‘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) arsenic she skips to her room to marque chocolate. She breaks into a step, sways to the music, and has amusive arsenic she blends, pours, and makes neat, shiny pieces of chocolate. We spot her rapidly deposit the chocolates successful a container extracurricular a store, and erstwhile idiosyncratic from the store spots her, she makes a dash for it. The exuberance fades, and is replaced by panic. 

Based connected the French-Belgian romanticist drama movie Les Emotifs Anonymes, Netflix’s eight-episode remake is simply a Japanese-South Korean accumulation that chronicles a budding romance wherever societal anxiousness is the biggest obstacle to overcome. 

Hana cannot look anyone successful the eye, shuts herself successful her location owing to her societal anxiety, and is incapable to adjacent question retired a therapist. The passing distant of her mentor and friend, who owns Le Sauveur, the cocoa store wherever she is employed arsenic the ‘anonymous chocolatier’, poses caller challenges. The caller brag who takes implicit arsenic the director, Sosuke Fujiwara (Shun Oguri), insists connected a face-to-face meeting, thing Hana simply cannot ideate getting through. 

Fujiwara, meanwhile, shrinks astatine the thought of carnal contact, carries a comically ample woody briefcase filled with caller shirts for specified contingencies (which see adjacent tiny accidental nutrient splatters), and has to contend with his father’s seemingly increasing disapproval and impatience astatine his information and his work. The unit astatine Le Sauveur, who were blessed to enactment with their erstwhile genius chocolatier owner, are present forced to study to this staid and stiff firm representative. Not astatine each warm, saccharine and colourful similar their cocoa store oregon their bestseller ‘Rainbow Palette’, a acceptable of 7 chocolates. Not excessively acold distant from each this action, successful a neighbourhood jazz bar, Hiro Takada (Jin Akashi), a brooding barroom proprietor and a musician, is initially, shown to beryllium the centre of Hana’s affections.  

The rainbow palette chocolates beryllium to beryllium integral to Hana and Fujiwara’s slow-burn romance. As Fujiwara realises helium has to support suppliers happy, talk to vendors, and adjacent recreate past recipes, Hana proves to beryllium a coagulated partner-in-crime. A relationship forms, and erstwhile they observe their shared societal anxieties, they committedness to assistance each other. Hana prepares for a day by going retired to meal with Fujiwara, and realises she is the lone idiosyncratic helium is capable to stock a handshake with. They enslaved implicit their weaknesses and their shared involvement successful chocolates and Le Sauveur. 

In its bingeable eight-episode tally time, Romantics Anonymous attempts to delve into however Hana and Fujiwara code their intelligence health. Both of them consult Irene (Yuki Nakamura), a saccharine and benignant psychologist, who helps them code galore of their anxieties done enactment circles and virtual counselling sessions (Hana begins to be these wearing a Kendo helmet). We gradually spot Hana go much confident, bask the institution of her colleagues, and instrumentality pridefulness successful her work. The pacing present works arsenic determination is nary sudden, overnight cure, and the amusement attempts to support things arsenic realistic arsenic possible. How Irene, however, agrees to dainty Fujiwara, a friend, but decides to halt counselling Hana erstwhile she learns of their shared connection, feels similar a glaring misstep. 

There are artful shots of chocolates being made (the amusement could person astir apt had much of this), scenic excursions to yuzu orangish farms and lavender fields, and amidst each this, a blossoming romance. Even obstacles, it are addressed rather conveniently, and the beingness of a larger, lurking villain, too, is done distant with quickly. There is nary overarching, convulsive struggle here, and the beats mightiness beryllium predictable, but this is what makes the amusement truthful casual and breezy to watch. Even astatine Hana’s workplace, everyone is benignant and encouraging, making her consciousness included. We dilatory spot her lukewarm up to them, and adjacent erstwhile you would expect characters to showcase jealousy, they are thing but supportive. 

As the stiff and yet warm-hearted Fujiwara, Shun Oguri shines and shares an easy, saccharine chemistry with Hyo-joo’s Hana. The penning (Kim Ji-hyun) favours Hana, who is shown to beryllium a batch much susceptible and nuanced onscreen, but it takes Hyo-joo a fewer episodes to settee into her character. This mightiness beryllium a slow-burn romance, but it helps that the episodes are each little than an hr each; we person had to contend with highly agelong episodes this year, contempt astir 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 tin defy each that cocoa anyway? 

Romantics Anonymous is streaming connected Netflix