, also known by its French subtitle , is a Japanese

manga Manga ( Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is ...

series written and illustrated by

Setona Mizushiro is a Japanese manga artist. In 1985 she participated in the publication of a dōjinshi. She remained active in that world until her debut in 1993 with the short story ''Fuyu ga Owarou Toshiteita'' (Winter Was Ending) that ran in Shogakukan's ma ...

. It was serialized in

Shogakukan is a Japanese publisher of dictionaries, literature, comics ( manga), non-fiction, DVDs, and other media in Japan. Shogakukan founded Shueisha, which also founded Hakusensha. These are three separate companies, but are together called the ...

's ''Rinka'' magazine starting in 2008, moving to '' Monthly Flowers'' magazine in 2010 where it completed its serialization in 2014. Shogakukan collected the individual chapters into nine bound volumes published from January 2009 to February 2015. The manga was also adapted into a live-action

Japanese television drama , also called , are television programs that are a staple of Japanese television and are broadcast daily. All major TV networks in Japan produce a variety of drama series including romance, comedy, detective stories, horror, jidaigeki, thrill ...

starring

Arashi is a Japanese boy band consisting of five members formed under the Johnny & Associates talent agency. The members are Satoshi Ohno, Sho Sakurai, Masaki Aiba, Kazunari Ninomiya, and Jun Matsumoto. Arashi officially formed on September 15, 199 ...

Jun Matsumoto Jun or JUN may refer to: People and anthroponymy * Jun (given name), a common Japanese given name * Jun (singer), a member of South Korean boy band U-KISS * Tomáš Jun, Czech footballer * A spelling of common Korean family name Jeon (Korean surn ...

in the lead role. It aired for eleven episodes on

Fuji TV JOCX-DTV (channel 8), branded as and colloquially known as CX, is a Japanese television station based in Odaiba, Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Owned and operated by the it is the key station of the Fuji News Network (FNN) and the Fuji Network S ...

from January to March 2014.

Plot

Sōta Koyurugi is the son of a baker who owns a cake shop. While a high school student, he fell in love with Saeko Takahashi, the most popular and beautiful girl in school and one year his senior. Saeko only dates handsome men with power, position, and popularity in their school; therefore Sōta, being rather quiet and pale, chased after her from afar like a butterfly. He confesses to her one Christmas after she broke up with her boyfriend and they begin their relationship. Saeko has a burning passion for chocolate and gives a box of famous French chocolates to Sōta. Thus he decides to learn how to make smooth and delicious chocolate especially for her. However, the day before Valentine's Day, she refuses his box of home-made chocolates, saying that she has reconciled with her boyfriend and that they are now together once more. Heavy-hearted, Sōta asks Saeko to get rid of his chocolate for him, since it is painful to throw away something he made for someone special, to which she agrees and bids him farewell on a snowy evening. After the loss, Sōta travels to France to be employed by a renowned brand of chocolate and continues chasing his "fairy". Five years later, he returns to Japan, now having made a name for himself as a "Chocolate Prince". He takes over his family business and transforms it into an elegant chocolate shop. Saeko visits him again and he is determined to pursue her for many years to come, irrespective of her superficial marriage to a powerful man and the many opinions from his peers and coworkers about his obsession and whether or not Saeko is just playing around with Sōta.

Characters

; : :Live-action actor:

:Sōta Koyurugi is the main character in the story. After six years of training in France, Sōta Koyurugi comes back to Japan, and becomes the chef for his own chocolate store ''Choco La Vie''. As he has not stopped loving Saeko, he still wants to get her attention with what he achieved, but Sōta Koyurugi never expected to find that Saeko Takahashi is getting married. ; : :Live-action actor:

Satomi Ishihara , better known by her stage name , is a Japanese actress from Tokyo. Biography Satomi Ishihara was born on December 24, 1986, in Tokyo. She is of blood type A, and her height is 157 cm. Satomi began her acting profession in 2003 at the ...

:Saeko Takahashi is the second main character, and she is the love interest of Sōta Koyurugi. When she was a senior student in the same high school as Sōta Koyurugi, she used to date only the handsome boys. Saeko Takahashi is interested in fashion, makeup, and chocolate. When she meets Sōta Koyurugi again, she breaks his heart by telling him that she is marrying an older man who works for a publishing company. She asks Sōta to make her wedding cake and desserts because she wants to sound out Sōta's love for her. Despite not displaying any romantic love towards him, she seems to continue to encourage Sōta's desire and obsession, taking his unconditional love for granted and remains possessive of him. ; : :Live-action actor:

Asami Mizukawa is a Japanese actress. She grew up in Ibaraki, Osaka. She made her debut in 1996 at age 13 in an advertisement for Asahi Kasei's "Hebel Haus". In 2000, she won the ''Grand Prix'' at the “3rd Miss Tokyo Walker” competition (the first winner ...

:Kaoruko Inoue is a member of the staff and the manager at the ''Choco La Vie''. She has been working in the store since Sōta Koyurugi's father was selling French pastries and cakes before Sōta changed it into a chocolate store. When Sōta Koyurugi opens the store ''Choco La Vie'', she gives a lot of advice and starts to develop an unrequited love to him. ; : :Live-action actor:

Kiko Mizuhara Audrie Kiko Daniel (born October 15, 1990), known professionally as , is an American-born model, actress, singer and designer who has lived in Japan since childhood. Kiko Mizuhara started her modeling career at the age of twelve when she entered ...

:Erena Kato is a fashion model. She meets Sōta Koyurugi at a party and they develop a strong friendship. They both relate to each other as Erena Kato also has an unrequited love. ; : :Live-action actor:

Junpei Mizobata is a Japanese actor, best known as Kudo Shinichi in '' Detective Conan: Kudo Shinichi e no Chousenjou'' and Saga Kazuma in ''Hanazakari no Kimitachi e''. He also appears in the drama '' Akai Ito'' as Atsushi Nishino (or Akkun). Personal life Jun ...

:Olivier Tréluyer is the son of the owner of ''Patisserie Tréluyer'', a famous long-established store in France. He is Sōta's good friend and is a member of the staff at ''Choco La Vie''. ; : :Live-action actor:

Kasumi Arimura is a Japanese actress. Her television roles have included the young Haruko Amano in the 2013 NHK asadora ''Amachan'' and the lead role in the 2017 asadora ''Hiyokko''. She has also appeared in several films, including '' Flying Colors'', for whic ...

:Matsuri Koyurugi is Sōta Koyurugi's younger sister, and she is a university student and a part-timer at ''Choco La Vie''. Although she is a modest and cheerful person, she is dating her friend's boyfriend. When Olivier Treluyer tells her about his feelings for her, she gets really surprised. ; : :Live-action actor:

Ryuta Sato is a Japanese actor and ''tarento Television personalities in Japan, known as in Japanese, are celebrities who regularly appear in mass media in Japan, especially as panelists on variety shows. During the Golden Age of Hollywood, bankable st ...

:Seinosuke Rikudo owns the store ''Chocolatier Ricdor'', and it is known to be the ''Chocolate Nobel''. He is Sōta Koyurugi's business rival, but at the same time is secretly in love with him. ; :Live-action actor:

Naoto Takenaka is a Japanese actor, comedian, singer, and director from Kanazawa-ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, affiliated with From First Production. He is married to idol singer and actress Midori Kinouchi. He is also known as the voice of Samuel L. ...

:Makoto Koyurugi is Sōta Koyurugi's and Matsuri Koyurugi's father, and he is the original owner of his son's store. He used to sell pastries in his store ''Tokio'', but after Sōta returns from France to Japan, he gives him all the support by allowing him to redesign the store ''Tokio'' into ''Choco La Vie''.

Media

Manga

Written and illustrated by

, ''Shitsuren Chocolatier'' was serialized in

's manga magazine ''Rinka'' starting on February 14, 2008. It transferred to '' Monthly Flowers'' in the November 2010 issue (released on September 28, 2010) and completed its serialization in the February 2015 issue (released on December 27, 2014). Shogakukan collected the individual chapters into nine volumes published from January 2009 to February 2015. Internationally, ''Shitsuren Chocolatier'' is licensed in France by Kazé Manga and in Taiwan by

Ever Glory Publishing is a Taiwanese publisher of manga. It was founded in June 1991. In October 1992, the company obtained the Chinese license for Akita Shoten's '' Weekly Shōnen Champion''. However, the magazine stopped publication in 1998. Controversy There w ...

List of volumes

Live-action

In October 2013, Shogakukan was announced that ''Shitsuren Chocolatier'' would receive a live-action

television series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed be ...

adaptation starring

as Sōta Koyurugi. The series premiered on

on January 13, 2014, running for eleven episodes until March 24, 2014.

Episode ratings

Reception

''Shitsuren Chocolatier'' won the 36th

Kodansha Manga Award is an annual award for serialized manga published in the previous year, the event is sponsored by the publisher Kodansha. It is currently awarded in three categories: '' shōnen'', '' shōjo'', and general. The awards began in 1977, initially ...

in the category in 2012. It was nominated for the

Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize Named after Osamu Tezuka, the is a yearly manga prize awarded to manga artists or their works that follow the Osamu Tezuka manga approach founded and sponsored by Asahi Shimbun. The prize has been awarded since 1997, in Tokyo, Japan. Curre ...

in 2014. Volume 5 of the manga sold 44,458 copies by May 13, 2012; volume 6 sold 70,521 copies by January 20, 2013; and volume 7 sold 58,118 copies by September 15, 2013. The manga had 2.7 million copies in print in Japan as of May 2014.

References

External links

* * *
Manga News reviews

Manga Sanctuary review
*Planete BD reviews

{{Kodansha Manga Award - Shōjo 2008 manga 2014 Japanese television series debuts 2014 Japanese television series endings Films with screenplays by Naoko Adachi Fuji TV dramas Japanese television dramas based on manga Josei manga Manga adapted into films Manga series Romance anime and manga Setona Mizushiro Shogakukan manga Slice of life anime and manga Winner of Kodansha Manga Award (Shōjo)