Title: 失恋ショコラティエ Shitsuren Shokoratie (Chocolatier)
English Title: Heartbroken Chocolatier
Country: Japan
Language: Japanese
Year: 2014
Episode: 11
Cast:
- 松本潤 Matsumoto Jun
- 石原さとみ Ishihara Satomi
- 水川あさみ Mizukawa Asami
- 溝端淳平 Mizobata Junpei
- 水原希子 Mizuhara Kiko
- 有村架純 Arimura Kasumi
- 加藤シゲアキ Kato Shigeaki
- 佐藤隆太 Sato Ryuta
- 竹中直人 Takenaka Naoto
SYNOPSIS
嵐 - ビタースウィート Bitāsuīto (Bittersweet)Koyurugi Sōta ran into Takahashi Saeko on his first day during his freshman year in high school and fell in love with her at first sight. Sōta has joined all the clubs that Saeko has joined in order to get close to her, but she couldn't even remember his name.
Sōta began dating Saeko a few years after they had met, or so he thinks. Saeko is actually dating someone else, and she doesn't think that she's dating Sōta. Heartbroken but remembering Saeko's wish to eat chocolates that he has made, Sōta goes to Paris to undergo training to become a chocolatier.
Sōta becomes renowned as a chocolatier and after six years, he goes back to Tokyo to open his own specialty chocolate shop. Saeko meets with him and asks him to make the cake and desserts for her wedding reception for next month.
REVIEW
Shitsuren Chocolatier is a very strange drama, and it's possibly because it is based on an unconventional manga. In a nutshell, I suppose it is about enduring one-sided love for another person who does not, and probably will never, reciprocate such arduous romantic love.
I really don't know what to think about the lead characters Koyurugi Sōta and Takahashi Saeko; they seem to be their worst selves when interacting with each other that I can't seem to wrap my head around the idea that they are possibly meant to be together. It just seems like Sōta and Saeko getting together is such a preposterous notion, really.
I like the conversation between Sōta and Saeko when they were clarifying their relationship with each other. Sōta thought they were seriously dating but Saeko thinks otherwise. I think it's interesting how two people can look at the same thing quite differently.
Koyurugi Sōta: I was being two-timed, huh.
Takahashi Saeko: Two-timed?
Koyurugi Sōta: Eh? (Why does that sound like a question?) Well, it's regular two-timing, right? You were continuing your relationship with your boyfriend and you are also going out with me.
Takahashi Saeko: Going out...
Koyurugi Sōta: (Eh?!!) Saeko, you and I were going out, right? I asked you to go out with me and you said okay.
Takahashi Saeko: Eh? Ah... yeah...
Koyurugi Sōta: For two months. It's just been two months but... well, look, we even kissed, right?
Takahashi Saeko: Ah, but, we didn't have sex.
Koyurugi Sōta: (Oh, I see. If you don't have sex, it's not called going out. So there's no two-timing either... What? Is that how it is? Is that how society works?)
Koyurugi Sōta: (Saeko is correct and I'm wrong? I don't know what's what anymore.) Wait. Let me collect my thoughts.
I was reminded of how people view things differently, and how people may interpret the same thing in very different ways. It can refer to relationships of all kinds, like how one person thinks she is particularly close to someone else while that person thinks they are only casual acquaintances, but it can apply to many things, such as how one person thinks something is quite offensive but other people may find the same thing as a non-issue.
Anyway, I love chocolate and I think the chocolatier is one of the most interesting and coolest professions in the world. It seems fun to develop chocolate products, to make chocolates, and to have a specialty shop that only sells chocolates. I wonder if it's too late for me to consider a career change and become a chocolatier?!
The characters in Shitsuren Chocolatier had some great conversations with each other and it's probably worth watching the whole drama for those. Honestly, the characters' choices and actions leave a great deal to be desired, but they sure sometimes have great insights to share. I don't begrudge the characters their feelings, those are something they cannot control, but I hated it when they act on their emotions in a way that hurts other people and ruins other people's relationships.
To be fair, I should say that this drama's plot is not something I find interesting. I just watched it because of the actors Matsumoto Jun, Mizobata Junpei, and Mizukawa Asami.
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失恋ショコラティエ Shitsuren Chocolatier
