The thread is open.
All eight episodes are out.
Episode 1: Rainbow Palette
Episode 2: Truffles Yuzu
Episode 3: Wasabi en Soie
Episode 4: Bonbon Sakura
Episode 5: Special Orangette
Episode 6: Two-way Confiserie
Episode 7: Pure Kenji
Episode 8: Chocolat du Bonheur
I need this joint kdrama-dorama venture to fill in the spot that “Bon Appetit, Your Majesty” left. I hope I don’t get a few pounds from binge-watching this. (As a preemptive measure, I’m hiding all the Halloween candies and my emergency chocolates so I don’t get tempted.)
I don’t mind spoilers. But in consideration for others who do, please WRITE the episode number before beginning your post/comment so people can choose to skip it or not. Thanks!
Let’s enjoy the show.
Thanks for this thread, @pkml3. I did try Love in the Clouds, however it still did not grab me even after 6 episodes, or maybe I was too sleepy. I may still try it on and off and see if it gets better. Reading your take certainly helps a bit, but we’ll see….
However this little jdorama kept me awake and had me laughing uproariously. This one is cute!
Episode 1
@GB,
The individual backstories of the leads bored me so I fast-forwarded. After watching so many kdramas, I’ve become impatient with the slow, detailed exposition of the traumas/struggles/flaws of the main characters. The starting point is essentially the same trope as hundreds of romcoms, anyway, i.e., hard-luck girl meets standoffish guy.
I just want to see how the couple’s first encounter and chain of events change them. And their meet-cute didn’t disappoint.
I like the slow-motion effect of the meet-cute. It’s the exact opposite of a near-death experience when life supposedly flashes before one’s eyes. I guess this is their life-affirming experience. They’re made aware that there’s someone literally within hand’s reach who can break through their social phobias. And the slow-mo effect gives the moment an epic feel.
And did you see what I mean about Oguri Shun being my forerunner of Satoh Takeru? 😂😂
Her Kendo instructor (or sparring partner?) is a hottie, too.
@pkml3, there seem to be only 2 main guys. The Kendo guy (Hiroshi) is the same as the Bar Brush owner is the same as the friend of Sosuke. Yes,he’s got the male ‘X’ factor that makes him look hot no matter how unkempt the hair on his head and how much beard he has.
The other meet-cute that I mentioned in another thread is the one in “Would You Marry Me?” – that was another crazy, entertaining meet-cute.
The situational comedy in this R Anonymous Show (If we shorten it to RA it sounds like ‘Adult Rating’!!!) is so far so OTT because of their phobias, and hence so much fun.
Oguri Shun does have a similar vibe and look to Satoh Tekeru, with perhaps a more serious, brooding stance if he’s just thinking and not interacting. I have to watch more of him, and I’m pleased to say that he’s been in a lot of dramas, since age 13!
EPISODE 3
It continues to be cute, plus at time I wince with second hand embarrassment, but mainly it gets us invested in the odd ball duo (I do not call them a couple yet) and we really want them to live a more normal life.
SPOILERS
As the series is short, I really like that already in Episode 3 they have opened up to each other and they have started to practise with each other so that they can get better. Love the ‘together’ part – helping each other together. And of course they must throw in the certainty that they’d never fall for each other, oh… “No Way!!!”
And here I am chortling to myself – “Way! Way!”.
It’s good that we get some added impending conflict so that we’re not stuck with only the duo’s shenanigans.
It’s going to be short and sweet and likely a lot of fun!
EPISODE 2 — spoilers because otherwise, how can I discuss the show??
1. The first scene
I laughed when I saw the female lead wearing her Kendo face mask during her one-on-one, “face-to-face” consultation with therapist on Zoom. That’s her social anxiety discover in action. Scopophobia or fear of being stared at, noticed, observed, or scrutinized. I wonder why.
With the male lead, after that scene with an older boy in the hospital, we can connect the dots and assume that he blames himself for the older boy’s death. He was the last one to touch the boy and feed him some — I don’t know, candies? (Wait, and his family is in the confectionery business? Intriguing.) Naturally, he would regard his hands as dirty (or even worse, deadly/causing death) since he entered the “sterile” room and made physical contact with the ill boy.
I like the juxtaposition of both the main leads’ disorders. The camera focused on the female lead’s face covered in the Kendo mask, then it switched to the male lead’s hand wrapped in a bandage. Those two shots framed the “the bond that ties” the two main leads quickly and clearly.
The bandaged hand did confuse me however because I didn’t think the girl landed on his left hand. She was holding it, yes. But she fell on top of his upper left arm. So if there was anything that needed to be in a gauze, it shouldn’t be his hand.
As it turned out, it was all a ruse. An elaborate and troublesome ruse. He had to call away his buddy/the hottie to chauffeur him around.
2. The ditch scene
I laughed when he made her wrapped his shoes in plastic bag. She thought he was a jerk.
This scene reinforced in the girl’s head the idea that the Mr. Hottie is her knight-in-shining armor, her Lancelot. Twice already, he came out of nowhere to rescue her.
And I like to compare the ditch scene with the later umbrella scene in Episode 3. In the umbrella scene, she didn’t see the male lead’s gesture as knightly and romantic. Au contraire. She thought he was bizarre after he turned back and ran away with the umbrella.
3. I was also chuckling every time she cursed and backtalked (literally, she talked in the back of the car, sitting behind him) in Korean. Oh, the advantage of speaking two languages!
4. The shadow-play
Wow! That was a brilliant metaphorical scene.
The leads were waiting for the yuzu farmer to come back home late at night. She fell asleep while sitting. He noticed her uncomfortable position and had an urge to pat her head. But he couldn’t touch her.
So his shadow did it for him instead.
Because of his fear of causing injury or possibly even death to a person he touches, he can only do things in the shadows.
This shadow-play impressed on me that he’s similar to King Midas. But unlike Midas whose touch creates gold, his version of the Midas touch causes harm. Or at least, that’s what he thinks.
5. His real knightly deed
He must have known that the employees believed him to be a monster for “firing” the head of the staff. But out of respect for her request for privacy/secrecy, he didn’t clarify the situation with the employees. He just decided to weather the storm by himself.
Anyway, I love this scene. There was nothing fancy or glitzy about the production of the scene, but it conveyed the effects of the male lead’s phobia very well.
6. The hottie’s girl-friend (or ex??)
Who’s she? Is she the therapist? I’m poor with faces.
7. When he ordered her to look for a clean shirt in his briefcase
Hahaha. The display of Oguri Shun’s naked torso was gratuitous. But 10 points for not being the typical scrawny Japanese actor.
I chuckled, too, when she didn’t get all the fuss he was raising over a shirt.
Guy: This isn’t clean.
Girl: They all looked the same!
Guy: That’s why I told you to bring the whole bag! Hurry and go get it! (closing door on her)
Girl: What a creep!
8. The yuzu bath scene
I like it. This is where it dawned on him that people naturally have secrets. And “if it were easy to say, then it wouldn’t be a secret.”
Wow! I thought the location was exactly fitting for such an epiphany. They were naked and in their own individual his/her steam rooms. Of course, they can’t reveal their “nakedness” to each other.
9. And I have to make a note of the chocolate featured in this episode.
Girl: The secret to our Truffles Yuzu is in the yuzu jam production. During the jam-making process, the yuzu’s distinctive bitterness is mellowed with rock salt. The perfect balance brings out the chocolate’s sweetness.
Lol. She must be describing the male lead himself. There’s a distinct harshness about him but he’s actually sweet and mellow once she gets to know him.
@GB,
I thought their “practice hug” (or test hug?) was a much better idea than the “butterfly hug” recommended by the psychologist in the group therapy session.
Butterfly hug = solo; self-calming technique
Their practice hug = couple; contact in real situation
Addendum to Episode 2
10. When he asked her about her scopophobia
Just an FYI: “Scopo” is from the Greek word “skopein” meaning to look. It’s the root word of telescope, microscope and scope.
I’m glad it all came out early in the series.
Then, he asked if they could shake hands on the bridge. (Again, symbolism of the bridge here can’t be overlooked. They’re bridging their differences and connecting their social anxieties. I think the director chooses his locations to match with the message.)
She noticed that tears had welled up in his eyes. (Great acting!) He blamed her for squeezing his hands too hard.
But the notable thing here is that it was her first time seeing tears, too, as she never could look somebody in the eyes before (except for her deceased mom).
She realized that
a) she was feeling sad because he was sad (empathy!) and
b) that he wasn’t a bad man after all (affinity!).
@pkml3, I was laughing so hard when I heard the psychiatrist call Hana ‘Darth Vader’ … that Kendo mask was so apt! All we needed was for her to breathe loudly.
Yes, it will turn out that Sosuke’s phobia is connected to his feeling of being dirty, because his brother soon died after sharing a snack with him.
His bandaged right hand was a way to get out of shaking hands with the people he had to meet.
I laughed so much at the saving the girl from the ditch scene. Sosuke made such a fool of himself, offering a mere thin branch, while Hiro offered his hand.
And Sosuke himself had no clue why he ran after Hana with only 1 umbrella when he needed it for himself. I was ROFLOL when he ran away with the umbrella instead of taking her home or something.
I liked that besides Japanese and Korean, we even have our actors speaking a little English, and Hana pronounced the name of the chocolate in ‘French’.
I’d have to rewatch to find the parts, but I liked the reciprocity between the leads… between whom offered their hand to be shaken first and whom hesitated but decided to trust and take that hand.
Yes, the Bar Tender, Hiro’s ex-girlfriend is the Psychiatrist who herself needs therapy.
Oh we get more than 1 scene of naked torso. I wondered why the Show was so generous with that! I loved that Hana forced him to just wear the Onsen’s robe because she refused to go get the whole bag.
I believe that the Rainbow Palette of Chocolates (how their ingredients are described) may indeed hold the clues to the situations and the people we meet in this Show.
SPOILERS AS TO PARTS OF THE ENDING
There are good things to say about this Show – good messages to savour.
The chocolate store is “Le Sauveur” – which means “The Saviour” … again very apt because the original founder of the store wanted to offer much more than just chocolates. That explains why although Hana lost the competition, he saw through her disorder and offered her a job as the Anonymous Chocolatier.
Through putting their hearts into making and serving the chocolates, by accepting people as they were, by building relationships with their suppliers, by going the extra mile to produce what was needed, the owner(s) and the chocolate store team offered joy that would be remembered throughout life and bring healing.
The thing about shadows…although not related to the shadow play of Sosuke,… his cousin was also ordered to be his shadow. To watch and report, and nothing else. However cousin did not want to remain in the shadows forever.
I like the overall goodness of the people. The Le Sauveur team welcomed Hana who could not look them in the eye. Despite betrayals and lies, there was forgiveness. Sosuke’s generosity with the ‘Lucky Cat’ lady in group therapy whom he did not know was a large individual share holder, resulted in his and his father’s salvation from being ousted out of the Board of Directors. I liked especially that Sosuke and his cousin remained good friends with each other and that cousin was given the chance to come out from the shadows. The family did not break up.
The other thing that’s very satisfying, is that all the loose ends are attended to. The elderly lady ‘Mama’ retired but she is not forgotten. And from her we get yet another message of appreciating and rejoicing what we have now instead of resenting what we will lose.
And that unexpected ending – what a surprise and what a hoot, yet how appropriate, and how everyone accepted it!!!
@pkml3 I’m re-watching Episodes 1-4 and enjoying them so much all over again.
SPOILERS of course …
As you said, Ep 2 – Truffles Yuzu was about Sosuke. He’s the one with the distinct ‘bitterness’ about him that gets mellowed with rock salt. For it to work out all there needed to be was a right balance. The yuzu jam paired well with the chocolates.
What a nice metaphor for how Sosuke would be able to show his more mellow side when tempered with our salty Hana LOL who could also be as hard as a rock. They did not exactly begin on good terms, hence she was salty with him. I love their verbal sparring and how she did not hold back scolding/telling him off and even hitting him when her emotions got the better of her. As a testament to what a nice guy Sosuke is, he never took her to task for her ‘rudeness’.
This cute series is obviously about PAIRING and BALANCE… not too much of one thing or the other. Master Kenji had chosen well what flavours to pair with his chocs, and he also wanted to pair people well, hence his attempt to set Hana up with Hiro.
Ep 3 – Wasabi en Soie (Wasabi Silk – what a nice name for a choc)
This one is definitely about Hana. Master Kenji himself says so. “Well, wasabi isn’t meant to be eaten on its own. If you use too much of it, it becomes a disaster. But get the balance just right, and it creates an exceptional flavour no other ingredient can match. Even when it is hiding, it does a spendid job. I’d say it’s kind of like you, Hana.”
Kenji wished Hana would stop hiding and step out into the world a bit more. Like the exceptional flavour that no other ingredient could match or replace, she was obviously the only person who’d balance out and match Sosuke, beginning by being the only one who could touch him.
I loved how the revamped Wasabi en Soie had the wasabi no longer hiding but on the outside, spicy at first but enveloping the sweet choc within. Like so many characters in this show that might have appeared to be flawed or fierce.
The sub-theme that comes up with the change in the choc is one of winning or losing. First Fujiwara had wanted to take over Le Sauveur in order to get the recipes and then close down the choc store. It would have meant that the Futago Confectionery and convenience stores would ‘win’.
In Ep 3 the Chef admitted that she had been wrong and the new recipe by the Anonymous Chocolatier was the winner. But Sosuke pointed out: “It’s not about winning or losing. What matters is not giving up easily and always striving for better.”
Ep 4 – Bonbon Sakura
I believe that this episode is speaking about (among other things) what the true contents or whom the real person is. It’s interesting that the Gabriel Blossom liqueur uses blossoms in its flavouring, but people did not know what blossom it was. The cherry blossom or sakura, according to the daughter of the founder of the liqueur did not have much scent and so the liqueur was actually not made with sakura, but with apricot blossoms. Hence Bonbon Sakura, made with the liqueur was masquerading as if they had the more popular Sakura in them LOL.
I liked the ‘date’ which was not-a-date practice in Cielo. There, to practise. Sosuke allowed Hana to pretend that he was Hiro and to look him in the eye. He did not intend to replace Hiro but when she imagined Hiro’s face, the response from Sosuke was real – it brought forth much physical reaction from Sosuke who kept disappearing to change shirts.
Then in the car the ‘not-a-date” burger meal was cute and ironic. Hana thinks no one would want to date a person like her (since they’d end up hiding in a car) but Sosuke says that if they are with the one they like those things wouldn’t matter. “Just sitting quietly togther like this is enough.” (So they are on a date but they don’t know it!! LOL)
As in any typical date, sauce on the face would entitle the girl or boy to wipe it off for the other. But one slight touch from Hana to remove the sauce on Sosuke’s face and he’s out of there to change another shirt! LOLOL. Proof that at least Sosuke was on a date!
He had persuaded Hana to confess her feelings to Hiro, but when she did so after the Kendo practice, she did not know that it was to Sosuke that she’d confessed. He had of course run away when she approached him, dropping his Kendo Shinai (bamboo sword) and sweating profusely. He’d been masquerading as Hiro in a sense, because he’d not stopped her when she was confessing, but ironically, although he was the wrong guy, the confession brought out a reaction as if it had been meant for him.
In their many interactions, Sosuke had begun to realise that he’d fallen for Hana. LOL the number of times he had to change shirts whenever he became aware of her. But at the Group Counseling, he refused to admit that he’d experienced love recently. It was a cover-up like the apricot masquerading as sakura.
Just as Bonbon Sakura are made not from sakura liqueur but from apricot liqueur, so too was the situation with the ‘not-a-date’ with Sosuke, and the confession with ‘not Hiro’.
SPOILERS
The sub-theme of carrying on the traditions of a great founder…
In this culture, it is a given that sons/daughters should succeed their parents to carry on the tradition of their forebears, to maintain the standards, to continue in the legacy without failing. Change would mean disloyalty to the proven and true tradition.
Sosuke faced it with his father and with Le Sauveur, and the daughter of the Gabriel Blossom, Kiyomi Hosen is exhausted with the job of continuing tradition, when she could have done better with change. I like that Hana is able to get to the heart of the issue and give encouragement by praising sincerely the slight difference in the liqueur that made it richer, tastier and gave the flavour of Spring. This gives Kiyomi new energy and confidence to continue to forge her own path.
Even Sosuke is moved by how Hana is able to express her feelings without any eye contact. He notices when she says: “For a child, a gift of chocolate is the ultimate happiness.” He also knew that Kenji’s words to his choc crew everyday was to (I paraphrase) ‘work with happiness, with all their hearts’.
Sosuke gradually has shifted to Kenji’s view on Le Sauveur to be continued as a means to offer joy to children and adults, rather than keep to his own father’s decision to take the choc recipes and close the store.
In the same way that Hana had encouraged Kiyomi Hosen, at the end of their visit to Gabriel Blossom, Kiyomi tells Sosuke that she will support the new traditions of Le Sauveur.
In the meantime some Board of Directors egg on Sosuke’s cousin to vote out Sosuke who is ‘weird’ so that the tradition of Futago would continue.
When there is a repeated mention of balance and pairing of ingredients, we know that it refers to more than the chocs. One aspect of this when it comes to Sosuke and Hana is how they are equally able to argue and reciprocate in various ways.
He asks her to do the handshaking on his behalf, and she helps out to rescue him from being touched more than once. In return, realising that Hana has an issue with being looked at, he also comes to her rescue. At the Bar, he sees her frozen on stage and calls out to his crew to look at him, giving her a chance to escape.
He runs after her in the rain and tells her that he is like her in that while she can only look at him in the eye, he can only tolerate her touch. They are okay only with each other.
He had run after Hana in the rain to ensure that she was alright. It’s all sweet when after giving her his sturdy umbrella in a romantic way he says that he can’t let his employee catch a cold. But he has to spoil it all LOL when he’s upset at being wet and takes the umbrella away from her (to her shocked disbelief) and runs off without her. Now she’s the one who chases after him in the rain to ensure that he’s alright.
In the store they keep each other company and share their history and trauma. They even say the same thing to each other that they’d said in the rain. Reciprocal conversations: “Were you crying?” “No I was just wet from the rain.”
I like that Hana decides that the reason they are okay with each other is so that they can help each other. “Let’s try practising like rehab.” He’s afraid that she’d fall for him but she says no, “That will never happen.”
Mistakenly figuring it’s safe that they won’t fall for each other, they decide to practise. They each have a memory of a time with their loved one with whom they could interact safely. And they agree they want to change and get well … “Let’s get better together.”
SPOILERS
The Left Behind Shinai (bamboo sword): It’s significant that Sosuke dropped the Shinai when Hana approached him, thinking that he was Hiro. The sword is often poetically seen as the extension of the fighter’s arm. However, Sosuke was not able to touch others, and he could not touch Hana while pretending to be Hiro.
Deepseek AI tells me – “A proper Kendo strike (datotsu) is not a hacking motion. It is a forward thrusting motion with the arms fully extending, as if you are reaching to touch the opponent with your fingertips. The sword is simply the means to reach them. The final motion is a sharp, snapping cut, but the initial energy is a direct, linear extension of the body.” So in a sense, Sosuke left part of himself behind with Hana when he dropped his Shinai, but he’d lost his heart to her already.
Hello everyone, on our „Le Sauveur“: Sosuke got to prove himself as a savior in serious physical danger: After Hana set off on a journey to a dangerous tropical country in search of the special purple chocolate, I was very concerned that we would be subjected to a When The Phone Rings rescue, but this time they handled it better.
And we learn it’s the second time, the first time being at the beginning of the show in a memory that @pkml3 explained elsewhere as a Mandela effect. Nice touch to explain their mutual anomaly.
@Uvex, yes while I feel our OTP saved each other, Sosuke definitely put his Kendo moves to good use in saving Hana from the robbers.
In fact I like that he saves her not only physically but emotionally. He notes in Episode 6, that she’d been avoiding his eyes during their corporate retreat but when they are by themselves he checks on her.
Sosuke: “You’re finally looking at me, without avoiding my eyes.”
Hana: “When did I ever avoid you? You’re the one who did.”
Sosuke: “Are you okay now? Is it still hard?”
Hana: “No, right now I’m fine. Actually, I feel surprisingly refreshed. Someone like me is better off alone after all.”
Sosuke: “What do you mean, ‘someone like me’? The Hana I’ve seen ..hmm.. She’s a sincere employee who pours he heart into her job and a kind person who can truly comfort people. She has such a lovely smile. She’s so adorable that I end up smiling too, without even realising it. That’s why I always want to see her.”
Hana: “Huh?”
Sosuke: “That said, she’s kind of scary.
Hana: “What?”
Sosuke laughs.
Hana does not seem to take this as a kind of confession.
She says: “I’ll try to cheer up. Thank you so much for practising with me all this time.”
Sosuke: “So then, is our practice over?”
Hana: “Yes, I don’t need practice anymore.”
Sosuke: “You’re right.”
But that night she sat drinking alone before the company barbeque, and was so drunk that Sosuke noted she had probably lied about being okay, and had been trying to drown her sorrows.
And @Uvex, by the mistaken memory I guess you’re referring to how she thought it had been Hiro who saved her from the truck when it had actually been Sosuke?
Ep 5 – Special Orangette
The Orangette and change… The current Special Orangette was delicious but the taste was no longer the same as it had been 30 years before.
While at Le Sauveur a woman asks if the Special Orangette with the original taste and flavour can be made for her dying sister, among the Futago Board of Directors there is rising winds of change. They want to replace the Management of Fujiwara dad/uncle with the Cousin.
In certain situations, no change is wanted. For eg. where one looked for nostalgia, the 30-year old taste of childhood chocolate would be preferred.
In other situations, change might not have been a right decision.
While the Board wanted to kick out the old for a new Chairman, Sosuke and his Choc crew found a retired chocolatier who could remember the original Special Orangette recipe. After 3 attempts at trying different ingredients, they finally succeed in regaining the original recipe that was meant for children. The chocs were a gift of love from one sister to another. In Sosuke’s history, they were a gift of love from his father to his dying brother, and a gift of love from his brother to him.
In the area of self improvement, however, change is needed. At Group Counseling, a kleptomaniac who had found love decided to start afresh so that she could give her best self to her beloved. Sosuke found this desire to change for someone relatable, probably thinking of both how Hana wanted to get over her disorder and of himself. He approved it and encouraged the kleptomaniac: “I think it takes courage to change. And your courage will definitely bring good change.”
Counselor/psychiatrist Irene listens and probably realises that she needs to apply the advice to herself, since she cannot bring herself to enter into a committed dating relationship.
As in the case of the chocolates, some ingredients would need to be changed, some should be left out, and some of the original retained so too with the good memories, the painful memories and trauma, and the new added ingredient was courage.
Eps 4, 5 and 6 – Confessions and Not-a-confession
Ep 5 considers being brave enough to change. Hana in Ep 4 had gathered courage to finally make her love confession, but she had not known that it had succeeded with the wrong man.
Sosuke should have told Hana immediately who he was in the Kendo mask, but instead he’d remained silent and received the confession that was meant for Hiro. I’m guessing that he really wanted to hear that confession and apply it to himself.
Ep 4 Timestamp roughly 22:37 Hana has ear buds on to listen to music on the train, but is asleep. She does not hear Sosuke admit that he’d been the one in the Kendo Dojo and had heard her confession.
Sosuke: “It’s a long story but anyway, your love confession did not actually fail.” He still tells her to try with Hiro who’s a good guy but she has not heard a single word.
Finding her ear bud, he listens to the Korean song playing from her phone, called ‘Confession’ and lets Hana sleep on his shoulder. He even rests his head on hers. That was his unheard and unseen confession to her.
In Ep 5, perhaps to fetch her coat or perhaps to follow up on her confession, Hana heads for the Bar but from the street, she sees Hiro at home, with Irene and stops awkwardly.
Sosuke covers her eyes. “You don’t need to see.”…”Just keep your eyes on me, like we practised.”
When Irene sees them, she guesses that Hana is Darth Vader (to her) and Miracle Touch (to Sosuke).
When Irene asks if Darth Vader is Miracle Touch and Hiro joins them, that galvanises Sosuke to introduce Hana with a surprising confession.
Sosuke: “That’s right! She’s Miracle Touch.” He puts an arm around her, “Let me introduce you. She’s the one I’m really interested in right now.”
My guess is that he might not have added the second part of that introduction if not for Hiro’s presence. He was warning Hiro off Hana by saying that he liked her.
In Ep 6, Hana takes Sosuke to task. On a bridge Sosuke tells Hana that he was the one she confessed to at Kendo. He takes the Kendo sword from her saying he’s returning it to the owner. He even says he’s interested in her but then he hides the true significance of this behind the role of being her boss and runs away.
We get a cold open to immediately after Sosuke tells Hana that she’d confessed to him instead of to Hiro.
Hana: “Why are you telling me only now?”
Sosuke: “I just wanted to protect your pride.”
Hana: “Why would you protect my pride?”
Sosuke: “Because … I felt sorry for you.”
Hana: “You felt sorry for me?”
Sosuke: “Well of course. You were one step away from heartbreak. It’s upsetting knowing you’ll get hurt.”
Hana: “Even if I do that’s my problem. Why would you be upset?”
Sosuke: “No, I’m not upset. I figured you, my employee, might be upset.” (He’s digging himself in deeper with half truths.)
Hana: “Please let your employee handle her own problems! … You even lied.”
Sosuke: “I didn’t lie. To be honest, I am interested in you, Hana.”
Realising how it sounds and seeing her shocked reaction he backtracks. (A repeat of the Not-a-confession).
Hana: “Huh?”
Sosuke: “Huh?”
Hana: “Hm?”
Sosuke: Uh…”
Hana: “You’re what?”
Sosuke: “Of course … I’m interested.” (He does not look convincing. It looks like he’s wracking his brain to come up with some valid sounding reason for being interested in Hana.)
Sosuke: “I’m interested in my employee’s emotional well-being. Because I’m your boss.”… “Right take care of your health. Come to work on time, even if it’s hard. Good night.” He strides off quickly across the bridge.
Hana: “Wait, what?”
Sosuke a distance away and his back to Hana, lets out a sigh, possibly of relief as well as regret.
Sosuke is indeed upset but now likely more for himself because he had shot his own confession, and now he was literally crossing the bridge moving away from Hana.
The Coats that were Left Behind
The 2 ladies’ coats were not imbued with any particular significance, but at some level they are a part of their owners. Strangely with Hiro, he does not get the ladies, but only their coats, LOL.
What might that mean? He only saw the exterior that they projected? We may note that neither of the ladies seemed to care over-much to retrieve their coats. So was Hiro accidentally holding on to parts of them that they did not much care about? The parts of them that they did not mind leaving behind?
In the case of Hana, she ran off without her coat out of fear of meeting Hiro in the restaurant. In the case of Irene, she ran off without her coat because she was embarrassed and in a hurry to leave Hiro’s place.
Hiro was unsuccessful in getting the coats returned to both the ladies.
In Hana’s case, she was prevented from meeting Hiro by a stubborn Sosuke – a sign perhaps that it was/they were not meant to be.
In Irene’s case, she forgot it. She had never intended to go back to get it. When she coincidentally finds herself outside Hiro’s Bar and apartment, and although she’d gone up to Hiro’s apartment, ostensibly to get her coat, she again left without it because she’d become distracted by his questions and actions.
She had told Hiro: “You know, I may be cute but I’m not a good person, and I’m not cut out for romance. So you deserve someone better than me.” This was not exactly true but one of the easy excuses she used to get out of a relationship. It was a good ‘coat’ to abandon.
By leaving the coat behind, unconsciously(?), she had perhaps wanted to leave part of herself behind with him. Perhaps she did not want to end their relationship and the un-retrieved coat left the door ajar.
If nothing else, those coats gave the characters the opportunity to keep meeting, but I’d like to think that they might have had a bit more significance than that.
Ep 6 – Two-way Confiserie
1)Sosuke speaks about the Two-way Confiserie – It uses wine from Chateu Nagano, a major winery in Nagano. Lavender is it’s signature symbol. He asks if the name “Two-way” comes from its design to please both the eyes and the palate.
Chef is not sure but thinks he’s right. “The lavender on top is just decoration, so the flavour depends on the raisin filling soaked in Nagano wine.”
Sosuke wants to know if they can do even better to improve the flavor and suggests a corporate retreat. Hiro is interested to join them because it’s in Nagano where Irene is attending a conference.
2)On the trip. the irony is that Sosuke is afraid Hana would confess to Hiro again (he can’t sneak up on them to listen with plastic bags covering his feet! LOL) while Hiro is of the opinion that Sosuke and Hana make a good couple. Two different ways of thinking about a relationship with Hana.
3)During the wine tasting, Hiro notes that the wine is scented with lavender. “It’s probably so you can enjoy the wine and the scent of lavender together.”
Hana realises the “two-way” refers to nose and tongue and not to the eyes and tongue. They had been mistaken in how they had interpreted the term “two-way”. However since the confiserie lavender scent had become too subtle the crew agree with Hana: “We need to find a way to bring out the scent of lavender.”
4)The Choc crew successfully contrive to leave Sosuke and Hana by themselves to have some couple time. Sosuke had actually recognised the picture of a place in Nagano on Hana’s phone and brings her there. They have a sharing about Hana’s father and how fathers give chocs to show their love for their children. This is one way to have some couple time.
5)And at the hotel, another sort of couple time takes place. Hiro meets Irene. She’s surprised to see him but they end up walking and having ice-cream at a lavender farm.
Irene: “What do couples who meet during the day do until night anyway? Without even drinking.”
Hiro: “Normally it doesn’t matter if it’s day or night. You meet when you want to.”
Irene: “Sounds boring.”
(A very different sort of conversation from the other couple’s)
Hiro wants to gift Irene with something from the Gashapon or Capsule Toy vending machine. He does a bit of magic to place the little toy in her hand. However when a couple want their photo taken and then offer to take one of Hiro and Irene, she bolts.
Irene: “I can’t do this.”
Hiro: “Did I do something wrong?”
Irene: “Like I said, I can’t stand acting like a normal couple. It’s annoying.”
Hiro: “I’m sorry. Do you really hate me that much?”
Irene: “ ‘Hate’…I don’t hate you. That’s what makes it worse.” She walks away and tells him not to follow her.
Hiro leaves for home by himself.
Then there are two ways of looking at any situation
6)The Choc crew are delightfully surprised that they get to visit Mama. They find out the true reason for her quitting was her health and impending loss of vision. At first they had thought that Sosuke had been an unreasonable boss, but now they find out that he’d recommended her a good doctor and done more for her than they knew.
7)Mama is losing her eyesight gradually, but instead of bitterness and self-pity, Mama has peace and gratitude for having had her life, her childhood, her vision thus far, the experience of knowing the Choc crew, etc. She has no regrets about losses past or impending. Her life has been pretty good. “Even now, I’m having the best time.” She says she is fortunate to have the beautiful scenery to wake up to every morning.
8)Mama knows that Hana is the Anonymous Chocolatier and advices her to open up honestly with the Choc Crew about her identity. Instead of keeping the secret, she is suggesting the other way. “You know, life’s too short, even for just saying how you really feel.” So Hana should choose the way of trust and to reveal who she is instead of hiding.
9)Then back at the Bar, there is the obvious but mistaken way for Sosuke to interpret the kiss that Hiro gave Hana, and the second way, if he only could see what was really happening.
Re: the coats. Now that you mentioned it, there should be some meaning indeed. The only thing I can think of is something my granny told me (whoa ages ago) at the garden gate after I realized that I had something left behind in the house: „If you forgot it, then it means that you want to stay.” Or come back. I don‘t remember what I left behind but I knew she was right and I didn‘t went in to fetch it. Smile.
And a coat is common romantic equipment/tool: e.g. put around her shoulders … so it‘s sensible female knowledge to unconsciously leave it behind I guess….
I looked it up and AI is explaining that In the context of a confiserie, „coating” is a proper term. It usually refers to a layer of chocolate, sugar, or other material that covers a confection, for example:
• Chocolate coating on truffles
• Sugar coating on candies
• Fondant or glaze coating on pastries
It essentially means the outer layer that covers the sweet.
Okay: so let’s leave a coat behind.. both sweet girls waiting for the right coating l’ll stop now…
@Uvex that’s a cute thought and even quite appropriate to the situation. Yes, definitely leaving something behind is often interpreted as the desire to return or not wanting leave.
When we think of coats, to an extent, Show is about uncoating what has long been put in place … peeling back the layers, rediscovering the ingredients that had been used for decades, unearthing and confronting the mental/emotional disorders or symptoms that would ultimately lead to healing.
If we are speaking of pairing the right flavours with chocolate, we should also think of pairing with the right coating. The ladies left their coats behind, (maybe some being more prickly than others!) and strove to hide the vulnerable layers that lay beneath. But this only with partial success from the 2 men who loved them.
I liked all the scenes where each person bared their soul a little. Each of them had some sad history or trauma as children that explained why they were struggling with their current socio-emotional issues. Their coats had come off in front of each other, and it was a good start, but they needed to do a lot more work to be healed.
The Saviour/Le Sauveur is the fitting image for this ‘healing’ show.
Following up on the change in the Two-way Confiserie. I note with a smile that in the opening of Ep 7, we see the Rainbow Palette again but this time with the NEW Two-way Confiserie. The Choc Crew had taken ownership of creating a better recipe and had embraced the change.
The Choc crew have now, unlike before, been able to move on from sticking loyally but blindly to the original recipes or the usual ingredients. After having to make changes in the Wasabi en Soie and Special Orangette, after realising that Bonbon Sakura used not sakura at all but apricot blossoms, after realising that they’d mistaken the ‘Two-way’ to be by eye and tongue instead of by nose and tongue, and after having been challenged to improve their Master Kenji’s own recipe, the Crew had ‘grown’. They were able to move on, to embrace more rapid and drastic changes, while still keeping to the traditional.
An apt metaphor for ourselves when we realise, often reluctantly, the need to change and have to ‘force’ ourselves to get moving in the new direction. We may be aware that we need to change but it takes a lot of missteps, courage and little changes to hopefully get us going.
The ‘Two-way’ could refer to the ‘right’ interpretation and the ‘misinterpretation’ as well. I left the comment above on the note of Mama’s advice to reveal Hana’s true identity and on the misinterpreted kiss.
A good segue into Ep 7 – Pure Kenji
Can anyone be pure anything? In Ep 1, one of the Choc Crew explained Pure Kenji as “It looks simple but it has two layers and the chocolate is delicious.” Get past the hard outer coating and discover the person within.
So from coats and coatings to layers and laying bare.
To be continued…
Ep 7 – Pure Kenji
The cute chocolate that looks so simple, so plain without any embellishment, a little hard on the outside but this hid 2 layers of chocolate. One layer of which was made from the cacao fruit that Master Kenji called ‘Godsend’ The cacao had a fitting name embodying that it was a crucial ingredient and offered salvation of some kind, at just the right time.
Several (or all) characters are like Pure Kenji. Master Chef Kenji himself was a godsend to many people. He’d saved the cacao farmers whose first crop of Godsend’ had been blighted by disease. Although their cacao was damaged, he had salvaged what was still good and made the best chocolate. He had done his best to save others by offering jobs to people rejected or struggling. His chocolates were meant to do the same ie to give every day happiness to anyone.
His Pure Kenji were chocolates with a heart, made not just out of ingredients but also out of the happiness of the makers. Sentimentally, it was meant to be imbued with the joy in the hearts of the chocolatiers.
Hana was definitely another example of Pure Kenji. She was anonymous and in hiding but had a tremendous talent to listen, understand the needs of others, and to convey her feelings of warmth and comfort towards them.
Sosuke too was like Pure Kenji: the typical male lead with the hard shell exterior who was mush inside, especially in the hands of the right woman.
More Pure Kenji can be found in our second lead couple, Hiro and Irene who did their share of helping and saving Hiro and Hana. And all the Crew and the suppliers who began by being a little hard to crack on the outside, but who turned out to be the most warm bunch, and saviours of the Futago Confectionary Management.
Even the Fujiwaras, Dad and Cousin were able to put aside their hard-headed business side and to let Sosuke retain Le Sauveur as an artisan chocolaterie instead of mass-producing chocs by recipe and without heart.
Ep 8 – Chocolat du Bonheur
The Chocolate of Happiness and Miracles
In Ep 7 – 8, we have Hana wanting to help save Le Sauveur, and Sosuke going out of his way to save Hana. In the process they discover that they not only needed a miracle to save the store but that they had made some miracles themselves.
To begin with, Hana was called ‘Miracle Touch’ by Irene and Sosuke. It worked both ways. What she was connected to was improved by her in some way for eg. how she understood the plight of the daughter of the Gabriel Blossom liqueur, how at work she gave the right answers and ideas to solve problems. And how she was able to receive the touch of Sosuke when he first saved her and was able to show him that he would be able to have physical contact with others.
She was instrumental in getting Sosuke to want to change.
In looking for the farm in a strange foreign Koita Republic, where Master Kenji had got his first cacao, it was a miracle that Hana was near the right spot at all with just a photo to guide her. It was a miracle that Sosuke could find her to save her in the nick of time, and another miracle that Hana’s hunger led them to meet the guy at the restaurant who knew the relative of the owner of the cacao farm.
They hear the story of the miraculous saving of the cacao farm by Kenji who had bought the damaged fruit, and see the joy of the woman who remembered Kenji-san and his chocolates of happiness.
They knew the chance to get enough shareholders to vote in favour of Sosuke was very slim, as well as the certainty to get enough points to win the World Chocolate Masters Competition, but miracles were possible. When all else was tried, the rest had to be left to God and a miracle. Hana had said: “A miracle is something that happens in the end. I think that’s why the word ‘miracle’ exists.”
In the end it was a mixture of hardwork and preparation, the making of good business relationships of trust, a great deal of courage and lots of support that made both the miracles happen.
Despite this emphasis on miracles at the end of the series, I liked that it did not make all the symptoms of psychological disorders disappear. Hana had said she would take part in the competition but that she would definitely not be ‘okay’.
Hana: “Even if slightly flawed, if you’ll accept someone like me I’ll enter the competition.”
Sosuke: “If it’s to save the shop, you don’t have to push yourself.”
Hana: “No, this isn’t for anyone else. It’s for me. I don’t want to hide anymore. I’m done running away.”
Sosuke: “Are you sure you’ll be okay?”
Hana: “Of course… I won’t be okay at all.”
They laugh.
Hana: “I want to be okay, but that itself feels like a miracle.”
There was growth and improvement but no pat ending with complete healing for both our couples. There were new beginnings and the acceptance that there would be ups and downs, but at least there would be less running away and our protagonists had decided to work on improving together. That ability in people to change even when its difficult is a miracle too.
Ep 8 – Chocolat du Bonheur
At the end we find that the theme first begun with the question on whether preserving the tradition was the only way to go / whether to change was to be disloyal has come full circle.
Some things need to change, and some can stay the same
Irene herself has sought treatment for her running away from relationships, and returns determined to forge her own future path, as Hiro had said he would do when he returned her coat to her. She chooses to restart with Hiro, and he chooses to continue with her in a more-than-just-friends relationship.
Sosuke has taken over his father’s position as CEO, but we see that he has Cousin by his side, also taking his turn to address the company meeting. Cousin is no longer only just a shadow but gets to shine his light as well.
Hana has returned to Le Sauveur but now as chef in the kitchen under the management of new president, chief Chef Motomi. We see that Motomi retains the tradition of Kenji in her morning briefing with her Crew: “Alright, let’s keep doing our best to bring happiness through our chocolate. With all our hearts today and always. Let’s give it our all.”
And the chocolatiers work together “to protect tradition while embracing change at times.” Hana says: “I’m crafting every day happiness in the form of chocolate. I do it believing that the happiness of a chocolatier can reach others.” We see that now they have made 2 versions of Rainbow Palette. The traditional Rainbow Palette looks the same with just the changes they made to improve a few of the recipes. The new Rainbow Palette looks almost completely different although the names of the chocolates remain the same.
Of note, 1 of the chocolates is never changed: the Mont de Matcha remains and uses its original recipe. There is no need to change something that works well already. But as for the rest, even Pure Kenji has changed and looks redder with an added ingredient. All of them together form the Chocolats du Bonheur.
Fittingly, the chocolatiers happily admire their own work and break out in great applause at the happiness they had made.
Ep 8
The Miracle Touch Handshakes and Confessions of Love
We see several versions of hands being offered in friendship, as greeting, in business and even as a weapon (by Cousin).
The first miracle touch was Sosuke being able to save Hana without any ill effect to himself. The next was the hand grab by Hana who tried (but failed) to save Sosuke from falling backwards over the coffee table.
We have at times Hana offering her hand first or Sosuke doing so, but the most significant handshakes were when they were converted into handholding.
Irene had finally decided to restart in friendship with Hiro at the wedding, but he refused to shake hands out of friendship, and took Irene’s hand like a lover. It was his unspoken confession that his feelings had never changed.
Sosuke and Hana went a few steps further: their handshake when Hana agreed to represent Le Sauveur and compete was turned by Sosuke into an intimate handholding with interlaced fingers. He proceeded to walk hand-in-hand with Hana on a path and then when questioned, tells her it is ‘sarang’ – A clear image of them possibly making a journey in life as a couple.
Along the path, Sosuke holds up their joined hands and repeats: “Sarang”.
Hana checks if she had heard Sosuke correctly. He confirms that he’d said ‘sarang’. He is able to remember and quote what Hana had said. “It’s the feeling of wanting to make the one you love even happier. That feeling is called sarang.”
Hana: “I meant to tell you the word for love toward family, but I guess I used the wrong term. We’re not at that stage yet.”
Sosuke teases: “Sarang. It has a nice ring to it. Sarang.”
Hana: “No! A man shouldn’t say that to a woman so casually. ‘Sarang’ is off-limits.”
Sosuke: “Sarang!”
Hana: “I said no!”
Sosuke laughs.
Sosuke confesses: “Sarang-hae.”
Hana: “Stop! Don’t say that!”
He still follows her calling out sarang-hae!
Wedding Day
Sosuke watches anxiously as Hana tries to walk down the aisle of the wedding hall with all eyes on her. He comes to her when she stalls. She admits that she can’t continue, so he offers first one hand to lead her forward but she does not take it. Then he offers her the other hand and takes her hand to lead her out.
I really like that they showed that they had tried their best to please everyone, especially Dad with a wedding ceremony, but in the end they chose to please themselves because the ceremony would have been too much for Hana. I also liked that their friends were surprised, but understood, and congratulated them anyway. LOL
Outside they ran while gleefully shouting.
Hana: “Are we nuts or what?”
Sosuke: “Totally nuts. We’re not normal anyway.”
Hana: “We’re too nuts!”
Sosuke: “We’re nuts and it’s amazing!”
Hana: “Saranghae!”
Sosuke:: “Naega deo saranghae!”
They declared their love and sort of took their vows along another beautiful tree-lined path, confirming that they would make life’s journey together as they ran towards a new future hand-in-hand.
@GrowingBeautifully: Thank you for sharing your thoughts. Re: coating. Yes, the ‚uncoating‘ is the point, I see that now.
One more thing, for me, part of the charm of this show is that cast and character have the looks and presence of grown ups. It’s quite refreshing for a change.
Hi @Uvex, that’s an interesting observation. I suppose many idol dramas look like they’re populated by kids.
I’d think coats have multiple meanings and at times I read too much into what might have been a simple prop LOL.
Other little things:
I like that the Show setting includes multiple languages, and that the cast pulled off speaking what might be a foreign language to them, very well. The French names sounded like they were pronounced correctly (to my untrained ear) and the English was fine. Sosuke’s Korean was cute and I appreciate that he bothered to pick up what he heard and learnt their meaning because his love interest is Korean.
It was such a hoot that he has such good hearing and a good memory so that he could reproduce all that Hana had said and get the translation app to tell him if he’d been cussed at or not!
I wondered about the cameo by Song Joong Ki, (and the other actor who played Ando). I guess he was ‘around’ and was asked to do it for fun, but I really saw no value in his appearing for less than three minutes at the end of the series. In fact the final scene was a bit unnecessary to me. We would have expected that Irene would have continued her counseling work, and with new colleagues from time to time, hence having those extra characters in that last scene puzzled me. Or perhaps it was just to show that Sosuke did not need counseling anymore?
I liked that happiness in this Show was palpable. The challenges faced by our protagonists were alarming and most difficult, but the overall happiness of everyone one connected to Le Sauveur was infectious. I liked that there was so much satisfaction in the making of the chocolates, that Hana smiled so much when she worked, that many gave encouragement and praise, that customers were happy to queue and to admire. I found myself smiling along with many characters.
I like that while in the beginning Sosuke heartlessly dissed the butterfly hug, throughout the series he was present to give more hugs and receive the hugs of Hana, all of which became warmer and more heartfelt.
The Dating Tropes
What is a show about Romance without dating tropes? This series has more than enough to satisfy!!
The most obvious is the guy saving the girl trope, after which they are destined to be a couple.
On the way to the Gabriel Blossom orchard, there was no snow, but we see a vast number of apricot trees in full bloom and mostly white. They made the trees look like they were snow covered. Such scenery would make road trips or dates more romantic. Sosuke pointed out the blossoms, likely to stop Hana from complaining about missing her actual date with Hiro, but even he did not realise that he was on sort of a date with Hana.
Falling petals like falling first snow on a date – a sign that they were fated. After admiring the flowers, Sosuke picks a petal off Hana’s head, and she’s most aware of him.
On the train back from bringing the ex-Chocolatier to her Nursing Home, Sosuke admits that he received her love confession instead of Hiro, and that it did not entirely fail ie it moved him… but she was asleep. He takes her ear bud to listen to the same music as herself, and lets her sleep on his shoulder.
Sosuke covers Hana’s eyes to protect her, when she can see Hiro at home and not alone. It’s an intimate gesture, and especially when it is followed by his gripping her shoulders to keep her from turning back.
Sosuke also evinces a certain proprietary claim over Hana in front of Hiro, by placing his arm around her shoulders and saying that she’s the one he’s really interested in. I don’t think he’d have gone that far if Hiro were not present.
Where Hiro is concerned, he did the boyfriend thing, ie followed the girl to where she’d be without telling her (a bit like stalking) and then shows up to have an unexpected date with her. It backfires though but not before he manages to give her a little keepsake.
Hiro deliberately keeps Irene’s coat, so that he’d have another ‘chance’ meeting with her.
Sosuke is the ‘jealous boyfriend’ who tries to spy on the girl when she’s talking to her crush. He’s laughably a bad one to do surveillance since he makes so much noise.
Sosuke has paid special attention to Hana, and hence is able to bring her to see the scenery that her father had photographed. He even gives her much positive feedback saying “She has such a lovely smile. She’s so adorable that I end up smiling too, without even realising it. That’s why I always want to see her.”
Hana gets into the lift and Sosuke enters it last minute. The girl has been drinking too much and has to be prevented from exiting at the wrong floor, and then there’s the reverse trope of the girl pinning the guy to the corner of the lift, when a few more people get in.
When he tries to sober her up by placing warm coffee in a bottle against her cheek, she asks if it’s ‘love’ (koi?) but he says it’s not koi but ko-hee/coffee. The trope of the girl not being aware that she likes the guy continues while everybody who observes knows it’s koi before she does.
The lovers’ quarrel and the running away, followed by the boy rescuing the girl, and telling the girl that she’s not to leave his sight.
Boy runs over to where the girl is to give support.
Girl runs into the arms of the waiting guy.
Walking or running hand-in-hand.
Dear Friends, long time no see!
THESE ARE MY COMMENTS UP TO THE BEGINNING OF EPISODE 4
That the Therapist has the Jazz Club Owner as her emergency number was adorable and human. She is broken as all her charges do, but puts a brave front to guide them safely. And that is a good Mama Hen in my books.
Episode 3
That piece of monologue by the ML was just great. The difference on how he is misconstrued vs. how it feels for the person living with a mental condition and how it manifest in his real life.
He is self-aware of it all, which makes it even sadder.
Episode 4
I am when they are eating at his car. That little bit of sincerity between them is the start of a good friendship. I personally don’t think that it is possible to have a good relationship that is not an extension of a good friendship.
She gives his father’s associate an handshake in his stead. They understand and compliment each other nicely.
Funnily enough, they are slowly associating each other to important people in their lives. I can see that confusion becoming hilariously and lovingly important.
Also funnily enough, they are falling in love for all the strangest reasons but curiously in the correct progression.
@FGB, I always like your person-centred take on the scenes.
Ep 3 – On not being aware what is within from viewing it from the outside. People complained about the Wasabi en Soie because they saw chocolate on the outer shell and did not expect so much wasabi inside.
The ML too is judged to be a cold germaphobe because he cannot shake hands, but he was being judged only by what others could see. Yes, he was aware of it, but there was little he could do about it, except ‘practise’ with Hana.
Hana’s solution for the Wasabi en Soie was to bring the wasabi to the outside so that it was clear that the wasabi was a big ingredient of that choc. For herself, it was quite similar to Sosuke … she had to get out more and practise more in public, to get used to being looked at.
I went back to look for the Episode 3 monologue by the ML. Along the way I took note of what the FL said when she and the ML were alone in the store, waiting out the rain.
She expressed the wish to be able to lock eyes with the one she likes, to laugh together and cry together. Before this, she’d been crying, and a little time after this, it will be the ML’s turn to tear up.
They even laugh at the unlikely idea that they can be soulmates or that practising with each other would lead to Hana falling for Sosuke. They protest that there’s no possibility of THAT.
At this stage, they can touch each other, lock eyes and laugh with each other and are getting used to crying in each other’s presence. But they don’t believe that they are soulmates or ever can be!!! Love the irony.
@GB ABOUT EPISODE 4 and your comment:
They are developing a beautiful friendship. That they don’t see what they are actually making is part of the charm! I trust the scriptwriter and director to satisfy me with a happy ending, in real life I would still feel worried about those two… sometimes giving something a name is the only thing missing for something to become real, and those two are wayyy more oblivious to trust them.
EPISODE 5
The little details makes a big difference on how memories are recalled and relived. Is Life and the past just a half-remembered memory with a lot of errors and misunderstandings? Yet somewhere in all that, a thing further than truth lurks.
——–
@GB, yet your eyes are even sharper than mine. I am still writing my book, still struggling because the snippets in my notebooks are more elaborate and beautiful than what it is in the file. The file is a poor shadow of what my story is.
Life is not only a succession of events, is how we tell those stories to ourselves and others.
For we Humans are storytellers.
EPISODE 6
A Therapist that is afraid to fall in love. She is as messed up as her charges yet still has the strenght to pull them out. That makes me love her more.
A sad photo: Jazz Club wanting to stay, Therapist wanting to run away.
Also: Mama is the best! 😀
@FGB, I expect the story you write to be heartfelt and full regardless of how poor a shadow you may think it. Words often cannot convey what is deeper … as far into the depths as we would wish.
EPISODE 7 up to min 30
Dear Friends, here we have a saying: “If someone belongs to your side let them free. That person will eventually return to you”.
It is a counterintuitive advice. Sometimes I think it lets that person to get things straight without you. Then they can make a decision from within. That is what Jazz Club Owner is doing with Therapist. Man she is a lovely person but also pure concentrated heartache.
Suddenly creating a past story whith Boss is a trope I didn’t like. She should value Boss for who he is and their bonding. Ah well…
EPISODE 7 AFTER 30 min.
The theme is connections and gratitude. Mr. Kenji won valuable allies when he bought the good parts of the failed cacao crop… but more importantly, he showed respect for their work by sending them his creations.
For we all want to belong to a family that cherishes us, like the mute employee.
Still have to watch Episode 8. Thankfully the romance part has been solved by our leads, we just need to wrap the political suspense about the survival of “Le Saveurs”.
My guess is that the cousin will be totally loyal to his family as this show has no bad people with the exception of the robbers (skipped that part). The father’s survival is another thing.
EPISODE 8
Dear Friends, I like my chocolates to be deliciously nutty like these two. Beautiful Drama. The Cousin did not feel included and that is why he gave problems.
Chairman was right and not only in business, during his assesment of the Cousin. Both the capacity of dreaming a better future and managing resources correctly are needed to survive.
Without boldness we can become stuck, but without a grasp on reality we can get into lots of trouble.
A little gratefulness can come a long way, as a little generosity can do. That the lady that cried rivers for her cat was the tipping point just because she was showed a little bit of kindness is a testament of that.
It has been a while since the last time I watched aDrama with all of you. Even if you watched it way before me, I felt included… and blessed.
Thank you so much!!!
On Ladies leaving Coats Behind:
Dear @PM3, @Uvex and @GB, if you go back to the “Tale Of Genji”, the foundational work of Japanese Literature, you will get the story of Lady Utsusemi.
Prince Genji tries to grab a runaway lover, only to keep the outer layer of her Kimono, her “cicada shell” which is the name she is recognized in Literature.
As an unsatisfied lover, trying to keep as much of the essence or his lover as she lets.
Hi @FGB, thanks for the reference! We might read a lot more into those repeatedly forgotten coats.
While in this show’s case, it seems the ladies were the ones who abandoned their coats, they did seem unwilling to leave much else of themselves. At least with Irene she was unwilling and Hana was leaving more of herself with the right ‘lover’ whom she thought was the wrong ‘lover’ LOL. Still the ‘lovers’ were unsatisfied for quite a while!
Oh dear @GB, we may be be reading a lot indeed, but Culture is Culture and references are shortcuts in communication 😉 .
Here we have fun dissecting ideas! 😀
Also, even if late, it is a pleasure to put a cent or two in an interesting conversation.
Yes, the ladies did let their coats:
Ms. Lee running away from Mr. Jazz (he wasn’t pursuing her, she just panicked), while Ms. Irene forgot it while stomping away in frustration and Mr. Jazz decided to hold onto it to manufacture further encounters with her.
Ms. Lee is a vulnerable and adorable character. She makes for a dangerously attractive Archetype: that of the Mermaid (as in Robert Greene’s “Art of Seduction” book). Thankfully she is not malicious at all.
☀️🌤️🌈🌷 🍪🥛🧁🥪🥗🍝🌭🧀🥨🥐🍔🍟🥤🥘🍾🍸🥂🎉🎂 🌷🌈☁️🌤️
Hi @pkml3, this is a gentle reminder to please open a new thread for the Rewatch Party today!!!
Hope you’re well and not too busy or away!
☀️🌤️🌈🌷 🍪🥛🧁🥪🥗🍝🌭🧀🥨🥐🍔🍟🥤🥘🍾🍸🥂🎉🎂 🌷🌈☁️🌤️
@FGB, thanks for always bringing in your unique perspectives to what we watch. It’s the playing with ideas that makes watching and commenting together so much fun. It doubles the joy of a good watch with interesting new things to reflect on. I feel it’s always a shame that few add their thoughts. Many fun conversations could be had.
A new thought that struck me about the running away. The 2 ladies and our ML are the type to run away. Sometimes it’s a cop out but at times it was a good idea.
I like the book-ending of how we had the OTP running in the beginning and at the end. At their first meeting, there was Hana moving towards Sosuke and he backing off until he falls backwards over the table. She grabs his hand to stop the fall but fails and they fall slow-mo onto the floor hand-in-hand, landing hard. That was painful but turned out to be good, because from that one ‘running away’ they both realised that they had no phobic reactions with each other.
In between the first and last times they are together, it’s Hana who hides or runs away and Sosuke who goes after her to bring her back.
At the end we have Sosuke taking Hana’s hand in marriage (literally), and they run away together in another slo-mo scene. The sentiments they shared in this last scene as they laugh at their own weirdness contrast strikingly with the first scene when they were afraid, aghast, embarrassed…
In the beginning they were strangers reacting instinctively for self-preservation, but at the end they made a conscious decision to run away and be weird together. I liked there was no dead end as in the first scene where they landed on the floor, but that a path lay before them. It was still a long journey that they had ahead of them, but they were no longer alone.
Dear @GB, it is said that once a Buddhist Master attained Enlightenment. His students asked how it felt, and he answered that as miserable as ever.
Then he laugh.
Now he knew what the world of ilusions was like, so he had the option of living in Samsara or not: he was his own master.
These two are a little bit like that: now that they have each other, they can be free together.
Before they were isolated and powerless, now they have at least another person.
If there was another person, why stop there? There could be a lot of other friends and comrades to share life with… also the staff of Le Sauveur is full of loving people to start with.
The world is full of possibilities!
@FGB and all who enjoy this show.
I was amused by what the actors say about their characters and their hopes for what the Show can do. Sweet and heartening like the Show itself!