The NHK Taiga drama "Toyotomi Brothers!" (General TV, Sunday 8:00 PM, etc.) starring actor Nakano Taiga. The preview for the next episode, which was released after the main story of the fourth episode "Okehazama!" aired on January 25th, featured a brief glimpse of a character resembling Saito Dosan, which has become a hot topic among viewers.
"Toyotomi Brothers!" is the 65th taiga drama. It is a success story of hope and dreams, depicting the miracle of the Toyotomi brothers, Hidenaga (Koichiro) and his older brother Hideyoshi (Tokichiro), who achieve the great feat of unifying the country with their strong bond.
The script is written by Hiroyuki Yatsu, known for "Naoki Hanzawa" (TBS) and the morning drama "Ochoyan." The music is by Hideaki Kimura, and the narrator is Sakura Ando, an actor.
Saito Dosan was a Sengoku daimyo known by the nickname "Mino no Viper." In the taiga drama "Kirin ga Kuru" released six years ago, Motoki Masahiro played Dosan, and he greatly enhanced the story with his poisoning of his son-in-law, Toki Yorizumi (Yano Masato), the guardian of Mino, and his fight with his eldest son, Takamasa (Ito Hideaki), at the Battle of Nagaragawa, leading up to his death.
It was announced on Sunday that Akaji Maro will be playing the role in "Toyotomi Brothers!". The role is described as "a senior vassal of the Toki clan who rose to power through a coup d'état (overthrow of the ruling class) to become a Sengoku daimyo who ruled the entire Mino province. He held his son-in-law, Oda Nobunaga, in higher regard than his own son, Yoshitatsu." According to Maro's comments, "his appearance will be only for a few seconds."
Nevertheless, viewers have already expressed their expectations, saying things like, "I feel strangely relieved that Saito Dosan is being played by Maro Akaji," "That's the Saito Dosan I imagine," "The image of Saito Dosan that was briefly shown in the preview was outstanding," "He's the Mino Viper, just like Saito Dosan would look," "Saito Dosan...he looks so much like him!!" and "Saito Dosan (the real person lol) will be appearing next week!"
The subtitle of the next episode, the fifth, is "The Truth that Comes from Lies" and will be broadcast on February 1st.
