The eighth episode of the TBS Sunday Theatre drama "The Royal Family" (Sundays at 9 PM), starring Satoshi Tsumabuki, aired on November 30th. Kurisu (Tsumabuki), who was once commanded by Sanno Kozo (Sato Koichi Sato) to "never betray me," passed on his words and spirit to Koichi (Ren Meguro), bringing tears to the eyes of fans.
◇The following contains spoilers
The Royal Family, which Koichi inherited from Kozo as an "inheritance-only horse owner," is not doing so well, so Koichi makes a bold proposal to try to change the situation. However, Hironaka (Masanobu Ando) opposes this, and the bond between Koichi and Team Royal begins to crumble.
Kurisu invited Koichi, saying, "The president (Kozo) frequents a tempura restaurant, but I frequent this set meal restaurant." She began by saying that she had something to apologize for, and that since she began working as Koichi's secretary, she had been thinking only about what the president would do and hadn't been paying attention to Koichi himself.
Meanwhile, Koichi confessed that Kozo had told him, "When in doubt, just put the horse first and what you believe in first," but he bowed his head and said, "My family needs a team, and I need you all, but you don't understand anything."
In this atmosphere, Koichi made up his mind. "I will win the Arima Kinen. This dream is also the dream of that person... my father and all the other people who have fought alongside me all this time. Kurisu-san, will you let me join you in that dream?" he asked. "Please let us win the Arima Kinen together. Please," he replied, making up his mind.
With tears in her eyes, Kurisu advised Koichi, "I understand. But just one thing: never betray me, ever," and passed on to him the words Kozo had left behind.
On social media, people were talking about the scene, saying things like, "When Kurisu told Koichi, 'Please don't betray me,' it really warmed my heart as she inherited the president's strength," "There was a scene where Kurisu repeated what Kozo had said, 'Please don't betray me.' Is there anyone who can watch this from the first episode and not cry?", "Kurisu and Koichi are carrying on the nostalgic promise between Kozo and Kurisu (tears)," and "My tear ducts burst all at once. This scene was made possible because they faced each other seriously and confronted each other seriously."
