The NHK Taiga drama "BROTHERS IN ARMS （Toyotomi Brothers!）", starring actor Taiga Nakano, aired its 16th episode, "The Resolve of Mount Hiei," on April 26th. The episode depicted the burning of Mount Hiei, drawing attention to the words and actions of Nobunaga (Shun Oguri).
In episode 16, Fujikichiro (Ikematsu Sosuke) is tasked with persuading Miyabe Tsuguyoshi (Donpei), a loyal retainer of the Asai clan, to join the Oda. Tsuguyoshi promises to side with the Oda if Fujikichiro offers his son as a hostage. Fujikichiro, who has no children, 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 (Tsurumi Shingo) take refuge in Enryaku-ji Temple on Mount Hiei. Nobunaga orders Mitsuhide (Kaname Jun) to burn down the temple if they do not submit to the Oda...and so the story unfolds.
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 did you become such a villain?" 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. However, Yoshiaki counters by asking, "Are you saying it's my fault? Are you saying that you took so many innocent lives for my sake?" leaving Mitsuhide speechless.
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 family members as hostages, 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 emphasized, "Never make me say something like this again," some viewers felt that he was being too lenient with Fujikichiro.
Nevertheless, many comments were posted on social media, such as, "Oda Nobunaga's 'Never make me say something like that again' gave us a glimpse into the struggle between Nobunaga the man and Nobunaga the politician," "This Nobunaga is great because he's full of humanity yet has a dark side," "Oguri's Nobunaga is just too good again this week," and "Oguri's Nobunaga is the kindest and most pitiable Nobunaga in the history of Taiga dramas, to the point where you can't help but think that if it weren't for the repeated betrayals by his younger brothers, he might not have fallen into such distrust of people and become so harsh."
