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Dragon Zakura Two Manga Gets Live-Action Series
posted on by Crystalyn Hodgkins
Staff revealed on Tuesday that Norifusa Mita's Dragon Zakura Two sequel manga is inspiring a live-action series this summer on TBS. Actor Hiroshi Abe (Still Walking, Thermae Romae) is reprising his role as Kenji Sakuragi from the previous live-action adaptations of the original manga. The story is set 10 years after the previous series.
Mita (Investor Z) launched the Dragon Zakura Two manga in Kodansha's Morning magazine in January 2018. Kodansha published the eighth volume on January 23.
Crunchyroll began publishing the manga in English digitally in January 2018, and it describes the story:
Prior to the 2020 Education Reform, “our man” is coming back!
He's the legendary attorney Sakuragi Kenji, who will waltz back to the fallen Ryuzan High School where the students' academic aptitude is plummeting. In opposition to apathetic students and “The Empress” (Representative of the Chief Director) who wields overwhelming authority, he will start a revolution along with Mizuno, his former pupil.
Part 2 of Dragon Zakura, the legendary “manga that will help you pass the University of Tokyo entrance exams” — which helped change the landscape of Japan's university entrance exams — is here at last! Rest assured, entering the University of Tokyo is going to be a cinch!
The 2003-2007 Kodansha Manga Award-winning Dragon Zakura manga previously inspired a live-action television series in 2005, with a sequel in 2010, and a Korean live-action television series in 2010. Mita's Angel Bank: Dragon Zakura Gaiden manga also inspired a Japanese live-action project in 2010. Nikkei reported in 2015 that China's Alibaba group was producing its own live-action drama.
The original manga centers on Kenji Sakuragi, a lawyer and former motorcycle gang member. Sakuragi becomes a teacher at Ryuzan High School to help a small group of students pass the infamously difficult test to get into Japan's top university, the University of Tokyo.
Source: Comic Natalie
