Before the trending ‘My Personal Weatherman‘, Japanese director Ayaka Kato was first made popular by the blockbuster BL drama released last year, ‘Old Fashion Cupcake.’
‘Old Fashion Cupcake’ tells the story of a corporate employee in his late thirties who lacks ambition and life outside work. Using the pretense of anti-aging, his youthful and handsome colleague encourages him to explore new things. Over delectable confectioneries and cafes, the two start a sweet romance worth getting a toothache for.
Warning: Spoiler alert! Read at your own risk.
Episode 1
Nozue prepares for work and watches the news while eating breakfast, as is typical of his monotonous daily routine. He casually remarks that, even though the newly opened pastry shop featured by the news looks delicious, no old man will be visiting it. At the company where he works as a supervisor, Nozue assists one of his subordinates with a nearly failed transaction. Nakamura, his subordinate, apologizes and thanks him profusely. Nozue assures him, in a gentle tone, that he is there to support him. While checking off his daily activities, Nozue is informed by Togawa, another one of his subordinates, that their personnel director has requested a visit from him after he failed to appear the day before. Nozue nonchalantly comments that he is called for something trivial but Togawa thinks otherwise. To end the conversation, Nozue caves and goes, with Togawa and the rest of the team trailing behind him. They begin to praise him for being a valuable employee while he is out of sight and later discuss other employees who have expressed romantic interest in him. They only stopped when Togawa grumpily called them out. Nozue is persuaded to accept a promotion that he has been avoiding for a long time at Kirishima’s office, their personnel director, and his friend. He declines, claiming that he lacks the appearance of a manager, but Kirishima advises him to think about it for at least half a day, inviting him to a sushi night to cover up a blind date, which he rejects as usual. He goes to the rooftop and smokes to relieve his stress where he is surprised when Togawa unexpectedly appears and approaches him, reprimanding him for smoking in their building but offering to help him spray on perfume to mask the strong cigarette odor. Surprisingly, Togawa inquires about Nozue’s visit to Kirishima and falls silent when Nozue mentions the blind date that he declined. Nozue jokes that he is already too old for blind dates, but Togawa responds that 39 is not old, noting that if Nozue insists on being old, he deserves to be higher up the corporate ladder than Kirishima.
Although Nozue claims he doesn’t care because he doesn’t want the competition that comes with being a manager, Togawa sees right through him and reminds him of when he was a more energetic employee. Before apologizing for sounding impudent, Togawa tells Nozue that he enjoys working with him and hopes that he enjoys his work as well. Nozue unexpectedly requests that Togawa take him to a delicious dessert shop if he knows of any. Nozue is about to light another cigarette after finishing another meeting when Togawa stops him and offers him juice while suggesting activities to relieve nicotine withdrawal. Togawa notices Nozue’s attention is diverted to a group of young girls playing in the park and attempts to refocus his attention on him. Nozue bursts out, “It must feel nice when girls get together,” he says. Togawa responds, opening his juice, that guys can have fun as well, although Nozue disagrees, arguing that they are still not as happy, believing that trivial things like taking photos or discussing love lives can bring pure joy to the female population. Togawa initiates taking a photo of the two of them because Nozue appears to be serious about being jealous of girls and their little happiness, but Nozue just awkwardly stares at him before pulling out his flip phone and taking a photo of him instead, insisting that he’s acting like a girl who will take photos of handsome guys. Following that, Nozue calls Kirishima to officially decline the promotion and admit that he has no idea what he wants to do.
Togawa abruptly asks Nozue if he wants to pretend like a girl before dragging him to a dessert shop. Because they were the only guys inside, they had to stand out from the crowd, creating an awkward situation for Nozue. On the other hand, Togawa appears to be very comfortable sipping his coffee. Togawa tells Nozue to forget he’s a man and enjoy the food like the girls around him. He asks Nozue if he has someone he likes while eating pancakes, then casually states that they are having a girl’s talk, much to other’s chagrin. Leaning back in his seat, Nozue reiterates his response that he is too old for love, causing Togawa to pause from eating. Togawa asks Nozue, staring him down, if he is afraid of love or new experiences in general. Noticing that Nozue’s strawberry pancakes have gone untouched, Togawa concludes that even eating sweets scares him and goes on a rant about Nozue being afraid of failing at his age and the regret he may be feeling for devoting almost his entire life to work. Togawa’s words hit Nozue right on the spot, and he stood up aggressively before sitting back as if his entire energy had been drained from him. Meanwhile, Togawa finishes his pancakes while trying to avoid Nozue’s gaze. Nozue, now calm, remarks that if Togawa had spoken those words to someone else, he would have been punched earlier, despite Togawa guiltily admitting that he is ready to be punched the moment those words leave his mouth.
Nozue believes he has always been successful with his facade, but Togawa, who admits to liking him or rather enjoys working with him, sees right through it. Togawa suspects that Nozue is experiencing andropause after observing him regularly and offers to help bring back happiness by doing things considered anti-aging. He suggests for Nozue to start by taking a bite into his untouched strawberry pancakes which the latter surprisingly finds to his liking. Togawa quotes that feeling regret is the food that brings happiness and fuels life. For some reason, Nozue feels those words are familiar.
Nozue thanks Togawa, who pulls out his phone to take a selfie, as girls do. To Nozue’s surprise, Togawa only takes a picture of him before reminding him of their next appointment. Nozue recalls seeing and approaching Togawa outside the building after his employment interview with them and commends him for being openly honest and attempting to live a life without regret. He then realizes that the quote from earlier is his own words from many years ago. Togawa leads Nozue to a smoking area, thinking he’ll need another smoke, but he declines and declares he’ll be smoking less.
