From our other sites
The story
NHK revealed the character relationship chart for its 2027 Taiga drama “Gyakuzoku no Bakushin” (lit. “The Rebel Vassal”) on its official social media, and it turns out that near shogunate official Oguri Tadamasa (played by Matsuzaka Tori) has a listing nearby reading “Kanrin Maru interpreter: Nakahama Manjirō.” Manjirō is the protagonist of the 2028 Taiga drama “John Man,” making this an early appearance a full year ahead of his own show. The casting slot is still blank, and who will play him has not been announced. On 5ch, alongside casting speculation, users pointed out that this brings the Bakumatsu-era count to 17 out of 67 total Taiga dramas, and traded comments about how often people from Tosa (Kochi) turn up as leads or supporting characters.
Sports Nippon [October 30, 2026, 18:45]
Actor Matsuzaka Tori (38), who stars as shogunate official Oguri Tadamasa in next year’s 2027 NHK Taiga drama “Gyakuzoku no Bakushin” (starting January 10, Sundays at 8:00 PM), had a character relationship chart posted to the show’s official social media on the 30th — and it included the listing “Kanrin Maru interpreter: Nakahama Manjirō.” This reveals that the protagonist of 2028’s “John Man” will make an early appearance a year ahead of schedule. The casting for Nakahama Manjirō remains blank, and attention is turning to who will play him.
This is the 66th Taiga drama overall, with an original script by Naoko Adachi, known for the NHK morning drama serial “Okaeri Mone.” The protagonist is Oguri Tadamasa, a brilliant bureaucrat of the Edo shogunate. The series depicts the turbulent final years of the shogunate through the story of a retainer branded a “traitor” by the new Meiji government and buried in historical obscurity.
Source: sponichi.co.jp / Read the original article here
What people said
Dude, you clearly never watched the tsunami arc!
Bad news — the production team's the same as Mone's too.
Give us something from the 1400s instead.
Ikkyū-san, basically. (the famous folklore/anime Zen monk)
The Ryōma fanbase has serious political clout.
Tosa really had that energy back in the day… not so much now, huh.
He and Sakamoto Ryōma, both Tosa natives, apparently called each other
'Ryōma' and 'Man-san.'
So when Ryōma got word that Man-san had been shipwrecked at sea…
Rowing out onto the open ocean, Ryōma unfortunately crashed into a black-painted warship.
As for the settlement terms…… (riffing on the old 'you hit a black luxury car' insurance-commercial joke)
It's going to flop regardless of that.
As one man's life it's a genuinely strange and fascinating story, but it's not part of the historical main line, and depending on how much weight they give the overseas portions, I don't think that stretch is going to pull ratings.
Counting this one, 17 of the 67 Taiga dramas are set in the Bakumatsu era.
The Sengoku period leads by far with 27. Third place is the Genpei War with 6.
He's been studying English because of this too.
So does that mean Tommy Bastow plays the American who looks after him?
He already proved himself as the lead in 'Shibusawa Eiichi' — would he really take some warm-up role ahead of Yamazaki at this point?
Also, if the role's just a brief cameo surrounded by 'traitors,' I doubt they'd even offer it to him in the first place.
Can't they make a passionate drama about something like Himiko, or building one giant keyhole-shaped burial mound from scratch?
Yeah, the shogunate and the other domains overlap heavily too — like Yamauchi Yōdō, who was close with him.
No can do — prepping sets and costumes would be too much hassle.
When Mitani Kōki said he wanted to make a Nara-period Taiga drama, NHK staff told him it was impossible because the sets and costumes couldn't be reused.
Mitani might get another Taiga drama someday.
Will it cover the Nara period then?
'Hikaru Kimi e' already did the early Heian period, didn't it?
They did a 'Taika Reforms' TV special once and it flopped, so they won't touch that again.
Where exactly did 'Hikaru Kimi e' cover the early Heian period?
Do Inō Tadataka next.
If it's told from Mogami Tokunai's perspective, I'm definitely watching.
They really should do Inō Tadataka.
He's got the name recognition and the achievements to back it up — why do they keep skipping a heavyweight like him in favor of some random historical nobody (Yoshida Shōin's sister) or recycling the same three Sengoku guys as leads over and over?
What is this guy.
That's Joyman for you. (a nod to the Japanese comedy duo known for rhyming Japanese-English wordplay)
Basically every major figure of the Bakumatsu era took an interest in him.
He was the only person fluent in English and well-versed in Western affairs.
The hidden mastermind behind the Meiji Restoration.
They must've treated him as a spy, right?
'Asa ga Kita.'
You could start from Dōsetsu and Jōun, cover everything from losing his domain to reclaiming it, and even get into stuff they rarely touch like the Shimabara Rebellion.
If Tachibana and the Shimazu clan were the leads, NHK couldn't skip over the Japanese invasions of Korea, so they'll never do it.
Background and Key Points of This Topic
Of NHK’s 67 Taiga dramas, the Sengoku period leads with 27, while the Bakumatsu era has reached 17, including this new series “Gyakuzoku no Bakushin.” The thread’s recurring complaints — “too much Bakumatsu,” “too much Kochi (Tosa) stuff” — reflect a general impression based on the fact that several past works have centered on Tosa natives like Sakamoto Ryōma, rather than any confirmed claim that NHK favors the region. Nakahama Manjirō, meanwhile, was the first Japanese person to receive an education in the United States during the Bakumatsu era, and after returning to Japan he supported diplomacy with the West as a shogunate interpreter and teacher following the arrival of Commodore Perry’s “Black Ships” — he’s set to headline his own Taiga drama in 2028. The core of this story is that Manjirō turned up a year early in another series’ character chart, sparking speculation over who will play him since the casting remains unannounced. The thread also included ironic jabs at how NHK picks its subjects and takes on Bakumatsu history, some of which were left out of this article for the sake of neutrality.
*This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Geisoku Hayabusa+) thread “Nakahama Manjirō also appears in 2027’s ‘Gyakuzoku no Bakushin’ — who will play him? 2028’s ‘John Man’ protagonist makes an ‘unusual’ early appearance.”
Leave a Reply