Birigyaru (2015)

Birigyaru: Directed by Nobuhiro Doi. With Kasumi Arimura, Nanami Abe, Morio Agata, Atsushi Itô. Fact-based tale of a slacker high-school girl, years behind in her studies, who decides to start working hard and pass the entrance exams to a prestigious university in Japan.

“Tender and touching, this movie is a real story (based) of following your dreams and of how a great teacher can help people to realize their true potential.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe main hero, Sayaka – thickly painted social butterfly at the start of the story, with no knowledge and no skills to speak of – with the help of u0026#39;cram schoolu0026#39; teacher working overtime because of his belief in his students – is gradually transformed over the course of the movie into successful student, sure of herself and her abilities, who applies for the entry exams into one of the finest universities in Japan.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eGreat story and great cast — frankly, I was quite skeptical when I started the movie, but all the performances were so believable, and the flow of the story is so finely woven that it completely won me over long before the movie was over. u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThis movie moves you on many different levels – girlu0026#39;s struggle with her own insecurities, her troubled relationship with her family, the teacher finding ingenious ways to help students who are not interested in learning, to start with – everything is told with so much skill and so much heart that you can not help being pulled in by the story.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eWatch it! One of the external reviews called it u0026quot;an entertaining time-wasteru0026quot;. Well if it is, it is probably the most useful way to waste two hours of your time :)”