Details
Title: 女王の教室 （じょおうのきょうしつ）
Title (romaji): Jyoou no Kyoushitsu
Also known as: The Queen's Classroom
Format: Renzoku
Genre: School, human drama
Episodes: 11 + 2-part special
Viewership rating: 16.9
Broadcast network: NTV
Broadcast period: 2005-Jul-02 to 2005-Sep-17
Air time: Saturday 21:00
Theme song: Exit by EXILE
Synopsis
Yuki Amami plays Maya Akutsu, a sixth-grade teacher who dresses all in black and is repeatedly referred to as "oni sensei" (the teacher from hell), when, in fact, she seems to be an ultrarealist at heart. The drama focuses on a year in her classroom and, particularly, the effect it has on 12-year-old Kazumi--a nice but mediocre student whose parents want to send her to a private secondary school.
Akutsu-sensei accomplished this feat by introducing a test-based rank and privilege system on the first day. The highest scorers on the Monday morning test get their choice of seats and other perks while the two lowest scorers are burdened with all the chores for the week from blackboard and toilet cleaning to serving lunch. The system also disallows toilet breaks during class because this reflects an inability to manage one's own schedule.
Kazumi gets the first week's work assignment along with the class clown, a warmhearted boy who is not nearly as silly as he acts. The child actors in the series are all likeable pros who give realistic portrayals of the wide spectrum of an average classroom from the isolated serious students to the sophisticated girls who think they already know what life is all about. Akutsu-sensei lets them know immediately that they do not have a clue.
When the students protest her system and call it unfair, she tells them to open their eyes. In Japanese society, she lectures, those who work hard or have influence get all the privileges, and the lazy or less affluent end up with the leftovers. She says only six in 100 people can expect to be happy and the elite already have most of the advantages and access to the best medical care. She tells them that, as products of the public school system, they will have to scramble to get anything at all, and most of them will end up as "bonjin" (ordinary people), to whom those on the top will be happy to leave the soldiering and service-sector jobs.
Cast
Amami Yuki as Akutsu Maya (37)
Shida Mirai as Kanda Kazumi (12)
Fukuda Mayuko as Shindo Hikaru
Matsukawa Naruki as Manabe Yusuke
Hada Michiko as Kanda Shoko (37)
Hara Sachie as Tendou Shiori (25)
Omi Toshinori as Kanda Takeshi (39)
Kaho as Kanda Yu (15)
Hankai Kazuaki as Vice Principal Ueno (45)
Izumiya Shigeru as Principal Kondo (55)
Naitou Takashi as Namiki Heizaburo (44)
Hanzaki Elementary School, 6th Grade, 3rd Class
Harii Shotaro (針井翔太郎) as Nakamura Ichiro
Ito Junpei (伊藤純平) as Ishibashi Tetsuya
Itoh Sairi as Tanaka Momo
Kajiwara Hikari (梶原ひかり) as Sato Erika
Kamata Atsushi (Kamata Atsushi) as Mitamura Makoto
Maeda Itsuki (前田樹) as Hoshi Hitomi
Morimoto Sarasa (森本更紗) as Ando Sakura
Nagai Anzu as Baba Hisako
Nakamura Mizuki (中村泉貴) as Miyauchi Rie
Nishihara Nobuhiro (西原信裕) as Yamashita Kenta
Nomura Eriya (野村エリヤ) as Fuwa Shota
Oshikawa Daisuke (押川大輔) as Futoda Toru
Sakai Shotaro (酒井翔太郎) as Nishikawa Koichi
Sasaki Hikari (佐々木ひかり) as Kariya Takako
Takahashi Kanami (高橋香波) as Tabata Michiko
Takahashi Noriaki (高橋伯明) as Chii Keiji
Takata Ayaka (高田彩香) as Matsumoto Ema
Tamura Yuma (田村勇馬) as Ochiai Hajime
Tonoshiro Yuma (登野城佑馬) as Kuroki Hideki
Umeoka Minato (梅岡南斗) as Saito Nozomu
Yanagita Erika as Shimada Mari
Other
Kuroda Fukumi as Sato Yoshie (40)
Okunuki Kaoru as Shindo Reiko (35)
Sasai Eisuke as Manabe Yasushi (54)
Sakai Wakana Manabe Mayumi (29) (ep11)
Negishi Toshie as Saigo Yuriko
Specials
Ishihara Yoshizumi as Ueda (40)
Hiraizumi Sei as Tendo Kiichi (54)
Namase Katsuhisa as Tomizuka Yasuhiko (30) (ep1)
Takei Akashi as Tomizuka Sho (5) (ep1)
Nishioka Tokuma as Akutsu Shinichi (58) (ep1)
Enami Kyoko as Akutsu Miyako (53) (ep1)
Goto Kaho (後藤果萌) as Ikeuchi Ai (12) (ep1)
Toda Erika as Ikeuchi Ai (17) (ep1)
Miura Rieko as Ikeuchi Mieko (35) (ep1)
Kaneda Akio as Vice Principal Kiritani (50) (ep1)
Suwa Taro as Principal Matsudaira (56) (ep1)
Shimizu Shogo as Vice Principal Hirano (50) (ep2)
Ito Hiroto as Satonaka Tsubasa (12) (ep2)
Morita Naoyuki as Miyauchi Eiji (13) (ep2)
Nishida Naomi as Miyauchi Noriko (35) (ep2)
Yajima Kenichi as Miyauchi Masaomi (40) (ep2)
Episode Titles
Ep. 01: A sixth grade class' one-year battle with a wicked demonic teacher!
Ep. 02: Tears in the wicked teacher's eyes!? A child's hidden past and a sad confession of friendship!
Ep. 03: Friendship, betrayal, tears. The last memories of grade school... Teacher, please let me dance!
Ep. 04: After they all called me a thief, the collapse of the class and the search for the culprit. Teacher, give me my friends back!!
Ep. 05: Even my friends have vanished... Forget about school! Teacher, why are you picking on me?
Ep. 06: There's no summer vacation! The tragedies and miracles brought about by cornered children!!
Ep. 07: As the school burns in flames one night, the wicked teacher sheds tears of blood... Teacher, please help my friends!
Ep. 08: There's no graduation ceremony! Are you a demon or an angel? The painful past of the wicked teacher the students know
Ep. 09: The wicked teacher's assassin
Ep. 10: It's the final class for Maya
Ep. 11: A graduation ceremony without Maya
SP (Part 1): Fallen angel
SP (Part 2): The demon descends
Production Credits
Screenwriter: Yukawa Kazuhiko
Producer: Ohira Futoshi, Nakano Naoyuki (仲野尚之)
Director: Ootsuka Kyoji, Iwamoto Hitoshi, Watanabe Tomoaki (渡部智明)
Music: Ike Yoshihiro
Awards
46th Television Drama Academy Awards: Best Actress Amami Yuki
46th Television Drama Academy Awards: Best Newcomer Shida Mirai
46th Television Drama Academy Awards: Best Screenwriter Yukawa Kazuhiko
9th Nikkan Sports Drama Grand Prix (2005-06): Best Actress: Amami Yuki
24th Mukoda Kuniko Award: Best Screenwriter Yukawa Kazuhiko
Jyoou no Kyoushitsu
