New cast members have been announced for the NHK Taiga drama " UNBOUND (Berabou) " (General TV, Sundays at 8pm and other times), starring actor Ryusei Yokohama . It has been revealed that comedian Kukkie from the comedy duo Yasei Bakudan will play Katsukawa Shunro (later known as Katsushika Hokusai), Tsuda Kenjiro will play Kenjiro Tsuda(later known as Kyokutei Bakin), and Inoue Yoshio will play Yoshio Inoue(later known as Jippensha Ikku). This will be the first time that Kukkie and Tsuda will appear in a Taiga drama.
The cast announced this time will be the final chapter actors who will play "playwrights and artists who Tsutaju allowed to come and go from Koshodo and who will carry the legacy on to the next generation."
Katsukawa Shunro (later known as Katsushika Hokusai), played by Cookie, became fascinated with painting at a young age and became a disciple of the Katsukawa school, studying ukiyo-e. He is taken by his teacher, Katsukawa Shunsho (Tomoya Maeno), to visit Tsutaju's (Yokohama) Koshodo. In real life, even after Tsutaju's death, he continued to pursue his own unique style, changing his artist name several times. He also wrote introductory books on painting, and was highly praised for going beyond the traditional boundaries of ukiyo-e.
"The Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji, a genius painter still loved all over the world."
Tsuda plays Takizawa Sokichi (later known as Kyokutei Bakin), who is introduced to him by Kitao Masanori/Sankyo Toden (Furukawa Yudai) and is taken in as a clerk at Tsutaju's Koshodo for a while. While working there, he begins writing yellow-covered novels as a playwright. Tsutaju pairs him with Katsukawa Haruo (Kukkie!) in an attempt to pit their new talents against each other, but... In actual history, it took 28 years to complete the fantasy novel "Nansō Satomi Hakkenden," which has a loyal readership that continues into modern times.
"He was an exceptionally talented playwright who wrote the Edo period's huge bestseller, 'Nansō Satomi Hakkenden.'"
Inoue plays Shigeta Teiichi (later known as Jippensha Ikku), a native of Suruga Province who one day visits Tsutaju in Nihonbashi. He likes the yellow-covered books published by Tsutaju and asks to write a book for Koshodo himself, but... In fact, "Tokaidochu Hizakurige," which he wrote after Tsutaju's death, gained a large readership nationwide and established a new genre of comic books.
"He is the creator of 'Tokaidochu Hizakurige,' the story of Yaji and Kita's extraordinary journey."
"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.
