Han Hyo-joo’s New Drama to Premiere at Busan International Film Festival
Han Hyo-joo stars as Hana Lee, a skilled chocolatier with a secret: she struggles to make eye contact and connect with others
Poster for 'Romantics Anonymous' starring Shun Oguri (left) and Han Hyo-joo (right). Photo: courtesy of Netflix.
Korea’s Han Hyo-joo stars in the upcoming Japanese drama Romantics Anonymous alongside Japan’s Shun Oguri, Yuri Nakamura, and Jin Akanishi. Adapted from the 2010 French film Les Émotifs Anonymes, the first two episodes of the romantic comedy will be screened at the 30th Busan International Film Festival (September 17–26) under the ‘On Screen’ category.
In Romantics Anonymous, two people with their own set of quirks and anxieties, as well as a shared love for chocolates, cross paths. One’s got intimacy issues, while the other feels self-conscious about making eye contact. But as they start to develop feelings for each other, their personal struggles become the real test of their relationship.
Shun Oguri plays Sosuke Fujiwara, the heir to a confectionery empire, who is struggling to balance his germaphobia with his new role at a fancy chocolate shop. On the other hand, Han Hyo-joo’s Hana Lee is a talented chocolatier, but her fear of looking someone in the eye keeps her bottled up. Luckily for both, Irene, a brilliant psychologist played by Yuri Nakamura, steps in to help Sosuke and Hana work through their problems. Adding another twist is Jin Akanishi’s Hiro Takada, a charming bar owner Hana secretly pines for. At the heart of it, the series asks whether love and therapy can help us confront the fears we all carry within.
Han Hyo-joo expressed her excitement about working on the drama, saying, “It’s been exciting to work on a Japanese project again after all this time. I’m especially delighted to be acting alongside our Korean team of producers and the art, editing, and music directors in this collaboration between Korea and Japan.” Shun Oguri highlighted the team’s efforts in paying close attention to language details, stating that they’ve been “examining the nuances and differences between the Japanese and Korean languages and have done their best to make this work better.”
The show’s director, Shō Tsukikawa, shared an anecdote about the project’s inspiration. He recalled how Han Hyo-Joo wrote on his iPad: “마지막 마지막까지 화이팅!” – which translates to “Let’s do our best until the very very end!” This phrase, he revealed, became a “rallying cry, motivating us every day.”
Romantics Anonymous marks Han Hyo-joo’s next television series following her role in the 2024 sci-fi thriller Blood Free alongside Ju Ji-hoon. The new series will premiere globally on Netflix on October 16.
