Shitsuren Chocolatier

Shitsuren Chocolatier
Cover of the first volume of Shitsuren Chocolatier as published by Shogakukan
失恋ショコラティエ (Shitsuren Shokoratie)
Genre	Romance, slice of life
Manga
Written by	Setona Mizushiro
Published by	Shogakukan
Demographic	Josei
Magazine	Rinka Flowers
Original run	2008 – 2015
Volumes	9
Television drama
Directed by	Matsuyama Hiroaki
Written by	Setona Mizushiro
Music by	Bittersweet by Arashi
Original network	Fuji TV
Original run	January 13, 2014 – March 24, 2014
Episodes	11

Shitsuren Chocolatier (Japanese: 失恋ショコラティエ, Hepburn: Shitsuren Shokoratie^?, trans. "Heartbroken Chocolatier") is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Setona Mizushiro. It was adapted into a Japanese television drama in January 2014.

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, so, being a rather quiet and pale in comparison boy, he 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 burning a passion for chocolate and gives a box of famous French chocolates to Sota. 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, Sota 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, Sota 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 cool and superficial marriage to a powerful man and many opinions from his peers and coworkers about his obsession and whether Saeko is, indeed, just playing around with Sota.

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. He is played by Jun Matsumoto in the drama.