Suugaku Joshi Gakuen (lit. Math Girls Academy) is a live-action TV series by the NTV Channel directed by Yuto Kawai and written by Masahiro Yamaura. Its pilot episode aired on January 11, 2012.
SuuGaku (heh, nice name) is aired in Japan every Wednesday at 12:59 a.m, Japanese time (that would be Tuesday, 10:59 a.m. Eastern Time).
Spoiler for Story:
Kazuki Sato, a hater of math, gets transferred to Shibuya Girls' Academy. On his first day in school, he encounters a pretty girl named Niina Machida. Then his homeroom teacher takes him to a classroom, telling him that his new school is an all-girls school specializing in mathematics.
As he got seated, a girl went through the classroom window Tarzan-style and sits next to him. She turns out to be Niina, the girl she met before. She takes Kazuki to the school cafeteria and makes him an errand boy, forcing him to buy her favorite Mentaiko bread everyday. As this happens, Sayuri Tachikawa schemes to have them kicked out of the school.
He then saw a bunch of girls holding a math contest involving prime numbers. One of them approaches him and tells him they're training to become the next Math Boss, which is decided through Math battles.
Meanwhile, Niina thinks about her sister, who was once the Math Boss before she disappeared. She aims to become the next Math Boss to find the truth about her sister.
HILARITY ENSUES.
Spoiler for Characters:
Kazuki Sato (played by Dori Sakurada)
- The new transfer student of the eponymous Math Girls Academy. He absolutely hates Math until he discovers that his new school is actually an all-girls school which specializes in Mathematics. He later comes to appreciate Math after it has saved him a lot of times from the students' wacky shenanigans.
Niina Machida (played by Reina Tanaka)
- The ace Math student of Class 2-A. She aims to become the new Math Boss to find her sister who disappeared shortly after becoming the Math Boss. She served as Kazuki's guide to his new school. She has unparalleled skill in solving Mathematical problems, from the mundane to the diabolical. As an aspiring Math Boss, she tries to emulate her sister while looking for her.
Sayuri Tachikawa (played by Sayumi Michishige)
- The resident Alpha Bitch of Niina's class, though she turns good and intensely idolizes Niina after she beat her in a Math battle. She still does kinda hate Kazuki, though.
Manami Shibuya (played by Maimi Yajima)
- The enforcer of Class 2-A. She's a die-hard fan of detective/police works, going as far as dressing and acting like a real police officer and getting at least four girls to join her own "law enforcement" group named "Shibuya Police Force". Yeah.
Nagisa Toriumi (played by Risa Niigaki)
- The school nurse. She serves as Niina's advisor.
- Several cast members are members of the idol group Morning Musume. Especially notable are Reina Tanaka, Sayumi Michishige, and Maimi Yajima.
- The story was developed in cooperation with the International Math Olympiad (IMO), presumably to make Japanese students more appreciative of Mathematics, the world's most hated class.
- Since this is all about Math, each episode features at least one Math problem usually connected to the plot, and how they were solved.
Well, for a supposedly educational show, it's aired TOO LATE in the morning. That, or people probably don't appreciate Math that much.
I found a pretty good explanation for the problem shown in the pilot episode.
The question presented is as follows:
Problem
Kazuki Sato, the new student, was accused of peeping through the skirt of Sayuri Tachikawa as he was going up a stairway, with witnesses backing her up. Then Niina Machida comes to his defense and challenges Sayuri to a Math battle to determine whether Kazuki actually saw Sayuri's panties or not.
The stairs are 3 meters long and 3 meters high. The length from the floor to Sayuri's skirt is 60 centimeters. Find the maximum height from where Kazuki can see through Sayuri's skirt.
Solution
Let x be the height from where Kazuki can peep through Sayuri's skirt.
and y be the angle from where Kazuki can see Sayuri's panties.
The new height of the stairs (including the length from the top of the stairs to the bottom of Sayuri's skirt) is 3.6 meters, or 360 centimeters to be consistent with the smaller units. This new triangle formed now has the equation:
(1) tan y = (360 - x) / 300
Sayuri actually tries to incriminate Kazuki by not accounting for his height, allowing for a bigger angle for Kazuki to peep on.
I commend Niina for thinking outside of the box and further measuring Sayuri's skirt length and width, giving her 35 cm and 28 cm, respectively. The third triangle now forms the equation:
(2) tan y = 28 / 35 = 0.8 y = 39 degrees (the ideal viewing angle)
Equating (2) with (1), we have
(3) 0.8 = (360 - x) / 300
240 = 360 - x x = 120 centimeters
From the show, we learn that Kazuki is 170 cm tall, so it is impossible for Kazuki to see Sayuri's skirt from 3 meters down the stairs if he is standing up.
Now, one of the witnesses says that she saw him peep through Sayuri from the second floor of the building she was on. But again, she can't see Kazuki unless he's standing up because the wall below the window will block her view if Kazuki is crouching.
2012-03-12, 09:41
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