"The Royal Family" viewers tear up at words spoken by "Yutaro"Kotaro Koizumi to "Koichi"Ren Meguro

The final episode of the TBS Sunday Theatre drama "The Royal Family" (Sunday 9:00 PM), starring Satoshi Tsumabuki, aired on December 14th. The words spoken by Sanno Yutaro (Kotaro Koizumi) to his late father Kozo's (Sato Koichi Sato) illegitimate son Koichi (Ren Meguro) moved viewers to tears.

◇The following contains spoilers

Koichi is entrusted with the dream of winning the Arima Kinen by Kozo. It has finally been decided that his horse, Royal Family, will compete in the Arima Kinen. Koichi visits the Sanno family with Kurisu (Tsumabuki) and asks if they can come to the venue, Nakayama Racecourse, but Kozo's wife, Kyoko (Kuroki Hitomi), gives him a cold response.

As Koichi and the others were about to give up and go home, Yuutaro bowed his head and said, "I'm sorry you came all the way here. I'm really grateful that you carried my father's feelings on your shoulders. Thank you."

On the day of the 2025 Arima Kinen, Kyoko and Yutaro and the others travel to Nakayama Racecourse. The results of the race show that Big Hope, the horse created by Shiina (Kazuki Sawamura) and Kozo, came in first, with the Royal Family in second place.

After the race, Koichi thanked Kyoko and the others for coming to the venue. Yutaro gently touched Koichi's shoulder and said kindly, "Let's have a long chat over the New Year. Serious talk is not important. I just want to talk about trivial things. We are family after all." On social media, the comment became a hot topic, with comments such as "In the final episode, they were finally recognized as family," "Because we are family" made me cry," "Because we are family←sobbing," "Oh no, it's making me sob," and "I'm so happy that my half-brother has been recognized!"