In Let’s Get Divorced, Taishi’s political rival, Go Soda, who is more experienced and competent than him, makes it hard for Taishi to win the election. Koji Yamamoto plays the role of Go Soda.
Taishi is a third-generation politician in his family, who takes over his father’s seat in Congress. On the other hand, Go Soda makes a name for himself on his own. Unlike Taishi, Soda does not come from a family of politicians.
Soda started off as a print editor at a magazine and went on to become the youngest editor-in-chief in that magazine’s history in just a few years. He also exposed a major scandal of the Prime Minister and then became a host for a news show. He gained popularity due to his anti-authority stance and joined the Reformation Party.
Go Soda has won many elections and has never lost one. He makes passionate speeches in Congress; his questions even reduced the Prime Minister to tears.
When the Prime Minister dissolves the House of Representatives and elections are announced, Soda, who wants to end nepotism, decides to run to represent Ehime’s fifth district, which means he will be competing with Taishi.
A worthy opponent
Taishi finds out that his father hated Soda and often heckled him in Congress. He does not know if Soda will hold a grudge against him because of his father or not, but he still feels uneasy, knowing that he will be competing against Soda.
Taishi is right to feel that way, as Soda is very good at what he does. When Mimata publicly criticizes Taishi for his controversial remark and says that the government needs to be changed, Soda approaches her to get her to join his party.
He convinces her to run for office by pointing out the fact that her future was ruined because of Taishi and that she should raise her voice for all women. He also makes her look like a victim when she leaks the news about her affair with Taishi.
Initially, Soda finds it hard to get the support of the people of Ehime, as it is the stronghold of Taishi’s family. However, that does not deter him, and he manages to win people’s hearts by crashing a local wedding and narrating a personal story.
He debates with Taishi on TV and dominates him easily. Additionally, when the news of Taishi cheating on his wife for the second time comes out, it seems like Taishi does not stand a chance in the election.
It is only when Taishi gets determined to give the elections his all in order to save his marriage that Soda actually faces a challenge. Taishi works hard, learns, and grows, so when the two candidates face each other in the final debate, Taishi is able to prove his worth.
A corrupt politician
While Soda initially seems like a better candidate, it soon becomes clear that he does not care about Ehime as much as Taishi. His main focus is to win the election, not the development of Ehime.
Despite Taishi’s hard work, Soda ends up winning the election by a narrow margin. He even contacts Taishi to admit that he was getting nervous when the votes were being counted.
Even though he wins, he never actually goes to Ehime. He also changes his tune about BSL-4, an experimental facility that was built by Taishi’s father in Ehime to classify viruses. During the elections, Soda had been vocal in his opposition to BSL-4, but now, he repeats Taishi’s arguments in favor of the facility.
Taishi comes to know from a friend that Soda is not as honest as he seems to be. Like other politicians, he lies to common people to fill his own pockets. He cheaply sold off BSL-4 to a company and is now taking bribes from that company.
Taishi manages to expose the truth about Soda’s corrupt deal, and Soda is forced to resign from Congress and leave his party. He is later seen selling baked goods with his wife and offering a piece of bread to Taishi.
