Flying Colors is a comedy, drama and educational genre film. The film which was released in 2015 was adapted from the writings of Nobutaka Tsubota, a novel that tells the true story of the author. Directed by Nobuhiro Doi who also worked on several other popular Japanese films such as Nada Soso. This film also involves famous Japanese actresses and actors, such as Kasumi Aramura, Atsushi Ito, Shuhei Nomura and several other players. The theme of everyday life with the background of the main characters being high school students and teachers who teach in tutoring institutions, this film is very interesting to watch.

It is told from the childhood of the main character named Sayaka Kudo (played by Kasumi Aramura), where during elementary school he was bullied, thus making him a shy child and having difficulty interacting with his peers. Stepping into junior high school, she met new friends and was sent to an all-girls school. There he met some friends who invited him to play and teach him to dress up. His friends became friends until he entered high school.

Despite the bullying case he was in, he found happiness and can have fun with his friends now. She grows up to be a cheerful girl, but Sayaka doesn’t pay much attention to learning at school so her academic achievement is quite low. It puts Sayaka in last place at school along with her friends as well. One time when her teacher was teaching a class, Sayaka was caught keeping a cigarette in her bag. Sayaka was taken to the principal’s office and asked who she smoked with, the teachers and principal surmising that she must not have done it herself. Even though she was repeatedly asked, until her mother invited her to school, Sayaka still chose silence rather than betraying her friends. In the end, he was suspended for not wanting to confess.

In her sophomore year of high school, while entering the summer vacation period, her mother advised Sayaka to take a special class at a tutoring institute. The first time she came to the course, Sayaka was wearing a tight dress and a miniskirt. She was dressed quite thickly for a girl her age, her hair was also dyed blonde. Entering the course, he meets a teacher named Tsubota (Atsushi Ito). Teacher Tsubota greeted Sayaka with a smile, then praised her cool appearance. Tsubota’s response made Sayaka quite happy, because the other teachers usually didn’t like Sayaka’s appearance like that. It was the first time he had received this compliment, apart from his mother.

Before undergoing a special tutoring program with Tsubota’s teacher, Sayaka was asked to work on several questions. Finished working on the questions given, Mr. Tsubota checked Sayakan’s answers. Looking at all of Sayaka’s answers, it turns out that none of them are correct. Even though the score obtained from the test given to Sayaka was zero, Mr. Tsubota still appreciated Sayaka and gave praise. Teacher Tsubota told Sayaka a good job, although she didn’t answer correctly, she was able to complete and answer all the questions given.

The next day to the course, Mr. Tsubota gave another test to see Sayaka’s abilities. From the tests carried out, it turned out that Sayaka’s ability was equal to that of a 4th grade elementary school student. Knowing these results, Mr. Tsubota did not lose hope and remained optimistic that Sayaka could improve her academic performance. Mr. Tsubota invites and encourages Sayaka to dream, such as “Would you like to meet handsome men after graduating from high school at a famous university?”, sparks of enthusiasm then appeared on Sayaka’s expression. He then chose Keio University as his goal to continue his studies after graduating from high school later. Previously, Sayaka had no hope or desire to pursue her dream of getting to a top university in Japan. After seeing the optimism, enthusiasm and patience of Tsubota’s teacher, Sayaka studied harder and worked harder.

There are times when he still makes time to play and go out with his friends. Even when she is playing, Sayaka brings textbooks, dictionaries and also does the assignments given by Mr. Tsubota. His friends who saw Sayaka’s sincerity and enthusiasm finally decided not to see him again. They want Sayaka to focus on pursuing her dream so that she can be accepted at Keio University. As good friends, they don’t want to be a hindrance to Sayaka’s struggle. They hoped that Sayaka would succeed.

On the other hand, her mother continues to support Sayaka in participating in a special study program to take the college entrance exam at the course. His mother even took a part time job in a factory and worked very hard. Until the study time was added to a week, the cost of the course which was not cheap required her mother to think harder to increase the required funds. Meanwhile, Sayaka’s father at that time was more focused on his older brother who was predicted to become a professional baseball player. Her mother thought for herself how to earn money to add to Sayaka’s course schedule. Until his sister’s insurance fund was used to help, after her mother got approval from her sister.

In her struggle to pursue her dream of being accepted at Keio University, Sayaka encounters many obstacles. Belittled, belittled, exhausted and lack of sleep, until even in class he fell asleep. Not a little money is needed, so that the mother and sister need to make sacrifices. From a cheerful girl who just loves to play, dress up and have fun. She became an ordinary girl of ordinary appearance, and was earnestly pursuing her dreams.

Watching the Flying Colors movie is quite emotional and emotional, as well as enthusiastic and laughable. This film teaches that the struggle will not betray the results. From the story of Sayaka proves that patience and a long process will bring good luck. This film is highly recommended for scholarship hunters, for dream chasers and for those looking for reasons why to fight. This film is also a reflection for parents to support their children’s dreams and find out the potential that suits them. On the other hand, it is also a reminder for educators/teachers that no student is stupid. All students have their own characteristics, different ways of learning according to their needs, as well as potentials and talents that need to be developed. Being an educator is not easy, but being able to change a person’s life until he succeeds is pride that cannot be replaced with anything.

Those are some things about the Flying Colors film that you can know. Hopefully it inspires and captures the message in it.