Dragon Sakura (2005)

Lawyer Kenji Sakuragi rocketed to fame after taking a group of students from low-ranked Ryuzan High and getting them accepted to prestigious Tokyo University. Since then, he’s had a successful career running his own law practice specializing in turning around failing schools. Now he’s been asked to step in and rescue Tatsumi Gakuen, which is on the verge of closing its doors. Together with Naomi Mizuno, a fellow lawyer and former student of his, Sakuragi pays a visit to the school and meets its anxious and troubled students.

Kenji and Naomi launch a college prep class to help students get into Tokyo University. But controversy erupts when the director of the high school opposes both the special class and Kenji’s unorthodox methods! Meanwhile, after Kenji catches her shoplifting, Kaeda, the star of the school badminton team, loses her confidence right before a major tournament, jeopardizing her chances of getting into an elite university. Can Kenji lift her out of her slump?

When his college prep class fails a middle school level practice test, Kenji turns to social media to help them improve their scores. Meanwhile, school director Kumiko, who has promised to resign if five of Kenji’s students get into Tokyo University, is putting together her own college prep class full of Tatsumi Gakuen’s brightest students. In three weeks’ time, the two rival prep classes will compete to decide which class gets cancelled. Can the underdogs prevail?

Akira, a member of Kenji’s prep class, hasn’t come to school for three days, and his classmates are getting worried. Kenji tells them to focus on their studies and he shows them an app to help improve their test scores. After school, Akira’s classmates drop in at the ramen restaurant that he runs with his older sister, Rei, but Akira refuses to tell them what’s wrong. Later, Kenji and Naomi find out that Akira and Rei are being harassed by loan sharks…

School director Kumiko proposes a rematch between Kenji’s Tokyo University prep class and her new “top-tier university” prep class, which includes Ryo, the best student in the entire grade. The format will be a standardized test covering Japanese, mathematics, and English, and the class with the lowest scores will be abolished. With two weeks left to prepare, Kenji introduces his class to a new game-based study method. Meanwhile, he finally finds the class’s critical fifth member!

Kenji manages to convince high achievers Mari and Ryo to join his five regular prep class members on an intensive 3-day/2-night study camp. The students learn about how proper diet, regular exercise, and a good daily routine can boost their academic performance. Meanwhile, Mari and Ryo’s presence has an unexpected effect on. Meanwhile, Mari and Ryo’s presence has an unexpected effect on the other five students. But just when it seems the students are making good progress toward achieving their goal, Kenji makes a surprise announcement...

Kenji’s students sign up to take Tokyo University’s mock entrance exam. If they don’t score high enough to pass, however, they’ll be forced to quit his prep class. But when it becomes clear that most of them are unprepared, a sense of panic spreads among the seven students. Finally, the day of the exam arrives, but will the pressure be too much for them?

Through an email, Kenji learns of a plan to put the school up for sale if five of his students pass the exam to enter Tokyo University. Meanwhile, he introduces a new study method tailored to each student that strategically focuses on the subjects at which they’re strongest. But Kaede is finding it increasingly hard to balance the prep class with the demands of her badminton training.

The countdown to the university entrance exam begins. With help from a group of subject specialist teachers, the prep class makes a final push toward the finish line. Then, as Kenji hands out the exam applications, he gives his students one final pep talk. At last, the fateful day arrives and the students head to the test center together—but will they crack under the pressure? Meanwhile, their beloved school is on the verge of being sold, and Naomi must use all her lawyerly wiles to try to stop it. Can she succeed?

With the second and final entrance exam approaching, the situation is looking increasingly bleak to Kenji. He discovers the vice-principal and others he thought were his allies are in fact working to sell the school. But Kumiko, the director, begs him to pull off a miracle “for the students’ sake.” Meanwhile, the prep class students pore over old exam questions right up until the last minute. Kenji still has one last trick up his sleeve. Can he stage a dramatic comeback and save the school?