The 20th episode of the NHK Taiga drama "BROTHERS IN ARMS （Toyotomi Brothers!）" (NHK General, Sundays at 8pm, etc.), starring actor Taiga Nakano, titled "The Real Hiragumo," aired on May 24th, and as the subtitle suggests, viewers were excited about the "real Hiragumo."
"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.
In episode 20, Nobunaga (Shun Oguri) is furious with Hideyoshi (Sosuke Ikematsu) for abandoning the campaign against the Uesugi clan and returning home without permission. He orders Hideyoshi to be placed under house arrest and sentenced to death.
While the entire Hashiba family is working tirelessly to plead for clemency, news arrives that Matsunaga Hisahide (Naoto Takenaka) has betrayed them again. Having narrowly escaped death, Hideyoshi and Koichiro (Nakano) go to negotiate with Hisahide and convey Nobunaga's intention that if he hands over the unique tea utensil, Hiragumo, the rebellion will be overlooked.
But despite the exceptionally generous terms, Hisahide inexplicably refuses to accept them...
Here, Hisahide showed Hideyoshi and Koichiro "two Hiragumo" tea caddies. He said that one was real and the other was fake, and promised that if they could somehow distinguish the real one, he would do as Hideyoshi and Koichiro said. On social media, viewers reacted with comments such as "A ranking check suddenly begins," "Daimyo ranking check! Which one is the Hiragumo!", and "Hiragumo ranking check starts."
Just when it seemed that Koichiro had cleverly figured out the real one, Hisahide revealed that both were fakes and that he hadn't been able to get his hands on the real one, before dying in a huge explosion. Viewers commented, "This is the first time we've seen a pattern where both are fakes and he doesn't have the real one," and "They're both fakes after all! Not only that, he doesn't even have the real one!!"
So where is the real Hiragumo? Towards the end, as Nobunaga is alone, Ichi (Aoi Miyazaki) appears and says to him, "It's beautiful no matter how many times you look at it. A true masterpiece." Nobunaga replies, "Indeed," and as Ichi and Nobunaga look in the direction of the Hiragumo... The scene unfolds with surprises such as, "It's there?", "So that's it, Hiragumo (again)", "Nobu, you had a Hiragumo!", "You have one?", "You have one, lol", "Is the real one in Azuchi Castle, lol".
