The 16th episode of the NHK Taiga drama "BROTHERS IN ARMS （Toyotomi Brothers!）" (NHK General, Sundays at 8pm, etc.), starring actor Taiga Nakano, titled "Resolve at Mount Hiei," aired on April 26th, and many viewers expressed sympathy for Mitsuhide (Shun Oguri Kaname), who, unable to disobey Nobunaga's (Shun Oguri) orders, took the lives of countless innocent people.
In episode 16, Fujikichiro (played by Sosuke Ikematsu) is tasked with persuading Miyabe Tsuguyoshi (played by Donpei), a loyal retainer of the Asai clan. Tsuguyoshi promises to side with the Oda clan if Fujikichiro offers his son as a hostage.
Childless Fujikichiro tries to offer Tomo's (Emma Miyazawa) son, Manmaru, but Tomo is furious. Desperate, Fujikichiro entrusts the persuasion to Koichiro (Nakano). Meanwhile, the defeated Nagamasa (Ayumu Nakajima) and Asakura Yoshikage (Shingo Tsurumi) take refuge in Enryaku-ji Temple on Mount Hiei. Nobunaga orders Mitsuhide to burn down the temple if they do not submit to the Oda...and so the story unfolds.
In this episode, the burning of Mount Hiei is depicted. As a result of following Nobunaga's orders, Mitsuhide finds himself in a position of condemnation from Ashikaga Yoshiaki (played by Onoe Ukon). Yoshiaki harshly criticizes Mitsuhide's actions at Mount Hiei, in which he killed women and children, saying, "It is not the work of a human being," and "Since when have you fallen to such a wicked state?" Mitsuhide honestly explains that they were under Nobunaga's suspicion, and that in order to fulfill his promise to Yoshiaki to restore the Ashikaga shogunate, he had no choice but to obey Nobunaga at that time. However, Yoshiaki turns the question back on him, saying, "Are you saying it's my fault? Are you saying that you took so many innocent lives for my sake?" leaving Mitsuhide speechless.
Yoshiaki said that sending Mitsuhide to Nobunaga was a "mistake" and told him, "Come back to me, Mitsuhide," but Mitsuhide was filled with overwhelming emotion and bowed his head on the spot.
Later, Nobunaga rewarded Mitsuhide with "Shiga District in Omi Province." With this, Mitsuhide became a daimyo with his own castle. Meanwhile, Nobunaga ordered Fujikichiro to commit seppuku for defying him when he tried to save women and children, but then Tsuguyoshi arrived and announced that he had decided to serve under Nobunaga.
The main reason was that Fujikichiro had offered his own family member (Tomo's son, Manmaru) as a hostage, and furthermore, among those Fujikichiro had helped escape from Mount Hiei were "many people familiar to Keijun," and he expressed his deep trust in Fujikichiro, saying, "I wanted to live together with these people."
In the end, Nobunaga forgave Fujikichiro, saying "this is the only time." Although he did "emphasize" that he would "never make me say something like that again," it could be said that Nobunaga showed considerable leniency considering his character, and some viewers thought that Nobunaga was "too lenient" towards Fujikichiro.
This makes one wonder about Mitsuhide's feelings. On social media, comments included: "Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh! It's too hard on Mitsuhide! Why is the monkey forgiven?! It's not right!", "Nobunaga is way too lenient with Hideyoshi. I can't imagine how Mitsuhide must have felt seeing that firsthand...", "Hideyoshi and Mitsuhide... what a contrast. It's traumatic...", "Ugh, poor Akechi Jubei Mitsuhide", and "For Mitsuhide, burning down Mount Hiei was a necessary step to silence any suspicions about the Shogun, but the Shogun didn't understand his feelings, and although he was promoted to castle lord by Nobunaga, he was shown leniency towards his protégé Hideyoshi, so it must be painful for him to feel like he's not number one at all..."
