinagawa as Tetsunosuke Yanagi, the Mathematics teacher for the special class
• Minori Terada - Ryūzaburō Akutayama, the Japanese language teacher for the special class. His name is a comical reference to Ryūnosuke Akutagawa.
• Susumu Kobayashi as Shutaro Ain, the Science teacher for the special class
• Akio Kaneda as Hiroshi Kawaguchi, the English language teacher for the special class
• Shin Yazawa as Nozomi Yamamoto, Mamako's friend and a teacher of Shūmeikan High School.

Students of the special class

• Tomohisa Yamashita as Yūsuke Yajima
• Masami Nagasawa as Naomi Mizuno
• Teppei Koike as Hideki Ogata
• Yui Aragaki as Yoshino Kōsaka
• Akiyoshi Nakao as Ichirō Okuno
• Saeko as Maki Kobayashi

Family members of special class students

• Mako Ishino as Setsuko Yajima, Yūsuke's mother
• Jun Miho as Yūko Mizuno, Naomi's mother
• Kei Sunaga as Kōsei Ogata, Hideki's father
• Tomoko Aihara as Mariko Ogata, Hideki's mother
• Yōko Kurita as Megumi Kōsaka, Yoshino's mother
• Kazuko Katō as Miyako Okuno, Ichirō's mother
• Momosuke Mizutani as Jirō Okuno, Ichirō's twin brother. He is a student of Shūmeikan High School)
• Nobue Iketani as Mitsue Kobayashi, Maki's mother

Other students of Ryūzan High School

• Akari Hori as Asumi Toda, an idol who repeatedly sends Maki e-mails from her workplace
• Ayano Gunji as Saori Abe, Naomi's friend. She had requested Naomi to introduce her to Yūsuke

Others

• Hiroki Murakami as Yoshio Tanaka, one of Nozomi's suitors. He is a law graduate of Tokyo University. An arrogant man, he is proud of his academic and social standing even though he is neither handsome nor fit.
• Mitsuru Karahashi as Yasushi Sawamatsu, the second suitor of Nozomi. A high school dropout, he is rather simple-minded with "awesome" as his favorite phrase and a very limited vocabulary. His favorite pastime is playing Pachinko and he only has a part-time job.

Episodes

Ep.	Title	Romanized title	Translation of title	Broadcast date	Ratings
1	バカとブスこそ東大へ行け	Baka to busu koso Toudai e ike	All you that are ugly and stupid, go to Tokyo University!	July 8, 2005	17.5%
2	自分の弱さを知れ!	Jibun no yowasa wo shire!	Know your weaknesses!	July 15, 2005	16.5%
3	遊べ!受験はスポーツだ!	Asobe! Juken wa supootsu da!	Entrance exams are sports, so play!	July 22, 2005	13.8%
4	壁にぶつかるまで我慢しろ	Kabe ni butsukaru made gaman shiro	Hold out until you hit the wall	July 29, 2005	16.1%
5	泣くな!お前の人生だ!	Nakuna! Omae no jinsei da!	Don't cry! It's your life!	August 5, 2005	16.8%
6	英語対決!勝負だバカ6人	Eigo taiketsu! Shoubu da baka rokunin	English showdown! Fight for Stupid 6	August 12, 2005	17.9%
7	見返してやる!東大模試	Mikaeshite yaru! Toudai moshi	Vengeance! Mock exam for Tokyo University	August 19, 2005	15.6%
8	バカの涙･･･夏休み課外授業	Baka no namida... Natsuyasumi kagai jugyou	Tears of fools... Extra lessons during summer vacation	August 26, 2005	17.0%
9	信じろ!成績は必ず上がる	Shinjiro! Seiseki wa kanarazu agaru	Trust yourself! Your marks will surely improve	September 2, 2005	14.5%
10	友情か受験か?最後の決断	Yuujou ka juken ka? Saigo no ketsudan	Friendship or entrance exam? Final decision	September 9, 2005	14.5%
11	お前らはもうバカじゃない!運命の合格発表!	Omaera wa mou baka janai! Unmei no goukaku happyou!	You are no longer morons! Fateful day of results!	September 16, 2005	20.3%
Ratings for Kanto region (average rating: 16.41%)[1]

Theme song

The theme song of the show is "Realize" by melody. and the insert song "Colorful" by Tomohisa Yamashita.