THREE DAYS UNTIL THE ELECTION
No one saw it happen.
I see.
We also found this in Detective Tsutsui's pocket.
RECEIPT
AX 5,800 YEN
I guess even you feel blue sometimes.
We didn't get any proof, and now we lost Tsutsui.
It's my fault.
It's best to try to avoid being in charge whenever you can.
You have to think about a lot of things. It's troublesome.
It's easier doing the work yourself.
It's not troublesome. It's necessary.
Especially for difficult cases like this.
Is that really true?
It might just be an illusion that it's difficult.
My job and your job
are both pretty simple when you compare them with all the other jobs out there.
We just have to catch the bad guys.
I think Itsuki is a bad guy.
That's what I think.
Yeah. You're right.
Then we'll have to catch him.
I'll be there with you.
Did Asuma go to sleep already?
Yeah. Just now.
I almost forgot!
-What happened? -You know...
Asuma said he wants to go to the zoo.
And bring lunch with him.
He said he'll help cook.
Sorry.
It's okay. It doesn't have to happen soon.
Asuma knows you're busy too, Zen.
We can go any time.
Even next year, or the year after that.
Okay.
Zen. I don't like suicide.
Yeah. I hate it.
The investigation meeting will now begin.
TWO DAYS UNTIL THE ELECTION
First, Mr. Seizaki will talk about our policy for the investigation.
The investigation team was unable to find proof
that Kaika Itsuki abetted suicide up until now.
Considering the rate of progress we've made, it's unlikely that we'd find proof by the end of today.
Therefore, I decided it will be impossible to arrest Kaika Itsuki at the public debate tomorrow.
I'm disbanding the Kaika Itsuki Special Investigations Team as of now.
SHIBUYA NHC BROADCASTING CENTER
ONE DAY UNTIL THE ELECTION
C-101 STUDIO
THE DAY OF THE PUBLIC DEBATE
You're up to something, aren't you?
You too.
I don't plan on stopping you.
So it's after the broadcast?
Yes.
Then there's no point.
When this broadcast ends, Itsuki will be in a hopeless position.
Even if he gets arrested or sued afterwards,
it won't affect the majority of the public.
Well, that's your territory.
It has meaning for me.
And there's no guarantee you won't fail either.
You're right.
Having a backup plan helps me feel more comfortable going all-or-nothing.
Can you handle whatever he throws at you?
Kaika Itsuki's political foundation was created by us.
Once he loses that, he's just an individual without a party.
Playing politics means controlling the numbers.
The side with fewer numbers loses.
If you're a politician, you can never escape from this principle.
I'm disbanding the Kaika Itsuki Special Investigations Team as of now.
What's going on?
I mean exactly what I said. I'm canceling the investigation.
You're giving up when we've come all this way?
Arresting Kaika Itsuki is impossible based on the current investigation results.
Then did Mr. Tsutsui die for nothing?
The investigation headquarters has been disbanded.
I'm not a headquarter prosecutor anymore.
I'm going to tell you something right now.
What I'm about to say is coming from me as an individual.
I'm going to kidnap Kaika Itsuki tomorrow at the NHC center
where the public debate is being held.
Prosecutor Seizaki?
Kidnapping someone is a crime.
Yes. But if we don't stop Itsuki right now,
the number of suicides will only increase.
I'm reluctant to go through with this, but I decided
that the only way for us to solve this is to do something improper.
I know that I've exposed my kidnapping plans to you just now.
So I'd understand if you all decided to arrest me at this moment.
You're terrible, Mr. Seizaki.
That's not fair.
If we don't arrest you right now,
that would make us all accomplices to the crime.
All right. The first meeting is now over.
Everyone's going to the second meeting, right?
-Sekuro. -Yes?
Assistant Officer Sekuro, I want you to negotiate.
I want to find a loophole in the laws.
Talk to the Public Prosecutor's Office through Chief Morinaga.
Okay.
And take care of Kasumigaseki after this.
You don't have to come back here.
What's wrong?
I can notify the vice minister of justice and Special Investigations Chief Morinaga from here.
I'm an assistant officer.
As long as you're working over here,
I can't leave this place.
And, prosecutor...
if it's awkward calling me Sekuro, you can just call me Hiasa.
Our biggest advantage
is the fact that the 23 of us cooperating here are accomplices.
If everything goes according to Itsuki's plan,
the world is going to turn into a place where everyone is committing suicide.
However, once they lose their leader, their core beliefs will fall apart.
We're going to stop the suicide law on our own.
Yes!
PUBLIC DEBATE SUICIDE LAW
The suicide law.
Two weeks have passed since
this shocking new law was announced.
Here's some data we want you to take a look at first.
We conducted a public opinion survey on this show.
Eighty-eight percent of the people replied that they are not in support of the suicide law.
We also have other data.
This is the number of people who committed suicide in Japan
after the suicide law was announced.
This number is 2.8 times as high as the normal suicide rate.
Tomorrow, the parliamentary election for choosing the representatives...
We've finished deploying all the investigators.
it will be decided whether the suicide law is right or wrong.
Now let's introduce the participants in today's public debate.
First, the participants who oppose the suicide law.
Director Nobuo Niki from the Japan Communal Party.
Representative Akihiro Iwakuni from the Revival Party.
Deputy Representative Haruo Kashiwaba, candidate for the Shiniki parliament,
from the People's Life Party.
Former Secretary General Ryuichiro Nomaru, candidate for Shiniki parliament,
from the Liberal Justice Party.
Now for the parties in support of the suicide law.
Mayor of Shiniki, Kaika Itsuki, unaffiliated.
First, we'll hear from Mr. Niki from the Japan Communal Party,
who takes the opposition stance.
The thing that I think is the most important is
the socio-economic aspect.
Over 20,000 people commit suicide every year in Japan.
It is estimated that the GDP loss is over one trillion yen per year.
The suicide of a single person
affects the economy in numerous ways.
A decrease in consumer spending.
A decrease in effective demand.
The impacts are too numerous to mention them all.
Considering the issue from this theoretical perspective,
we cannot allow the suicide law.
Next, we'll hear from Mr. Iwakuni from the Revival Party.
I would like to explain my opinion from a moral and ethical standpoint.
Morals are rules that regulate the mutual relationships between people.
If suicide becomes acceptable, then society would collapse.
Murder is an obvious violation of the rules.
And suicide is also a clear violation of the rules.
In a society in which suicide is permitted, people would die suddenly and disappear.
Everything that's built upon the mutual trust that exists between people would collapse.
That's what would happen to a society without morals.
As a politician involved with maintaining social order,
I cannot accept the suicide law.
Next, Mr. Kashiwaba from the People's Life Party.
First, I want to ask Itsuki one question.
Sixty-four people jumped from the building and committed suicide in Shiniki.
You could have stopped them, right?
We're not only talking about whether you could've stopped them.
You could even say that you encouraged those 64 people to commit suicide!
An article concerning the crime of aiding suicide exists within the laws of Japan.
You are under suspicion of violating it.
And if the suicide law is really enforced,
every citizen might be committing the same crime too.
Even if suicide were not illegal...
He went for an extreme example.
Even if it's just a guess, it's enough. We just need to lower Itsuki's approval rate.
He blocked him off and cornered him.
The last one to go is Nomaru himself.
Now we'll hear from the last candidate who opposes the law.
Let's hear from Former Secretary General Ryuichiro Nomaru from the Liberal Justice Party.
People avoid death.
Every person wants to live out their life happily until the end.
This isn't something that only applies to Shiniki.
This is a universal desire shared by all of humankind.
However, on the other hand,
it is also true that 20,000 people
choose to kill themselves per year in Japan.
The suicide law would help those people.
It's possible that it would benefit society in the future.
However, that only applies to the case in which the law is enforced appropriately.
Humans cannot remain calm when it comes to death.
They cannot process their own death or the death of someone else rationally.
The only person who could enforce the suicide law appropriately would be someone without emotions.
But humans have emotions, and feel pain over the death of others.
The suicide law is not something that humans can handle.
The emotional argument.
That's right. The universal emotional argument
that states that humans always have emotions.
However,
I'm sure that Itsuki was already expecting them to say that.
Next, let's hear from Kaika Itsuki,
the mayor of Shiniki, the only one who supports the law.
Let's hear his counterarguments.
First, I want to respond to the socio-economic issues that were mentioned.
It seems you are worried that there will be huge economic losses with the suicide law.
However, the suicide law wouldn't necessarily increase the number of people who commit suicide.
What?
In our society, people commit suicide as a form of running away.
However, after the law is enacted, suicide would not be
running away, but rather a choice.
When that happens, it is possible that the number of suicides could decrease.
That's a false argument!
Once it's allowed, even more people would do it!
Everyone knows that!
For example, marijuana was legalized in Canada last year.
It's because they decided it was counterproductive to prohibit it.
The rate of marijuana usage is actually lower in the Netherlands,
where it was legalized earlier than in France and England, where it is illegal.
How can you compare marijuana and suicide?
Next, morality.
You're correct that morals are rules between people.
But rules change.
Morals are not universal.
They change depending on the era and the society.
Homosexuality, which used to be considered immoral,
is now accepted.
On the other hand, gender discrimination was not considered to be a problem in the past,
but is now considered immoral.
But there are some things
that are universally immoral, such as murder and theft.
I agree.
Then what about suicide?
The suicide law
will make people confront suicide.
The people will start to think seriously about suicide for the first time.
This act is completely correct from a moral standpoint.
And the law... The law changes, just like morals.
The law is not the same as morals!
Cultural issues like homosexuality are completely different
from criminal acts!
Currently, in Japan,
suicide is not a crime.
We say that suicide is a felony, but are also unable to charge suicide as a crime.
I have something I want to ask you.
Is suicide
something that the government should regulate through the law?
In ancient Rome, there was a system where suicide was accepted
if there was a valid reason.
Following the establishment of Christian societies
and continuing until the present,
the law has said that suicide is a sin.
The freedom of the people to commit suicide and their dignity
were stolen from them by the government and religion.
You've twisted the argument! That's not the topic we're debating!
We now have the opportunity to take a great leap forward.
After living through an era in which we turned a blind eye to suicide,
we can now enter an age in which we publicly accept it.
And finally, Nomaru,
you said that people cannot remain calm when it comes to death,
and that the suicide law cannot be handled by people with emotions.
People are influenced by emotions.
And they sometimes make mistakes.
And the suicide law is a law that allows for no mistakes.
If someone makes a mistake and chooses death,
there's no going back.
We share the same goal.
The suicide law
is a law for making sure that people don't make a mistake in committing suicide.
People could talk with others in a public forum
and choose death as an answer anyone would agree with.
The suicide law would create a new world where that's possible.
People wouldn't be able to avoid the emotional aspect of the issue during that discussion.
Humans cannot choose death calmly.
That's what I think.
That's an endless argument.
This isn't the type of thing we can answer theoretically.
So we'd have to see how it works in reality.
We'd have to see what the suicide law creates.
I want you, Itsuki,
and all the voters, to verify that.
It's now time for a guest.
What?
Ten days ago,
an anonymous boy posted a shocking video on the Internet,
saying that his father wanted to commit suicide.
That boy is here with us today at the studio.
Unfortunately, we were unable to get through to his father.
But his mother is here today with him.
His father is trying to end his own life.
I don't know the details.
So I can't say anything.
But even so,
when I heard that his father was going to kill himself, leaving his wife and child behind, I had to stop him.
Even if his father's decision made sense, I'd stop it.
Emotionally, without reason, I'd stop it.
So I can't enforce the suicide law.
I want to believe that
the people feel the same way.
I want to believe that the world is full of people who'd stop others
from committing suicide based on emotion.
There's something he wants to tell the people.
I'm going to run in the election.
The deadline for candidates to register for the parliamentary election is midnight.
I want this boy to run
in the parliamentary election.
Is that allowed?
There are no age restrictions on eligibility to become a member of the parliament.
Even this boy could become a member of the parliament.
But even if he did get elected, would he be able to do the job?
I'll assist him.
I don't mind canceling my own candidacy.
He and I both want the same thing.
To oppose the suicide law, and to stop his father from committing suicide.
As long as we accomplish that,
it doesn't matter who gets elected to the parliament.
I believe that he will get many votes in tomorrow's election.
Please, I want you all to protect them.
Protect his father, and protect him.
Protect the future, so that everyone in his family can all live together.
Controlling the country and the people.
Is that what a politician is?
The reception booth
has received many faxes and e-mails from viewers who say they felt moved by Nomaru's words.
Mr. Itsuki. A young boy,
who is anonymous, has declared his candidacy.
There's no problem.
I know there's no age restrictions.
But the most important thing is that the philosophy of the law is correct.
Philosophy?
Everyone states their own opinion,
and decides through voting.
I'm going to let
the people decide who they think is correct. Him or me.
This is what an election should be like.
But in order to make sure the public doesn't make the wrong decision,
we have to reveal all of the relevant information to the public.
He posted the video of his own free will.
Since he can do that, that means that he's an individual who can make his own decisions.
I admit I was wrong.
Taiyo.
Take off your mask.
He's my son.
His father who was trying to commit suicide was actually me.
The story, names, characters, places, locations, and laws in this work are fictitious.
No identification with actual ideas or beliefs is intended.