Review - ビリギャル / Biri Gyaru

学年ビリのギャルが1年で偏差値を40上げて慶應大学に現役合格した話 (aka ビリギャル)

Jennifer -

A new word I learned with this book was ビリ which means "the last" or "at the bottom". This case it's a story about a gyaru (gal) who's at the bottom rank of her school, increases her scores by 40 points in 1 year and gets into Keio University.

This is a true story. It's a piece of non-fiction written by the juku teacher who taught Sayaka (our gyaru) and pushed her to get her grades up and get into one of the most prestigious universities in Japan.

At the start of the book we meet Sayaka in the moment she meets Tsubota (坪田) Sensei. He asks her some simple questions but is amazed by her creative answers. The start of the book looks at the holes in her basic knowledge and understanding of the world. 

When I say lack of basic knowledge I mean very basic knowledge. Tsubota Sensei asks her to draw a map of Japan and she draws a circle. She doesn't only realize there are 4 major Islands of Japan, she doesn't realize there are hundreds and hundreds of smaller ones.

Some of the misunderstandings of basic knowledge are interesting as a non-Japanese reader because we get taught a little bit of Japanese history and culture that every Japanese person learns in elementary school.

Most of Sayaka's experience at school involves teachers and other people calling her "no-good" and "useless". They laugh at how little she knows.

The book then moves onto the tricks Tsubota Sensei uses to teach Sayaka and methods she can use to teach herself. He also talks about the important of creating a positive, supporting environment for students. This is particularly important because Japan has a huge problem with communal bullying, including bullying from teachers on students. A supportive environment helps students learn.

The middle section can be quite dense as it focuses on study techniques rather than Sayaka. But it's really interesting and great if you want more study tips and tricks that you can use with any subject!

The final section is Sayaka's own efforts to study everyday. To the point where she studies at home and sleeps at school. Her mother plays a huge role in her success by being supportive and standing up for Sayaka to her teachers.

Even though you know she passes and gets into Keio (it's in the title of the book after all). The final part when she's taking the exams is still nerve wracking!

It's an amazing story that not only does a great job at telling Sayaka's story but also provides you with some great study tips!

It's an incredibly easy book with clear writing while also being very enjoyable and motivational.

And if you want to there's also a movie of the book called ビリギャル! The story is almost identical to to the book but includes more to do with Sayaka's family which isn't in the movie.

If you want even more about this story Daniel was kind enough to hunt down this interview with Sayaka and her mother that came out just when the movie came out. [click here for the interview] (Hopefully it still works!)