Review of Legal High (Spring 2012)

I know, this isn't exactly a new drama but amid all that hype over Legal High during spring last year about it being good but not necessarily considered a winner in terms of ratings, I just never got the time to finish this. Or maybe I was too caught up with Kagi no Kakatta Heya to squeeze some time for this drama? :-p Whatever it is, I finally got the chance to finish this recently and see for myself if it's really as good as its reputation suggested. Honestly speaking, if I had watched this with a lower level of expectation, I might have enjoyed it better.

To begin with, let me give you a brief summary of this story. We have a group of main/regular characters in this drama which is episodic in nature. On one side is Komikado Kensuke (Sakai Masato), the eccentric lawyer who can rattle off long sentences at one go without batting an eyelid, has never lost a lawsuit and refuses to work if there is no monetary benefit for him. He crosses paths with Mayuzumi Machiko (Aragaki Yui), a newbie lawyer who works at Miki Law Firm initially but later joins Komikado's solo law practice by the end of the first episode after working together on a case. She's one who believes in ideals and justice and cannot stand Komikado's ways especially when he always chides her for bringing in cases which are not profitable. Supporting this mismatched duo (or are they actually a perfect match?) are Hattori (Satomi Kotaro), the butler of Komikado's household who can seem to do everything from serving restaurant-level gourmet cuisine to self-defense martial arts but is humble about his abilities and Kaga Ranmaru (Taguchi Junnosuke), an aspiring actor who does part-time detective or rather spy work for Komikado.

At the other end is Miki Choichiro (Namase Katsuhisa) who has a strong hatred of Komikado for some reason even though he used to treat the latter very well when Komikado was working in his law firm. His sidekicks include the beautiful secretary Sawachi Kimie (Koike Eiko) who uses her looks to get her way and Ide Takao (Yano Masato), a lawyer in Miki's firm who follows his orders blindly but always ends up fumbling at crucial moments when facing Komikado and Co. There seems to be some bad blood between Komikado and Miki especially since the latter seems bent on destroying Komikado's career but it is only until the final episode that you realise what the whole hoo-ha was all about.

In every episode, there is a case whereby Komikado takes one side and Miki naturally takes on the opposing side. Komikado doesn't seem interested in fighting Miki at all but their paths always cross, thanks to Miki's insistence of destroying Komikado personally. What I found interesting initially was their witty and fast-paced exchange of words and how they tried to outsmart each other with their little antics which may appear as petty or despicable at times but as the drama progressed, it got a bit dry at certain junctures especially if the case itself wasn't engaging enough. I also didn't like the fact that the last three episodes were somewhat built on one case or should I say largely related to one another and it was certainly too draggy for me. I would have expected a more interesting case for the finale so it was terribly disappointing not to see the drama go out on a high note. Last but not least, the supposed bad blood between Komikado and Miki was simply too silly and makes the viewer wonder if it was worth going through all that trouble just to do someone in. Granted that this drama is a legal comedy, I get the reasoning that there must be a funny motive but I really can't fathom someone holding grudges for something as trivial as this. And to think that it is not just one person being swept into this nonsense, that makes it even more illogical and hard to believe.

I can't speak for everyone though but I think if the characters in this drama had been less interesting, Legal High might have been less of a success. Episodic stories tend to have a harder time maintaining viewer interest throughout the entire season and like I said above, not all of the cases presented in this drama were interesting. I have to admit, Komikado is indeed one colourful character brought to life by Sakai who is usually known for more of his serious roles in past dramas or movies. That hairstyle of his, his exaggerated mannerisms, his way of arguing through a situation where he looks to be at at fault are all key factors that contributed to Komikado leaving a strong impression on viewers. I believe that this role should open up new opportunities for Sakai to do more comedic performances in future. However, it's hard to imagine that anyone in Komikado can survive in the real world without having people to help him and Lady Luck on his side. In some of the cases, Komikado didn't actually win the lawsuit but rather things sort of worked out on their own without affecting adversely in any way. The story aspect is what I hope will be beefed up in the new season because I think no matter how interesting Komikado can be, a lacking storyline will drag down the figures anyway. Riding on the wave of Hanzawa Naoki's success, expectations of Sakai in the new season of Legal High are sure to be sky high too so the quality of the acting and script have to match up to those expectations.

On the other hand, Aragaki Yui did seem overwhelmed by Sakai's prowess initially and honestly did not match up well. It was like seeing a one-sided ping pong match where Aragaki looked like she couldn't handle Sakai's waves of attack but couldn't do anything to counter him. It got slightly better towards the end when Aragaki finally found the tempo to make Mayuzumi's retorts to Komikado sound more like a normal conversation rather than a scripted one. As such, it will be worth checking out in next season's sequel if Aragaki will continue to maintain the momentum or be outshone by Sakai again. Interestingly, when you contrast this with how Sakai and Suzuki Kyoka did as a divorced couple, the chemistry and ability to return the other party's attacks skillfully showed their capabilities as established and experienced actors. Considering that Suzuki was merely a guest star but managed to leave a deeper impression with less than 45 mins of screentime, Aragaki has got to put in more effort to match up to Sakai especially in the new season where the presence of new supporting actors in the past may take away more of the limelight from her. Mayuzumi has got to change in one way or another and stop the idealistic character from taking centrestage again.

Something which I felt was a pity would be Miki's position in the drama. He is supposed to be the arch rival of Komikado or perhaps it should be the other way round since I feel that Miki's dislike for Komikado is somewhat stronger. However, by letting Komikado "win" in every single case, it sort of undermines Miki's abilities to be a worthy rival and portrays him as a loser who just wants to sabotage Komikado for some petty reason. It is a waste of Namase Katsuhisa's talent to play such a role because he could have done more without the restraints of the script so I look forward to him becoming a stronger enemy in the new season rather than be beaten by Komikado every time. There should also have been more explained about Miki's relationship with Sawachi Kimie (Koike Eiko) who seems to be an aide and enemy of Komikado at the same time. I would have wanted to find out more about Sawachi and the nature of her relationship with Miki because no secretary would share an onsen bath with her boss no doubt she wasn't naked. If there was indeed anything romantic going on between Miki and Sawachi, why did she introduce Mayuzumi to Komikado in the first place and sometimes helped Komikado "unwittingly"? More to be explored here but I don't think the new season might offer any useful answers.

In contrast to most legal dramas, Legal High is very different. I would say that the legal action actually takes up a pretty small portion of the story and most of the work is done outside the courtroom. For those who are seeking the traditional courtroom or legal dramas, this will probably not suit you. On the other hand, if you don't mind having humour as a spice in legal dramas to lighten things up, you might be tempted to give this drama a try. However, one word of caution is that the humour might go slightly overboard at times and feel rather silly so it might just turn people off. If you are approaching this drama with minimal expectations and simply wish to have a good time watching something lighter than most legal dramas, this might just be the thing for you.

And my reviews for this drama:

Story: 6 out of 10 (Uneven quality among the cases - the ones I liked are from Eps 1, 2, 6 and 8)

Acting: 7 out of 10 (Yes for Sakai Masato and Suzuki Kyoka - the rest of the cast were either under-utilised or did not perform up to expectations)

Theme song: 2 out of 10 (Practically no impression of it even after watching the whole drama)

Visual effects / Scenery: 6 out 10 (Most of the scenes were indoors e.g. Komikado's home, Miki's office, the courtroom and there were some scenes at the countryside. A bit lacking in variety though.)

Teamwork / Chemistry: 6.5 out of 10 (Sakai is too overwhelmingly powerful compared to Aragaki but luckily she regained some points towards the end. Namase could have been a stronger rival to Sakai if only the script allowed the rivalry between them to become more intense and nail-biting rather than a landslide victory for Komikado.)

Total: 27.5 out of 50