This review may contain spoilers
Of Chocolates, Mental Illness, and Love Connections
I've been looking forward to this the moment the project was announced so I'm happy to report that I'm not disappointed. It is the best J-drama I've seen in quite some time. I have been avoiding J-dramas in general because I can't seem to understand its appeal anymore, something about their low-budget production quality, directing style, and acting that no longer meets my standards. Netflix-produced J-dramas, however, seem to be several notches higher than their network/cable TV produced counterparts, and this is no different. In fact, it has some of the best productions I've seen in a Japanese drama, period.
While this is a remake of a French-Belgian movie, at its core, it is still a J-drama through and through, from its formulaic and cliched but heartwarming story to its endearing characters and life lessons. The focus on the chocolate-making industry is also typical of a J-drama. The professions of the characters are almost always highlighted and treated like another character in the story and that's something that I've always appreciated. As a chocoholic, I couldn't be happier.
The main characters, Sosuke and Hana, are endearing albeit imperfect and lacking in many ways. That one episode in which they searched for the “God Send” cacao fruit perfectly encapsulates what this drama is all about. A rotten fruit that is meant to be discarded can produce one of the best tasting chocolates known to man. Even an awfully flawed person can still do some good and achieve greatness. I love that symbolism!
I also love how everything is interconnected and that every episode features different stories of people, their heartaches, their triumphs, and their love for chocolate. I'm glad that they showed how debilitating scopophobia and OCD can be. Mental illness is as real as the air we breathe and shouldn't be taken lightly. People do struggle with these disorders every single day of their lives and more movies or dramas should feature them to raise awareness. I do like the group counselling scenes. They are enlightening as well as moving. Yes, it's predictable and tropey, but it's still good entertainment. Not every drama should flip tropes over their heads and contain plot twists to be enjoyable or good. Some just need the right recipe to satisfy one's palate.
My only real beef with the drama is the storyline of the second couple. I honestly don't think it's necessary. It feels out of place to me. Or maybe it's just not as well written as the main couple's that I found it incredibly lacking and unsatisfactory. So both of them also struggle with emotional problems of their own, I get that. But how did they meet exactly? How did they fall in love? What actually happened between them? I can only assume they met through Sosuke?I have so many questions. Even the way they got back together in the end felt rushed and forced. I feel like this was missing at least one episode because they skipped the mont matcha in the Rainbow Palette box. Maybe that was supposed to show more of their history together and also tell us why it was Sosuke in the kendo dojo sparring with Hana instead of Hiro.
Romantics Anonymous is by no means a perfect drama. If you're not used to the quirkiness and style of Japanese dramas, then you'd probably have more things to nitpick on and complain about. But I did enjoy this immensely. I may be biased as I'm an Oguri Shun fan and food dramas are right up my alley, but this really hit the spot. I've been mostly disappointed with J-dramas of late so this was a welcome change. I'm glad they decided to make this and I hope they will do another season with Sakaguchi Kentaro and Song Joong Ki. I will surely check that one out too.
While this is a remake of a French-Belgian movie, at its core, it is still a J-drama through and through, from its formulaic and cliched but heartwarming story to its endearing characters and life lessons. The focus on the chocolate-making industry is also typical of a J-drama. The professions of the characters are almost always highlighted and treated like another character in the story and that's something that I've always appreciated. As a chocoholic, I couldn't be happier.
The main characters, Sosuke and Hana, are endearing albeit imperfect and lacking in many ways. That one episode in which they searched for the “God Send” cacao fruit perfectly encapsulates what this drama is all about. A rotten fruit that is meant to be discarded can produce one of the best tasting chocolates known to man. Even an awfully flawed person can still do some good and achieve greatness. I love that symbolism!
I also love how everything is interconnected and that every episode features different stories of people, their heartaches, their triumphs, and their love for chocolate. I'm glad that they showed how debilitating scopophobia and OCD can be. Mental illness is as real as the air we breathe and shouldn't be taken lightly. People do struggle with these disorders every single day of their lives and more movies or dramas should feature them to raise awareness. I do like the group counselling scenes. They are enlightening as well as moving. Yes, it's predictable and tropey, but it's still good entertainment. Not every drama should flip tropes over their heads and contain plot twists to be enjoyable or good. Some just need the right recipe to satisfy one's palate.
My only real beef with the drama is the storyline of the second couple. I honestly don't think it's necessary. It feels out of place to me. Or maybe it's just not as well written as the main couple's that I found it incredibly lacking and unsatisfactory. So both of them also struggle with emotional problems of their own, I get that. But how did they meet exactly? How did they fall in love? What actually happened between them? I can only assume they met through Sosuke?I have so many questions. Even the way they got back together in the end felt rushed and forced. I feel like this was missing at least one episode because they skipped the mont matcha in the Rainbow Palette box. Maybe that was supposed to show more of their history together and also tell us why it was Sosuke in the kendo dojo sparring with Hana instead of Hiro.
Romantics Anonymous is by no means a perfect drama. If you're not used to the quirkiness and style of Japanese dramas, then you'd probably have more things to nitpick on and complain about. But I did enjoy this immensely. I may be biased as I'm an Oguri Shun fan and food dramas are right up my alley, but this really hit the spot. I've been mostly disappointed with J-dramas of late so this was a welcome change. I'm glad they decided to make this and I hope they will do another season with Sakaguchi Kentaro and Song Joong Ki. I will surely check that one out too.
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