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The story
Film critic Tomohiro Machiyama posted on his X account, “I think NHK’s Taiga Drama should be about Ikkyu-san, with Lily Franky playing him in his later years.” The tweet was picked up on 5ch’s Geinou/Sports News+ board. Ikkyu-san is a character based on the real Ikkyu Sojun, a Muromachi-period Zen monk familiar to most Japanese from the classic anime, known for his unconventional antics later in life. The thread lit up with everything from casting chatter — “who’s playing Shinuemon-san?” — to doubts about whether it could ever actually happen, with comments like “the Imperial Household Agency would never allow it” and “the anime image is just too strong.”
Tomohiro Machiyama
@TomoMachi
I think NHK’s Taiga Drama should be about Ikkyu-san. With Lily Franky starring as him in his later years.
Source: x.com / Original post here
What people said
If you're looking for a guy with a cleft chin, pretty much the only option is Zakiyama (comedian Hiroyuki Yamada)
And maybe someone like Goutarou Yoshida playing Yoshimitsu or whatever
lol, annoying
Did he go visit the Daitoku-ji exhibit or something?
And the screenplay's written by "Tomohiro Machida" (a dig twisting Machiyama's own name)
Now it's perfect
That's way too much nostalgia talking.
Only the first few episodes and the finale felt like an actual biographical drama —
the rest of it was just a goofy comedy show, wasn't it
And of course Machiyama should write the script
Ah, so that's why Lily Franky
Recent Taiga Dramas have been so bad that it's made Machiyama cocky
If it goes the BL route with Shinuemon, there's actually a decent chance it could work
That's way too much" (a nod to Ikkyu's famous screen-tiger riddle)
Very on-brand pick for Machiyama
Kind of serious here
If NHK gets its hands on it
it'll probably end up styled like Chiko-chan (NHK's kids' trivia mascot show)
Write up a pitch and bring it to NHK
http://daitouryu.com/japanese/image/photo/ikkyusoujun.jpg
And the other 20% will be the Shogun dishing out impossible demands
That'd help push back on gender discrimination, right?
And obviously, go with the Kyushu theory (on where her kingdom actually was).
The one from Diamond Visual (a studio known for cheap historical reenactment videos)?
Background and Key Points
Ikkyu-san is based on Ikkyu Sojun, a real Rinzai Zen monk of the Muromachi period. There’s a theory that he was secretly a son of Emperor Go-Komatsu, though it has never been officially confirmed. NHK’s Taiga Dramas have traditionally centered on real warlords or court nobles, and there are few precedents for a Buddhist monk as the sole lead. “Shinuemon-san,” the character debated in the casting chatter, is an original character invented for the TV anime with no basis in historical fact. The remark about the “Imperial Household Agency vetoing it” is likewise just speculation tied to the rumored imperial-lineage theory, with nothing to back it up. Lily Franky is well known for playing unconventional characters, and pairing him with Ikkyu’s wild reputation in his later years struck a chord on the thread — though plenty of posters remained skeptical the project could ever actually happen.
*This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Geinou/Sports News+) thread “Tomohiro Machiyama: “NHK’s Taiga Drama should be Ikkyu-san… with Lily Franky starring in his later years”.”
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