The final episode (episode 48) of the NHK Taiga drama " UNBOUND (Berabou) " (General TV, Sunday 8pm and others), starring actor Ryusei Yokohama , was aired on December 14th. The episode depicted Tsutaju (Yokohama)'s "final days," which turned out to be a playful one, typical of " UNBOUND." Scriptwriter Yoshiko Morishita spoke about the thoughts she put into the final episode and the behind-the-scenes story of writing it.
In the final episode, Tsutaju reopens his shop and continues to sell Sharaku's art. He then expands into the field of Japanese studies and continues to work energetically as a bookseller. However, one day, Tsutaju falls ill with beriberi.
While Tei (AI Hashimoto Ai) and Utamaro (Sometani Shota) are worried about him, he continues to create works and cultivate the world with calligraphy, along with his friends Masanori (Jun Hashimoto), Nanpo (Kenta Kiritani), and Kisanji (Omi Toshinori), despite his illness. Then, one night, Tsutae has a strange dream.
Kurosuke Inari (played by Ayase Haruka) appears in his dream disguised as a shrine maiden. He is told that the signal for his "time of death" and his arrival is a wooden clapper. Tsutajyo consults with Tei about what to do with the store after he dies. Then, just as it seems that his arrival is about to begin, his friends rush in one after another, and when Nanpo shouts "We're farts!", they all shout "Heh!" as a signal. They begin to play around, trying to bring Tsutajyo back to this world. Then, waking up from the brink of death, Tsutajyo mutters, "The wooden clappers... I can't hear them," and the same sound of wooden clappers is heard, "Clang clang!"... and so the story unfolds.
What was the screenwriter Morishita's intention when he wrote this final episode?
He revealed that he found the description of Tsutaju's deathbed, which was actually written by Imori Inn (played by Matayoshi Naoki), "very interesting," and that "I wrote the film with the intention of running towards that scene."
The details of their deathbeds were so amusing that Morishita himself felt like saying, "Is that really true?" However, he said that "since it's about those people, it could all have been fabricated, but I just felt like I was carried away with it."
According to the document, "Tsutajyo said, 'I'm going to die this afternoon,' and continued saying, 'I'm going to die, I'm going to die,' and entrusted everything, including the store, to him, and when noon came, no one came to take him away." He revealed his true feelings, saying, "In the end, it seems that Tsutajyo lived until the evening, but it also says that he 'laughed embarrassedly,' which I thought was a very typical way for him to die. But I also think that this might be fiction, too."
Regarding Tsutaju's death, Yokohama, who played the role, said, "That's how I want to die," which left a lasting impression on her. Morishita also confessed, "Now that it's over, I'm thinking, 'I wish I could die like that too.'"
While describing Tsutaju's death as "an ideal deathbed," he also offered words of appreciation, saying, "When I wrote about it in detail, I realized that his life had more ups and downs than I had expected. I think, 'Tsutaju, you had a really hard time.'"
Morishita, who previously jokingly described Tsutaju as "an old man at a bookstore who dies of beriberi on a tatami mat," reflected, "I think to myself, 'I'm sorry. I didn't understand how difficult your life was at the time.' At first, I didn't realize it was that difficult, but as I wrote about it, I realized he had had an incredibly difficult life."
