You are not just the person you think you are

"You are not just the person you think you are."
"I will accept you as you are, in your entirety. I am the only one who can do that."

"Is it alright if there is someone I cannot forget?"

"It is!"

"That, too, is a part of you. That is what it means to accept you in your entirety."

Wasn't Nobutaka (Kuranosuke Sasaki) so cool that many women had their hearts pierced by him?
What incredible capacity for acceptance!!
Once this is said to you, there is no one whose heart would not be moved.

Nobutaka's words at this moment were a parade of "famous quotes."
His remarks were made with full awareness that the person she could not forget was "Michinaga," and also fully understanding her interactions with Zhou Ming (Kouhei Matsushita).

This is true adult composure!
Isn't this love in the truest sense?
To accept everything—the good, the bad, and past failures—as they are, is something only a parent would do; in a sense, this is closer to becoming a "guardian" than a "husband."
Mahiro must have been surprised, yet deeply moved in her heart, by Nobutaka, who accepted everything and opened his arms to her.

What is an ideal marriage?

Ideal marriage conditions vary depending on each person's situation and circumstances, but in any case, one cannot always fulfill their ideals 100%.
It is also important whether you yourself feel ready to marry, and everything only comes to fruition when external and internal factors align at the perfect moment.

Looking at the events that followed, which made Mahiro think about her future life, it can be said that the timing was good for her as well.
I had predicted that the marriage with Nobutaka would unfold as Mahiro reluctantly accepting it while keeping her feelings for Michinaga hidden, but I never imagined that Nobutaka would push so hard with such heart-piercing quotes.

Events that changed her future outlook on life

Zhou Ming
Zhou Ming (Kouhei Matsushita) also asks her to go to Song with him, but when Mahiro sees through his ulterior motives, his attitude changes completely.
However, hidden behind that was his genuine feeling for Mahiro.
Having lived desperately while suppressing himself between the Song people and the Japanese, perhaps he did not know how to express those feelings.

Conversely, by touching upon Zhou Ming's life, Mahiro learned the reality of Song and realized that life cannot be sustained by "dreams" alone.

Sawa
A letter arrived informing her of the death of Sawa (Masumi Nomura), who had looked up to her like a sister.
It is only natural that she would be shaken by the sudden news of the death of a friend who, like Mahiro, had traveled to her father's post in Hizen (Saga/Nagasaki).

This poem is also recorded in the "Murasaki Shikibu Shu," and it seems that she was actually exchanging letters during this period with the "Lady of Chikushi," who was the model for Sawa.
Also, in the Taiga drama, Sawa is in the position of a younger sister, but in reality, she was a woman whom Murasaki Shikibu looked up to like an older sister.

While praying to meet Mahiro again,
she must have felt theheartlessnessof her life ending suddenly at such a young age.

Otomaru
When Mahiro asked Otomaru (Taro Yabe), "Why don't you have a wife?", I was caught off guard and thought, "Is that so?"
That is because it wasn't depicted in the drama, so I hadn't given any thought to Otomaru's private life.
However, the reason was that he regretted not being able to protect Mahiro's mother (Ryoko Kuninaka) in the past, and had dedicated his life to protecting Mahiro.

I see! It was an eye-opener, realizing this was what they wanted him to say.

From these events, Mahiro came to know herself by learning how she was perceived by others, which led her to make the decision to choose a realistic life for herself.
This is the development where the meaning of Nobutaka's words at the beginning,
"You are not just who you think you are,"
is realized through each and every event.

Wanting to escape from painful thoughts

Her father, Tametoki (Goro Kishitani), was surprised when she reported her situation with Nobutaka, and during their conversation when he hurt his lower back, Mahiro said something that sounded like she had attained enlightenment about life.

そりゃ、娘が自分と同世代の宣孝と結婚するなんて、
腰を抜かすほど驚くのも無理はありません。

"I think it might be better not to think too seriously about becoming someone's wife."

She realized that if you think too heavily about it, your love will be too deep and you will become jealous, and because you are always on edge, your feelings will become heavy; therefore, she realized that marrying someone who is comfortable to be with is the way to find happiness.

That feelings which are too strong are only painful.

Nobutaka already had three wives, and there was also a woman he was seeing at the same time as Mahiro, so he is quite the operator.
If she were a dreaming woman, it would be natural to think that if she were to become a mistress anyway, Michinaga would have been better.

However, the current Mahiro is no longer the dreaming girl she once was, and even as a mistress, there is a big difference between Nobutaka and Michinaga in terms ofwhere to direct her feelings,and I feel her spiritual growth in taking the easier path by looking at marriage in the long term.

Taking just this one point, it is something that we in the modern day can empathize with, and I realized that even though times change, people's thoughts on love and marriage remain the same.

All life experiences lead to "The Tale of Genji"

Sharpening human observation skills

It is said that Hikaru Genji, who appears in The Tale of Genji, is a creation that mixes the men Murasaki Shikibu (Mahiro) met in her life.
Of course, her husband Nobutaka must have been included among them.

There is no doubt that Nobutaka, who was good at navigating the world and well-versed in all the subtleties of life, became one of the most familiar subjects for her.
While the creative elements make up the majority of her relationship with Michinaga, the possibility that there was a romantic relationship between them cannot be denied.

In terms of the drama, this development likely stems from Nobutaka's words,
"You are not just who you think you are,"
allowing her to observe people from multiple perspectives.

Is "accepting everything" a major setup?

Although the exact time she began writing "The Tale of Genji" is not certain, it is speculated to be around 1002, shortly after Nobutaka's death, and she began serving as a lady-in-waiting for Michinaga's eldest daughter, Shoshi, around 1006.
During those four years, the writing of The Tale of Genji must have progressed considerably, and it is said that it caught Michinaga's eye through some sequence of events, leading to her being scouted.
Historically, it is highly likely that this is where Michinaga and Murasaki Shikibu met.

以前に何かで読んだが、いったい何だったのか失念しました💦

Now, as for the development in the drama, when Michinaga scouts Mahiro as a lady-in-waiting for Shoshi, it could be a major setup for whether their relationship will be rekindled.

Could Nobutaka's words, spoken with full understanding, hold a meaning that even erases any sense of guilt?

In that sense, this year's Taiga drama will greatly influence Mahiro's future life internally, and the many famous quotes from Nobutaka at this time may serve as a guide for Mahiro, who is placed at a major turning point in her life.

And I am looking forward to seeing how Mahiro incorporates her own life experiences, which are said to have served as the basis for writing The Tale of Genji, into the work.