The 24th episode of the NHK Taiga drama "BROTHERS IN ARMS （Toyotomi Brothers!）" (NHK General, Sundays at 8pm, etc.), starring actor Taiga Nakano, titled "Strategist Kanbei!", aired on June 21st, and the actions of Araki Murashige (Tortoise Matsumoto), who engaged in "despicable behavior," attracted attention.
In episode 24, after being imprisoned by Murashige for a year, Kanbei (played by Yuki Kura) had reached his physical and mental limits.
The stalemate between Murashige, who continued to hold out in his castle, and the Oda army had reached a deadlock, but Koichiro (Taiga Nakano) succeeded in cutting off the supply lines for provisions. Persuaded by his wife, Dashi (Kasumi Yamaya), Murashige finally decided to surrender. Entrusted with acting as an intermediary to Nobunaga (Shun Oguri), Koichiro entrusted Dashi with a message for Kanbei.
Just when it seemed the battle would end without unnecessary bloodshed, Murashige fled. Arioka Castle, having lost its lord, fell easily, and all of Murashige's remaining retainers were massacred as a warning to others, and Dashi was also beheaded.
Why did Murashige run away? The reason was the indelible fear instilled in him by Nobunaga. In episode 22, "Harima's Great Miscalculation" (aired June 7th), Murashige is accused of rebellion by Nobunaga and interrogated. At that time, Murashige does as Nobunaga tells him to, stuffing one sweet bun after another into his mouth, and finally eating the one impaled on the tip of a sword, somehow proving his innocence. However, in episode 24, when he accidentally cut his fingertip with a shard of teaware and saw his own blood, "Nobunaga's face at that time" flashed back to him. After that, Murashige disappeared alone from Arioka Castle.
Naturally, comments such as "Oh no, he ran away...", "Damn you, Murashige," "Araki Murashige abandoning his family and running away. He's not the type you see often in the Sengoku period," and "Following Ochoyan, Tortoise has been given another scumbag character role," and "Tortoise Murashige reminds me of Teruo's patheticness," were made in response to Murashige. On the other hand, there were also comments such as "Murashige is completely traumatized...", "Nobunaga has traumatized him too much," "Was the sword-shaped manju really that traumatizing for Murashige in the first place... To think he would betray and abandon his beloved wife, child, and retainers...", "The sword-shaped mochi must have been quite traumatizing for him," and "Murashige's trauma from Nobunaga is considerable."
