'Love and Lies' Anime Spoilers: What is the Yukari Law?
In the alternate reality of the Japanese anime series, "Love and Lies," the Yukari Law is the biggest hindrance to the blooming romance of sixteen-year-old youths Yukari Nejima and Misaki Takasaki. What is it, and why was it implemented in the first place?
Simply put, the Yukari Law is the Japanese government's answer to low birth rate. It was implemented in 1975, and has not only stabilized the birth rate but has also resulted in a generation of children with higher average intelligence.
But this success also comes with a huge sacrifice — marriage partners are pre-assigned by the government. As soon as boys and girls reach the age of 16, the Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare sends them a government notice on who their future spouse will be.
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This system is also known as the Red String of Science, a reference to the more traditional belief about the Red String of Fate. But while the latter believes that predestined couples are connected by a red string tied to their pinky fingers, the Red String of Science relies primarily on genetics.
In the fourth episode of the anime, Ichijou from the Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare explains that 50 percent of personality is determined by genes. In order to determine which ones should be paired up, the Ministry gathers information on everyone through the different tests and surveys given from before kids enter grade school up to when they reach the age of 15.
Partners are assigned by age 16, just before personality is fully developed. This is said to have a strong scientific basis, and the chance of a pre-assigned match failing is very low. Outward appearances are not taken into account and are regarded to be the primary factor in failed relationships.
As soon as Nejima turned 16, he received a government notice through SMS indicating that his first love, Misaki, was his assigned wife. But then, his phone blacked out and two representatives from the Ministry were suddenly there to hand him his official notice. This one indicated that a certain Ririna Sanada has been assigned as his future wife.
Where the anime currently stands, it is still unclear what really happened that night. But there is no doubt that Nejima's life has been turned on its head ever since then.
While he is lucky enough to be assigned a future wife who supports his feelings for Misaki, there is no knowing what penalties and consequences await Nejima, should he choose to back out of his marriage assignment.
Moreover, the Ministry has also just sent a notice of Special Training to Nejima and Ririna, which will surely complicate things even more than they already are.
"Love and Lies" airs on Mondays at midnight JST on Tokyo MX. Information on other schedules and online resources can be found on the series' official site. Episodes are also available for regions outside Japan via Amazon Prime's Anime Strike service.
