If you’re looking for a list of the best Japanese high school dramas to watch, look no further. We’ve rounded up 14 of the best and latest Japanese school dramas here.
Many fans argue that some of the best Japanese dramas are school dramas as well as Japanese medical dramas. The plots are highly quirky and often involve a bunch of cliché tropes such as rich and poor leaders, love triangles, bullying, unrequited love, and the love between student and teacher.
Also with the delivery of the storyline, character development, and the beautiful scenery of Japan left an imprint on the minds of the audience. Here below is the list!
Best Japanese High School Dramas
1. Black Cinderella
Black Cinderella tells of Kamiya Manaha, a girl who lacks confidence. Her childhood dream was to enter the Miss Seiran Pageant, a beauty pageant exclusively for high school students.
Despite seeing herself as an ordinary girl, she enters the contest and meets some friends. One of them is Tachibana Keigo, a handsome boy who is selfish, and Shimamura Sora, a mysterious transfer student.
At the time of the contest, Manaha couldn’t contain her excitement, as she was only a few steps away from the stage she had dreamed of for so long.
This school Japanese drama series was released in 2021 with 8 episodes. It is available on Viki and stars Riko, Kamio Fuju, Itagaki Mizuki, and Murakami Erica.
2. Good Morning Call
It is about Yoshikawa Nao, a girl who is left to live alone when her parents leave to inherit her grandfather’s farm in the countryside.
The day she moves into her new apartment, she discovers that it is also rented out to Uehara Hisashi, a cute, super cool, and popular guy from her school.
Not only has their real estate agency suddenly closed, their landlord has also told them they will have to pay more for their apartment.
With no money and a home to return to, Nao and Hisashi decide to move in together as roommates. This Japanese High School Drama was released in 2016 with 17 episodes and is available on Netflix.
3. Mischievous Kiss: Love in Tokyo (Love in TOKYO)
It tells about Kotoko Aihara, who notices handsome student Naoki Irie during a high school entrance ceremony and she immediately falls in love with him.
Kotoko doesn’t want to express her feelings at first, but finally has the chance to do so. Unfortunately, Naoki rejects Kotoko, saying “I don’t like stupid women.”
One day, Kotoko Aihara’s house is badly damaged by a meteorite and then Kotoko Aihara and her father decide to live with her father’s friend.
When Kotoko Aihara moves into her new temporary home, she is surprised to find that Naoki Irie lives there as well. The series was released in 2013 with 16 episodes. You can watch it on Viki and Amazon Prime Video.
4. Murai no Koi
Murai is a young, introverted high school student with an ordinary appearance who is noticed by everyone. Long hair, and a curvy gait, he wasn’t really a person who could be called handsome or even a popular person.
One day, Murai shyly confesses his feelings to the girl he loves, the beautiful and sparkling Tanaka, but, she just rejects his feelings.
Tanaka Ayano is an otaku who only cares about the characters in his games, so he doesn’t pay much attention to Murai.
The next morning, Murai returns to school looking very different from head to toe. He has dyed and cut his hair and now wears the style of Tanaka’s favorite character. Murai will do everything to seduce him and get his attention.
My Love Level Up is one of the best Japanese high school dramas was released in 2022 with 8 episodes.
5. Switched
The series centers on Ayumi Kohinata, a high school student who has a cute and shy personality.
He is happy that he has just started dating his first girlfriend, but on the day of their first date, he gets a mysterious call from his classmate Zenko Umine.
Zenko says he will die, and just then Ayumi witnesses Zenko jump from the building. But something inexplicable happened and for all he knows, Ayumi woke up in the hospital, but in Zenko’s body.
This Japanese school tv show was released in 2018 with 6 episodes and is available on Netflix.
6. Mairunovich
The series’ storyline follows Kinoshita Mairu, an unpopular high school student, who thinks of herself as ugly and innocent.
She then quickly transforms into a cute girl after meeting the handsome and cool student, Kumada Tenyu. He will also seek true love while using his inner strength to change himself.
This Japanese School drama was released in 2021 with 8 episodes. You can watch it on Hulu.
7. Koe Koi (Voice Love)
Koe Koi tells the story of Yoshioka Yuiko, a girl who starts first grade in high school with a cold and stays in bed. At that time, he got a call from class president Matsubara to ask how he was.
Yuiko was then flattered by her friendly voice over the phone. The next day, he went to school and met Matsubara. But he is a mysterious boy, wearing a paper bag over his head. His high school days started with a pounding heart.
This Japanese youth drama was released in 2016 with 12 episodes. It starred Nagano Mei, Sakurai Takahiro, Nagai Kyo, and Ryusei Ryo
8. Himitsu no Ai-chan
Tells the story of Kasumi “Ai” Aiko, a member of her school’s basketball club who is athletic and tomboyish. He is very popular among the girls and can even outperform the boys’ team, except for one person namely Amano Reo.
His skills in the field are only matched by his popularity. Envious, Ai declares him their rival, and every day after practice, they compare the number of love letters each has received and always lose to Ai.
One day, Ai’s brother needs a worker and then hires him at a maid cafe named “Spica”. Since her appearance was not feminine enough, her appearance was altered with a wig and a bit of pretty makeup.
When Reo visits the cafe with the rest of the boy’s team, Ai worries that they will find out about her disguise. He then tries to hide but accidentally spills Reo’s drink.
While he was cleaning up his mistake, suddenly Reo asked him out on a date. After thinking about it, he excitedly hatched a revenge plan. He would make her fall in love with him and then dump him.
One of the best Japanese high school dramas romance was released in 2021 with 10 episodes. You can watch it on Viki.
9. Chugakusei Nikki (Meet Me After School)
Chugakusei Nikki is a Japanese drama with a love story between Akira Kuroiwa, a 15-year-old boy who knows nothing about love, and Hijiri Suenaga, his new 25-year-old homeroom teacher.
One fateful summer, Akira begins to realize that he has a crush on Hijiri, but Hijiri has a long-distance fiancé. The story follows the couple over several years.
This Japanese drama about the love story of a teacher and student was released in 2018 with 11 episodes. It’s available on Viki.
10. Kaguya-sama: Love is War – Mini
The series is set in a prestigious private high school whose students rank top of the nation academically. The school’s student council president is Miyuki Shirogane and their vice student council president is Kaguya Shinomiya.
They are attracted to each other but are unable to admit their feelings for each other because of their stubborn pride. About half a year had passed since they kept their feelings a secret.
Now, Miyuki Shirogane and Kaguya Shinomiya thought the one who confessed first would lose. The two of them thought of a way to get the other person to confess first.
This is one of the best Japanese school dramas and was released in 2021 with 5 episodes.
11. Kuzu no Honkai (Scum’s Wish)
It tells the story of Mugi Awaya and Hanabi Yasuraoka who seem to be the ideal couple. They are both quite popular and seem to suit each other well.
However, outsiders were not privy to the secrets they shared. Mugi and Hanabi both have crushes on other people, and they only date to appease a lonely heart.
Mugi is actually in love with Akane Minagawa, a young teacher who used to be his house teacher. Hanabi is also in love with a teacher, a young man who has been her family’s best friend since she was little.
In each other, they find a place where they can grieve for the people they couldn’t have. Will things stay like this for them forever?
This drama was released in 2017 with 12 episodes. You can watch this Japanese high school drama tv show on Viki.
12. Hana Nochi Hare: HanaDan Next Season
The drama’s storyline follows Oto, a student attending the prestigious Eitoku Academy. But secretly just an “ordinary person” who is struggling financially due to the bankruptcy of his father’s company.
He fears that his secret will be revealed if he becomes the target of a “people’s hunt”, which C5 Kaguragi engages in to maintain the school’s dignity.
Meanwhile, Momonozono Academy, where Tenma Hase serves as student council president, is fast catching up to Eitoku Academy as a result of Tenma’s achievements.
Tenma and Oto are actually engaged to each other and to be married, but only on the condition that Oto attends Eitoku Academy until he turns 18. This is one of the best high school dramas released in 2018 with 11 episodes.
13. Akuma to Love Song
It tells of Kawai Maria transferring to Totsuka High School after being expelled from her previous school. But he was ostracized among his classmates.
Nevertheless, Maria hopes for a fresh start and she eventually manages to become close to two of her classmates after they hear her beautiful singing.
One of them is Yusuke Kanda, who is kind and friendly to everyone on the outside, but not at all on the inside. He taught Maria to get along but seemed more intimidating.
The other one was Shin Meguro. He was tall, dark-haired and always frowning. Meguro is a nice person but Maria points out that because she lacks communication skills she doesn’t really know how to speak English.
Throughout the year Maria faced many problems, especially those related to getting along with other people but soon solved them with the constant help of her friends and frank.
This Japanese tv show was released in 2021 with 8 episodes and is available on Hulu.
14. 3 Nen A Gumi: Ima kara Mina San wa, Hito Jichi Desu (All of You are Hostages)
Hiiragi is a homeroom teacher of class 3-A who gathers his 29 students exactly 10 days before graduation and declares them his hosts.
The last lesson he teaches is about the death of a student who died months earlier. He states no one can pass until the truth is known.
This Japanese high school drama was released in 2019 with 10 episodes. You can watch it on Netflix.
That was the list of the best Japanese high school dramas that you should try to watch. You won’t be disappointed if you try to watch one of these, I’m sure of it. Thanks for reading this article, have a nice day!
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