In the third episode of Sins of Kujo, Karasuma brings Yakushimae along to try to get Sogabe to testify against Kanemoto. They have good news: Sogabe is willing to work with them and has even started to remove the tattoo that Kanemoto made him get. They think this will help him get his dignity back and move on.
Sogabe, on the other hand, shows a problem. Kujo already has a plan, and if Sogabe openly goes against Kanemoto, it could cost him his life. The only way he can really be free is to wait until Kanemoto lets him out of jail and then get away from him.
Karasuma asks Kujo what will happen to Sogabe after the case is over. Kujo stands firm and says that his job as a lawyer ends with the legal issue. Sogabe’s future also depends on the help of people who are close to him. This point of view has a big impact on Karasuma, making him go see his mother. He thinks she is emotionally distant and feels guilty for going on with her life after her husband died. Karasuma tries to calm her down and help her find a reason to keep going.
In the meantime, Kanemoto is let go, and Mibu calls Kujo to thank him and hint that their relationship will continue if they need anything else in the future. Soon after, Mibu tricks one of his subordinates into taking the blame for something else, showing how ruthless he is.
Karasuma still looks out for Sogabe. He even asks Sogabe to keep his son safe from Kanemoto after he gets out of jail. Karasuma learns more about Sogabe’s past, like the death of his wife, while they talk. Sogabe thought his mother was ashamed of him when he was a child because of a memory of a sports day race where she seemed to turn away as he struggled.
In a flashback, we see the truth: his mother was really crying tears of pride because he was so determined to finish the race. For years, this mistake changed the way Sogabe saw himself. Sogabe shows a lot of emotion when Karasuma tells him this in prison. Sogabe agrees to a deal from Detective Arashiyama later. He agrees to testify against Kanemoto and get rid of his tattoo.
Things get worse when Mibu gets a call and ends up drowning Kanemoto, killing him. Later, Kujo tells Karasuma that Arashiyama and Sogabe carefully changed the testimony to make it look like Kanemoto had become an informant. Because of this lie, Mibu’s network killed him. Karasuma has a hard time with this result and wonders if such extreme actions can ever be justified.
Sogabe thanks Kujo and Karasuma by bringing them food after the case is effectively closed. Kujo has let him pay his legal fees in installments, which is a rare show of leniency. Sogabe also says that Kanemoto’s father has said he’s sorry and is now a broken man, which is very different from the power his son used to have.
In another place, Arashiyama says that he knows about Mibu’s secret activities. Mibu seems like a normal person on paper, but he secretly runs a nightclub for the Fushimi-gumi and does work for other criminal groups. He also depends on Kujo for legal help, which makes it even harder to tell the difference between crime and justice.
At the start of a new day, Kujo is seen taking in Kanemoto’s dog, Black Thunder. It’s also a very important day for him because it’s his birthday and the anniversary of his father’s death. When Kujo goes to the family grave, his brother, who he hasn’t seen in a long time, confronts him and makes him leave. He tells Kujo that he has been disowned because of his beliefs.
A little while later, Kujo gets a call from his boss, Attorney Yamashiro, who seems to have a complicated relationship with him—part mentor, part morally questionable person. Yamashiro is defending Sugawara, a dishonest person who is using a nursing home to commit fraud. Yamashiro criticizes Sugawara while they are having drinks, which surprises Kujo because he has always thought that a defense lawyer should fully support their client. Yamashiro doesn’t agree with this idealism and says that Kujo doesn’t yet understand how things really are in the profession.
A new case involving Hanae Iemori is introduced in this episode. Her father had dementia and was tricked into leaving his property to a group that was connected to Sugawara. No lawyer will take the case, even though she is desperate. Kujo even says no at first, which makes her angry and alone.
Review of the Episode
This episode moves away from Sogabe’s story and instead looks more closely at Kujo’s character and past. The difference between him and Karasuma becomes more clear, even though we don’t know exactly what his motivations are. Both of them believe in the law, but Kujo stays emotionally detached while Karasuma is driven by empathy and personal conviction.
The resolution of Sogabe’s case brings up moral issues, especially about the manipulation that caused Kanemoto’s death. Karasuma is torn between wanting to do the right thing and wondering if it’s okay to do it in a way that isn’t always right.
The addition of Yamashiro and the new case with Hanae makes things very interesting for Kujo. He seems to be at a crossroads, torn between the power of his boss and the shady network of Mibu. This tension will probably show more about Kujo’s true beliefs and why he defends clients in such an unusual way.
Overall, Episode 3 does a good job of balancing character development with moral complexity. It sets the stage for future conflicts and makes the viewer question their ideas about justice and integrity.
