WHAT IS IT ABOUT?
Sakai Masato is Komikado Kensuke, a lawyer with a 100% winning record who will do anything to win. He used to be partners with Yabe Kenzo who is the villain of the series but something happened to break their partnership. Aragaki Yui plays the idealistic and naive lawyer who at the beginning of the series works for Yabe Kenzo as an expert in foreign transactions who does her first pro bono case as a defence lawyer in a criminal case.
WHAT I LIKED
- Komikado sensei doing anything to win including hiring people to protest outside court, tampering with witnesses and blackmail.
- Komikado calling Aragaki Yui an asadora heroine because of her misguided and ignorant sense of 'justice'. I like how it question right and wrong, especially in ep 4 in regards to the crusading lawyer and the residents who have other reasons for suing the property developers.
- Its kind of a very light version of Boston Legal/Ally McBeal.
- Aragaki Yui's acting being tolerable.
WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE
- The legal arguments just aren't interesting/funny. Instead it goes for sentimental parables which just I just find boring.(see ep 3)
- There's something missing from Legal High because I always find myself skipping scenes. Whether its Komikado not being as strong a character as Bengoshi no Kuzu or if there is a lack of chemistry between the leads, I don't know.
I'm just indifferent about the characters and series and don't really care about watching the next episode. Makes me feel like watching Bengoshi no Kuzu though browsing my old reviews, it seems that show is weak in terms of legal stories and is carried by Toyokawa Etsushi's acting. Legal High is watchable since there's nothing I really hate but I don't feel compelled to watch the next episode either.
I think it's very watchable too, but I don't really look forward to it every week. I like the crazy acting of the main lawyer and his house manager (for lack of a better word) but Aragaki Yui isn't shining in this one like she has in other shows.
ReplyDeleteThere's only two things I do look forward to, one is Kazoku no Uta (which is really... different. I think you're going to love it or hate it) and for some odd reason Cleopatra no Onnatachi. (One that you'd hate I think.) I'm watching KnU half because of Odagiri Joe and because it's so different.
I would never put Aragaki Yui and shining in the same sentence.
ReplyDeleteI'll definitely try KnU just cause its got crap ratings. Mita had monster ratings and was crap, maybe KnU is the opposite.
Saw posters of Cleopatra when I was in Japan and I'm not touching that with a 10 foot pole unless someone tells me its a very funny and ingenious show about vanity.
I'm glad to see Sato Ryuta in a serious role.
ReplyDeleteIt's humorous in parts. There are plenty of vain Japanese people who come in to the clinic. A little girl who keeps super gluing her eyes so that she gets double-eyelids (which fails). She's done it so many times that she practically has no where to go. They ask the doctor for surgery and he declines (she's too young and he insists she 'doesn't need it anyway') and they berate him (how cruel and mean!), leaving him with the 50,000 yen bill (his fault).
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ReplyDeleteI'm a lawyer and I've always wanted to know how the Japanese legal system works. More specifically, I'd like to see how the Japanese legal procedure works.
ReplyDeleteBecause of this, I tried to watch Hokaben, Tokujo Kabachi, and Shichinin no Onna Bengoshi. Sadly, I got turned off by Ueto Aya's zealousness in Hokaben, and there's no english sub for Shichinin. Tokujo Kabachi was quite welcomed. It talked about Japanese law to a good extent, though its palpable campiness did drag it down somewhat.
Now comes Legal High, which is rather entertaining. There's not much legal argument here, but when they do argue legally, the legal basis are quite sound. Moreover, the arguments flow just like in real life litigation (albeit with much more dramaturgy). Some of the arguments Komikado makes is akin to what lawyers argue in real life. And that hits home. I also like the fact that some of his opponents are rather sound in their legal arguments as well. I know I would've made arguments in a similar vein.
It's also a plus to see that the show does not eschew details such as inadmissible evidence or procedural rules on witnesses. All in all, this is quite an entertaining show for a young lawyer such as me. I'm sure that I've learned a thing or two from the show.
Anyhow, I'll be grateful if anyone could point me to better legal doramas.
Unfortunately, off the top of my head I can't remember any doramas with good legal writing.
ReplyDeleteDon't think there's a Japanese equivalent of The Practice or Boston Legal.
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ReplyDeleteLegal Highs