The 45th episode of the NHK Taiga drama " UNBOUND (Berabou) " (General TV, Sundays at 8pm and other times), starring actor Ryusei Yokohama, entitled "His Name is Sharaku", aired on November 23rd. At the end of the episode, Utamaro (Sometani Shota) appeared in front of Tsutaju (Yokohama), and viewers exclaimed, "The last piece has been filled in!!!!!!"
" 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 episode 45, Tsutae is summoned by Sadanobu (Inoue Yuki) and others and asked to help them take revenge on a puppet-loving daimyo.
Tsutaju is ordered to spread the rumor that Hiraga Gennai (played by Ken Yasuda Ken) is still alive and cause a stir. While visiting the theater town, he learns that this year's Soga Festival will be held, where actors dance together in the streets. He comes up with the idea of displaying actor portraits showing the actors' real faces.
To make it seem as though the actor paintings were done by Gennai, they ask the artist to paint them in the style of Gennai's Western paintings, and ask comic storytellers and kyoka poets to come up with a name for the fictional artist. Kisanji (Omi Toshinorisa) then suggests, "How about 'Sharakusai'?" Everyone gets excited, saying it sounds like something Gennai would say, and they decide on the name "Sharaku," meaning "to portray the joys of this world" or "to enjoy capturing things as they are."
On the other hand, the creation of the "Gennai-style actor portraits" did not go smoothly because Tsutae was unable to draw a "clear picture," and friction arose between him and the artists, including Shigemasa (Jun Hashimoto).
Unable to bear seeing Tsutaju's troubled state, Tei (Ai Hashimoto) visits Utamaro (AI Hashimoto). Tei reveals her true feelings: she wants to see the painting that would be born from the karma, passion, and fate of the two men, Tsutaju and Utamaro, and finally sways Utamaro.
Viewers were delighted at Utamaro's return, having accepted Tei's wish and made up his mind. On social media, viewers responded with comments such as, "Here comes Utamaro!", "Utamaro!", "Utamaro!!", "Is this the last piece of Sharaku?", "The last piece of Project Sharaku is...Utamaro is back!", and "The moment the last piece fell into place, I got chills!" Comments such as, "Isn't 'portraying things as they are' Utamaro's style of painting?", "Otei-sama is amazing", "Otei-san is too cool (I'm in love)", and "This episode started and ended with Otei-san" were also posted.
