ルーキーズ / ROOKIES

Title: ルーキーズ / ROOKIES
Aired: 2008-Apr-19 to 2008-Jul-26
Genre: Sports
Episodes: 11

• Sato Ryuta as Kawato Koichi
• Ichihara Hayato as Aniya Keiichi
• Koide Keisuke as Mikoshiba Toru

DramaWiki's synopsis: Koichi Kawato is the new Japanese Literature teacher at the ill-famed Futakotamagawa high school, whose baseball club is composed of thugs and bullies who have been suspended for a year from all school competitions, for causing a brawl during an official match. The newly appointed teacher finds that the club members left are only interested in women, smoking and doing nothing until, under Kawato's guidance, they discover their dream of going to the Koshien high school baseball tournament. However, the road to Koshien is far from easy as many obstacles await them.

Thoughts: It is a bit of the typical inspiring-teacher-reforms-deliquents show, and rather predictable, but that doesn't make this drama boring. I think the feelings expressed in the show as well as how each of the characters overcame their weaknesses for the sake of their common dream is quite inspiring. The teacher is also a laugh, seemingly yelling random quotes out of nowhere, but in the end, as is expected, the one who is the true backbone of all of them- the one who brings them all together and earnestly supports them.