35 sai no Koukousei (2013)

This drama was great! I watched this drama for Jumpei at first because he was the only actor in this drama that I knew. But I also watched this for the plot.

Story: The plot is school-genre like story, but the 35 year old woman going back to high school was a plot twist itself. I never heard anyone over 22 being in high school taking regular classes. Some of the arcs are predictable, but there are enough twists in this drama to keep you interested.

Acting: I'm envious of Yonekura Ryoko for pulling off a high school uniform. She kind of reminds me of Horita Maki when I saw the picture of Ryoko in the drama poster(looks wise). Acting-wise, Ryoko was amazing in this role. I could connect with her character even if I'm not 35! :) I was surprised that I didn't like Jumpei's character in the middle of this drama till his arc came around(I liked him in the beginning & after his arc). The students the story focused on were amazing. Some better than others. I've never seen any of the actors/actresses(or don't remember if I've seen them before or not). Overall, the ensemble cast was amazing.

Music: I like the mini theme song. It sets the tone. The BGM are great, some are not memorable.

Will I rewatch this?: Yes, I will rewatch this drama for the Baba, Koizumi & the student's character development.

You'll like this drama if you like school dramas, comedy, suspense, & the actors and actresses in this drama.

I like Baba & Koizumi together!!!

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First off, I'm so jealous of Yonekura Ryoko because at age 37 she just rocks that school uniform OMG. Anyway. I've watched a lot of these "troublesome class, solving one problem per episode!" dramas and while the fact that Baba is a 35 year old high school student is something new (doesn't top a yakuza in high school though, hanya~), the concept really isn't. The problems the class faces aren't exactly a new breeze in dramaland either, BUT I loved the drama anyway.

I really liked the way the problems were dealt with and there were always some nice twists added, to make the drama and the characters less predictable. The first episode is definitely the strongest, but I felt the drama kept a good quality to the end (although the last episode was a bit too draggy at times) and Babas background story as well as the whole school caste system are pretty interesting. I also felt that the drama wasn't as ...preachy? as other dramas of this type tend to be sometimes and most characters acted believable to the end, even though the story was a bit overly dramatic at times.

The acting was pretty good, Ryoko made me really like Baba and Junpei was convincing as the cowardly homeroom teacher, but to me the much younger Yamazaki Kento and Suda Masaki were best. Kento really shined in the last episode and Masaki made me sincerely hate his character up to the last 15 minutes of the final episode.

Overall I really liked this and I'd recommend it without hesitation if someone was looking for a high school drama. And the last 5 minutes or so of the drama are just super adorable :)

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