Saijou no Meii ch19

But it was only JUST brought back???

「 19 – A Strange Sort of Doctor 」The Heisei Committee is finally reinstating the pediatric department for Mikoto and co., seeing as they had major success in all their surgeries up to this point. With everyone in agreement, Sadame proposes someone else to head the department rather than Mikoto. Who is this new guy and is he anything like Sadame?

Saijou no Meii「 最上の命医 」

Chapter 19 – A Strange Sort of Doctor
Read Online @ ONEMANGA

Summary: The Heisei committee meeting brought forward some excellent news for Mikoto and his group, as the committee deemed it fit to reopen the pediatric ward after some stellar work from Mikoto. Before going through with the decision however, Sadame manages to throw a wrench in the works, as he proposes to have someone else head the department. He reasons that while Mikoto is very well suited to the job, it might be too much for him if he has to focus on both the paperwork involved as well as all the major surgeries he will be facing soon. Nominating the former assistant chief of pediatric, Dr. Sakomoto Ryuuma, he hopes that this will help make Mikoto’s life more miserable than it already is.

Sena is very happy with the news of pediatric’s revival, but Ayame brings her feet back to earth by saying that it’s not all well since Mikoto isn’t chief. He is adamant that his brother had something to do with it therefore they have to stay on alert at all times. Sena has heard some rumours of the mysterious doctor. She says that he used to be a great doctor but after pediatrics was disbanded, his son fell ill and he’s been acting weird ever since. After moving their work belongings to the new department, they are soon greeted by Sakomoto. As his first act as chief, he submits two rules that both Sena and Mikoto should never break, the first to not disobey him and the second to NEVER disobey him.

With the new regime, Sena is feeling cramped since Sakomoto is very serious. After getting caught whispering, Sakomoto gives her a warning saying that if she were to disobey any more, he would be obliged to remove her from the department, as chiefs hold great power within the hospital hierarchy. After venting out her anger at a nearby park, Ayame soon arrives explaining some things he realized. Sakomoto isn’t actually the douche that he appears, since he is sure that his brother Sadame has something to do with the way Sakomoto has been acting. Sakomoto might be under pressure to act as he is since he has a sick son under full-time care of the hospital, and if he were to disobey, Sadame might transfer him, leaving him and his son with no place to go. Since he won’t be getting much money unless he opens up a private clinic, he will need all the resources he can get for the sake of his son’s health.

Later that night, Sakomoto is seen mulling over the fact that his son is sick. Mikoto sees this and tries to comfort him but Sakomoto still maintains his tough exterior and threatens to transfer him if he keeps it up. Mikoto stands firm however, as he says that he is not afraid of the threats. In return however, he requests that he have permission to operate on his son, even though his illness is not curable through surgery.

My Thoughts: Awesome, it’s about time pediatrics get revived. It’s been a long time coming but as usual Sadame just needed to have the final say. He sure is good at keeping that kind exterior, he is alot like Yukino from Yakitate Japan in that he puts on that facade but deep down he is just disgusting. With his high status, I doubt that the committee would be relieving him of his duties anytime soon, since he is a pretty adept doctor on top of it, but sooner or later he is bound to be found out. When that day comes, I can’t wait to see what sort of final measures he would take in order to bring the hospital and Mikoto down with him.

And with this Sakomoto guy, he reminds me a lot of an older Azuma from YJ. Looks like the mangaka has been recycling some design choices from his previous work, as he even used Azuma as the doctor’s son’s name. He does seem like a megadouche at the beginning but once Ayame let out his hypothesis, I can’t help but feel sorry for the guy. Being trapped into the corner over your career is one thing, but if the livelihood of your child depends on your job status, especially given how severe the condition is, I’m not surprised that he had to change his whole outlook in order to make ends meet.

Since Mikoto has suggested to take on the burden, I’m not sure if Sakomoto would agree right off the bat. With all the implications of surgery, as well as the fact revealed earlier that it wasn’t the type of illness that could be healed by getting cut open, I doubt that Sakomoto is going to consent to anything. But with Mikoto’s power of persuasion, evident in the last board meeting, I can see him agreeing by the end of the next chapter (if he doesn’t agree instantly, but I doubt that). The last hurdle would be to somehow take the decision over Sadame’s head and straight onto the committee board. Once they are able to overcome that obstacle, I’m sure the committee will not even hesitate to allow it, even though it seems a bit daft to operate on an inoperable patient.

With Mikoto having a perfect track record with surgeries, this leads us to another crossroads. Does the mangaka intend to keep up this “Miracle” Mikoto act? Or is he going to put a fork in it and actually have him fail for once? I would imagine that the manga would be much greater if he were to fail, since it will turn Sakomoto into a Sadame-like character instantly, blackmail or no blackmail. This scenario would definitely be more dramatic and the plot could take many different routes with Sakomoto as the ruthless chief. Then again, with the whole atmosphere of this manga so far being pretty positive, I doubt that this would happen, as much as I would like it to be. Plus, this manga is currently lacking an older “sensei” member in the group, someone who could act as a teacher to the team. Since Yakitate had one, I can see Sakomoto being this person once the surgery is successful so this will probably be the road taken.