14 SAI NO HAHA
THE PLOT (Continued)
Right. So Miki Ichinose makes a series of Very Bad Decisions because, presumably, this bullish constancy is supposed to demonstrate some kind of inner strength. It unfortunately means she repeatedly turns down her Hot Form Teachers’ efforts to get her back to school.This is another reason why I cannot bring myself to condone her fourteen-year-old pregnancy (though of course, I am open-minded enough not be principally opposed to all 14 year old pregnancies… I mean, you’d never know if the 2 lone survivors of some terrible global catastrophe turned out to be hapless 14 year olds. And how could anybody condemn the noble task of repopulating the earth?). But after her first bad decision to actually have the baby, she decides she doesn’t want to return to school even after giving birth. Because…she’s decided she’ll just attend night school when the baby grows up and she’s an adult. Of course, her longer-term plan is to become a doctor so she can get that steady income to support her family – so night school’s going to fit perfectly in to the Long Term. Everybody knows how Night School is the quickest route to a medical degree.
You do not TURN DOWN YAMAGUCHI SAYAKA! She’s too…hot! And awesome! And turning down said form teacher AFTER she’s gone the extra mile, persuading a bunch of stodgy old farts to accept Miki again is…well, plain immoral. ALSO, Miki dearie, your mother went and bowed in front of said old farts to accept you back as well.
…Humiliating? Well, it’s not that bad…compared to when she had to write back to the school and say she, a grown adult, begged for absolutely nothing in the end because it turns out her daugther was more ambitious than oh you know, just the most expensive private high-school education you can get at the sacrifice of both your parents. It is just awful the drama frames her decision as another “milestone moment”, another indicator of how much more Miki has “matured” along the way. Yay for Heroine Miki, the Awesome Moresome 14-Year-Old Mother!
And AFTER the bad decision of her not wanting to abort (which we can look past only because…we have to clear that obstacle before we can have a whole series about 14-year-old mothers). And AFTER the bad decision of her choosing not to return to the Ideal Education Institution she was privileged with from the start…she decides on behalf of her unborn child and her whole family, that she will sever all ties with the baby’s father. Of course, that is the noble, self-sacrificing, Mother Theresa option and that is why she chooses it – what could be more…self-sacrificial than offering up your offspring’s choice to see or not see his/her father?
Break from Sucking.
Is when it concentrates on the physical difficults of being pregnant and 14 – its not so much that it is fun watching Miki suffer or anything (as I might or might not have accidentally suggested earlier). It’s just… one takes a break from all her stupidity being at the forefront of things. Yes, she made stupid decisions but at this phase of the drama (which sadly, comes late late into the series), her pregnancy has become nothing but a Fact. And one concentrates instead on the intense labour pains and stuff – which you know, are scenes really well executed. But more about that later.
Back to Sucking.
When Miki…is well enough to talk, she says she wants to marry her boyfriend. And her boyfriend makes the decision to quit school as well so that he can get a job and help Miki out with his minimum wages. Okay, he doesn’t say minimum wages but the Japanese economy is contracting at about 5% yearly and we all know what sort of executive jobs one can get with a high school diploma or…heck, its not even called a diploma because its just a graduation certificate.
…WHAT DOES EVERYBODY HAVE AGAINST EDUCATION?! Ima Big Fan of Education – hear it lifts entire communities out of poverty. Also, mummy always told me its a good idea not to drop out as soon as possible. It’s all about delayed gratification. So you forfeit the five-bucks-an-hour you could be making at a your local burger I’m sorry, sushi joint and you go to school instead. School fees, yucky tests and horrible uniforms that come with horrific caps. You DO stand to gain a chance to get an actual degree after a couple of years that’ll get you a proper job and maybe like, 1000 dollars per month if you’re less lucky than most.Y’ know? Y’know?! Guess you wouldn’t…since you quit school for your baby. Who, I’m sure, will be absolutely stoked to know his parents didn’t go to school.
(Disclaimer: I don’t have anything against the uneducated. I hate it when people voluntarily pass up their chance at education to go and do stupid, immature things like raising babies with minimum wages. And I have convinced you that that will happen right?)
Break from Sucking Again.
Anyway, Miki’s family is all happy and stuff when she successfully births the baby. And there’s a happy soundtrack to go with it! And they’re all in familial bliss, of course. (Like I said, the show celebrates her lunacy) And then in the last ten seconds or so, happy music suddenly stops. Dun dunnn…!
…Yeah. Noooot much of a redemption but at this point, I was so fed up with Miki’s Stupid Decisions – I wasn’t going to compain. The only reminder, the only dose of a little bit of reality. Sure, its not overtly ominous – its not like some tragic Beethoven piece starts playing or something – but it does remind people that as Wise Gynaecologist said, its all about Raising the Child. A very nice touch to even out the entire drama, I thought. One of those precious, rare cliffhanger ending’s that are also Highly -perhaps, Most– Appropriate for the scenario.
doramaphilic 