Old Fashion Cupcake (2022)

Sweet and Mature

OFC focuses on older men, which is a change for a lot of dramas I've seen. Nozue is melancholic about life but Togawa's gentle insistence on doing things to make him feel younger balances him out. I don't remember any of the music, so it's not ending up on my playlists, but the acting was well done and the story is sweet. Their relationship is lovely and it builds up so nicely.

Drawbacks: sometimes the show feels slow because it's very slice of life, so if you want something more upbeat or faster, it's not this show.
There's a major scene where the lighting makes Nozue look so much older and I wish someone would have noticed and fixed it before it made it into final edits.

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A Perfectly Crafted 2 Hour Masterpiece of Joy. Do Not Miss

"Old Fashion Cupcake" stands as one of Japan's finest live-action dramas in recent years, deserving global recognition as a future classic. There are a thousand moments that will make you smile.
Every aspect of the show - direction, cinematography, musical score and screenwriting - has been carefully considered by a cohesive team to create a series with zero waste and maximum impact.
The premise revolves around finding happiness and joy in life, when a 29 year old office worker Togawa, convinces his jaded nearly 40-year-old boss Nozue to heed his own advice, to embrace the present moment and let go of regret.
Tatsunari Kimura, a veteran stage actor at just 28 when this was filmed in 2022, highlights why he is one of THE actors of his generation, who uses minimal blocking (physical movement) and dialogue to conveys incredible depth, intense emotion and outstanding vulnerability. He also acts with his eyes, a rare skill in young actors. Unfortunately for millions of viewers, he works primarily in stage theatre and rarely does tv work. We hope he will reconsider for an excellent role. Satoh Takeru, please team up and find the perfect opportunity to foster this incredible talent!
Kouhei Takeda, as Nozue, is sublime as he struggles to disguise his Honnae aka true feelings, with minimal facial movement. That's expert skill. His beautiful portrayal of the lonely 39 year old hits home sharply, a man who thinks he can stay in a position of safety, but in reality he is in danger of letting life pass by. We are uplifted by his efforts not to drown in apathy and to seek adventure and embrace joy once again.
Here, a special mention is made of "Morning Dub For N", a beautiful heartbeat instrumental piece by Daisuke Nisihimura (Dunk) that resembles the traditional Japanese koto instrument, to evoke emotions in key scenes - particularly the opening sequence where Nozue contemplates his boring safe life. We also absolutely LOVED the joyous opening tune, Blue Blur, an uplifting bilingual R&B theme song with retro elements by Ryu Matsuyma featuring Mabuana. The entire score and soundtrack are perfectly positioned throughout the series and substantially enhance moving moments, and the entire viewing experience.
Viewers may feel lost when it is over. Should there be a Season 2? After careful deliberation: No. There is nothing left to add or remove. The art is perfect, as is.
Don't Miss It. You Won't Regret.

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it's a quick cute drama u

I like the story line of this drama but the thing is its so short it's a little two short for me like 5 episode and only like 30 minutes for each episode is already too short but it's very beautiful and cute .... if it was 25 episodes long I would watch it like it's that cute the actors are so beautiful and their acting is very good. and I don't know if it because it's a short drama or anything but the misunderstanding didn't last a long time.... I love how the end of the drama even though there isn't a lot of cute love scenes or anything like that I like that and I would recommend watching this drama if you want a little cute drama which has romance but I felt like there was a lot of friendship and this story is a little unique from all the other boss and subcordinate romance because the subcordinate liked him before he what his Boss so that is very different I like this drama I would recommended to anyone who wants to watch it it's very cute but I don't think it's a drama that I will Rewatch but if you watch it it's very good for a one time you for sure......
even though I did feel like "I'm 40 year old " is used alot but whatever 😜

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5 episódios e um sonho

é de se imaginar que uma história com 5 episódios de 25min passa uma insegurança para quem assiste de que se ela vai ser realmente boa. quando uma série assim é tão comentada como foi com old fashion cupcake e ainda oferece uma das cenas mais memoráveis da indústria, é um atestado claro de qualidade e demonstração de que através do esforço pode-se entregar um trabalho coeso e incrível.

infelizmente eu sofro do mal de ter uma memória ruim e isso me faz esquecer de boa parte das coisas que assisto, mas hora ou outra isso se torna uma experiência bacana pois eu me pego vibrando por momentos como se fosse a primeira vez. eu gosto muito como essa série é uma receita perfeita, em um curto tempo eles conseguem trabalhar a história tão bem que se não fosse a ânsia por mais episódios não se pareceriam apenas cinco. é muito interessante ver o romance entre homens mais velhos se desenvolver pois existe uma certa negligência que as vezes se submetemos por uma vergonha causada pela ideia de "acho que estou muito velho para isso", a liberdade de você se permitir ser feliz e ainda encontrar o amor da sua vida deve ser uma sensação transformadora e é o que se acompanha aqui.

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Curtinho, mas maravilhoso

Que sabor esse BL!
As atuações são boas.

As reflexões sobre a diferença de idade é muito bom!

Assim como sobre a idade em si, um beirando os 40 e o outro os 30, cada um com seus medos, confortos e vidas.

Diálogos bem feitos e mostra como é a conclusão de uma história de anos, amei demais!

Todos fofos, músicas meigas, comidas bonitas.

Casal mega fofo em todos os sentidos, um totalmente entregue ao amor e o outro percebendo que está também.

Quem diria que o diálogo entre os dois iam clarear a mente e firmar o amor mútuo?

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Meus amados japoneses

Um roteiro simples, temática adulta, uma dose de alívio cômico e interpretação de milhões. Essa é a receita de sucesso dos bl's japoneses.

Essa história aborda três situações passíveis de preconceito, o fato de serem dois homens, o fato de estarem na mesma empresa como chefe e empregado, e o fato de existir uma diferença de idade, que ao menos para o mais velho é significativa. Mas tudo isso é abordado de forma tão leve, tão gostosa, que é impossível assistir tenso ou apreensivo. Com certeza nota 10 para roteiro e direção.

A atuação é de milhões, não há muito o que dizer. O casal de protagonistas, nos dois momentos de declaração de amor deram um show para o qual eu não estava preparada.

Não existem muitas locações marcantes, os apartamentos, o trabalho e os bares e a rua, não existe uma ost fantástica, mas a história e atuação são tão bons que eu veria de novo mil vezes, e com certeza recomendo muito. Achei bem bonitinho esse bl. A cada dia gosto mais dos bl's japoneses.

Podia ser mais longo, 5 episódios é muito pouco! Com mais episódios a história poderia se desenvolver com mais profundidade... porém, apenas com os cinco episódios foi um bom bl, que cumpriu o que prometeu. Teve só alguns momentos da história que achei meio esquisito como retrataram, por exemplo isso de "agir como garotas". Eu entendi o que queriam dizer, mas achei esquisito kkkk

Eu gostei do ritmo pois me lembrou os melodramas (até mesmo na paleta de cores utilizada). É uma história mais lenta e dramática mesmo, porém não achei entediante, é apenas calmo e tranquilo de assistir.

Queria destacar também a cinematografia, gostei bastante da forma como foi filmado, as cores e a fotografia.

Achei um bom bl pra maratonar, por ser curtinho mesmo. Não me marcou, mas gostei. Vc pode maratonar rapidinho, e esses cinco episódios vão aquecer seu coração.

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Too Short, A Few Good Scenes

Japanese Series don't have a lot of Excitement, Anticipation, Laughter, or Background of Characters.

For me, they always seem to miss the mark in pulling me thoroughly into the story and giving me a reason to fall in love with the characters. Successful Short Series are really rare and honestly, if the story is well done then I want to see more, not less.

This series left so much unsaid and unfinished; I just did not feel the warmth or the love. The best moments were when they displayed jealousy, in some instances without even realizing that's what they were doing.

I personally do not like the way the series had such a depressing, dark tone to it, with dark alleys and crappy rooms, which also seems to be the norm with Japanese series.

This show has no rewatch value for me. Other reviews are more positive than mine, so give it a try, at least it won't take up much of your time.

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It Doesn't Quite Take the Cake

I was interested in this drama because of its unusual nature. The vast majority of BL dramas are about young adult men. This one about a romance between almost 40-year-old and an almost 30-year-old, peaked my interest. That being said, it didn't quite take the cake for me for a variety of reasons.

First, it felt very dry to me. Nozue's life borders on depressing and its obvious he's not happy in it, but I didn't feel like his emotions or mental state were well represented and there overall seemed to be a lack of emotion. So I really struggled to get into the story and really care about any of the characters. It also doesn't help that the drama is so short, five episodes all under a half hour. I don't think it had a chance to really spread its wings and give us a chance to get to know Nozue and Togawa as individuals before getting to know them as a pair.

Second, while I appreciate what the drama was going for with a more unique couple, I think that was part of its downfall for me. I felt like the characters needed to have more background and more depth to really allow people to be invested in their lives. While I'm at an age where I can understand the grind of work life, something about the way it was portrayed, I couldn't fully relate. Mentally I appreciated what they were going for, but emotionally, I never really felt drawn in and I think that's so important in a drama like this. With younger BL dramas, you can get away with a lot more fluff, I think. This one was going for more substance and it just fell flat, for me at least.

Third, I found the whole anti-aging process to be awkward at best and downright uncomfortable at worst. The whole premise of anti-aging felt off to me. I understood what Togawa was going for, but I felt like anti-aging was just the wrong wording for it. There is nothing wrong with getting older and I felt like that aspect of the drama was pushing society's view of younger is better which I hate. That is such a toxic message and I really wish the focus had just been on experiencing new things together and getting Nozue out of his shell. On that same thread, the whole pretending to be girls was very weird to me. Again, I understood what they were going for, but I don't think it was executed well and it times it was just uncomfortable to watch.

Fourth, and here lies my biggest issue, is at the end when Togawa says, "Having an age gap or being a minority is the same as having different hometowns or cheering for a different baseball team. It's nothing." I get that he is trying to tell Nozue that their age gap and being gay won't be issues or will be minor issues at most and something they can work through together. On the one hand, I can appreciate that and appreciate his confidence in their ability to essentially take on the world, on the other hand, though it also comes across as horribly out of touch and insensitive. Same-sex marriage is not legal in Japan, homosexual couples do not enjoy the same legal protections that heterosexual couples do. To say that being a minority is nothing, to me, minimizes the struggles and persecution those people have to deal with every day. That quote really disappointed me and left a bad taste in my mouth.

Now that's not to say it was all bad. The acting was overall quite good. The cinematography and visuals were well done as was the OST. That being said, they were good, but I didn't really find any of it memorable. What I did appreciate is the theme that you are never too old for love.

I wouldn't discourage anyone from watching this drama. As short as it, its worth watching whether you're interested or not. It's not one that I have any real urge to re-watch, it just really didn't hit the mark for me. Its not bad, but its also not good. I really do appreciate what they were going for, I just don't feel that it was well executed which is disappointing because I think it could have been a really unique story.

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