The fourth episode of the NHK Taiga drama " UNBOUND (Berabou) " (General TV, Sunday 8pm and others), starring actor Ryusei Yokohama, entitled "The Sweet Trap of 'Hinagata Wakana'", was broadcast on January 26th, with Kazama Shunsuke appearing in the role of Tsuruya Kiemon.
In the fourth episode, Tsutae (Yokohama), who has had success with "A Thousand Books at a Glance," plans his next move to use the money deposited by a kimono shop to create a nishiki-e print of a prostitute wearing one of the shop's kimonos, but struggles to raise the funds due to his lack of recognition.
Meanwhile, Nishimuraya (Masahiko Nishimura) approached him about a collaborative project, and things seemed to be going smoothly with the production of the nishikie prints, but then things began to unfold.
Tsuruya, played by Kazama, is the leader of the "jihon wholesaler" in Edo city, which includes Urokogataya Magobei (played by Kataoka Ainosuke) and Nishimuraya Yohachi, and is in conflict with the newcomer Tsutaya Juzaburo. In addition to publishing many hit works in kusazoshi and nishiki-e, he also discovered and produced young talents such as Santokyoden, and created an era together with Tsutaya. He is a "large jihon wholesaler with ties to Kyoto."
Towards the end of the film, Tsuruya and Urokogataya attend the presentation of the completed Nishikie print. Here, Tsutaju learns for the first time that only those who are recognized by their peers can become a jihon wholesaler, and realizes that if things continue this way, he will not be able to become a publisher. Tsuruya, who has no intention of accepting Tsutaju as a member of the group, immediately replies "Yes" to Tsutaju's complaint, "So then, what should we do about people who come later? Does that mean people who come later can't become publishers?" He then coldly states, "I don't think there is any chance that Koshodo (Tsutaju) will become a publisher in the future."
In the past, Kazama has played clean characters in the taiga dramas "Saigo Don" (2018) as Sanai Hashimoto and "Kirin ga Kuru" (2020) as Ieyasu, but this time he plays Tsuruya, who is just the right kind of nasty.
On social media, comments such as "Good news: Kazama Shunsuke is the bad guy this time," "Hmm, Kazama was the bad guy," "Kazama Shunsuke is stable and trustworthy," "Kazama-san doesn't look at all like the saintly ruler Ieyasu from 'Kirin,' he's good," and "You too! Kazama Shunsuke!" have been posted.
