The 9th episode of the NHK Taiga drama "BROTHERS IN ARMS （Toyotomi Brothers!）" (General TV, Sunday 8pm and others), starring actor Nakano Taiga, entitled "A Man Called Takenaka Hanbei", aired on March 8th, and featured the full appearance of Mino's genius military strategist, Takenaka Hanbei, played by Suda Masaki Suda. This became a hot topic among viewers.
"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.
In the ninth episode, Koichiro (Nakano) and Tokichiro (Ikematsu Sosuke) set out to seduce Takenaka Hanbei, a vassal of Saito Tatsuoki (Hamada Tatsuomi), the lord of Mino Province. However, Hanbei, who is known for his wisdom, is quite an eccentric person, and Koichiro and Tokichiro are repeatedly at his mercy. Meanwhile, the two receive an unexpected offer from Ando Moriyasu (Tetsushi Tanaka), a senior vassal of the Saito family.
After hearing the report from the two men, Nobunaga (Shun Oguri Shun) besieges Inabayama Castle, the Saito clan's castle, but Hanbei suddenly appears before Tatsuoki when he is in a desperate situation...
The same episode also features a scene in which Hanbei talks about himself. "I love war," he begins, "I'll devise a strategy even though I'll never be on the battlefield, and then things will go as planned and I'll win the battle. That's a joy that can't be replaced by anything else. I'll use any strategy to win the battle. I feel like something's wrong, but I can't control my impulses. I'm scared of myself."
Suda, who plays Hanbei, also played the genius military commander Minamoto no Yoshitsune in the 2022 taiga drama "The 13 Lords of the Shogun," prompting viewers to respond on social media with comments such as, "He was definitely Yoshitsune in his past life," "He likes war, so...I guess it's because he was Yoshitsune in his past life lol," "He definitely has memories from his past life, doesn't he?" and "This Hanbei is definitely the reincarnation of that person in his past life."
In addition, in response to Koichiro and Tokichiro's "three visits" to the negotiations, comments were received such as "Hanbei has a Zhuge Liang vibe lol, the three visits", "The three visits, so Takenaka Hanbei = Zhuge Liang, Zhuge Liang", "The three visits... Zhuge Liang has arrived!" and "It's an homage to Zhuge Liang, Zhuge Liang".
