Divorcée Hiroko/Rie Tomosaka struggles with work-life balance issues as she tries to raise her son Tomoya/Fuku Suzuki as a single-mother while holding a full-time job. Salvation arrives in the unlikely form of Edo-era samurai Yasubei/Ryo Nishikido mystically transported to the present day. In need of food and shelter, he discovers the culinary delights of puddings and desserts. A deal is hatched whereby he devotes himself to household chores in return for food and lodging, allowing Hiroko to forge ahead in her career. However, Yasubei's growing patisserie talents will bring tension to the deal. Hiroko divorces her husband because he was an unreformed male - and yet finds a suitable replacement in a samurai, the embodiment of patriarchal ideals. This could all make for some insightful comment on contemporary Japan and gender roles, but these strands remain undermined as the film follows predictable lines by having Yasubei enter a cake-baking contest, with the ill-prepared Tomoya by his side. Despite one cute scene with white chocolate transformed to snow, the interpersonal relationships, notions of displacement, role, and work-life balance are all under-realized in the end. Quite simply, the film builds up nicely.
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Chonmage Purin gives few chuckles along the way; fun and laughter for the whole family to enjoy.
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