First episode screening event of NHK Taiga drama "Segodon"

The first episode episode screening event of new NHK Taiga drama "Segodon" was held on 6 December which was attended by the lead actor Suzuki Ryohei and Watanabe Ao, the child actor who plays the childhood version of Saigo Takamori. The drama will have its number of episodes reduced from the usual 50 to 47 as announced by NHK earlier.


With regard to the three episodes, the producer Sakurai Ken revealed that they will be airing special documentaries about the historical background of the story and behind-the-scenes feature focusing on Suzuki so that viewers will be able to understand the drama better and enjoy it more. He also commented that the schedule which is less tight as before will hopefully allow them to deliver an even better production to the viewers. However, there are no cuts to the original story as they had engaged in discussions with the scriptwriter Nakazono Miho from spring last year and had tailored the story to fit the full 47 episodes which will cover the four stages in Saigo's life i.e. his childhood days, his exile to an island, his revolutionary days with Sakamoto Ryoma and Katsu Kaishu and the Meiji era. As such, the 3 SPs will be slotted in between the stages.


The first episode will talk about the young Saigo's childhood and his fateful meeting with his lifelong mentor Shimazu Nariakira (Watanabe Ken).

Source: Oricon