Introduction
The drama is like chocolate, a comfort food. It’s a comfort watch that might melt your heart. Romantics Anonymous is heartwarming, touching, and emotionally moving. It explores themes of mental health, overcoming trauma, and finding connection with someone who accepts you completely.
Chocolate serves as a symbolic backdrop for happiness and healing, a creative and comforting force in the protagonists’ lives.
Drama Info
Drama title: Romantics Anonymus (Native title: 匿名の恋人たち )
Alternative titles: Romanchikku Anonimasu, 로맨틱 어나니머스
Genres: Romance, Drama, Food, Psychology
Aired: 16 Oct, 2025
Episodes: 8 | Duration: 47 min.
Director: Tsukikawa Sho ( つきかわ しょう )
Screenwriters: Okada Yoshikazu ( 岡田惠和 ) and Kim Ji Hyun ( 김지현 )
Remake of the French-Belgian movie "Romantics Anonymous" (Les Émotifs anonymes) [2010]
Where to watch: Netflix
Trailer
Original Soundtrack
Kim Chae Won ( 김채원 ) from LE SSERAFIM sang the Kanji version of the popular 1999 “Confession” by Park Hye Kyung as the theme song. The lyrics depict the internal struggle of wanting to confess but being held back by the fear of awkwardness and the potential to ruin the friendship, ultimately expressing frustration and a desire to be brave. The song is known for its relatable theme of love, anxiety, and hesitant romantic feelings in this drama.
Synopsis
A brilliant chocolatier who’s afraid of making eye contact meets an heir who can’t touch others — but somehow, they’re immune to each other. (Source: Netflix)
Characters
Main Characters
Oguri Sun ( 小栗旬 ) as Fujiwara Sosuke
The heir to the prominent confectionery manufacturer, Futago Confectionery. The new president of Le Sauveur. Due to a certain incident in his childhood, he believes himself to be a tainted being and still suffers from severe mysophobia, unable to be touched by others. Despite undergoing counselling, his condition shows no improvement, and he had long given up on love. That’s when he meets Hana, and is astonished to find that he can touch her without experiencing any symptoms.
Han Hyo Joo ( 한효주 ) as Lee Hana
A Korean genius chocolatier with extraordinary skill and talent. Due to scocophobia, an inability to withstand intense scrutiny from others, she sometimes struggles to perform at her best in competitions. After the death of his beloved mother, her only confidante, she was in despair when Kenji from Le Sauveur recognized her talent and invited her to Japan. She only reveals her identity to Kenji and works as Le Sauveur as an anonymous chocolatier.
Supporting Characters
Takada Hiroshi (Akanishi Jin) – Sosuke’s best friend and the owner of Brush, a jazz bar near Le Sauveur.
Irene (Nakamura Yuri) – A psychiatrist who is Sosuke’s friend and counselor.
Other supporting characters as per character relationship above:
People from Le Sauveur: (left, pink background)
- Kuroiwa Kenji (Okuda Eiji) – Owner and chocolatier of Le Sauveur.
- Kawamura Motomi (Ito Ayumi) – Chief chocolatier at Le Sauveur.
- Yamaoma Sumiko (Ise Shima) – Hall manager at Le Sauveur.
People from Futago Confectionery: (right, green background)
- Fujiwara Takashi (Narita Ryo) – Sosuke’s cousin
- Fujiwara Shuntaro (Sato Koichi) – Sosuke’s father
Others: (bottom, yellow background)
- President Kuma (Yonemoto Takato) – Le Sauveur corporate client.
- Kiyumi Hosen (Yamaguchi Sayaka) – Le Sauveur corporate client.
- Saegusa Ritsuko (Kaji Meiko) – Le Sauveur’s former chocolatier.
- Sugiyama Reiko (Okuda Erika) – La Sauveur customer
- Manekineko (Harada Mieko) – Irene’s counselee
My Rating
My rating for this drama was based on MyDramaList’s scoring system, which is from 0.0 to 10.0. For any drama/movie/show I completed, I gave a minimum rating of 6.0 to appreciate the hard work of the production team, and to adjust to MyDramaList’s overall score base. From 6.0, this drama has additional scores of:
1.0 for the healing and heart-warming story (mental health depiction, mature romance)
1.0 for Han Hyo Joo’s acting
0.5 for the yummy chocolate presentation
My final rating was 8.5/10
I detailed my explanation as to why I gave such additional scores in the Review Section below.
Hana and Sosuke’s first meeting
Reasons to Watch the Drama
Reason #1: Mental Health Theme
Romantics Anonymous addresses the challenges of living with mental health issues in Asian society, where stigma and prejudice are often present. The narrative tells about its characters’ debilitating social anxieties with seriousness and care, rather than trivializing them.
Not only Sosuke and Hana are faced with challenges due to their mental health issues. The characters’ professional therapist, Irene, is shown to be a human with her own flaws, reminding viewers that healing journeys are messy and therapists themselves are not immune to issues. Other supporting cast have their own struggles, makes this show feels realistic.
A key aspect of the show is the honest depiction of the healing process, which is often difficult and requires support.
Their first ‘date’
Reason #2: Comfort Watch
Despite the mental health depiction seems serious, Romantics Anonymous is considered a comfort watch due to its heartwarming, gentle romance and lack of heavy drama or angst. The series features endearing Sosuke and Hana with relatable anxieties, and their slow-burning relationship builds beautifully and positively, providing a feel-good viewing experience. Both of them were able to express even the smallest details, which made their character heartwarming.
The supporting cast is endearing, well-written, and not used as mere plot devices. Many of them are supportive to the couple as well as Le Sauveur, so it’s heartwarming to watch.
Supportive supporting characters: Hiro and Irene
Overall, the show’s slow and thoughtful rhythm, characteristic of Japanese-style drama, creates a calm, soothing atmosphere. The plot avoids unnecessarily complicated or dramatic conflicts, allowing the viewer to enjoy the story.
Reason #3: Mature Romance
The connection between the awkward main couple is a slow-burn romance that feels authentic and earned. Viewers become invested in their journey as they navigate their fears and gradually warm up to each other. They tentatively explore emotional and physical intimacy while navigating their fears. By finding solace in each other, the characters create a safe space where they can be vulnerable and grow. They find a perfectly imperfect love story by accepting one another as they are.
Atypical to heir or boss Male Leads who are typically cold, arrogant, and overbearing, Sosuke is a very compassionate person, and his compassion is shown many times over, which was a good character development.
Reason #4: Han Hyo Joo’s acting as Hana
To accurately portray a Korean person who has lived in Japan for a decade, Han Hyo Joo specifically worked on adjusting her Japanese pronunciation to sound natural for that background. Her character, Lee Hana, has been living in Japan for about 10 years, and it is during this time that she meets Sosuke. Han Hyo Joo had almost all of her lines written in Japanese in the script. She recalled that she was under great pressure to shoot the script, and used two to three times as much energy as when speaking in her native language.
Although she was already familiar with Japanese, the actress studied Japanese very intensely for 3 months before filming. She consulted with the director, her Japanese language instructor, and her co-actor daily to make adjustments, knowing what kind of Japanese would be spoken by someone who had lived in Japan for 10 years. Oguri Shun praised Han Hyo Joo for her continued efforts. At the end, many Japanese viewers praised her accent, which was better than they expected.
Reason #5: Yummy Chocolate
Chocolate serves as a symbolic backdrop for happiness and healing, a creative and comforting force in the protagonists’ lives.
The detailed, mouth-watering shots of gourmet chocolate-making serve as both a central plot device and a feast for the eyes. The visual artistry makes the experience even more delightful and cozy.
Chocolatier Satomi Kawaji, who was in charge of supervising the chocolate, actually thought about and created it. There are many different types of chocolate, but all of them have the same taste and worldview that we saw in the story. The only matcha-flavored chocolate, called Mondu Matcha, is not mentioned at all in the story.
The chocolate promoted in Le Sauveur along with their stories are shown in the image below. From left to right: Bonbon Sakura (Ep 4), Truffles Yuzu (Ep 2), Wasabi en Soie (Ep 3), Mont de Macha (no story), Spécial Orangette (Ep 5), Two-way Confisserie (Ep 6), and Pure Kenji (Ep 7).
Bonus
The cameo at the end of the drama stirred some questions. Could this hint at a sequel or spin-off starring the two, or is it just a cameo? Since Mondu Matcha is not explored in this drama. However, in my opinion, it’s just Netflix’s business strategy. Netflix Originals often end with a cliffhanger to keep viewers engaged and invested in future seasons, which helps the show get renewed. A high level of viewer engagement is crucial for Netflix, as a large percentage of viewers completing a season is a key factor in deciding whether to renew a show.
Sakaguchi Kentaro as Counsellor Ando
Song Joong Ki as mysterious guest
Conclusion
Romantics Anonymous normalizes the experience of anxiety and trauma, encouraging empathy for people with social disabilities. The show emphasizes that emotional growth and recovery from trauma are achievable, especially when you have someone who understands and supports you. Therefore, finding someone who accepts you for who you are—flaws and all—is transformative. Connection is found in unexpected places. In this drama, a shared love for chocolate.
If you’re still thinking of watching it, let the shared love for chocolate convince you with the food porn in this drama! The image below is only one tease of many yummy chocolate presentation:
Spoiler
What is the ending?
Happy ending. Hana won an international chocolate competition. Sosuke could hold his father’s hands. Hana and Sosuke got married.
Were they healed in the end?
Not entirely. At the wedding ceremony, Hana panicked when she saw the crowd. Sosuke took her run away from them, with the guests seemed to understand what happened. They kissed at the end.
