The eighth episode of the NHK Taiga drama "BROTHERS IN ARMS （Toyotomi Brothers!）" (General TV, Sundays at 8pm and other times), starring actor Nakano Taiga, entitled "Suminomata Ichiyajo" (Suminomata Castle), was broadcast on March 1st. With just five minutes left in the episode, viewers were deeply moved by the tragedy that befell Nao (Shiraishi Sei) and the sad expression on Koichiro's (Nakano) face.
"BROTHERS IN ARMS （Toyotomi Brothers!）" is the 65th taiga drama. It depicts the miracle of the Toyotomi brothers, Hidenaga (Koichiro) and his older brother Hideyoshi (Tōkichirō), who achieve the great feat of unifying the country with their strong bond. It is a success story of hope and dreams, depicting the rise to power.
The script is written by Hiroyuki Yatsu, known for "Naoki Hanzawa" (TBS) and the Asadora"Ochoyan." The music is by Hideaki Kimura, and the narrator is Sakura Ando, an actor.
In episode 8, Koichiro and his men march to Sunomata. However, Nobunaga's (Shun Oguri Shun) true target is not Sunomata, but the northern castle guarded by Ando Moriyasu (Tetsushi Tanaka), one of the Mino Three.
Tōkichirō (Ikematsu) embarks on a grand plan to build a fortress in Sunomata, knowing that it will be a sacrificial pawn to divert the attention of Saitō Tatsuoki (Hamada Tatsuomi), the lord of Mino Province, from his northern castle. Meanwhile, Nao returns to Nakamura to seek permission to marry Koichiro. Surprisingly, she is warmly welcomed by his father, Kizaemon (Okura Koji), but...
Nao had finally made peace with Kizaemon, but on the way back from his hometown of Nakamura, he got caught up in a fight and lost his life trying to protect a girl he saw. Eventually, Koichiro also came face to face with Nao's body. He called out to Nao, saying, "I'm still alive. I kept my promise," but naturally, Nao didn't respond, and he eventually burst into tears.
"What is this state of affairs? What is this?" Koichiro shouted. He then continued to shout, "Nao! Nao! Wake up, Nao! Wake up, Nao!" but his pleas were not answered, and the screen went black as if it had gone dark, and the episode ended, without any preview of the next episode as usual.
On social media, viewers could not hide their shock, saying things like, "Oh no, oh no, oh no," "Oh Nao-san...," "You've got to be kidding me, he was saved last week, Nao...," "I thought he was just setting up flags... (crying)," "Ah, that's what the Warring States period is like...," and "The difference between the beginning and the end is so drastic," as well as comments like, "Nao-chan was already on Asaichi," "Is it the curse of Asaichi...?" and "This episode was a reminder of the sad reality that appearing on Asaichi is a flag for his exit..."
Additionally, comments such as "It ended with a blackout...", "What! It ended like this! Where's the preview?", "No preview and my mental state was completely destroyed along with Koichirou's", "My emotions are a mess!!" and "It's as entertaining as ever, with wild emotional swings" were also made.
