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‘Romantics Anonymous’ review: Han Hyo-joo and Shun Oguri star in a sweet, slow-burn rom-com
‘Romantics Anonymous’ review: Han Hyo-joo and Shun Oguri star in a sweet, slow-burn rom-com
Romantics Anonymous begins with a montage of Hana Lee (Han Hyo-joo) as she skips to her kitchen to make chocolate. She breaks into a step, sways to the music, and has fun as she blends, pours, and makes neat, shiny pieces of chocolate. We see her quickly deposit the chocolates in a box outside a store, and when someone from the shop spots her, she makes a dash for it. The exuberance fades, and is replaced by panic.
Based on the French-Belgian romantic comedy film Les Emotifs Anonymes, Netflix's eight-episode remake is a Japanese-South Korean production that chronicles a budding romance where social anxiety is the biggest obstacle to overcome.
Hana cannot look anyone in the eye, shuts herself in her home owing to her social anxiety, and is unable to even seek out a therapist. The passing away of her mentor and friend, who owns Le Sauveur, the chocolate shop where she is employed as the ‘anonymous chocolatier', poses fresh challenges. The new boss who takes over as the director, Sosuke Fujiwara (Shun Oguri), insists on a face-to-face meeting, something Hana simply cannot imagine getting through.
Fujiwara, meanwhile, shrinks at the thought of physical contact, carries a comically large wooden briefcase filled with new shirts for such contingencies (which include even tiny accidental food splatters), and has to contend with his father's seemingly growing disapproval and impatience at his condition and his work. The staff at Le Sauveur, who were happy to work with their former genius chocolatier owner, are now forced to report to this staid and stiff corporate representative. Not at all warm, sweet and colourful like their chocolate shop or their bestseller ‘Rainbow Palette', a set of seven chocolates. Not too far away from all this action, in a neighbourhood jazz bar, Hiro Takada (Jin Akashi), a brooding bar owner and a musician, is initially, shown to be the centre of Hana's affections.
Jin Akashi and Yuki Nakamura in Romantics Anonymous | Photo Credit: Courtesy of Netflix
The rainbow palette chocolates prove to be integral to Hana and Fujiwara's slow-burn romance. As Fujiwara realises he has to keep suppliers happy, speak to vendors, and even recreate past recipes, Hana proves to be a solid partner-in-crime. A friendship forms, and when they discover their shared social anxieties, they promise to help each other. Hana prepares for a date by going out to dinner with Fujiwara, and realises she is the only person he is able to share a handshake with. They bond over their weaknesses and their shared interest in chocolates and Le Sauveur.
In its bingeable eight-episode run time, Romantics Anonymous attempts to delve into how Hana and Fujiwara address their mental health. Both of them consult Irene (Yuki Nakamura), a sweet and kind psychologist, who helps them address many of their anxieties through support circles and virtual counselling sessions (Hana begins to attend these wearing a Kendo helmet). We gradually see Hana become more confident, enjoy the company of her colleagues, and take pride in her work. The pacing here works as there is no sudden, overnight cure, and the show attempts to keep things as realistic as possible. How Irene, however, agrees to treat Fujiwara, a friend, but decides to stop counselling Hana once she learns of their shared connection, feels like a glaring misstep.
There are artful shots of chocolates being made (the show could have probably had more of this), scenic excursions to yuzu orange farms and lavender fields, and amidst all this, a blossoming romance. Even obstacles, it are addressed quite conveniently, and the presence of a larger, lurking villain, too, is done away with quickly. There is no overarching, violent conflict here, and the beats might be predictable, but this is what makes the show so easy and breezy to watch. Even at Hana's workplace, everyone is kind and encouraging, making her feel included. We slowly see her warm up to them, and even when you would expect characters to showcase jealousy, they are nothing but supportive.
As the stiff and yet warm-hearted Fujiwara, Shun Oguri shines and shares an easy, sweet chemistry with Hyo-joo's Hana. The writing (Kim Ji-hyun) favours Hana, who is shown to be a lot more vulnerable and nuanced onscreen, but it takes Hyo-joo a few episodes to settle into her character. This might be a slow-burn romance, but it helps that the episodes are all less than an hour each; we have had to contend with extremely long episodes this year, despite most K-Dramas sticking to the 12-episode format.
As an easy, binge watch, Romantics Anonymous perfectly fits the bill. It is sweet, charming and who can resist all that chocolate anyway?
Romantics Anonymous is streaming on Netflix
Published - October 25, 2025 06:27 pm IST
entertainment (general) / World cinema
Source: TheHindu
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