The long-awaited movie version of “ICHIKEI NO KARAS” is now in theaters! The Crow of Ichikei” depicts the real “daily life” and true feelings of a criminal judge.
Ichikei no Karasu” is a well-received drama starring Yutaka Takenouchi. It is a legal drama about an unconventional criminal judge, Michio Iruma (played by Yutaka Takenouchi), and a young elite judge, Chizuru (played by Hana Kuroki), who are buddies at the Tokyo District Court Third Branch First Criminal Division, known as “Ichikei”.
Its long-awaited theater version will be released on January 13. The main cast continues in the film, which depicts the story “after” the last episode of the drama.
Two years have passed since Iruma left Ichikei. He is transferred to Okayama, where he is assigned to an assault case in which a housewife pulls a kitchen knife on Eiji Ushiro, the youngest Minister of Defense in history. Behind the incident was a suspicious collision between an Aegis ship and a cargo ship.
Chizuru, on the other hand, became a lawyer under the judge’s “other work experience system,” and is assigned to a town adjacent to Iruma, coincidentally. The story of the movie version of the case is that a suspicion is raised against a large local company that supports the town, and the shocking truth behind the two incidents is eventually revealed.
The “everyday” life of a “criminal trial
Based on a four-volume manga of the same title by Rito Asami, which was serialized in Morning magazine.
The story unfolds from the perspective of Shinpei Sakama, an assistant judge assigned to Ichikei.
At first, Sakama is perplexed by Ichikei’s unique personalities: Michio Iruma, a lawyer-turned-criminal-judge; veteran and mild-mannered but somehow elusive Director Komazawa; familiar clerk Bunta Ishikura; and uniquely paced clerk Itoko Ichinose.
However, as he comes into contact with Iruma and Komazawa’s beliefs and ideas through their “daily life”-the criminal trial-and as they discuss the verdict, Sakama begins to rethink how he should act as a judge. As he discusses the verdict, Sakama begins to reconsider how he should act as a judge.
In the film, the jury system is also discussed, including what happens if a person is chosen as a judge. The work also describes the process of the jury system and the feelings of these men and women as they go through the trial. The anxiety, confusion, doubts, and struggles of these non-lawyers are close to the readers’ viewpoints and they can empathize with them.
Although the court proceedings are depicted in a realistic manner that makes full use of the author Asami’s interviews, the work is also characterized by many comical scenes.
While the many cases that could have happened in real life, the feelings of the defendants, and the sentences handed down make us think, we can’t help but chuckle at the exchanges between the strong members of Ichikei and Sakama’s withering criticisms.
The author, Asami-san, is currently serializing “Peacock Dance, Who Saw That? (book 1 is now on sale and will continue to be published). This is a full-fledged suspense story about a girl who pursues the truth behind the suspicious death of her father, who was a detective, and a lawyer who is asked by her to defend a suspect in the case.
Is the suspect named in the will left by her father as “not the murderer” really falsely accused? Why did my father think he was being murdered by someone else? What is the connection to the family murder case that my father was assigned to when he was a detective? The mystery of …… continues to unfold, making this a work that cannot be missed in the future. When I think of the “fear of false accusation” that Chief Komazawa talked about in “The Raven of Ichikei,” the story in the new serial is a piercing one. It is a work that should be enjoyed in tandem.
For many people, a trial is an “unusual” event. There is a scene in “ICHIKEI NO KARAS” in which the author mentions that there are not many stories in which judges play the leading roles, saying, “Lawyers and prosecutors play an active role in dramas, but …….” If you ask me, it is true. In that sense, this work is unusual in that it focuses on judges in criminal trials, who are not necessarily familiar to the public, and has gained popularity.
Ichikei no Karasu” has expanded from a manga to a drama and then to a movie. We hope you will take a peek into the “daily life” of a judge as depicted in this work.
