The fourth episode of the drama series "Chihayafuru: Meguri" (NTV, Wednesdays at 10 PM), starring actress Ami Touma, aired on July 30th. The episode featured a scene in which Kuroda (Yuki Tachibana), the vice captain of Kitao Academy, spoke to Meguru (Touma) and other members of the Umezono Karuta Club, which sparked a stir on social media.
◇The following contains spoilers.
In episode 4, the Umezono Karuta Club holds a three-day, two-night joint training camp with Kitao Gakuen, one of the most powerful schools in Tokyo. Meguru's cram school training camp dates overlap, but she lies to her parents and joins the karuta club. Oe Kanade (Mone Kamishiraishi) encourages the others, saying, "You'll definitely learn a lot!"
At the training camp, Umezono is greeted by a former member of the Kitao Karuta Club, Kinashi Hiroshi (Sakaguchi Ryotaro), nicknamed "Hyoro-kun," and current Kitao students. The club's ace and captain, Okuyama Sho (Riku Onishi), was promoted to Class A in his first year of junior high school and is a talented player tipped to become a master in the future. He is the twin brother of Okuyama Haruma (Takamura Yoshito). However, Sho, ashamed of his Class C brother, doesn't want the rest of Kitao to know, so he calls Haruma and tells him, "If they start to find out, I'll have you go home in a second." Haruma, too, is concerned about his younger brother and promises, "I'll never tell anyone that you're his older brother." Having overheard their conversation, Meguru has mixed feelings.
Umezono is unable to keep up with Kitao's hard training and is exhausted from the start. Even in the team match, he is overwhelmed by Kitao's speed and loud cheers, resulting in a crushing defeat. "I wonder why they're shouting so much..." Meguru wonders, not understanding why Kitao is calling out to each other. Meanwhile, Yono Sota (Soma Santoki) feels a sense of crisis about the current lack of players, saying, "In the first place, we're only four people, so I think this is a problem that goes beyond cheering." Haruma, unable to play in the match due to dizziness of unknown cause, feels responsible... and so the story unfolds.
In the same episode, on the first night of the training camp, Umezono is shocked to see the Kitao students diligently cleaning the main hall. As Meguru and the others are taken aback by the unity of the Kitao students, Kitao's vice-captain Kuroda passes by and says, "Team matches are never a collection of individual matches. We work together outside of matches, synchronize, and understand each other. That way, individuals can perform better than usual. In team matches, it's not at all uncommon for a C-class player to beat an A-class player." Hearing Kuroda say, "Overthrowing the ruling class—that's what's fun about team matches," Meguru mutters, "Overthrowing the ruling class..."
Tachibana, who plays Kuroda, previously played the baseball player Kugahara Atsushi in the 2023 drama series "Gekokujo Baseball Players" (TBS), and viewers responded to the line "Gekokujo" (rebellion) on social media in droves. Comments such as "It's Gekokujo!", "Thank you so much for Tachibana's line "Gekokujo", "Maybe it was a play on Gekokujo Baseball Players!?" and "It's crazy that they made Tachibana say Gekokujo" were posted, attracting a lot of attention.
