Random thoughts on 'Tora ni Tsubasa' as of June 14

While I've been wanting to write my thoughts on 'Tora ni Tsubasa' on note, the story moves at such a breakneck speed and each episode is so packed with information that I haven't been able to get around to it. Abandoning the urge to write something polished, I am transcribing here what I jotted down when I happened to have some free time and a thought occurred to me. I don't know if there will be a follow-up. Please enjoy reading below.

1) The Beginning

At first, I consciously tried not to have any expectations. If I had expectations, I would be betrayed. That is how strong my wariness and aversion toward Japanese legal dramas are. But deep down, I want a drama like 'Extraordinary Attorney Woo' to appear in Japan, too. That is precisely why I had closed my heart. Even when my wife said, 'It seems the next one is a drama about Japan's first female lawyer,' I replied, 'Hmm.' Even when she said, 'The lead is Sairi Ito, whom you like,' I replied, 'Oh, is that so?'
Moreover, the quality of morning dramas varies wildly. This is a legal drama following two good works, 'Ranman' and 'Boogie Woogie.' I told myself that it wouldn't happen three times in a row.
So, I watched the first episode just to see. The Constitution of Japan appears with a bang, Sairi Ito is crying by the river, and Machiko Ono's narration slowly reads Article 14. Even though I, a 50-year-old man, was being as stubborn as an adolescent boy, determined not to let my guard down easily, I was suddenly in total chaos.

2) The Early Stages

I could feel from the early stages that the supervision seemed solid. Then the famous goods claim case appeared, the props were authentic, and according to social media posts, I learned it was a judicial precedent even older than the Unazuki Onsen incident. I realized, 'Oh, this is something different,' but I was still looking at it from a somewhat superior perspective, thinking, 'It's pretty solid for a Japanese drama.'
Then came the Poison Manju incident. Once again, I learned through social media that it was based on an actual incident, but when I realized the next day that the story was designed to depict even that distorted version of common misogyny—so-called 'women's empowerment'—I surrendered. I had been acting tough, calling myself a lawyer and the Great Sage Equal to Heaven, but in the end, I am just a monkey; I fully acknowledged that I could not escape the palm of the Buddha's hand. From then on, I just surrendered myself to this script and direction.
They present foreshadowing in an easy-to-understand way, and in large quantities, so I inevitably react to each one and try to predict the subsequent developments. But they slightly miss the mark on every single one. For example, Article 14 in the first episode. Satoko Sato said she cried the moment she first saw the first episode, but any lawyer would predict that it was a scene where Torako was crying while thinking of her acquaintances and friends. However, I never dreamed that Umeko, Ryoko, Yone, and Hyang-suk, and even Yuzo, would be added to that scene until the moment it happened. It meets my expectations just a little bit every time, and then snaps past my predictions—this is what makes it addictive.
Who could have imagined that Hodaka, who first reached out to Torako and showed her the way, would come to deliver the finishing blow to Torako at the end of the pre-war arc? Moreover, instead of appearing after the war with regrets, he does the same thing to Torako again, but this time it becomes the catalyst for the revival of her 'Hate?' and Torako's complete comeback. It's a rollercoaster that makes you think, 'As expected, Professor Hodaka is cool,' by having him say, 'There are no women here other than Sada-kun' during the confrontation with Professor Jimbo, only to drop you from a great height in the next scene with, 'I've found a tutoring job for you.'
Every time, I am put on a rollercoaster where the route is unknown, but only safety is guaranteed.

3) Safety

Someone posted that there is a sense of security. That is exactly right. There are no inaccurate depictions peculiar to legal dramas. There are no strange depictions regarding gender views. The same goes for the depiction of war. Japanese movies and dramas usually get caught up in one of these three. I can watch it with peace of mind without feeling that kind of anxiety, and I can enjoy the entertainment to my heart's content; that kind of psychological safety is guaranteed.

4) Training Function

In the scene where Hodaka says, 'I've found a tutoring job for you,' not only people in Kansai but people all over Japan must have moved their hands in front of the TV, shouting, 'Why?!' But in the real world, when you encounter something like that, you just go 'stun' (freeze up), don't you? It is extremely difficult to speak out and say 'Hate?' on the spot. It is not easy to even have doubts, but the difficulty of taking action is significantly higher. However, in front of the TV, you can safely speak out. By talking about our impressions, we can also share that experience with everyone.
Could watching this work be a kind of training, a 'training to overcome the stun and cultivate the Hate?'?

5) Civil Code Revision Arc

What is shown in the Civil Code Revision arc is the true meaning of fundamental human rights. It proves through acting and visuals that things like 'respecting each other' are not human rights. The first meaning and function of human rights is to limit the law. To prevent laws from being made and to make laws be made; these are command norms for legislators, including members of the Diet, such as 'you must not make this kind of law' and 'you must make this kind of law'—that is what fundamental human rights are. Watching this work, I realized for the first time that Article 24 is the most easily understood embodiment of that function within the Constitution of Japan. I have read Beate Sirota Gordon's book many, many times, but I feel like I finally understood what Beate intended this time.
The script is written with a tremendous awareness that fundamental human rights are commands to legislators and limitations on the law. Because people in Japan don't learn about human rights properly in school, they don't understand the meaning of human rights, and there are even people who think the Constitution is a type of law. That Mr. Yoshida is trying to challenge that was evident in every line of dialogue in the pre-war arc, but in the Civil Code Revision arc, he showed it using entertainment techniques so that it would be clear to anyone's eyes. Along with pulling off the visualization of Article 14 in the university arc, I think this is a magnificent achievement in the history of Japanese constitutional government.

6) Death Road

In this interview above, screenwriter Erika Yoshida mentions 'Mad Max: Fury Road.' Although it is not explicitly stated here, I imagine that Mr. Yoshida might also be depicting in this work that sisterhood must not be divided.
Pre-war Torako was divided from her friends and crushed. She also didn't have the opportunity to meet the female Diet members she meets after the war before the war. On the other hand, in 'Fury Road,' Furiosa gains sufficient combat power by joining forces with the Vuvalini, overcoming division with Max and the Wives, and achieving victory.
Could the pre-war arc of 'Tora ni Tsubasa' and 'Fury Road' be in contrast, and could the post-war arc be a development that pays homage to 'Fury Road'? Even if that prediction were correct, it would certainly be in a way that is beyond my imagination.

7) Something like a summary as of today

The 'My Wings' photos posted after the daily broadcast are mostly cute.
There is another kind of 'My Wings' thing appearing on social media. For example, this post by Ayako Oguni.

If we accumulate the 'Hate?' experiences, 'stun' experiences, and 'Tora-Tsuba' experiences of overcoming them through sisterhood and brotherhood posted by the people watching this work, wouldn't this become an incredible collective intelligence?

End