Couch Cruisin'

Hi everyone!  Welcome back to Sunday Drama.  January’s title is High School Entrance Exam.  We are halfway through the story.  Last week, we learn that Erina is heavily involved in not only the exam conspiracy.  This school is full of secrets, scandal, and intrigue.  Let’s dive back in, beginning with episode seven.

Episode Seven

What a great episode!  We finally get to see the reason for the exam disruption.  It turns out the five years ago, a student did not make it into the prestigious school.  As a result, he is emotionally destroyed, his father feels ashamed, and his little brother bears witness to his family’s disgrace.  Well, the little brother can hold a grudge because he intends on “crushing the entrance exam”.  The little brother is the student I call Smirk.

Meanwhile, the mystery of student #46’s missing test is underway.  The administration decides to question the teachers one-by-one.  Midori, the music teacher, and gym teacher Aida’s girlfriend reveals that she spotted student Erina (Aida’s other girlfriend) on the school grounds.  Students are not allowed on the campus because of the exams.  During Aida’s questioning, he says that after the exam, he patrolled campus, ensuring that there are not trespassers.  When asked if he saw Erina, he says no.  Of course, he is lying because when he went on his “patrol”, he goes straight to the locker room to see Erina.

During the search and questioning, Jerk’s dad comes back to the school.  If you recall, Jerk Dad is the chairman of the school’s alumni association.  That makes him pretty powerful in this school.  When he makes his appearance, he reveals that he has found the missing test.  But, there is one tiny problem.  The student number on the test is 55, not 46.  So now there are two 55 tests.  And to make matter’s worse, 55 is Jerk!  I nearly passed out at this!

Jerk Dad insists on staying in the lounge to wait for the administration.  Midori makes him tea and comes up with a way to get him the hell out of there.  She shows him the message board and tells him if the folks on the board know he is there begging for extra points, they may sue.  But, they already know he is there.  Further, they are threatening to go to the press because they know his son cheated on the test.

I think Erina leaked the fact that Jerk Dad is on the premises, considering that she is still hiding on school grounds.  I also think Victim is the one that revealed Jerk’s cheating on the message board.  On to episode eight!

Episode Eight

The message board has the administration edge.  And to make matters worse, Cell Mom is now at the school, where she finds out about the message board from Jerk Dad.  When I see her make another appearance, I wanted to flip a table.  Why are you here lady?!  Once she sees the board, she insists on the administration holding a press conference to say that her daughter’s cell phone going off is the school’s fault.   She can’t honor her troubled daughter’s wishes to attend another school.  She’s a real b-word.  At any rate, Erina is outside the window.  She hears the press conference idea and posts it on the message board.

At this point, the show switches gears.  We have a flashback of Smirk’s brother.  This time, he is reading an article discussing the misgrading of some tests.  He talks with little Smirk about requesting to see his test.

Fast forward to the present, the message board says a teacher is in on the “crush the entrance exam” campaign.  Back in the principle’s office, one of the administration has to use the toilet.  Midori agrees to watch the office if he has to use the bathroom.  But, she sneaks out of the school with other teachers to get food.  So the office containing the tests is empty.  Jerk’s test with the perfect score is sitting next to the computer that has the test score for all the students.  And…someone is sneaking into the office.

Is the sneak Erina?  Or, is it one of the teachers that are in cahoots with the message board students?  It’s time for episode nine.

Episode Nine

The administration, the parents, and wise teacher Mizuno decide to relocate to a different room for more privacy.  Mizuno suggests that they should post a message on the thread.  The message will state that the messages about Cell Phone and Jerk should be deleted, or they will contact the police.  This finally satisfies the pushy parents and they go home.

The teachers begin to posit which of their colleagues is in involved in the exam disruption.  The teachers theorize that it is either  Murai the snoop or Midori.  The message board corroborates that the teacher’s name begins with an “M”.   Mizuno accuses Victim’s father of tampering with the test to keep Jerk out of the school and away from his son.  Victim’s father’s name is Matsushima.  I will tell you one of my theory momentarily.

The teachers gather with the administration to discuss their plans for the message board.  This is when the discovery is made that Jerk’s score is already in the system.  The score is an 82, not enough to get into the school.  The principal asks if the office is left unattended.  The administrator lies and says no.

The only other things of note that occur are that Victim’s dad (who is a teacher at the school) finds out he wrote the note that Jerk cheated on the test.  Jerk finds out people are talking trash about him on the board.  He accuses Victim, of course.  The episode ends with Smirk’s big brother wanting to have a conversation.

Midori and Murai are sound choices for the teacher conspiring with the students.  But, Mizuno is a sound candidate as well.  He has aspirations of being in the administration.  Perhaps he is trying to show the incompetence of the current administration and force their dismissal.  Blaming Matsushima may be to deflect suspicion onto someone else.

Well, that’s it for episodes 7-9!  Next week we will wrap it up.  Will the culprits be discovered?  Will the exam change?  We will see next week with episodes 10-13.  Until then, I will see you on Tuesday for Iron Man 2.

Hi Everybody!  Welcome back to Sunday Drama!  Last week, week watched the first three episodes of High School Entrance Exam.  Today, we discuss episodes 4-6.  Last week, the teachers of Tachibana High School discover a message board where people are talking about “crushing” the entrance exam.  Let’s see what happens next!

Episode Four

 

 

At the top of the episode, we find out what the administration plans on doing about the message board.  They decide to do….absolutely nothing.  They believe that since the students do not have their cell phones, the messages could not be about this school.  There is a substantial amount of eye-rolling on my part.

In this episode, we get to see more of the students.  To keep the confusion to a minimum, I’m going to use nicknames.  There’s “Jerk”.  Jerk’s father is the president of the alumni association.  Coincidentally, he is also a jerk.  There’s “Victim”.  Victim is being bullied by Jerk, probably because Victim is smarter than Jerk.  There is also Smirking Kid.  He smirks as if he has a secret.

The most important student in this episode is “Cell Phone”.  If you recall from episode two, one student lies, claiming she does not have a cell phone.  This is the same girl.  However, this lie comes back to haunt her.  Cell Phone’s mom texts her and her phone goes off in the middle of the exam. Girl, why is your phone not on silent?  Anyway, she is asked to leave the exam.  She begins to freak out and starts hyperventilating.  It is a mess!

 

 

Cell Phone goes to the nurse’s office where she sees her mother.  She and her mother wind up in a lounge with the principle and the teacher in charge of that classroom.  The principal tells Cell Phone’s mother that her daughter is disqualified.  Cell Mom is not happy. While she is rampaging, Jerk Dad bursts into the office.

I skipped around a bit, but let me get back to the message board.  Before the end of the exam, one of the teachers is monitoring the board and notices messages stating “right before the end”, and “something will happen”.  At the end of the episode, we realize that something has happened.

Episode Five

 

 

I thought that the actual test is a mess.  What happens after is worse.  Let’s begin with Erina.  Erina’s name comes up quite a bit in the first few episodes.  She is a student that already attends this school.  It didn’t make sense to hear her name so much.  But her presence (in name and in person) is kind of important.

Erina is dating Aida, the gym teacher.  Aida finds her in the locker room, dressed in her middle school uniform.  He is freaking out because she is not supposed to be on school grounds during the exam.  He is completely flustered when she drops a bomb.

Erina asks him who is accompanying him to Indigo Resort?  He plays dumb, saying he doesn’t know what she is talking about.  Then she pulls out a gold card for the resort.  If you recall from last week, the teacher Midori’s boyfriend lost a gold card.  Someone in the chat discusses finding a gold card.  Do you see what is happening?  Aida lies and says he is chaperoning a field trip with another male teacher.  Erina pretends to accept this obvious lie.

Let’s get back to Cell Phone.  Cell Phone claims that she did not hear the rules because the teacher mumbled the words.  She also says that the rules are not on the chalkboard.  Cell Phone, Cell Mom, Jerk Dad, and the administration go to the classroom.   Some of the teachers are already there, looking at the rules and realizing the same thing.  They are last year’s rules with last year’s date changed to the current year.  After Cell Mom threatens to sue, the administration withdraws the disqualification.  Once again, several eye-rolls.  This administration is extremely incompetent.

 

 

After that mess, it is time to grade the exams.  Our main character Kyouko is on the team grading the English exams.  There are a few issues during the grading process.  First Aida drops the tests and now they are out of numerical order.  Next, there is a blank test in with the others.  After some time, the teachers notice that there is a test missing, number  46.  They also notice a note written by one of the students saying that another student cheated.  The note is from Victim, who happens to be the son of one of the teachers.  The student caught cheating?  Jerk, of course.  On to the next episode!

Episode Six

In this episode, we learn who sits in seat number 46.  They do not say his name, I just know who is sitting in the corner of the class.  46 puts the teacher in a bit of a pickle.  He can claim he turned in a completed test, putting the responsibility back on the teachers.

In this episode, we see flashbacks the students.  The first is Erina. It shows how Erina is bullied at the school, and that Aida is the person who shows her kindness.  Hence, her obsession with him.  We also see a flashback of Jerk bullying Victim.  Why are there so many bullies?

 

 

At any rate, the teachers complete the grading process.  That is the most grueling process I have ever witnessed.  The teachers turn in the tests and tell the administration about the blank test.

Wrapping it up

Well, that’s three more episodes down. It is funny how little things that did not matter in the beginning are now important.  Thanks for hanging in there with me.  Next week, we watch episodes 7-9.  I will see you for MC Tuesday and The Incredible Hulk!