Reach Beyond the Blue Sky

Eiichi learns the indigo trade from his father Ichiroemon and reading from his cousin Shingoro. However, his greatest pleasure is to perform the lion dance at the village festival. However, due to adult circumstances, the festival was canceled. Eiichi is disappointed, but he comes up with a plan. On the other hand, Shichiro Maro, who was adopted by the Hitotsubashi family, changed his name to Yoshinobu and was loved by the Shogun Ieyoshi as if he were his own son. Nariaki, now in retirement, attempts to return to politics with his son as his only hope. Then, Perry is coming to Japan...

Eiichi goes to Edo for the first time with Ichiroemon, and is amazed at the glamour of the city, and learns about the difficulties of business from his father. Eiichi wants to go out and buy indigo leaves himself to help his father, who is in dire straits due to a poor crop that year... In the meantime, Edo was in an uproar when the Black Ships arrived. When Ieyoshi dies, Yoshinobu's name is mentioned as a candidate for the next shogun, but Yoshinobu rebels against the idea. A man is chosen to be Yoshinobu's trusted servant.

As Eiichi worked harder and harder, he wondered what he could do to make better indigo. Meanwhile, the Shogunate was in turmoil as Perry's return was imminent. In order to provide his son, Yoshinobu, who is a candidate to become the next shogun, with an excellent retainer, appoints the eccentric Hiraoka Enshiro as his page. Finally, the Japan-U.S. Treaty of Peace and Amity was signed. The rumor of the opening of the port reaches Chiaraijima, and Junchu was stunned. When Eiichi receives a large sum of money as a representative for his father Ichiroemon, he begins to feel that something is wrong with the world.

When Eiichi learns how the Qing Dynasty was defeated by the British in the Opium War from a book recommended by Junchu, he fears for the future of an open Japan. Meanwhile, Eiichi's older sister, Naka, becomes depressed when her uncle, Sosuke, and his friends oppose her marriage proposal on the superstitious grounds that the other party's family has an evil spirit. On the other hand, Nariaki, who still cannot accept the policy of the shogunate, goes out of control. The elder Abe Masahiro and Nariaki's aide Fujita Toko desperately try to restrain him. Then, a major earthquake strikes Edo.

Eiichi, who is practicing swordsmanship with Choshichiro and Kisaku, is determined to do something, and says, "Even a farmer can do something". When Chiyo suddenly expresses her feelings for him, Eiichi's heart starts to race. Furthermore, a man named Sanada Hannosuke, a dojo stormer showed up to Eiichi and the others at the dojo... On the other hand, after losing Toko, Nariaki's words and actions become even more extreme, and he is advised to retire by Yoshinobu and others, but he refuses, saying that he will retire if Yoshinobu becomes the shogun. Also, Yoshinobu was troubled by the temperament of Mikagimi whom he had taken as his wife.

The shogunate was in turmoil after the death of the elder Abe. In the midst of all this, the calls for Yoshinobu to be the next shogun are increasing day by day... Meanwhile, in Chiaraijima, Sanada recommended that Choshichiro goes to Edo to train as a warrior. Eiichi's relationship with Chiyo is still awkward, but he is upset when Kisaku says he wants her as his wife. Eiichi, who went out with Junchu to sell indigo, realized his true feelings as he walked along the mountain path while reciting Chinese poetry, and at the top of the towering mountain... he reached beyond the blue sky!

Finally, Eiichi speaks his mind and asks Chiyo to marry him. However, Kisaku intervenes. Eiichi and Kisaku decide to compete in a kendo match. On the other hand, in the shogunate, Ii Naosuke, who became the Great Elder, signed the "Treaty of Amity and Commerce between Japan and the United States," but the signing of the treaty was considered to be against the Emperor's orders, which led to a big problem. Yoshinobu and Nariaki, who had voiced their opinions to Ii, were punished, and the harsh oppression known as the Ansei Purge began.

Nariaki and Yoshinobu, who were ordered to stay at their estates by Ii Naosuke, continued their silent resistance. However, Ii was assassinated in the Sakuradamon Incident, and Nariaki died unexpectedly. Upon hearing the news of his father's death, Yoshinobu wailed. Meanwhile, Eiichi, who had been inspired by Choshichiro's return from Edo and had begun to be devoted to the idea of revering the Emperor and Expelling the Barbarians, begged his father Ichiroemon to let him follow Kisaku to Edo.

In the shogunate, the Elder, Ando Nobumasa, who replaced the assassinated Ii Naosuke, was promoting the marriage of Emperor Koumei's sister, Kazunomiya, to the shogun, Iemochi. To strengthen ties with the Imperial Court and restore the authority of the shogunate, Princess Kazunomiya's marriage sparks a firestorm of support for the Emperor and the expulsion of the barbarians. When Eiichi arrives in Edo, he is introduced to Ohashi Totsuan, an advocate of the reverence for the Emperor, and learns of Ando's assassination plot. Choshichiro decides he is ready to give up his life for the plan...

Eiichi and Chiyo have their long-awaited first child, but he dies soon after and the Shibusawa family is surrounded by a heavy atmosphere. In the midst of these circumstances, Junchu proposed burning down the foreign settlement in Yokohama in an attempt to spark the expulsion of the barbarians. Moved by this, Eiichi begins to gather weapons and friends. Meanwhile, Yoshinobu is released from house arrest and becomes the guardian of the shogun Iemochi, but Shimazu Hisamitsu and others urge him to expel the barbarians as soon as possible.