"Kirin ga kuru" First Impressions

Ok, it took a bit but finally Nobunaga made his first proper appearance in the current taiga drama Kirin ga kuru ("麒麟がくる", translated as "Awaiting Kirin")! Here's my prompt report!

So, as you remember, I was pretty skeptical about picking Shota Sometani for this role, expecially because, being a drama about Mitsuhide, the chances of a silly, cruel Nobu compared to a smartass Mitsu were pretty high--
On the contrary, 'til now this drama is pretty promising: it detains its typical cringy moments, like every Japanese drama in the world, but the portrait of the various characters is pretty neat, plausible and entertaining (also, is full of hot old men).

Speaking of our Nobu, his first appearance shows him on top of a boat, sunrise in the background, coming to the shore to sell his huge fishes to the delighted citizens:

A bit perplexed, Mitsuhide (Hiroki Hasegawa) looks at this guys, and finds himself unable to decipher him:
This laid-back dude perspiring mystery though, kinda fascinates him, so he suggests Kichou to marry him, if just because Owari is a pretty place with the sea... That's a focal point for Dousan!

Anyway, Kichou (Haruna Kawaguchi) arrives at Owari, but on the day of their marriage, Nobu cannot be found anywhere!

The morning after, he's back at the castle-- He meets his wife, and tells her about a monster that he had to deal with at Oike Jaike!
--That's an actual anectode, LOL.

When Kichou admits that she's a bit hungry by now, Nobu shares his stash of dried octopus with her-- He said that she can consider it a souvenir from Owari∼
Kichou is definitely amused!

When Mitsuhide meets Nobunaga there's a sunrise, and when Kichou meets Nobunaga there's the sound of waves. They both look like promising symbols, as if both Mitsuhide and Kichou met their "man of destiny", finally.

Following the introduction of Nobunaga, we get to know more about his relationship with his father, Nobuhide (Katsunori Takahashi):
In this scene, Nobu is presenting his father the head of Hirotada Matsudaira, who was plotting an attack against the Oda on Yoshimoto Imagawa's orders.

Nobu was expecting his father to be grateful, on the contrary he just tells him that he's a ootsuke and has no judgement.
Hirotada was Imagawa's ally, and Nobuhide is in no shape to face the retaliation of such a foe right now.
Nobu answers that they can count on Dousan now, but Nobuhide doesn't even want to hear about it, scolding Nobu crudely.

Lady Dota (Rei Dan), meanwhile, shows Kichou around, so she gets to know Nobunaga's bro, Nobukatsu (Ryo Kimura), and Takechiyo (Ryusei Iwata), or Matsudaira's hostage, the son of the just-departed Hirotada:
When talking with Kichou, Takechiyo confesses that playing shogi with Nobukatsu is a bother, and he usually loses on purpose, but playing with Nobunaga is interesting.

Nobunaga is back from the scolding of Nobuhide, and he gets rid of Takechiyo who rushed to say hello, showing a temper:
Kichou guesses stuff. Well, she's guessing stuff since she stepped in Suemori Castle.

Back in Nagono, Nobu is training with guns, and invites Kichou to try.
She accepts happily, and mentions Mitsuhide, who is also a fan of this new weapon:
Our cute little scene ends with Nobunaga and Kichou admitting that both their fathers can be a big deal.

Since the subs are taking for ever I decided to offer you this first post, once the drama will be over (if it ever got a complete release!) I'll make sure to compile one of my usual, proper, detailed reviews, so look forward to it!
In case you are interested and cannot wait (like me), you can watch the series in Japanese over here 😉
Besides the reviews, expect more posts about this drama in general, as the official site is quite generous when it comes to inspiration!