The 22nd episode of the NHK Taiga drama "BROTHERS IN ARMS （Toyotomi Brothers!）" (NHK General, Sundays at 8pm, etc.), starring actor Taiga Nakano, aired on June 7th, and the plot twist in which Hideyoshi (Sosuke Ikematsu) suffers from "amnesia" has drawn a variety of reactions from viewers.
"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 22, Hideyoshi seemed to have secured Harima, but Hanbei's (Masaki Suda) bad premonition proved correct. The local lords who were supposed to be subservient to him revolted, and the Mori and Ukita clans also rose in revolt in response. To make matters worse, Hanbei's health deteriorated, forcing Hideyoshi to abandon his allies and retreat. Tormented by guilt, Hideyoshi tripped one night, hit his head, and lost his memory.
Koichiro (played by Nakano), doing everything he can to help Hideyoshi regain his memories, fearlessly carves Hideyoshi's name into a temple pillar and makes a wish... and that's how the story unfolds.
On social media, reactions included comments such as, "This is a crazy plot twist," "The memory loss thing is just too much like a historical drama," and "I never thought I'd see a memory loss storyline in a historical drama." In the "travelogue" segment after the main story, the characters (graffiti) "Hashiba Koichiro" carved into a pillar at Shoshazan Engyo-ji Temple, where Hideyoshi established his headquarters during the conquest of Harima, were introduced as the "source material" for this episode. While some viewers commented, "If you watch the travelogue carefully, you'll see that it's a 'so that's how it is' episode, so don't underestimate it," others expressed surprise, saying, "Was the memory loss episode necessary?", "Was the memory loss part really necessary?", "I don't really understand why this memory loss episode was necessary," and "Basically, they just wanted to tell the story about carving a name into a pillar, so they made up the memory loss episode. Couldn't they have just left it out?" It seems the episode left some viewers a little confused.
