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| Source: kaboompics.com. Image has been modified. |
I
haven’t watched Asian dramas in a very long time, but then I came about this
video on Facebook and one thing led to another. Soon enough, I found myself
watching J-drama after J-drama after J-drama. The latest, which I watched from
midnight until morning (hence, the eye bags), is Gakkou no Kaidan.
Not going to lie: I thought there
would be romance—kind-of why I checked it out in the first place—and there is a
sprinkle of it, which is fine by me. Honestly, by episode 6 and 7, I was fine
if nobody ended up with anybody.
The story begins with Tsubame Haruna,
who presumably because of a prank, becomes student council president.
Unbeknownst to her, there’s an unspoken rule that the student council is just a
puppet of the Platinum 8, a group of rich, snobby, attractive students who
think frowning and being a bully is an Olympic sport. The main character at the
beginning has no backbone and is a people-pleasing peacemaker, which I think
really hits home for me. When her friend, the vice president, who’s in the same
situation she’s in, is unjustly blamed; she meets Shizukui Kei, a guy who
mysteriously appears out of nowhere and likes to speak theatrically and
cryptically. A brilliant speechmaker, he helps the quiet and naïve Tsubame to
change the corrupt system of the school, one speech at a time.
As you can tell, Kei, who is played
by Kamiki Ryunosuke, is a scene-stealer. He reminds me of Archie Costello,
Elliot Allagash, and Artemis Fowl—all of whom are included in my “Weirdest
Crushes I’ll Never Admit (But then, I just did)” list. What do they have in
common, you may ask? They’re all freaking brilliant—genius masterminds who know
of people’s interest, are skilled in the art of manipulation, and orchestrate
and control all with the use of words. Kei, in a way, is kind-of like that. He
helps Tsubame by reading people like a teenager would read a celebrity tweet.
He reads them well.
Tsubame, on the other hand, may not
be as conniving as Kei. They seem to have the same purpose, which is to change
the school; but unlike the vengeful Kei, Tsubame just genuinely wants to help
people and fight injustice. She keeps this integrity throughout. An example of
which is when Kei asks her why she sympathizes with the enemy. But Tsubame
doesn’t see people like Kei does, divided into allies and enemies. She sees
them as capable of kindness and getting hurt. Even when people turn against her
and she feels betrayed most of the time, she still tries to see the good in
people. It’s quite funny because while she had no will of her own (and Kei
literally had to coach her to take a few steps towards the stage) in the
beginning, she ended up having a stronger resolve than Kei in the last few
episodes.
I remember someone saying they don’t
like anime because in anime, not everything is black and white. The same goes
for the characters in this drama—no one is completely evil or wholly good. This
drama shows these characters as humans, with flaws and motives that aren’t
always callous behind their actions.
Spoiler: there’s a happy ending, and
I can’t help thinking about the novel The
Chocolate War by Robert Cormier, which is similar to this story, except
good and kind intentions didn’t win against evil. Then again, evil wore the
face of Archie, and humane Kei is no Archie.
So let me dive into the relationship
of Kei and Tsubame, which is unique, lovely, weird, and sometimes downright
funny. Honestly, the best scenes are scenes when these two are together. They
complement each other so well: one is naïve and the other is a cynic, she is
idealistic and he’s more realistic, he’s eccentric and she’s sympathetic, and
when one loses hope, the other seems to have a glass full of hope to give.
Don’t even get me started with Tsubame’s grandpa who’s one of the coolest
characters in the series. I like how he thinks his granddaughter is interested
in this mysterious guy from the start. While the pair was never lovey-dovey
with each other, which I’m actually pretty happy about, they have this strong
bond of trust (though tried multiple times) and friendship.
Rating:
8 out of 10
* It seriously kept me glued to the
screen even when I have to fight off sleep.
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