# Dragon Sakura (2005)

> A debt-ridden lawyer takes a teaching job at a struggling private school and sets out to get five students into Tokyo University.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/29291

## Facts

- Seasons: 2
- Episodes: 21
- Episode runtime: 60 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: drama, comedy
- Network: TBS
- Cast: Hiroshi Abe, Masami Nagasawa, Tomohisa Yamashita, Yui Aragaki, Teppei Koike, Jun Miho, Akiyoshi Nakao, Saeko
- TMDB rating: 7.7/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0873992/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: brisk
- Intensity: moderate
- Complexity: accessible
- Violence: none
- Tone: hopeful, breezy, witty, sincere, uplifting

## Synopsis

Dragon Sakura (2005-2021) is a Japanese TBS comedy drama series adapted from a manga, a school turnaround story built around an unconventional mentor. Debt-ridden lawyer Kenji Sakuragi (Hiroshi Abe) takes a teaching position at the struggling private school Tatsuyama Gakuen to pay off what he owes and to revive his own career. His measure of success is blunt: get five of his students admitted to Tokyo University the following year. Rather than drilling facts, his down-to-earth class teaches the unusual techniques that get students through the brutal entrance examination and the habits that help them live well in uncertain times. Naomi Mizuno (Masami Nagasawa) and other faculty and students orbit his scheme, and guest teachers add variety to the classroom. The series runs two seasons across twenty-one episodes, with a first season from 2005 and a second revival in 2021, and each episode is built around a lesson, a setback and a fresh strategy. The tone is breezy and hopeful, with sharp comic timing and sincere investment in young people's futures. Fans of GTO, Gokusen and Gakuen Tenkousei will find the same blend of rebellious teaching, earnest ambition and warm comedy.

## Shows like Dragon Sakura

- [Hero (2001)](https://ember.film/tv/1370)
- [HANA-KIMI (2007)](https://ember.film/tv/6545)
- [Nodame Cantabile (2006)](https://ember.film/tv/31426)
- [Legal High (2012)](https://ember.film/tv/41916)
- [Life's Punchline (2021)](https://ember.film/tv/101175)
- [Chosen Home (2025)](https://ember.film/tv/433089)
- [GTO: Great Teacher Onizuka (1998)](https://ember.film/tv/55246)
- [Buzzer Beat (2009)](https://ember.film/tv/19968)
- [My Boss, My Hero (2006)](https://ember.film/tv/28633)
- [Sleepeeer Hit! (2016)](https://ember.film/tv/59378)

---

Site overview: https://ember.film/llms.txt