Majo Saiban : Intro

About The Subs

I am watching the 1280x720 .avi version of this drama which is hardsubbed by TOMAlicious Fansubs. Clearly by the name you can tell this group is heavy into actor Ikuta Toma! *grin* With over 50 completed projects of various types, TOMAlicious definitely shows their dedication and fandom clearly. I love groups like this that have a real passion for something in particular, you can see it in their work and that niche passion often makes for great releases. I happen to really love the clean, styled subs they chose for this drama. Colors can sometimes be distracting depending on how they are used but here, with a good sized font and stroke, they pop nicely in the video and don't drag your eyes too much. The screenshots throughout the review that I made in no way do justice to the high quality of the subs, so please do not judge by that. (View fullscreen image here) TFS has great timing and I really like the way they break up the longer sentences/pauses in a way that doesn't disrupt the natural flow of speak - something that can be tricky from a translation and timing aspect. I look forward to more of their releases.

On With The Show!

When I read the news that there was going to be a drama about the new lay judge system starting in Japan I was extremely excited. For over a year I had been reading and following as much news as I could on the system and the general Japanese sentiment surrounding it's implementation. I had a strong feeling that any drama or manga that surfaced would be fraught with either heaping spoonfuls of reassuring propaganda or serious concerns bordering on paranoia. I was for the most part correct on this. Neojaponisme carried a very informative article in December explaining the system and exploring public sentiment. I highly recommend reading this article, and any other information you can find online, as it is important to note how unique this experience has been for the Japanese population. Having as much information as possible when watching culturally specific subject matter is essential to proper absorption and understanding.

There are some distinct differences to note when it comes to the lay judge system in Japan. The first major difference is that there are 6 lay judges (called saiban-in), 2 reserve lay judges, and 3 professional judges involved in the discussion and deliberation process. The second major difference is related to the first in that the lay judges are helped along in their decision making by the professional judges, it is not simply jurors being allowed to discuss, vote, and hand down their decision to one judge. (One issue that is constantly being rehashed by those adverse to the new system is the possibility/probability that the lay judges, traditionally submissive and respectful of people in positions of authority, will be less likely to make decisions based on the facts of the case and more likely to simply side with the judges.) The third major difference is that the decision of guilt or innocence is determined by majority decision and not unanimous decision. Just spend a moment thinking about that ... and then we'll get to the trainwreck. Can you see it coming down the track? Just listen for a minute. Hear the engine thundering? See the black smoke curling towards the heavens? Any minute now you'll hear the squeal of the breaks and the horrible sound of twisting metal colliding with the Universal entity named Inevitability. Wait for it ...

Based on the plot, I think we can say with a fair amount of certainty that Majo Saiban is not one of those reassuring lay judge dramas for the Japanese population. *grin* Let me break it down for you and you can be the judge. (HA! No pun intended there) The setup is pretty simple: Lay judge system needs majority votes. Someone is accused of a murder. Shady "consulting team" and lawyer are in the background blackmailing, videotaping, and threatening lay judges one by one to get the majority to vote "Not guilty" and allow the client to go free. It's like Monopoly. Roll the dice, land on a lay judge with something to hide, setup shop and grind away until they cough up a "Get Out Of Jail Free" card. Do not pass go. Do not collect $200. Would you like to be the wheelbarrow or the shoe? Think Twice about that now ...

On top of my excitement regarding a drama based on the new system, was my interest in seeing Ikuta Toma in another drama. I had just finished watching Maou a few weeks earlier and, in addition to being impressed that I remembered and recognized his name, I wanted to see how he would be in a different role. From minute one he was running, something myself and my tribemates had commented on often during Maou ("Get a car!"), and I was pretty shocked at his new hair. I thought I could eventually get over it but when I realized his outfit looked like something you might find on a high end puppet, I kind of lost it. "Where are your strings Ikuta-kun? Have you finally become a real boy?"

Next time, Think Twice about that jacket before you leave the house.

Can you tell that I really despise heavy-handed catchphrases yet? Hey, Yoshioka-kun! Didn't your mother ever tell you not to wear clothing that depicts things you DON'T ACTUALLY DO?

When I am writing a review I don't plan things out beforehand. I literally watch the episode, take a moment to really digest it, and then start writing from my gut while listening to Savage Genius and other various Jpop or Kpop music. I don't really know how I'm going to be feeling or what kinds of analysis or thoughts are going to come out until I start pecking away at the keyboard. It occurs to me, as I write this, that it might seem that my opinion of Majo Saiban is a bit poor. I want to adjust that a bit. I do not dislike Majo Saiban at all. Despite thinking the usually yummy Ikuta-kun looks like a severely affected reject from the Muppet Show, I actually am enjoying watching this drama. I like anything that teaches me something and is going to expose me to knowledge, or give me an experience, that I have not had before. I have a great love of learning especially when it comes to other cultures. Having an opportunity to see even a fictional account of the lay judge system playing out is beyond fascinating for me despite, I'm sure, being sepuku-inducing for most Japanese who may have actually received lay judge notifications in the mail after watching this drama.

As soon as we hit 4 minutes and 50 seconds into the first episode I said to myself, "Hey, I didn't know they remade Runaway Jury!" Not that this is a problem for me because I loved that movie and it was a plot structure I immediately thought of when the lay judge paranoia started rising up out of the ocean like a kaiju in judicial robes. It didn't take long for 90% of the plot to become clear and nearly all of the intrigue to fly out the window. While I have read on a few forums that the plots of many dramas become repetitious and overused the more you watch them, my experience with dramas is still fairly new so I have yet to see anything that has been remotely similar to anything else until now. Again, I have no problem with the plot of Majo Saiban because for one, I don't know how it will truly play out, and two, I don't have enough information about the characters in the story to determine the depth of their involvement. The other 10% of the plot is still a mystery that I'm looking forward to seeing revealed.

The real monster of this drama is the soul of each person and their inability to maintain a true sense of self when faced with temptation and fear. Watching each one of the lay judges fall prey to Mr. Nega-VanillaGackt and his consultant team from The Matrix is not as satisfying as watching contestants broken on The Quiz Show. I think the reason for this is probably because these people seem flat comparatively and they very quickly simply become "characters" representing standard, predictable, and frankly quite boring vices. The nursing home worker who steals her patient's money, the teacher with the secret boy fetish, the dedicated mother with her daughter GPSed, the sex selling host girl (I feel like I'm rattling off the Black Zodiac in 13 Ghosts) ... you get the drift. There are predictable weaknesses here and each character responds in predictable ways. They fold. They fold faster than a fan in a geisha's hand. I'm only three episodes in but I can see already that Yoshioka-kun is going to be fighting an uphill battle most likely with little to no support from his fellow saiban-in.  I don't really get a chance to know, understand, or even like most of the lay judges. As I mentioned in my review of Hancho, it is easy for other characters in an ensemble cast to become wallpaper and that seems to happen here in favor of following the main players very closely. I think I would really feel more across the board for these people as they succumb to blackmail and pressure if I cared about them even just a little bit.

I think that I've seen enough character "type-u"s in Asian entertainment media to understand Yoshioka-kun. I think I am fairly safe in saying that his arch is going to bring him to a new realization about his developing character and where all the older, more mature lay judges succumb to their own weaknesses, greed, and spinelessness, we will watch Yoshioka-kun battle the darkness alone with only a dim candle of hope, his youth and vigor, and a bad t-shirt to keep him safe. Yoshioka-kun is us. He is the "everyman". We follow him and feel for him and he represents our moral compass (or the ideal Japanese moral compass perhaps). As he stumbles, we stumble sympathetically. As he falls, we fall empathetically. As he rises, we rise triumphantly. His growth is the guide to our growth into strong persons and our defeat of weakness and vice. (And maybe his defeat of his own bad fashion sense. Sorry. Sorry.)

Thanks to TFS for being such great Toma lovers and bringing the fan community this great and timely release. I look forward to more of Ikuta-kun's "I'm really feeling put out right now" scowls and his definitive "angry face" more in this drama.

NOTE: I am not sure why there is a law student on the jury in Majo Saiban. I am thinking he is there to be able to explain to the audience various law facts in a rational way but at the same time I don't know if the Japanese system allows for such professions to serve or not in reality.