The 29th episode of the NHK Taiga drama " UNBOUND (Berabou) " (General TV, Sundays at 8pm and others), starring actor Ryusei Yokohama , entitled "Edo Nama Tsutaya Vengeance", was broadcast on August 3rd, and viewers were thrilled by the unusually long 10-minute play-within-a-play.
" UNBOUND (Berabou)" is the 64th taiga drama and depicts the life of Tsutaya Juzaburo(or "Tsutajyu" for short), who is said to have laid the foundations for Japan's media industry and pop culture. The script was written by Yoshiko Morishita, who is known for her work on the highly talked-about "Drama 10: Ooku," which aired on NHK two years ago.
In the 29th episode, Tsutaju (Yokohama) proposes to the playwrights and artists that he would like to create a yellow-covered book using the picture of the "handkerchief man" that Masanori (Furukawa Yudai) brought in.
Tsuruya (Shunsuke Kazama) appears and offers to lend Kyoden-sensei (Masayoshi) if he hits the jackpot. Masayoshi begins to think up a draft, but... Meanwhile, Okitsugu(Ken Watanabe) finds evidence that the Matsumae family has secretly accumulated wealth in Ezo, thanks to secret accounting books obtained by Tosaku (Kimura Ryo), and begins preparing to request confiscation.
In the second half of the play, Tsutae hands Daresode (played by Haruka Fukuhara), who has become exhausted from cursing and is completely haggard, a completed yellow-covered "Edo Nama Enki Kabayaki" (Edo Raw Lustrous Kabayaki), saying, "This is my revenge."
Tsutaju then begins reading the story of the main character, Akukiya Tsuyujiro, to the audience, and the reenactment, or play within the play, begins. The play unfolds for about 10 minutes, with Tsutaju's friends, including Masaen, Koikawa Harumachi (Okayama Amane), and Houseidou Kisanji (Omi Toshinori), appearing one after another, and by the end, everyone has regained their smiles... and so it unfolds.
On social media, viewers responded with comments such as "The reenactment drama has begun lol," "The play within the play is fun," and "The live-action version is the best!". Comments included "Everyone is giving a great performance - even Otei-san!", "Tsuruya-san too!", "We've been waiting for this! It's Jirobei-san! What a luxurious cast," "All the Tsutaju members are appearing in the reenactment," and "Tsutajyu Theatre Company is so funny lol," and the excitement was there until the very end, with comments such as "Everyone is having fun lol," "How long is this going to go on?", "This is making me laugh lol," "Oh, it was fun! The play within the play was well done," and "It was the opening scene of the Tsutaajyu Theatre Company."
