Cupid's Chocolates is a heavily Animesque Chinese animated series about a college student named Jiang Haoyi, whose life turns upside-down when three female students from his university, Xia Zitong, Tang Xuan, and Ling Yuan, each claim they are his girlfriend. He finds out that it's because they all ate the Cupid's Chocolate, a chocolate cake which gives whoever eats it false memories of love. To reverse the effects, Haoyi must learn the girls' deepest desires and help them attain them.
Has a webcomic adaptation called Cupid's Chocolate-ing.
Cupid's Chocolates provides examples of:
- Adaptational Curves: Lin Yuan and Xueli are noticeably bustier in the animation.
- Adaptational Skimpiness: Mei Tata's and Tang Xuan's main outfits are more revealing in the animation.
- Age Lift: In the webcomic, the main cast was in high school and wore Sailor Fuku-type school uniforms. In the animation, they're at least 19 years old and attending university.
- Alliterative Title: The title Cupid's Chocolates repeats the letter "C".
- Animesque: The art style is practically indistinguishable from actual anime. You'd easily be forgiven for thinking it's from Japan when it's actually from China.
- Awkward Kiss: Xueli's first kiss to Haoyi after having been dumped by her abusive ex-boyfriend was creepy and uncomfortable, as it was a ravenous, extremely lewd kiss which indicated that Xueli's affection for him had turned from puppy love into a full-on obsession.
- Best Her to Bed Her: Gender-Inverted example. As children, Xueli thought that she needed to be better than Haoyi at everything in order to grow closer and earn his love. It's revealed that her mother told her this, both as a motivator to make Xueli successful and also because it reflected her own past. Unfortunately for Xueli, her mother was completely wrong and Xueli's obsession with constantly outdoing and belittling Haoyi actually made him stop wanting anything to do with her.
- The Bet:
- When they were at high school, Xueli made a bet with Haoji (or, rather, forced him to accept a bet): if she did better than him in the upcoming university test, he would accompany her to the United States. Haoji, who was already trying to distance himself from her, aced the test, making her think he hated her.
- In chapter 7, he makes another bet with Xuan: if he is number 1 in the upcoming academy test, then Xuan must do one thing he requests, but if he isn't then he will do one thing she requests. She reluctantly accepts under pressure of her teammates (as he's usually around 10th and one of them tends to mark higher). When he actually wins, he reveals his request: for the next two weeks, Xuan has to wear a maid cosplay dress for the Athletics Club recruitment drives. Unfortunately, Zitong makes a mistake with the size of the dress, so (a) Xuan has to use her own cosplay dress and (b) she thinks Haoyi did it on purpose.
- Big Eater: Mei Tata is often snacking in every appearance.
- Chekhov's Gunman: The officer on duty that Haoyi runs into at the police station turns out to be an old friend of his, due to his father being the Police Chief. He played some important roles for Haoyi, such as being one of the officers who arrived at his apartment when some kidnappers were trying to break in to kidnap him. Later, he also helps arrest Du Yuze once his plans at Black Mail is recorded and broadcast to everyone in the city.
- Childhood Friend Romance: Haoyi and Xueli were once best friends as children, until she suddenly changed.
- Chocolate of Romance: The Cupid's Chocolate has this motif going for it, of course.
- Cool Teacher: Ji Ran has been Haoyi's teacher since middle school, as well as his Parental Substitute due to how much his parents were at work after he came back from school. She's also a Hot Teacher who wears a dress with a Cleavage Window and likes to tease Haoyi (and flirts with him after she has a few too many drinks).
- Cynicism Catalyst:
- Haoyi once dreamed of being a policeman like everyone else in his family. However, after a gang of burglars attempted to kidnap him, and his father never even came to save (or check up on) him, he lost all interest in it.
- Xueli abandoned all hope in anything except a relationship with Haoyi after being ignored by Haoyi for years made her attempt to make him jealous with a new boyfriend, and then having said boyfriend not only be abusive but dump her in front of the entire school to marry another girl. Afterwards, she saw Haoyi as the only thing good in her life and desperately tried to prevent him from leaving her.
- Despair Event Horizon:
- Haoyi's occurred the instant that his father was too busy at work to rescue him or even check up on him following a break-in and kidnapping attempt at their home. From that moment on, Haoyi decided that he had no dreams left in life and simply wanted to be as mediocre and uneventful as possible.
- Yuan was a cheerful, happy child until her stepfather left, no longer able to reconcile his parents' disapproval with raising a child that wasn't his own. After that point, she could only dream of someday providing her own children with the two-parent home she never had.
- Xueli and Haoyi were the best of friends as children, until Xueli's mother misled her into believing that the only way to win Haoyi's heart would be to beat him at everything. Following her advice, Xueli began belittling and insulting Haoyi whenever he let her win at anything. Coinciding with his own trauma, Haoyi stopped caring and the two drifted further and further apart, until Xueli tried to force him to move to America with her via a bet that she lost. Xueli also made the mistake of dating an arrogant Jerkass in order to make Haoyi jealous. When said boyfriend then broke up with her in the most publicly-humiliating way possible, Xueli came to feel that she had nothing left in her life but Haoyi and vowed to make him love her no matter what and eliminate anyone and anything that interfered with that.
- Sandy was a talented Teen Idol whose parents and agent merely used her and kept her entire life under control as a cash cow. Even her childhood friend and his parents were being paid under the table to encourage her career and undermine her individuality. Sandy overhearing a conversation between the aforementioned parties was the last straw, and after eating Cupid's Chocolate, she fell into a coma where the imaginary world she lived in was a lot more pleasant than the one she was leaving behind.
- Double Standard: Abuse, Female on Male: The abuse Haoyi receives from the girls is typically Played for Laughs, with the exception of Xueli's treatment of him when they were younger.
- Dysfunction Junction: Every single one of the main characters has some sort of major trauma or a repressed desire. For most of them, the magic of Cupid's Chocolates causes them to fall in love with Haoyi by implanting Fake Memories where he becomes a Living Emotional Crutch. Only by figuring out their problems and granting their heart's desire can he break the spell. However, characters like Xueli and Haoyi himself also have personal trauma which has nothing to do with the magic of the chocolates.
- Driven to Suicide: Haoyi nearly jumps off of a building to get away from the girls' enraged devotees who keep threatening him. A love goddess appears and stops time for him before he hits the ground too hard, though.
- Ecchi: A rare Chinese donghua example, since most animated series from there wouldn't dare to step in, possible due to the censors. The Fanservice scenes are indistinguishable from their Japanese counterparts.
- Extra-Strength Masquerade: Several times throughout the series, Haoyi has appeared on citywide (or even nationwide) television or news, such as when everyone thought he was Sandy's boyfriend. Despite this, whenever the latest "misunderstanding" is cleared up, he goes back to being an unrecognized nobody even though he logically would still be one of the most recognizable faces in his city, if not China. He himself lampshades it by saying that if he continues getting noticed like this, then eventually his peaceful life will be gone forever.
- Exotic Eye Designs: Xueli has yellow star-shaped pupils. However, she didn't have those in her childhood. They're revealed to be a cosmetic effect to symbolize her fanatical love for Haoyi, which she gained after being abused and dumped by her ex-boyfriend in high school.
- Fake Memories: Cupid's Chocolates create false memories in the women who eat it which causes them to fall in love with whatever man also ate it. The magic is so strong, however, that the longer the spell goes unbroken the more the fake memories become real, up to even creating fake children and affecting the memories of anyone who comes in contact with the enchanted person. It also causes people to ignore the
Fridge Logic behind those memories (for example, how Lin Yuan's "children" can be 7 when she's only 18). - Foreshadowing: In Chapter 1, when Haoyi is running away from a group of students that wants to pummel him after Zitong's "reveal", he grabs a mop and hands them a Curb-Stomp Battle in seconds. As later revealed, he is a very skilled martial artist, but he hides it away because he is completely disillusioned about life.
- Friendly Rival: Xia Zitong, Tang Xuan and Lin Yuan eventually become this to each other
- Genius Bruiser: It's revealed that Haoyi is not only an academic genius, but also an extremely skilled martial artist. He's simply Brilliant, but Lazy after being disillusioned in both study and combat.
- Good Angel, Bad Angel: In Chapter 10, Haoyi's end up getting in a fistfight over whether he should take his children (the angel) or Zitong (the devil) to the park.
- Guile Hero: Haoyi is shown to be exceptionally intelligent and has a talent for outsmarting other people or hatching schemes to help solve their personal problems.
- Impossibly-Low Neckline: Xia Zitong wears a dress with a pretty low neckline.
- Instrumental Theme Tune: The theme song for the first season does not contain any vocals. Averted in the second season.
- Jerkass Realization: Xueli suffers a series of events that lead to an emotional breakdown and a realization of how and why she became such a difficult person to deal with. She vows to be better for Haoyi, although she still fiercely competes for his affection against the other girls.
- Limited Wardrobe: Several of the main characters wear pretty much the same outfit no matter where they are, such as Xia Zitong wearing pink pumps and an evening dress to a camping trip. Tang Xuan is about the only character who is seen wearing multiple outfits, but that's largely due to her cosplay habits.
- Living Emotional Crutch: Haoyi becomes this to every girl in his "harem", especially those under the effects of the chocolate. Usually, the magic makes him appear to them as someone who soothes a deep emotional trauma, and Haoyi has to help them get through that trauma to break the spell.
- Motive Decay: Haoyi is at a loss to explain why Xueli's behavior toward him changed from their childhood, and even she doesn't remember her reasons until she has an epiphany after being kidnapped. She then remembers that she turned from friendly to hostile toward Haoyi in middle school because her mother told her that in order to earn Haoyi's love, she'd have to surpass him in everything... but after being beaten by him time and time again, she became more and more frustrated and took out her anger on Haoyi. Then, when he finally began letting her win, she started belittling him as an attempt to gain his attention, which made him distance himself from her even further. And lastly, after failing to win him over any other way, she tried to make him jealous with another boyfriend, only for that to end disastrously after said boyfriend reveals he just used her. At the end of that Trauma Conga Line, a confused and distraught Xueli gave up on everything except trying to make Haoyi love her by any means necessary. By this time, she had completely forgotten her original intentions behind any of her behavior, except that they were supposed to let her marry Haoyi.
- My God, What Have I Done?:
- Xueli has two separate instances of this.
- During the camping trip, she attacks Xuan with her sword, accidentally destroying the group's camping equipment and causing Zitong and Xuan to fall into a raging river. It isn't until Haoyi snaps at her and Yuan tells her that if the girls drown then Haoyi will hate her forever that she realizes what she's done.
- Later, she comes to a Jerkass Realization when she remembers that the reason she started harassing Haoyi as a child was because her mother told her that to get him to like her, she'd have to beat him at everything. She thought that flaunting her superiority over Haoyi would make him fall head-over-heels in love with her and never got the message that he was starting to distance himself from her. She comes to the harsh realization that if she hadn't acted that way, she and Haoyi would probably have fall in love years ago.
- Xueli has two separate instances of this.
- Operation: Jealousy: Xueli dated Du Yuze in high school on a whim after her classmates mocked her for buying chocolates that almost everybody knew would be for Haoyi. To prove them "wrong", she instead offered them to Du Yuze. However, she never loved Yuze from the start and merely used him as a tool to try and make Haoyi jealous. This backfired when Du Yuze broke up with her in a humilliating way.
- Ordinary High-School Student: Haoyi is an ordinary college student... until he ends up with the love curse from eating the Cupid's Chocolate and has to deal with a few girls constantly obsessing over him. Subverted, however. It's later revealed that Haoyi is actually a Genius Bruiser who is the best at his school at almost everything he tries, and is only being Willfully Weak out of disillusionment.
- Overdramatic Dating Commotion: When Zitong suddenly goes to Haoyi at his university and tells him she's pregnant with his baby in the first episode, all his peers start snapping endless pictures of them while calling him a "vile bastard." When she tells him that she's three months in, he responds, "who the hell are you? I don't even know you!" The students get angrier at him, so he quickly runs away with Zitong.
- Pink Means Feminine: Xia Zitong wears pink clothes and is the most demure and feminine character.
- Rivalry as Courtship: Xueli's mother convinces her that a good way to get the attention of her childhood friend Haoyi is to compete and be better than him at their studies. Xueli becomes so obsessed with their rivalry that Haoyi ends up purposely dropping his grades and distances from her, which seems to have been the real intention of Xueli's mother all along.
- Romantic Fake–Real Turn: This is how the magic of Cupid's Chocolate works, at least in Haoyi's case. After they eat it, the girls who shared the cake with him all become hopelessly in love with him via Fake Memories created by the magic. The longer the magic remains unbroken, the more real the false memories become — up to the point of creating children that don't exist if the girl believes she and her lover have a family. But even after Haoyi breaks the enchantment over them, each girl then falls in love with him for real, with Sandy in particular stating that she prefers the fake memories to the real ones.
- Rose-Haired Sweetie: Zitong has light pink hair is one of the more meek, feminine and empathetic of the cast.
- Serious Business: It seems like anytime the public hears about Haoyi's perceived treatment of the girls, or even if they just show interest in him, they will either give him a Death Glare, or will actively hunt him down out of jealousy.
- Shipper on Deck: Xuan tries to help Zitong win Haoyi's heart, but only because she doesn't feel she has a shot herself.
- Smitten Teenage Girl: Shortly after falling in love with Haoyi for real, Zitong becomes giddy and nervous whenever he crosses her mind, including obsessing over exactly what to say to him over text message that won't make him lose interest in her.
- Stalker with a Crush: Xueli attempts to follow Haoyi everywhere he goes, and has even expressed an interest in breaking his legs to force him to stay home with her.
- Stock Light-Novel Everyman: Jiang Haoyi is an ordinary college student who accidentally eats part of cake that is made with "Cupid's Chocolates", a substance that implants Fake Memories into any girl that eats it so that they fall in love with any man that did so. Because of this, he suddenly has an Unwanted Harem of admirers crawling out of the woodwork believing that he's their boyfriend, husband, the father of their children, etc. The only way to break the spell is to give the girl her heart's desire (usually involving a Dark and Troubled Past), but that only makes them fall in love with him for real. It's also revealed that Haoyi himself has his own Dark and Troubled Past, and that he isn't quite as "ordinary" as he seems. In fact, Haoyi turns out to be a flat out Genius Bruiser who is the absolute best in his class at almost everything but simply lost the will to apply himself or care.
- The Stoic: Lin Yuan rarely ever shows extreme emotions; even when she's very happy or angry, her reactions are rather subdued.
- Supreme Chef: All the girls are very good cooks.
- Taking the Bullet: Xueli does this for Haoyi twice within the same scene. First, she takes a blow to the head that was meant for him while he was letting himself get beat up to collect evidence. The second time, she takes a knife wound.
- Tank-Top Tomboy: Tang Xuan is a tomboyish athlete that is almost always shown in a macho tank top. But it's shown that her true passion is wearing cute and feminine outfits, which she tries to keep secret.
- Teen Idol: Sandy is a Chinese pop idol whose parents and manager kept her under strict control so that she could continue to make them rich. Even her childhood sweetheart only encouraged her because he and his parents were being paid under the table to do so. When she learns about all this and then eats Cupid's Chocolate, she creates a fake paradise where she can be free and avoid the terrible truth of her reality.
- Tsundere:
- Tang Xuan is a stereotypical jock girl who puts on a tough front at all times, and tends to overreact when she believes Haoyi has done or said something to upset her. This is also because she's in denial about her growing feelings for him.
- Xueli was once an extremely abrasive tsundere and was extremely competitive against Haoyi — wanting to beat him at everything. This changed in their adulthood.
- Unperson: An unintentional and tragic example. Lin Yuan's father died in the line of duty before he and her mother were officially married. As such, his name does not appear in their family register. Haoyi only learns of this from Yuan's elderly neighbor who knew the whole story about her parents.
- Willfully Weak: Early in the series, Haoyi gets beaten up by several people, all while cowering and not making an effort to fight back. Later, it's revealed that he did this both to appear "ordinary" and also to avoid causing more trouble against people who were only doing their jobs. When faced with actual bullies or criminals, Haoyi is a One-Man Army capable of beating multiple armed opponents at the same time.
- Yandere: Xueli has a crazed obsession with Haoyi, often threatening not only to break his limbs or cut out his tongue so that he can't run away or talk back, but has actually attacked more than one girl whom she sees as a threat to their relationship.
- Your Heart's Desire: The only way to break the spell of Cupid's Chocolates is to grant the hearts desire of someone under the magic's influence.
