Erika Ikuta ``You're wonderful, teacher! ”, her first starring role in a terrestrial drama series! "I think it's going to be a summer of sweating desperately."

■Erika Ikuta plays a second-year high school teacher who struggles for the sake of her students while looking for a time to quit!

Erika Ikuta will be appearing on ABC TV’s “Wonderful Ya, Sensei!” scheduled to air in the summer of 2024. ‘ will be her first starring role in a terrestrial drama series.

This work is set in an unreasonable educational setting. Based on Takayuki Takuma’s original screenplay, the film uses the harsh reality of teachers as its subject matter, and is filled with heart-warming episodes between new teachers and students, and delivers cheering songs for teachers that will bring smiles not only to the characters but also to the viewers.

Ikuta plays the role of Rio Sasaoka, a second-year high school teacher who struggles for the sake of his students even as he searches for a time to quit while being caught in the middle of all kinds of relationships, including students, parents, and colleagues.

Rio is a character who is honest with his emotions, whether crying or laughing, and is full of humanity, whether he is laughing out loud or complaining secretly. Pay attention to Erika Ikuta’s new side.

[“How wonderful, teacher! ”Synopsis]
Rio Sasaoka (Erika Ikuta) is a Generation Z high school teacher who jumped into the educational field with hopes and dreams in mind. However, her harshness was beyond her imagination, and her daily life was so stressful that she considered quitting her job in her second year. She is surrounded by students who interpret “freedom” and behave freely, parents and neighbors who place excessive expectations on the school, and older teachers who force younger students to deal with problems. Rio vents her daily complaints on her secret SNS account, asks her kind boyfriend to listen to her, and shows off her natural energy and cheerfulness by saying, “Teachers are people too!” Somehow it maintains balance.

However, his patience has finally reached its limit. He decides to resign, but at the same time there is a sudden vacancy in the class teacher position, and for some reason Rio is given the job to fill the position. Rio’s life as a teacher becomes even more thorny as she is assigned the third grade as her first homeroom teacher. Rio Hatashi’s fate is…

■Erika Ikuta comment
Q: This will be your first leading role in a terrestrial drama series. Please tell us your enthusiasm.
I am very happy to have been entrusted with this role for the first time. I’m nervous about playing the role of a teacher, and I’m also worried about whether I’ll be able to take on the role of a teacher for the first time, but the story begins with Rio, the novice teacher I play, on the verge of giving up in the harsh educational environment. I hope that we can join hands and overcome each other without giving up, whether we run, stop, or fall.
Q: The main character, Rio, faces his job as a teacher with the full potential of his humanity, whether he complains, cries or laughs. This character is different from the previous impressions of Ikuta-san, but what kind of aspects do you want to imagine when playing the role?
Rio has a wide range of emotions, and I get the impression that he lets out both the good and the bad. So I’m feeling a little nervous before filming, thinking that I’ll have to be very honest about this. However, I don’t think it’s something that can be done in one person’s head, so I would like to explore Rio as a person while valuing the things and reactions that arise when I interact with my co-stars.
Q: Please give a message to the viewers.
This drama is about a teacher, and it depicts not only the time he spends at school with his students, but also his private life with his family and partner.
I hope that the viewers will be able to move forward and empathize with Kurio, even if just a little bit, as he struggles as a teacher despite his immaturity and foolishness as a human being.
I’m sure it’s going to be a summer of sweating hard, but I’ll do my best so that when I finish this work, I can say from the bottom of my heart, “You’re amazing, sensei!”

■Screenplay/Director Takayuki Takuma Comments
There is no one who can become a teacher! In response to this predicament, in the educational field, please post “the wonderfulness of teachers” on SNS with the tag “#Teacher’s Baton”! The origin of the story is a rockin’ episode in which a current teacher called out to him, and a complaint fest about how difficult it is to be a teacher sparked a firestorm. When I researched this, the actual situation in the modern educational field and the real image of teachers, which are usually invisible, came to light in an enka-like manner, and I realized that the young Generation Z will become a guidepost for the lives of the Generation Alpha below them. Now that I know this FUNK reality, I want to write a song to support teachers! I felt an urge.
The story is a classic pop youth drama that centers on a young Henna Chocolate teacher and high school students living in the Reiwa era, and depicts the joys and sorrows of the lives of the people involved.
The actors were led by Erika Ikuta, and there were many young, PUNK and fresh young actors who will carry the future of Japan on their shoulders, as well as stylish and jazzy adult actors.
It’s been a long time since hardcore people have been lamenting that Japan’s commercial TV dramas are delayed or even finished, but for the first time in a while, I’m writing and directing a commercial TV drama. We intend to deliver a work that will satisfy not only those who like dramas, but also those who are picky about dramas and those who rarely watch them. Please look forward to the SOUL human drama “Yasaki Ya, Sensei!” that will put a smile on your face and make you feel a little better on Sunday nights.