Ep. 02 Old Fashion Cupcake
Written by Cordelia Shan, edited by Grace
Today, in this episode, we are going to talk about this year’s new tv show, Old Fashion Cupcake (オ〡ルドファ ッションカッ プケ〡キ), a top-rated BL TV series that has only 5 eps. In this ep, we will talk about the show's stories and even the manga Spoiler alert! Old Fashion Cupcake is now available in English Subtitles and streaming on Rakuten Viki for free. So before listening to this episode, I strongly recommend the listeners watch the show or read the manga.
Listen to full episode :
The first episode was aired this year, June 13, and at the same time, my social media was explored by the good commons and snippets of the shows. Almost everyone I know was talking about the Old Fashion Cupcake, the tv series. I just watched it two weeks ago after talking with the producer of this podcast. So, the memory and feelings of the show are still very fresh.
Old Fashion Cupkae is a TV adaptation of Sagan Sagan’s manga of the same title. The manga artist’s name is very interesting, by the way. If we translate it literally, it means the left side of the bank, the left bank, and the left side of the river. The manga was first published in 2020. So far, there are two volumes of the manga series. I got the Japanese edition manga via Amazon. jp this week, and I have to say, the drawings, art, and stories are all above and beyond expectations. I appreciate Sagan Sagan’s art so much, as well as the story settings, which are close to life and relatable. So many lines in the manga can be called classic. Old Fashion Cupcake is a high-quality BL TV show. It does not only have the big screen level filming lights and colour tones but also heart-grape stories (which also did a fantastic job restoring and retelling the original manga), and the actors’ performances are also very profound. For those who read the manga, the TV adaptation, five eps, is based on the first volume of the manga series. The first volume, also the TV shows, is about burnout, how to deal with burnout, fears, flirting, falling in love, arguments, and finding the meaning of life, again, with another human being.
The story is between Nozue and Togawa. Nozue, who is 39-year-old, holds a senior position in their department, and Togawa, a 29-year-old young man, reports to Nozue. Nozue and Togawa work closely together.
Approaching his early 40s, Nozue’s life becomes uneventful, and sometimes it feels like a pool of dead water, dull and flat. There is nothing Nozue wants, no matter how much others at the company recognise and appreciate his work; he gives up the promotion chances many many many times. We get to know this about Nozue in the first 10 minutes of the first episode. He is good-looking, charming, and gentle. But he is unattached, lonely, and burnt out at a very bad level. He is just an uncle who drinks and smokes a lot. But deep down, he dreams to live like a high school girl, having girl conversations, enjoying cute desserts at restaurants, taking cute selfies, and dating a good-looking guy, someone like Togawa. Which. I am sure many audiences can relate to Nozue.
On the other hand, Togawa, unlike Nozue, at his rising period. He, of course, is handsome, fit, athletic, energetic, and hard-working. Many details in the show tell how Togawa is very good at what he is doing at work. He is an excellent support to Nozue.
Both Togawa and Nozue talk about the feeling of burnout, the feeling of “haven’t accomplished anything so far, don’t know what to do; and don’t know what they want to do.” No accomplishment, no goal, don't know why and what living for, exhausting, wanting to change but also afraid of trying new things - Feeling stuck.
At first, Nozue helps the lost and young Togawa, where the love seed is planted in Togawa’s heart; later, Togawa saves Nozue by having him go out for anti-ageing activities - doing new things or finding new hobbies. They go out to cute cafe hopping, also known as copying living hang out as high school girls. Then, the feelings are built between these two, and then the slow but exciting flirtings fellows.
Flirting
Flirting takes up a large portion of the storyline.
Togawa already confesses to Nozue; he says, “I like you,” at the 18 minutes of the first episode, he finds excuses about what he means by “like you.” But the following stories just keep coming up.
As an audience, I had to pause the show to breathe heavily and take breaks from almost every flirting scene. And the same happened to me while I was reading the manga. Here comes my favourite flirting part; in the last ep., the scene at the dark street corner. Nozue whispers beside Togawa’s ear, “I am indeed turning 40, but I still cannot control the passion for kissing you in the middle of the street.” I screamed with happiness I remember when I watched this.
Last weekend, I re-watched the show with my friend and her husband when Nozue first confesses to Togawa, my friend’s husband all of a sudden paused the show and said in a very excited voice, “Cordelia, this is what happened an hour ago at the Liquor store, this is what happened between you and the cashier.” Ignoring my forgetfulness and confusion, the wife followed, “That's very sweet, but I am sure Cordelia only thought that cashier was just being nice,” and looked at me with a funny face. I am sure many of us have difficulty reading the message in real life, but none of us will miss it when we are an audience. Flirting is the best part of the relationship, my friend told me the other day; because of the confessions, the hardship comes, arguments, fears, and sometimes some lies, not necessarily to another person but to ourselves.
Fears and Arguments
Fears to love or to be loved are kind of what happens between Nozue and Togawa.
After the confession, Togawa breaks down and tells Nozue he knows his confession is scary, so he suggests returning their relationship to only a leader-member relationship. Because Togawa is afraid of being refused by Nozue.
"I'm almost 40, and he's almost 30. I'm a guy, and he's a guy. I'm his boss, and he is my subordinate. Yes, a boss and his subordinate. I'm just his boss.”
Nozue has a massive fear of age, others’ words, and queers. He thinks a lot. He is kind of afraid of love or relationships.
For those who might read the second volume of the manga series, some very realistic scenes happen. Similar to fairy tales, many tv show series have those happily ever ending; but we all know that is BS. Nozue’s deep fear is not that easy to release. Therefore, in the second volume, the artist provides the time and storyline for Nozue and Togawa to work on.
To gain or win love, Nozue realises he has to break the old unhealthy way of thinning or the habit of running away. Like, the reversed Devil moment among the tarot cards. Likewise, for many of us, to gain a new life, love, or the life we wish to live, action is needed and one of the only ways to break the fears.
As Togawa says in the last ep, “Don’t worry too much,” he says to Nozue, “no matter age, gender, queer; neither different background, support the different baseball teams. All of these don't matter. Do not worry about arguments, flights, or disagreements. We will enjoy each other’s company until our 80s.”
If we take everything as a new experience, maybe we will feel less miserable but find out what we can learn from it or grow out of it. Try to enjoy life, and the best thing is to find another person or a group of people to enjoy it the same way as you do.
Ending
“I want to discover the inexperienced happiness with you. No matter good or bad. I have the confidence to become a part of your life; I love you.”
“Please don’t just be a part of my life. Please fill up my life as a whole.”
I believe, most of the time, when we give a lot of positive comments to an art object, book, manga, or tv series, it speaks our hearts out and is relatable. Reading books and watching shows/films often come back to ourselves; we can feel the excitement and comfort at the same time. Watch or read a fiction/show like reading ourselves and the fact. Nozue choose to have a flat life; he gets up from the bed, smokes, eats, goes to work, returns home, eats, drinks, and then sleeps, like, many of us, because it is easy and manageable. After having one cigarette, he walks in the bathroom; he looks at the mirror and feels a bit blue. Then, here, the opening music comes, just like what the lyrics write:
Can you feel the shakes in your body?
It feels like something is going to happen.
Are you ready to love somebody?
Yeah, to love somebody.
There is no magic like the big hit show Cherry Magic! Neither a lot of food cooking and the recipe can be taken like What did you eat yesterday?; Old Fashion Cupcake is not very sweet but a kind of old fashion office love story.
Reference
TV Show: Old Fashion Cupcake (オ〡ルドファ ッションカッ プケ〡キ)
Original work: Old Fashion Cupcake (オ〡ルドファ ッションカッ プケ〡キ), Manga, by 佐岸左岸
Script Writer: 宫本武史, Takeshi Miyamoto
Director: 加藤绫佳, Ayaka Kato
Timeline: June 2022 - July 2022
Castes: 武田航平 Kôhei Takeda, 木村达成 Kimura Tatsunari
Reference Links:
Where to watch - Rakuten Viki - https://www.viki.com/tv/38580c-old-fashion-cupcake
