The 10th episode of the NHK Taiga drama " UNBOUND (Berabou) " (General TV, Sunday 8pm and others), starring actor Ryusei Yokohama , entitled "The Dreams of the 'Blue Brothel Beauty'", was broadcast on March 9th. In the opening credits, the prostitute Utsusemi, played by Karin Ono, was introduced as "Utsusemi (flashback)", causing a stir among viewers.
"UNBOUND (Berabou)" is the 64th taiga drama, depicting the life of Tsutaya Juzaburo(or "Tsutajyu" for short), who is said to have built the foundations of Japan's media industry and pop culture. The script was written by Yoshiko Morishita, who is known for "Drama 10 'Ooku'" which was broadcast on NHK two years ago and became a big hit.
In the 10th episode, Tsutaju (Yokohama) is asked by her father to create a nishikie (colored woodblock print) to be published in conjunction with Segawa's (Fuka Koshiba) "The Last Courtesan's Journey." She has popular artists such as Shigemasa (Hashimoto Jun) and Shunsho (Maeno Tomoya) draw the everyday lives of courtesans, and when the gorgeous nishikie book is completed, she visits the mansion of Okitsugu (Ken Watanabe) and secures a promise to present it to the shogun.
Afterwards, thanks to Matsubaya (Masame Bokuzou)'s arrangement, Tsutaju is able to personally hand over the nishikie book to Segawa. There, the two talk about the dream they had together. Eventually, Segawa completes his "final journey" with those memories of Tsutaju in his heart, says "farewell" and leaves Yoshiwara... and so the story unfolds.
In the previous week's 9th episode, Utsusemi tried to escape with Shinnosuke (Kai Inowaki), but they were soon caught by their pursuers and subjected to severe punishment.
In episode 10, many prostitutes were shown in the process of making the ukiyo-e book and in Segawa's "final courtesan procession," but Utsusemi only appeared in a flashback scene where she was being punished.
As soon as the title sequence started, reactions on social media included, "Wait a minute, what does this mean, Utsusemi (flashback)?" and "Will Utsusemi not appear anymore? Is it just a flashback?" Comments such as, "The ominous Utsusemi (flashback)", "Utsusemi ran away, was brought back and punished, I wonder what happened to her after that...", "Is it okay to say Utsusemi is a '(flashback)'", "I think there were only flashback scenes with Tsusemi, what is she doing?" and "It's not like the narrator will leave the scene even though it's a flashback of Utsusemi, right?" were posted during and after the broadcast.
