is a 2015 Japanese youth

comedy drama film Comedy drama (also known by the portmanteau In linguistics, a blend—also known as a blend word, lexical blend, or portmanteau—is a word formed by combining the meanings, and parts of the sounds, of two or more words together.

directed by

Nobuhiro Doi is a Japanese television director, television and film director. Education Nobuhiro Doi graduated from Waseda University School of Economics and Politics. Works TV series *'':ja:青い鳥 (テレビドラマ), Aoi Tori'' (1997) *''Terms for ...

. The film is based on the bestselling book by Nobutaka Tsubota. The film was released on May 1, 2015 in Japan.

Plot

Sayaka Kudo is a '

gyaru (, ) is a Japanese street fashion, Japanese fashion subculture for young women, often associated with gaudy fashion styles and dyed hair. The term is a Japanese transliteration of the English slang word . In Japan, it is used to refer to you ...

' who wears

miniskirt A miniskirt (or mini-skirt, mini skirt, or mini) is a skirt with its hemline well above the knees, generally at mid-thigh level, normally no longer than below the buttocks; and a dress with such a hemline is called a minidress or a miniskirt ...

s and dyes her hair blonde. Although she is a second-year

senior high school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., b ...

student, she is on par academically to 4th-grade elementary school students. She frequently transferred schools because she was unable to make friends. Eventually, she attends a private all-girls high school where she plays and enjoys her extra-scholarly activities while skipping study altogether - here, she is caught and suspended for carrying cigarettes. To prepare her for her university

entrance examination In education, an entrance examination or admission examination is an examination that educational institutions conduct to select prospective students. It may be held at any stage of education, from primary to tertiary, even though it is typica ...

, her mother sends her to Seiho Cram School. When her tutor, Yoshitaka Tsubota, hears about Sayaka's academic problems, he makes it his personal goal to help her enter the university of her choice —

Keio University , abbreviated as or , is a private university, private research university located in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. It was originally established as a school for Rangaku, Western studies in 1858 in Edo. It was granted university status in 1920, becomi ...

(considered one of the most prestigious and difficult to enter universities in Japan) — and to get back at her father. Her father (who aims to get her younger brother Ryuta into pro baseball despite the latter's reluctance) labels her as an "air-head" and says she and her mother are being scammed by the

cram school A cram school (colloquially: crammer, test prep, tuition center, or exam factory) is a specialized school that trains its students to achieve particular goals, most commonly to pass the entrance examinations of high schools or university, univer ...

. Likewise, she is repeatedly belittled by her high school teacher, who believes she is destined for failure. Sayaka becomes determined to study hard to prove them wrong. Over the course of the summer holidays of her second year, through to the exams at the end of her third year in high school, Sayaka works diligently, going without sleep to the extent that she nods off in her classes, forgoing dates with her friends, and dying her hair back to black and cutting it, to show her resolve. Her results progressively improve on practice tests and her academic deviation value increases tremendously from 30 to 70 in this short period. Despite facing numerous hardships along the way and nearly giving up, Sayaka, now with her whole family's support, is admitted to Keio University. The film concludes with a comedic montage of the various characters as they sing or dance to the ending song.

Cast

Kasumi Arimura , is a Japanese actress. Her television roles have included the young Haruko Amano in the 2013 NHK asadora '' Amachan'' and the lead role in the 2017 asadora '' Hiyokko''. She has also appeared in several films, including '' Flying Colors'', for ...

as Sayaka Kudō * Atsushi Itō as Yoshitaka Tsubota *

Shūhei Nomura is a Japanese actor. He was born in Kobe, Hyogo Prefecture, and is of one-quarter Chinese descent and speaks fluent Chinese. In 2009, he was selected from about 30,000 applicants as the winner of the Nationwide Amuse Audition. Filmography Fil ...

as Reiji Mori *Yūhei Ōuchida as Ryūta Kudō *Kokoro Okuda as Mayumi Kudō *

Morio Agata Agata Morio (, born 12 September 1948) is a Japanese folk rock singer-songwriter and actor. He also directed three films. Biography Agata was born in Rumoi, Hokkaido. His 1972 debut single ''Sekishoku Erejī'' (literary translated as ''Red Ele ...

as Makoto Minegishi * Ken Yasuda as Takashi Nishimura *

Airi Matsui is a Japanese actress, model, and former singer. She is signed to the agency Amuse Inc. and is a former member of Japanese idol group Sakura Gakuin. In 2015, Matsui endorsed the Ghana chocolate brand. She also released her first photobook on Ma ...

as Mika Honda *

Tetsushi Tanaka is a Japanese actor. Personal life Tanaka married actress Yukie Nakama on September 18, 2014, after a six-year relationship. Selected filmography Film *'' Get Up!'' (2003) *''One Missed Call'' (2004) *'' Umizaru'' (2004) *'' 69'' (2004) *'' Ve ...

as Sayaka's Father *

Yō Yoshida is a Japanese actress who is represented by the talent agency Oranku. Filmography TV series Films Dubbing *''Legend of the Demon Cat'', Lady Yang (Sandrine Pinna) *''Frozen II'', Queen Iduna (Evan Rachel Wood) *''Paddington in Peru'', Clar ...

as Sayaka's Mother

Production

The title of the book on which the film is based can be translated as, "The story of a gal at the bottom of her school year who raised her standard score by 40 points in one year and got accepted into Keio University." Nobutaka Tsubota, the author, was the director of a private school. In the book, Nobutaka writes about his experiences with his real-life pupil Sayaka Kobayashi and how she improved from a high school student who only had the knowledge of 4th-year elementary school student to one who qualified for the prestigious

in just 1.5 years. As of May 2015, the book had sold over 1 million copies. The film ''Flying Colors'' was first unveiled to the Japanese media on 13 November 2014.

Reception

The film grossed on its opening weekend at the Japanese box office. As of May 17, the film had grossed . It was the eighth highest-grossing Japanese film (together with ''

Love Live! The School Idol Movie is a 2015 Japanese animated youth school musical film. The film is part of the '' Love Live! School Idol Project'' multimedia series by Sunrise, Lantis and ''Dengeki G's Magazine'', taking place after the second season of the 2013-2014 anime t ...

'') and the third highest-grossing Japanese live-action film at the Japanese box office in 2015, with (). The film was released in China on April 14, 2016, earning on its opening weekend. On ''

Film Business Asia ''Film Business Asia'' was a film trade magazine based in Hong Kong. The magazine was created in 2010 by Patrick Frater, former journalist for '' Variety'', ''The Hollywood Reporter'', and ''Screen International'' and Stephen Cremin, co-founder o ...

'', Derek Elley gave the film a 7 out of 10, calling it "an entertaining time-waster that hides its didactic messages beneath likeable performances by the two leads".

Plot

Cast

Production

Reception

Awards and nominations

References

External links