Chuugakusei Nikki (The Diary of a Junior High Schooler) -Blog 2

Chuugakusei Nikki (The Diary of a Junior High Schooler) is a live action Japanese melodrama series directed by Tsukahara Ayuko and Tsuboi Toshio. This series was released in 2018 and received a number of comments for its controversial issues and melodramatic aspects that deviate the story from the norm. The actors with the leading roles include Arimura Kasumi (with the role of the female teacher Suenaga Hijiri) and Okada Kenshi (with the role of the male student Kuroiwa Akira).

Full Plot

Set in modern day Japan, the story follows a 15-year-old boy Kuroiwa Akira who falls in love with his female 25-year-old homeroom and literature teacher Suenaga Hijiri. Despite knowing that Hijiri already has a fiancé, Akira struggles to convey his feelings towards Hijiri. Within the course of a few months, Hijiri admits that she also has feelings towards Akira, thus reciprocating his love. However, as the teacher and her student fall in love, their inappropriate sexual actions such as kissing cause concern for both sides of the family. Hijiri eventually resigns her job as a teacher from her junior high school and turns down the soon-to-approach wedding with her fiancé. The fateful summer that Akira and Hijiri fell in love ended with Hijiri having to move away without informing anyone her whereabouts.

There is a 3-year time skip in the story. Akira is in his final year of high school in a new city and has settled with his academic life; however, refuses to forget his love for Hijiri. Coincidentally, Hijiri is back to being a teacher at an elementary school in the same city that Akira has moved to. Through a series of events that happen, the two reunite with the same echoing feeling of love in their hearts. More drama unfolds as Akira’s mother finds out that her only son has reunited with the woman of a 10-year age gap with her son. She strictly prohibits Akira from seeing Hijiri and warns him that she will bring this issue to the police if he still makes an effort to see her. 28-year-old Hijiri understands the issue, thus tries her best to lock away her feelings for Akira by refraining from contacting Akira.

Both their feelings start to develop and grow once again to the point where they would break their own rules in order to see be with each other. Ignoring the societal pressure of having a large age gap alongside the student-teacher relationship, the two decide to look into the long-term future of their relationship. Unfortunately, Akira’s mother strongly opposes this, brings the issue of the conviction of a minor towards the police, and hires a lawyer to settle a contract agreement with Hijiri to stop any form of contact/communication with Akira. Hijiri decides that the best outcome of the current situation would be to sign the contract, thus she does so and provides Akira with the reason that she believes their love needs more time. She promises Akira that she will continue to strive for her dream of becoming a teacher abroad in another country whilst waiting for Akira to grow more mature to the point where the two can be together once again.

Another time skip of 5 years happen. Hijiri is now a teacher abroad in Thailand and has not committed to any relationships ever since the conflict with Akira’s mother. Akira unexpectedly enters the scene and approaches Hijiri from the back who was viewing the sunset by the beach. Akira does not say anything, he smiles and hands her the contract. This shows that his mom has now accepted the relationship of the two and that both Akira and Hijiri are now ready to commit to a morally right relationship.

Themes and Connections to Melodrama

The main theme of the series is the harshness of life in the form of societal pressure and forbidden love. The story portrays the question on the extent to which you are willing to sacrifice for your difficult love despite the overwhelming hurdles.      

Forbidden Love and the Fight for Love

The forbidden love in this melodrama series is the love between teacher and student. This kind of love is unacceptable in Japanese culture as it is seen as pedophilia. Knowing that their love would not be accepted by the strict Japanese society, both Hijiri and Akira still insist on struggling to fight for their difficult love.

On one hand, Hijiri has to fight for her position in society as she aims to stand as a teacher-the dream job she has always had in mind. In doing so, she is portrayed as an independent woman who stays true to her feelings. Upon making up her mind that she loves her student Akira, she ignores the cultural pressure and is willing to go against societal norms in order to achieve the love life she desires. There are two aspects of love which Hijiri is continuously dramatically fighting for: self-love and romanticism. She has to fight to pursue her working goals and her love for her student Akira.

On the other hand, Akira is placed in a similar situation, but with emphasis on a family aspect where he has to fight for a common ground (an agreement) with his family members on his love towards the woman with a 10-year age gap with him.

The issue is eventually resolved in the most realistic approach in the sense that both the characters end up together with the help of time that makes their age gap and social standings acceptable to a certain extent. In other words, their fight for love is realistically proven as Akira has turned 23, reaching an age where his mother has acknowledged his never-ending love for Hijiri.  

Cultural Aspects

An old Japanese literature poem is presented in the first episode which not only foreshadows the story, but also serves as an important metaphor for understanding for the whole drama.

“A good rain chooses the right time to fall and so it falls,
When it comes to spring, the rain is certainly falling,
It follows the wind and secretly enters the night,
While the wind is blowing, the rain continues to fall until night,
And moistens everything softly, without any sound,
Silently, almost making no sounds at all, it makes everything wet.”

In the first episode, as a literature teacher, Hijiri presents this poem to her class on her students’ first day of the school year with the hope of motivating her students to study hard and work towards achieving their goals in the future. After writing this poem on the classroom chalkboard and explaining to the class the meaning behind the lines, Akira falls off his chair and slightly shocks Hijiri. As Hijiri checks on Akira, the two make eye contact for the very first time in the story and the following events resonate with the lines of the poem. A type of pure love that overcomes various obstacles over a lengthy period of time. Thus, this poem serves to link the mindset of the older generation to that of the newer generation because in the old days, such love between a teacher and her student is seen morally unacceptable, so this poem acts as a bridge that connects the differences in mindsets, showing that in the end the Japanese culture has changed to an extent where more kinds of love is socially acceptable.

Story Told from Male Perspective

This is a point to be taken into consideration for modern melodrama. I noticed that the movie is told from Akira’s (the male main character) perspective, which contrasts to what we were discussing in class with Professor Earl Jackson as the guest lecturer. During Professor Jackson’s lecture, he mentions specifically how Japanese melodrama is usually told in a female perspective, meaning that the film shots and film aesthetics were done in a way that reflects what the female character could see. In other words, the viewers are placed in the female character’s shoes as the story unfolds.

I find it surprising how the modern take on melodrama features more male perspectives than older films. I assume that this is so that the viewers are able to come to a better understanding of the thoughts and emotions that go through a male’s mind, which balances with the understanding of things in a female’s perspective that has likely been explored in melodrama that viewers have come across. Not to mention how there are significantly more scenes that are shot close up to Akira in comparison to Hijiri.

Cinematography

There is a fish eye effect that occurs throughout most of the series which seems to serve as a medium to convey the character’s emotions. This fish eye effect is done on both the scene and the characters. With the scenes, the fish eye effect is placed on elements of nature as if to emphasize symbolism that exists. An example that correlates to what we have discussed in class is the common scene in melodramas where beach scenes exist as a place where issues are resolved. This beach scene is present at the end of the series where both Akira and Hijiri have reunited after many years and are both ready to commit to a serious and morally acceptable relationship where the fish eye effect is applied to the sunset on the beach. This acts as a motif for a new beginning that is soon to approach the couple.

Another example of this fish eye effect is the first eye contact scene in the classroom between Akira and Hijiri. Both the characters are placed in the center of the frame, with minor characters surrounding the center. This evokes an emphasis on the start of loving feelings that will soon be shown by the characters.

Film aesthetics in Chuugakusei Nikki is also focused on the use of rain and darkness in particular. There are many shots taken in a lighting where it is so dark that the viewers can find it hard to identify what was going on at certain times which demonstrates the various moods that the film was implying. During scenes with rain, the characters are often in a state of either sexual desire, depression, or confusion.

Quotes

“I don’t care even though others see us like this”- Akira

This quote by Akira as he hugs Hijiri in public during the fireworks festival displays the resistance that Akira wishes to go against in order to portray how strong his love is for Hijiri. It is a very melodramatic line as it states that the character is willing to break both self and societal rules in order to push for a desired love life.

Other notes:

Controversy in Japan

When the 11-episode series was released, there was a clear drop on the ratings due to the split between two distinct groups of people with opinions for and against the topic of teacher-and-student’s forbidden love. With comments from people on “disgusting branding” as a result of the subtle theme of pedophilia, the series premiered with just a rating of 6.0%-a number much lower that the series that premiered before them of the same timeslot- 11.5%.

Mixed opinions leaned towards the idea that love is love; therefore, no barriers should interfere with two hearts that love each other.