Director Hiroshi Sugawara's "Hotaru no Hoshi" (Fireflies: River of Light) (2003) gives us the primary school teacher we all should have had: Tokyoite Hajime Miwa (Yukiyoshi Ozawa).
Although his unorthodox teaching methods mirror the bad-boy-turned-educator of the "GTO: Great Teacher Onizuka" series, or even that of Soseki's "Botchan", Hajime is the squeaky-clean goody-goody young gentleman of great expectations that even the cool kids can't help liking.
As is the case with many modern Japanese films, it is worth sticking it out through the occasional sappy bits near the beginning in order to enjoy the predictable, but nevertheless satisfying, ending.
Mike!
Although his unorthodox teaching methods mirror the bad-boy-turned-educator of the "GTO: Great Teacher Onizuka" series, or even that of Soseki's "Botchan", Hajime is the squeaky-clean goody-goody young gentleman of great expectations that even the cool kids can't help liking.
As is the case with many modern Japanese films, it is worth sticking it out through the occasional sappy bits near the beginning in order to enjoy the predictable, but nevertheless satisfying, ending.
Mike!