"The Royal Family" Royal Hope's debut match: "I was thrilled," "I cried," "This is what Sunday Theatre is all about!"

The fourth episode of the TBS Sunday Theatre drama "The Royal Family" (Sundays at 9:00 PM), starring Satoshi Tsumabuki, aired on November 2nd. The episode depicted the debut match of Royal Hope, whom Kozo (Koichi Sato) bought from Tsuyoshi (Kiba Katsumi) for 100 million yen, and it sparked discussion on social media, with comments such as "I can't watch it without crying" and "It was electrifying."

◇The following contains spoilers

Royal Hope is transferred to a training farm to be trained as a racehorse. However, Hope is extremely wary, and the staff is at their wits' end, and they can't even find a jockey. Kurisu (Tsumabuki) and his trainer Hironaka (Ando Masanobu) place their hopes in the blond jockey Saki (Takasugi Mahiro) from Iwate Racecourse, and ask him if he can transfer to the Japan Racing Association and ride Hope.

Having previously caused trouble, Saki was reluctant to accept Kurisu's proposal, but after Kurisu's persistent negotiations, he finally decided to aim to become a jockey in Japan Racing Association.

It was Royal Hope's debut race. Hope was reluctant to enter the gate, so Saki calmed him down by saying, "It's okay. I'm here too. We're together. Okay, let's have fun." Hope got off to a slow start, but Saki told him, "It's good. Take it easy." Responding to the cheers from the racecourse, Saki called out to Hope, "Can you hear me? Isn't this awesome? Let's go!", and Hope sprinted off as if in tune with his voice...

As the favorite, Valshare, took the lead, Hope closed in from the outside. As cheers from Kurisu, Kozo, Tsuyoshi, Kanako (Wakana Matsumoto), and Shohei (Miura Kira) rang out, Hope overtook Valshare and took the lead. He crossed the finish line with an overwhelming lead. Saki and Hope had a spectacular debut.

On social media, people were talking about the show, saying things like, "Royal Hope wins! I cried!!" "I can't watch it without crying. I love Royal Hope." "I'm so moved that I cry every week - this is what Sunday Theater is all about!" "This is what Sunday Theater is all about! They're really good at portraying people in three dimensions." "Stories that are filled with human emotion really hit home," and "I was thrilled by the debut match between Saki Ryujiro and Royal Hope."

The story is based on the novel of the same name by Kazuma Hayami. Kurisu admired her father, who was a tax accountant, and followed in his footsteps, but she experienced setbacks and lost hope. However, her life takes a major turn when she meets Kozo Sanno, a horse owner.