Did Akira even get a degree for that corporate job?

[Guest Poster]

During Lilly's route, we learn that Akira was 19 by the time their parents left for Scotland and Akira stayed behind because of her job. (meaning it was one worth staying in Japan for) We also learn in the same route that Akira is a corporate lawyer. I'm not certain about Japan, but in my home country, finishing a law study takes about 4 whole years. Unless Akira is some sort of grown-up tomboyish Chiyo-chan, she really ought to be at attending college or university at the age of 19 and not finish it until three more years. Plot hole, inconsistency or is Akira simply a progidy?

It might have made more sense for Akira to still be in the process of finishing her law degree at the time Lilly's parents migrated. Or perhaps I'm missing something.

[Loonie]

Though technically true, I've always interpreted the details of her getting onboard that fast as a result of some form of nepotism on her father's behalf. It certainly wouldn't be unheard of - to have a family member of a highly and well-placed executive brought onboard in spite of an initially severe lack of academic qualifications.

Of course Akira being the person she is, that doesn't mean she couldn't have dived into the work full force and made up for that disadvantage (or is still making up for it). That too isn't unheard of - that a person who comes onboard moreso by way of nepotism as opposed to academics actually turns out to be a genuinely good worker. Still, those kinds of people are very rare because the pressure of both fending off the stigma amongst your peers for being given a job because of mommy/daddy PLUS you having to make up for academic principles you didn't have covered, because of a lack of university schooling, is a very hard challenge for almost any person.

Fortunately it's not impossible. Because academic knowledge aside, a person doesn't always need it to do a good job. Of course with the law, where so much is abstract I'd say yeah...it must've been hard on her as hell to catch up while not having much of any law-school experience. But truth be told, I don't know enough first-hand knowledge of what the barriers of entry really are for law firms, corporate or otherwise, or how much nepotism takes place within those professions. Probably not as much because, like I said, there's a lot of professions you can get into even without the supposedly necessary academic training, but not when it comes to the law and their schools - they definitely exist for a good reason.

So...as said, I just accept it as a case of nepotism and Akira proving to be up to the challenge of fending that stigma away while learning to be a good enough employee to even have her father try to drag her off to the Scotland branch.

[demonix]

Akira did say that she is a lawyer at that time, but there isn't any mention of what job she had when her parents left for Scotland.

It could be that she was working in another department at the company whilst she was studying for her law degree and moved into the legal department once she'd gotten it (it could also be that she was a grunt worker in the legal department whilst she was getting her degree which might be the more logical answer).

[Brogurt]

She got the job through some favors.

[Snow_Storm]

Hang on, I was under the impression that Akira was in her mid 20, maybe pushing 30, but not in her late teens.

[ojamamask]

Hang on, I was under the impression that Akira was in her mid 20, maybe pushing 30, but not in her late teens.

Didn't Lilly parents leave when she was 12 or something? I'm sure Akira would have been at least 18 at the time.

[Guest Poster]

There's a 7-year age gap between Akira and Lilly. When their parents moved to Scotland, Lilly was 12 and Akira was 19. She says that much during the "Context"-scene. (something along the likes of: "Ridiculous to expect a 19-year old to take care of a blind child") Since 6 years passed since then, Akira is 25 at the time KS takes place.

[ojamamask]

Well she should be able to finish her degree by then if she started at 19 or 20.

[Helbereth]

I'd side with the camp assuming her job at 19 was more clerical than courtroom. Nepotism on her father's behalf could have placed her working a secretarial position while she attended University locally, and, by the time of the story, she could have easily attained a law degree and been practicing for a couple years.

The part that perplexes me is how she could possibly have had time to devote to the care of her blind sister for the year(s) they lived together before Lilly moved to the Yamaku dorms. Perhaps there was a nanny that never got mentioned, or something similar like a neighbor.

[Pseudogenesis]

You're right! That woman is ridiculously underqualified. I think less of Hisao for not reporting her to her superiors.

[Snow_Storm]

I'd side with the camp assuming her job at 19 was more clerical than courtroom. Nepotism on her father's behalf could have placed her working a secretarial position while she attended University locally, and, by the time of the story, she could have easily attained a law degree and been practicing for a couple years.

This is more believable. I got a friend who's 18 just turned 19 (I think) and she's working in a clerical position in a lawyer's office and now she is thinking of getting a law degree because of the work she does.

[Guest Poster]

The part that perplexes me is how she could possibly have had time to devote to the care of her blind sister for the year(s) they lived together before Lilly moved to the Yamaku dorms. Perhaps there was a nanny that never got mentioned, or something similar like a neighbor.

Yeah, it's a bit perplexing since I believe it was mentioned that it was just the two of them. (no nanny or anything else) And it wasn't a small appartment they were living in either. It was the house where they grew up. (which was probably not at all small) This period in their lives is mentioned as the period where Lilly developed her independance, so I imagine at the beginning that must have been a real pain. (since that means she probably wasn't able to do much of her own at the start)

[WorldlyWiseman]

Wasn't there a mention of Lilly going to a religious school for a while before going to Yamaku? It might have been a boarding school, as well. If not, I imagine that Lilly's early adolescence was very lonely and isolated, with Akira only being able to hang out with her a couple times a week.

[Guest Poster]

Lilly went to a rather strict Catholic all-girls school, which explains her formal way of speaking, impeccable manners and well-developed sex drive.

With Akira working long hours, it's unlikely they got to hang out together much, though a person with Lilly's social skills is hardly ever lonely or isolated...she's the only of the five girls who has lots of friends. I doubt things were much different in middle school. Even then, she got confessions all the time.

[Helbereth]

a rather strict Catholic all-girls school

Mmhmm...

she got confessions all the time.

Right... wait, what?