A legal drama that professes love when it remains an impossible reality for same-sex couples in Japan!!

Despite the recent boost in BL productions and queer content, the LGBTQ community in Japan still hasn’t received the respite they desire. Japan does not recognize same-sex marriages or civil unions. Several municipalities and prefectures issue same- sex partnership certificates, which provide some benefits, but do not offer equal legal recognition. As such, the couple cannot adopt or opt for surrogacy and do have legal rights even when they are sharing the same property.

“Your Divorce Is Served!” is essentially a legal drama where the main lead, Otokita Hajime helps his clients seek alimony in case their partner is cheating on them. His base concept remains, that as a same-sex couple, he and his partner, Iseya Kai, cannot be legally married. To him, marriage is an unattainable reality and, as such, he feels appalled at seeing individuals who don’t respect their spouses and, dare to cheat on them. As such, he seeks justice for the wronged party by collecting evidence and representing them in court. The show doesn’t circumnavigate around romance much, but with Hajime’s niece Anna added to the dynamic, it represents the desire that remains a pipe dream for most same-sex couples in Japan.

The Storyline

The story follows Otokita Hajime (Maeda Goki) who runs a law firm alongside his boyfriend, Iseya Kai (Mizusawa Rintaro). Despite being together for many years, they cannot be legally bound together. As such, the two take on divorce cases for those suffering from betrayal by their partners. Hajime especially specializes in cases dealing with cheating and scandals. Despite his grumpy and aloof nature, Hajime is successful in seeking huge alimony settlements for his clients. Kai supports him by doing the investigation undercover, by doing stakeouts and procuring photographic evidence. At times, he even dons different personas and investigates the culprit onsite. At home, Kai does most of the household chores while Hajime loves to laze around. They do have their disagreements during investigations, but they get past them with tactile discussions. Their life changes when Hajime’s elder sister Kaede is hospitalized. Hajime becomes the unwilling guardian to his niece, Anna (Masuda Risa). Anna is a sweet, jovial child who soon becomes a part of their life. At times, she even helps them with their investigations. Things take a dire turn, when Hajime’s license is suddenly suspended, his sister dies and Anna’s father forcefully takes her back. The rest of the story touches on Hajime’s fight to secure Anna’s custody from her abusive father.

Final Impressions

I read a lot of comments about the lack of intimacy between the main couple!!

Maeda Goki & Mizusawa Rintaro have a nice chemistry in the few scenes which betray the intimacy between their characters. But the narrative doesn’t widely depend on their relationship. It is more focused on the cases that Hajime takes on. In one of the cases they handle, a lesbian couple break up when one of the partners gets married despite them having a same-sex partnership certificate. The case portrays the fragility and limitations of these certificates that don’t guarantee any sort of legal protection. Apart from that, Anna’s presence grounds Hajime and turns him from an emotionless robot to a more somber individual with emotions. I wasn’t fazed by the lack of intimacy between the couple, because the show isn’t entirely focused on that!

Rating- 4 out of 5

Streaming on- Hulu