Seigi no Mikata (Ally of Justice)

Seigi no Mikata (Ally of Justice)
(2008)
Genre: Comedy
Episodes: 10


General Story-Line

This is a story of two sisters and their relationship with one another. Basically the older sister, played by Yamada Yu, has a very evil nature and bosses the younger sister, played by Shida Mirai, around. Within the first episode it becomes evident that the older sister, Makiko, is the head honcho, even in the family (ex: always taking the best portions of the meal and having her own throne). Yet despite all of the sister’s wickedness, she is still considered an ‘ally of justice.’ Youko, the younger sister, calls her sister lucky because despite everything her sister does, something good always come out of it. This entire story is told from Youko’s perspective.



Theme Song
Honto wa ne by Okumura Hatsune




Pre-thoughts

I was originally drawn to this JDrama because I felt a connection with the frustration the younger sister must be feeling. Sisters are notorious for constantly being at ends with one another, much like brothers, only I’m sure they are more violent. Seigi no Mikata seems to take a conflict between sisters and brings it to an extreme, even though extreme is not an uncommon word in JDramas.
So as I jumped into this story I had a hope that finally the older sister would get what’s coming to her.

I also was drawn to the fact that Mukai Osamu (from Honey and Clover) was going to be in Seigi no Mikata.


Review

(Some spoilers might follow but I’ll let you know before we get to the big spoilers)

The first couple of episodes set up the characters fairly well. The older sister is beautiful, smart, popular and bitchy. Within the first set of lines; she is hit on and the man is promptly rejected. The first scene is almost funny to watch, especially because of the music that rings happy and chipper. I personally thought that although the music was strange at first, fit very well. Now whenever I hear that music I immediately think that that must be what is going through Makiko’s head whenever she is being evil. On a whole the entire score for the show is chipper and is usually fit in the correct place.

The story is taken to an extreme but fairly plausible with some major coincidences.

Within the first episode the plot is already revealed; Youko wants to get rid of her older sister and Makiko wants Naoki, the new employee at Makiko’s work. Makiko’s work is not a main feature in the drama; it serves more as a way to show how smart she is and that there is another person (Yamashita Midori played by Takizawa Saori) out there in the world that dislikes her. Even though the work place took a back seat to the main events going on, it was comforting to know that it wasn’t just in Youko’s head that her sister was horrible.

(Spoilers)



One person who is kept from learning of Makiko’s wickedness is Naoki, the object of Makiko’s affection. Both sister have separate goals when concerning Naoki but have the same means, they both want Makiko to marry Naoki. This is where the sister gets ridiculous. Apparently the younger sister has always helped her older sister get with her object of affection, whether it was a sumo wrestler, tennis coach or punk rocker. Youko, because her sister is ‘calling in favors,’ is forced to help by joining the tennis or sumo club. So through a variety of flashbacks we understand why Youko wants to get rid of her sister as quickly as possible.

Each episode serves as a separate event all trying to lead towards the main goal of Makiko leaving the house and getting what/who she wants. This format of story-telling fits well into this time of story except that each story left me frustrated. Every episode left Makiko as an ally of justice and well thought of. After awhile this type of constant ending grates on the nerves until I felt like I was pulling out my hair screaming “why does no one see how horrible Makiko is and why doesn’t Youko stand up for herself?!”

(Major Spoilers)

Even though the end, this doesn’t change. I guess my biggest complaint out of this entire series is how static the characters are. Makiko always remains evil and gets what she wants, Youko never stands up for herself and Naoki is none the wiser of all of Makiko’s lies. If you’re hoping that Makiko will get what’s coming to her in end, well that won’t happen. The show drags you through all of these episodes following Youko who breaks her back to help her sister marry and stay marry with Naoki. After awhile Youko becomes more of a wife than Makiko is. I think because the show knew it was losing viewership half way through the season they decide to give you hope that Naoki will divorce Makiko and run for the hills, but again, no. Makiko hits everyone with a bombshell (that I guess I’ll leave you to watch the series, or you can comment) and they stay ‘happily’ married.

Seigi no Mikata does want to leave you with some sort of message. Although this story can’t give you a satisfying ending, it tries to tack something on in the last 20 minutes of the last episode. Basically Youko realizes that she can never break her bond with her sister and seems to happily continue to Makiko’s chores.



One more aspect that I, like the show, almost forgot and shoved to the side, Youko’s love side story. And I say side story because it truly is a side story. Even though Youko is the narrator and the main character her screen time with Okamoto Riku (played by Hongo Kanata) equals to the time length of an episode. I don’t want to call it filler because I really like the character Riku, that’s why this series is in the genre of comedy, not romance. Although this is not in the genre of romance, it still follows the same equation; girl meets boy, boy helps girl, boy likes girl, some trouble befalls boy (he’s planning on moving) and they profess their love to each other. What struck me as odd was Youko’s constant murmurings of not wanting to tell Riku not to go. This was odd because it strikes such a contrast to Youko screaming out she loved him at a train station. There’s the awkward silence between them and he gets on the next train yelling that he loves her too even though the doors have already closed. This seemed like too much build up for them to confess their love and then leave without a word of if/when they are going to see each other again.


Rating
6/10

On a whole I liked Seigi no Mikata, it was entertaining and well put together. It made me feel sad that now I may have no hope with my own sister who greatly resembles Makiko, but it was still very comedic. Both Makiko and Youko make a variety of ridiculous faces throughout the series and I’m undecided if it’s funny or just plain strange. I’m not sure if I would watch it and again, but I would advise anyone who likes to watch frustrating comedies to watch and enjoy.

Also, if you would like to check the show out for yourself then this site is a good place to check: www.d-addicts.com


As my first review, I hope I did well, let me know in the comments if there is something you think I missed.

Thank you for reading ^-^