The 14th episode of the NHK Taiga drama "BROTHERS IN ARMS （Toyotomi Brothers!）" (NHK General, Sundays at 8pm, etc.), starring actor Taiga Nakano, aired on April 12th, and comedian Yoichi Okano became a topic of discussion among viewers, with comments such as "Was he in it?" and "He was in it, right?".
"BROTHERS IN ARMS （Toyotomi Brothers!）" is the 65th Taiga drama. With Toyotomi Hidenaga (Koichiro) as the protagonist, it depicts the miraculous feat of unifying Japan together with his older brother Hideyoshi (Tokichiro) through their strong bond, a success story of dreams and hopes.
The script is written by Hiroyuki Yatsu, known for his work on "Hanzawa Naoki" (TBS) and the Asadora drama series "Ochoyan." The music is composed by Hideaki Kimura, and the narration is provided by actress Sakura Ando.
In episode 14, Nobunaga (Ayumu Nakajima) is furious when he learns that Nagamasa Asai (Shun Oguri) has defected to the Asakura side. However, he regains his composure thanks to Fujikichiro's (Sosuke Ikematsu) quick thinking and decides to retreat.
With only a small force, Fujikichiro is tasked with holding off the Asakura army until Nobunaga returns to Kyoto, acting as their rearguard. Koichiro (played by Nakano) takes on the most dangerous role among them. The brothers' life-or-death retreat begins... and so the story unfolds.
In the opening title sequence of that episode, the name "Yoichi Okano" appeared, but there was no character name. In the episode, he played a member of a separate unit of the Asakura forces, pursuing the Oda forces, but mistakenly poured gunpowder into his mouth thinking it was sake, and was tragically killed by a gun fired by Nagayasu Maeno (Kento Shibuya)... it was a very brief appearance.
Nevertheless, viewers reacted on social media with comments such as, "Was Okano in it?", "Was that Okano just now!?", "That looked like Okano", and "Okano Yoichi!!!???", as well as comments like, "It's Okano! lol", "Okano made an appearance. It was only for a moment...", "I thought Okano was there just now, right?", and "I thought a lump of meat (Okano) had appeared in the historical drama, but then he showed his scumbag side and exploded lol".
