The 27th episode of the NHK Taiga drama " UNBOUND (Berabou) " (General TV, Sunday 8pm and others), starring actor Ryusei Yokohama , titled "I Wish I'd Die Under the Blossoms in Spring", was broadcast on July 13th, with Yano Masato reprising his role as "the man who was Jouemon."
" 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, known for "Drama 10 'Ooku'" which was broadcast on NHK two years ago and became a big hit.
In episode 27, Tsutae (Yokohama) hears from Ooya (Ito Atsushi) that depending on Tanuma's reputation, Ichi (Hio Miyazawa) may not be able to buy Daresode (Haruka Fukuhara)'s freedom.
Meanwhile, Jisei (Ikuta Toma) receives a request from Michihiro (Kazuki Enari) to stop the confiscation of Ezo, and learns about the Ezo policy that Okitsugu(Ken Watanabe) was secretly pursuing. At the Tanuma residence, Sano Masatoyo (Yoshimi Kazutoyo), the father of Sano Masayoshi (Yamoto Yuma), gets angry and demands the return of the family tree, but Masayoshi steps in to stop him...
This is Yano's first appearance since episode 16, "Farewell Gennai, the Guardian of Horai" (broadcast on April 20). In the previous episode, he played the role of Jouemon and was involved in the death of Gennai (played by Ken Yasuda Ken).
This time, he plays the role of "the man who was Jouemon." This man appears in the hunting scene of the shogun Ieharu (Hidekazu Mashima), and later visits Masayoshi and tells him the lie that it was Ichi who hid the prey that Masayoshi had supposedly caught.
On another day, she visits Masayoshi and tells him that Okitsugu has thrown away the family tree, and further that the cherry tree that Masayoshi had given him had been donated to a shrine without his knowledge, and was now loved by the people as "Tanuma's cherry tree."
Just when the Sano family's cherry blossoms had not bloomed, Masayoshi's father Masatoyo unreasonably blamed him for causing them to wither. Masayoshi's animosity towards Ichi gradually grew stronger, and he sharpened the rusty sword that Masatoyo had been carrying and used it to commit a murderous act, with which the story ends.
When he was introduced as "the man who was Jouemon" in the title sequence of the opening of the episode, viewers responded with comments such as "The man who was Jouemon lol", "What is a man who was?" and "The Jouemon (man who was) crew..." Furthermore, as Yano is known for his role as Ookuwagata Oger/Lacles Hasty in the Super Sentai series "Ohsama Sentai King-Ohger", fans got excited, saying things like "Yano Masato appeared", "Lacles...?", "Lacles is here again", and "The man who was Jouemon was the man who was Lord Lacles!"
Furthermore, comments were made about the performance of "the man who was Jouemon," such as "That decisive word was followed by Sakura's further attack, stop it...", "The Hitotsubashi agent attacked emotionally!", "Isn't he good at leading people to suspect something? "The man who was Jouemon is so good at misleading people every time, using them as a cover for assassinations", and "Lacruz's acting and lines are so good... he's scary."
