First Class Season 2 : First Impressions

First Class Season 2 : First Impressions

It is currently the time of year where all of the new drama series begin so I keep finding myself stumbling onto new shows when watching TV, such as Nobunaga Concerto which you can see my impressions on by clicking here. Yesterday during dinner I found myself watching the first episode of First Class Season 2 and despite probably not being in the intended target audience, I really enjoyed it!

Season 2 is set half a year after the first season of "First Class." Where Chinami Yoshinari (Erika Sawajiri) begins work as a fashion designer. In the first season she had battled her way from a starting position to the editor role of famous fashion magazine 'First Class' despite the fierce cut-throat office environment. She eventually saves the magazine from cancellation and triumphs over all of the hurdles thrown her way. In season 2 she has now landed work as a fashion designer, where the stakes are much, much higher. She is now mixing with some very powerful figures in this high end field and a lot of money is on the line. However in the bitchy world of fashion she is now being targeted and trampled upon by her ruthless industry peers. She attempts to get through by using her wisdom and toughness that she gained from experience in season 2.

Due to its popularity First class was renewed for a 2nd season by FujiTV and is apparently one of the fastest ever series to be signed up for a second season! In the first season Chinami had the role of being a good girl in a bitchy bad girl world. Whereas in Season 2 we see her transform from “everyone else but me is bad” to “everyone is bad including me”. This drama is bitchy, REALLY bitchy. It is like a more extreme version of A Devil Wears Prada except that almost everyone is selfish, backstabbing and out for themselves.

The editors do a really good job of showing the characters two faced personalities by showing their outside comments in normal conversation then having lots of up close shots while a highly emotive inner dialogue is heard. I literally lost count of the amount of close up bitchy stares and smirks I saw in the first episode but the thoughts being projected are so bitchy and amusing that I loved every second of it. My main concern though is that this technique might become tiring fast and may be a bit over the top in the long term, but for the first time viewing I thought it was awesome.

In First Class, to add a bit more depth to the simple bitchiness of the girls, the series uses a 'mounting' scale to judge each other and rank their 'position' among others. I'm not sure if this is an invented term, being an outsider to both the fashion world and a bitchy women's brain; but it is an interesting plot mechanic. The mounting scale basically judges a woman based on their love life, job status, money and personal belongings. It is incredibly shallow to be honest, but this IS the fashion world after all! After each episode the 'mounting' ranking is shown, with actresses being ranked in a playing card format, changing order after the events of each episode. This is a good way to clarify exactly who is 'on top' at that current story point, or who took a mighty dive in social rankings.

Now I'm not going to lie, these pictures don't even do the cast justice. The actors and actresses are gorgeous! They totally fit the 'fashion world' image and are always wearing cutting edge outfits, amazing hairstyle and picture perfect make-up. The pretty faces also work well with the whole two faced bitchy angle the series relies on too. Behind every pretty face there could be some really ugly intentions.

Chinami has to battle against gossiping, project sabotage and just general competition in order to succeed and I'm looking forward to seeing her struggle through. The series may be a bit over the top and direct for some viewers and it may wear thin as the series goes on but I'm going to tune in for now!

You can check out the trailer below!