Disappointing :/
I was really disappointedThis is not what I expected at all
The story was too ordinary till the limit of being boring
Too detailed without no need
Many side stories which turned this drama to be like the 50 eps family drama
I took A deep breath when I finished it
For the first time I didn't enjoy a drama for shin min ah
This is not her level of stories at all
Shin min ah fashion style was bad for the first time
The make up and the light was bad, made them looked old many times
The story was too predictable
Light but just to watch once which was frustrating
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Unexpectedly wholesome and genuine drama that makes you cherish every character.
Such an unexpectedly enjoyable drama. Maybe it helped that I knew nothing about this drama other than that the male lead was the second male lead in Start-Up, which I had just finished and needed another thing to watch. This is a slice of life in a modest village town where, by the end of the show, you wished all the residents were real and that you could visit yourself. I laughed, cried, and contemplated life while watching this show. Each little anecdote made me think about similar themes in my own life. The whole cast was absolutely perfect and you find yourself becoming attached to each and every person by the end of it. Would definitely rewatch again if I wanted some feel good, wholesome entertainment.Was this review helpful to you?
We can all agree this drama is dated
Shin Ha Eun:"Can you please put away the script under "Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha"'s folder so that I can later edit it and send it to final proofreading before it goes into preproduction?" She asked of her intern before getting up, and leaving the office until the next day.Before her intern could even answer appropriately, the writer was gone.She grabbed numerous papers and headed for the indicated office. Before she could reach out however, a life-changing call came in, during which she completely forgot about her responsibility.Instead she crumbled to the floor and cried her eyes out. Important papers were left in the corner, all but completely forgotten. After a brief cheering up session, the aforementioned intern picked up the papers that belonged to the "Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha" script and in all of her chaos, instead of placing them in a folder, she decidedly left them on the table of a proofreader, who in turn sent it to preproduction next week.
This is how I feel a warm albeit surface level drama came about.
I always like to start off all my reviews by being thankful to all the writers, producers and everyone else involved in making drama. I have the upmost respect for fellow creative people in this field as I know that making a drama is anything but easy. As they say “Good news come first!” In that spirit I'll now list all of the positives I found while watching this show.
First off, the overall ambiance and mood of a small seaside village called Gongjin is stunning. It feels alive. The way they decided to shoot this fictional location as well as the way they decided to frame it makes for a very rich experience. It's fun to look at and discover new things and it almost feels like a character all on its own. Not only that but I am so glad that more dramas are being filmed and set in rural areas as opposed to urban ones. Not only does it make for a more original setting, but it also feels fresh and interesting. I'm glad smaller places are getting the hype they rightfully deserve. Because locations like Seoul have been used so many times before, now they feel uninspired and uninteresting. That's not to say that urban areas cannot be rich in content.Of course not, however it's nice to see villages and small towns get some limelight as well.The music felt appropriate though at times repetitive too.And that’s coming from me, who loved the OSTs to”One Spring Night”.
With that being said, another strong suit of this drama are its side characters. They are full of life. Almost cartoonishly so, But they are believable and layered. Geum-ri,a sweet but often pitiful matriarchal figure of Gongjin, will stay in my memory for a long time to come. Village and zone chiefs who are divorced and thus create a certain rift between the villagers are also stand outs. Not only that but they are probably the most realistic romantic relationship In this drama. I can confidently say that I've seen couples like this before.Oh Yoon,a washed up singer who is trying to take care of his daughter, run an eclectic Café, while shoving autographs down peoples throats,is yet another worthy addition and,to a degree,a wasted potential.Coupled with an gossipy owner of a Korean Chinese fusion restaurant(who also comes across as realistic when placed in village backdrop,I`ve known people like this),they all have presence and a way to pry into the hearts of the viewers of this drama.Do you see where I'm going with this? No? Then let me break it down even further.
Everyone's character and relationship is more interesting than the main leads.
In fact this aspect of the show made me so inspired that I wanted to come up with a suitable analogy to the way their relationship was written. What I've come up with is this: If you're familiar with the way jewelry was sold in 19th and 20th century, then this should come as no surprise to you. Word of mouth was everything. If you were to be told by numerous people about this rare emerald jewel, which can only be found in one specific area, over and over, you'd be more than intrigued to check it out. You’d hear about how precisely it is cut,how clear and vibrant the color is,not at all cloudy…So you’d prepare your boat or pay for a ticket to board one, go on an arduous journey and finally come across one such product. However instead of feeling incredible and relieved, you'd feel cheated because this gem resembles nothing original. Instead it’d remind you of those cheap trinkets you can buy a dime a dozen in the nearby market. This is exactly what I thought of the "Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha"'s principal romantic relationship.
From the very first episode, we follow a (materialistic? )female dentist called Yoon Hye jin(played masterfully by Shin Min Ah.Everyone`s acting was great across the board) and her inevitable move to this seaside village. I really liked her in the first episode. She was honest, cut to the chase, and resistant to the idea of sacrificing her own morals for monetary gain. And then she moved to Gongjin. And she became one of the most annoying female leads I`ve seen in SOME TIME. She was unnecessarily condescending and reminded me of an elitist. And basically did completely change her goal. Thankfully, the writers almost completely dropped this trait in favor of a brat trapped in the body of an adult, mature woman. Or was that truly some thing to be thankful for? Her reactions and even her subsequent relationship with Chief Hong were childish, shallow and nothing I haven't seen before. I would especially like to highlight the unneeded slaps and beatings he had to go through because of this completely normal occurrence of being in a relationship(followed by some light gossip coming from a group of people who have overall been a net positive in their lives) because it was too much for her to bear. This was played off as funny however in my eyes it was anything but.In fact it was chock-full of clichés. I was surprised there was no amnesia storyline. And that's not to say that clichés are never useful.If you use them sparingly and with a purpose they can be one of your biggest weapons when it comes to writing. Unfortunately here they were used clumsily and just because they worked before. I can honestly see some deeming this a future classic, I fail to see that touch of magic that made drama classics such as “Coffee Prince” what they are. What's more, both of these actors have great chemistry, which almost feels wasted in favor of repetitive checkpoints they have to adhere to.I`d honestly love to see both of them in a drama with a well-made script.What I'd also like to mention as many may have stated before,Chief Hong’s storyline seems tacked on with no real idea besides having a male lead with a bitter past. Just like so many dramas that came before.Trauma isn`t addressed and what is,is due to incessant and frankly insensitive pushing by the female lead.Seriously,she was walking a fine line between cracking his shell and berating him altogether.
Finally, many applaud this relationship as extremely realistic, when in reality to me it just feels like another romcom relationship put to the screen. Not great, not bad, just average. Or at times, below average.What works for me in this slice of life show, are the side characters who seem larger than life, and they are what ultimately saved it from dipping below fives.So what the end up with is a beautiful scenic village with interesting bits of information and funny dialogue from time to time, serving as a backdrop to a less than stimulating love story between beautiful people with mindsets that range from infantile to half baked.
In conclusion I love cheesy, sweet romcoms that can make me feel like love is worth something and can lead to victory. I've watched so many crinhy romantic Japanese dramas and loved almost every bit of them,bar some really outlandish scenes. So in theory I should've been the perfect demographic for "Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha". Not only did I enjoy romcoms in the past but I came from a dozen of horror, thriller dramas that have turned out to be just a tad much for the moment.
And still it didn’t manage to charm enough for me to give it a higher grade. At least we’ll always have surfing Kim Seon Ho to look at. At least that counts for somethingI think?
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Too slow and poor story
I didn't know what to expect when I started watching this. I mostly watched it because it was on Netflix and highly rated on here. It started kind of slow, but I figured it would get better. It did after a few episodes, but then it became really slow again and only got worse after that. It doesn't help that the episodes are 80-90 minutes long. The leads' relationship took too long to build up and then stalled for ages and it was boring.Also, I wish this was tagged as "ensemble cast". I know there's main characters, but honestly, the side characters have just as much screen time as the leads. The fact that a dozen characters have around the same amount of screen time means the characters have a lot of depth, but it leaves no time for a real story. The most story happens in the first episode when Hye-jin quits her job and decides to move to Gongjin. After that, it's mostly slice of life for the rest of the show, with some drama that honestly feels forced. Du-sik's big secret was revealed way too late into the show and was hyped way too much for something that wasn't his fault, and Gam-ri's death at the end was really out of the blue and unnecessary.
That said, the acting was really good and I particularly liked Director Ji as a character. Gam-ri was another favorite of mine, and I would have given the show an 8 instead of 7 if they hadn't killed her off for no reason. I also wish they'd done more with DOS and with Mi-seon and Eun-cheol's relationship. Overall, not a bad show, but ensemble casts and slice of life are not really my cup of tea.
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Refreshing and Fun Romcom with enjoyable characters
After having finished the drama, it is safe to say that the drama is a very refreshing and fun romcom with its own quirks. The main male leads are extremely charming, with Chief Hong having a very likeable 'Boy next door' vibe and Ji PD having an equally charming 'Campus Crush' image. Our female lead is every romcom lead from 2018 - starting to pull away from the tropes and yet no so much - her character is still enjoyable and she definitely has her redeeming qualities. Do I love her? Not really. Do I really like her? Yes.The highlight of this drama lies in its portrayal of its side characters. All of them have their own stories to tell and you really see them as people. My favorite character has to be, hands down, Hwajeong. Her story, the way she treats the people around her are all so admirable.
PS. The casual queer representation is definitely a win.
The pacing of the show is surprisingly pretty good and even.
The city where the drama is set is just so so beautiful and the sea is absolutely stunning too.
The humor isn't forced and you find yourself smiling throughout the episodes especially when the characters are bickering.
The OSTs definitely match the vibe of the show and are very soothing.
My main issue with the drama is the way immediately after they start dating, the female lead dumbs down, losing all her personality traits except for being in love with the male lead. When oh when are we going to stop doing that?
Definitely a fun watch that goes easy on the eyes.
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Quite tiring
The cute became tiring very quickly. And from cha cha cha light fun it went full on angst on the last 4 episodes, without much preparation along the story.The FL’s character developed from someone that made assumptions and judgements at the drop of a hat, to someone that struggled a bit when young, to a full on bunny boiler teen in love that demanded the ML’s full attention and life history disclosure on day 3 of the relationship.
The ML had a bit more of depth, albeit the whole of it pretty much on the last three or four episodes.
The stereotypical villagers were all there, and oh god how tiring the whole concept is - zero boundaries, gossiping, etc.
SPOILERS ———
Something nice was the refusal of the ML and the second lead to engage in the normal competition / rivalry trope.
The most beautiful part was the resolution of tooth issue suffered by the lesbian character, an allegory of healing the hidden pain she endured as she came out.
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Hometown Cha Cha Cha? More like Hometown what the fuck
This was so boring. It's a ROM without the COMWaste your life away watching 89 minutes per episode, just for the last minute to have some ridiculous scene, like finding sandals in the ocean.
Cinderella this is not.
I give it 2 thumbs down and I would literally rather watch the last half of Start Up 20x and kill myself after before I watch another minute of this stupid show.
This show makes me go:
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
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High rewatch value
I usually don't rewatch dramas because I often watched mystery thriller, so knowing the story line I would not rewatch again.However for Hometown Cha Cha Cha, I think the visual and tension between the leads were so strong that I kept rewatching the first few episodes, so that drew my attention to them.
After episode 8, I rewatched again because I got hooked by the side characters backstory and wanted to understand them better by rewatching.
After episode 12, I rewatched again for the comedy and the romance.
After episode 14, which is the latest episode I have seen, there is so much revelation to the male lead's story that I have to rewatch again from episode 1 and could fully appreciate his behaviour in the past few episodes and understand his weakness alot better.
Hopefully episode 16 will not make me rewatch again haha. But if I did, the writer has done an excellent job as well as the cast that executed the characters to make me rewatch upteem times.
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Its a average story but well written
For me, this drama is average. Nothing special from the story. But the drama writer can make this story become a good and mature one with good character development. Even though this drama didnt make me bored to death, but the story is kinda slow pace with nothing happened. Lack of heartwarming scenes also. Sometimes i just wondered what actually am i watching? Just seaside village usual life? Its different with reply series, hospital playlist and racket boys. They are also slice of life but there is more meaning and impression in the stories. There is destination in their stories. There is heartwarming scenes everywhere. I am sorry but this drama is not for me.Was this review helpful to you?
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The definition of over hyped
I hated this drama. I tried so hard to finish it just to see if I was missing something, but I wasn't. This show was full of all the tropes I hate the most in shows, and it wasn't even done well.First of all, my number 1 pet peeve in dramas is whens someone falls in love with a jerk. This happens a lot in Kdramas, especially older ones, but can we please out grow that? Why can't people just fall in love with someone because they are actually a decent person? The ML goes to the ends of the earth and falls in love with the FL when all she ever is is snobby and mean. They try at some point in the show to "redeem" her by showing how she came to be such a total b***h (she was made fun of for being poor) but it doesn't change the fact that she is a horrible person who is materialistic and only cares about herself. She also never really changes. People just get used to her snobbery, but that doesn't make it OK.
Outside of the male and female leads every single character is unlikeable. Almost all of the supporting cast play annoying characters who are caricatures of anyone you might hate from your own life. Honestly the only redeemable character in the whole show is the girl who was a closeted lesbian and she didn't even get a happy ending (just goes to show how much this screenwriter hates a healthy relationship).
2nd ML and his plot line also makes no sense. He basically friend-zones a girl his whole career and when she decides to move on like a mature person he doesn't allow her to leave? Why is everyone in this show so selfish?
My number 2 pet peeve is when someone's big bad dark secret isn't bad at all and just a sign of their immaturity. The ML blames themselves for "killing" someone when in reality the person died in an accident that is in no way his fault. I get the guilt he must have felt but if after all those years in therapy he still blames himself, he needs to fire his therapist.
My number 3 pet peeve is when a screenwriter makes a character sexually assault women to be the bad guy. Can we please stop dramatizing attacks against woman? It's lazy screenwriting (there are better ways to write threatening characters), and it's traumatizing for actual women watching the show.
Honestly every single character in this show was either annoying, nonsensical, selfish, poorly written or overdramatic. If I could take back the hours of my life I spent watching this show, I would.
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started so well and promising, but then...
it started so well and promising but suddenly it was a complete drag and felt like it had LOST ITSELF and just could have definetely had 8 (or more) episodes less. what started off feeling bright, relatable, and refreshing, towards the end just became a frustrating, gratuitous and nonsense tearjeaker. such a pity and waste of potential and cast.for the most part, main couple saved this thing with their adorableness. the character hong dusik raised my standards towards men to a whole new surreal level - just made me never want to date a man again unless it's him. but from episode 7 or so til the end, their story felt unnecessarily dragged and i think we all have had our fair share of that in dramas already. the comedy by then started to lose its pace too, and there was a running bit of overboard slapstick comedy between the couple that disgusted me.
the whole cast were definitely great actors and their characters felt realistic and funny, but some secondary couples - although cute - had their plotlines even more dragged until complete exaustion than the main one. i just blatantly skipped many scenes for some of them because of it, couldn't bring myself to care.
this drama had great cinematography, very clever choices of camera angle and movement.
i rated the music as i did because it hadn't really stood out to me, despite not sounding bad.
i wouldn't ever rewatch it as a whole. maybe just some specific cute scenes like of the relationship between dusik and the elderly ladies - which was adorable and reminded me so much of my own grandmothers.
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1This review may contain spoilers
Justifying it all in the name of love
Set in a quaint little seaside town with no villains or overtly antagonistic characters, it may appear feel-good and breezy (like the majority call it), but it was far from it. I'm probably in the minority who did not love this drama. There were so many problematic elements in the various relationships that were brushed aside and justified in the name of love. I have no issues with characters that are grey, flawed, complex or problematic. My issue is when characters' complexities are justified to make them appear ideal, when they are far from that. Not to mention, the surface level characterisations which really irked me. In the end, none of them felt real, even though it started with so much potential.I guess it's worth a watch for those who love the regular K drama romances and are not looking for anything too different, deep or substantive to watch.
-----------------------------------------SPOILERS-----------------------------------------
Let's talk about the decent parts of the show first:
- Our dimpled leads had chemistry.
- Their banter and comfort in the initial episodes eg. scenes like when she challenged him to solve the maths equations or when she told him off - that was the dynamic I fell for
- South Korea's quintessential grandmother and her friends. Loved the natural banter and their relationship
- The 2 kids ended up being the most mature characters on the show. Loved their bonding and camarederie.. I tell ya they're gonna date in the future.
- The police officer and Mi Seon's relationship was sweet and I love that they communicated.
- Glad that the cafe owner's dream to be a famous singer again wasn't forgotten and brought back in the finale
- The ending scene; there was something very endearing about it
Now let's talk about the problematic elements:
1. Doo Shik –Yes, Doo Shik is a nice, considerate guy but after the leads got into a relationship, I no longer saw the guy I loved; the guy who talked informally to her father and was very upfront with him without the niceties or pretence that he must be respectful to her father. She wants to hide the relationship – OK. She hits him countless times to hide the relationship – you’re cute. She introduces him to her so-called friends and brags about graduating from an A1 school and tells him to talk to her friends in a respectful tone – OK. She buys the expensive necklace – Do whatever you want with your money. He never told her that she can't cook. That’s great, but where was his opinion in all this? Respect isn’t silent agreement. It is about stating your opinion and letting the other know that you’re ok the way they are. Silent agreement is either subservience or being avoidant. You’re telling me a minimalist like him has no opinion with her lavishly spending. A guy who wants to live his life his way played golf to impress her friends. This is the same guy who asked her how many friends she has, and she said Mi Seon. This guy knew these friends don't care for her.
Their relationship came across as superficial with just them either acting cutesy or discussing things for the sake of it (with no real issue actually discussed). There was so much potential to show banter and love between a couple that are very different from each other, but the show chose to take another route in making him too nice and accepting, and her being tamed and overtly clingy towards him.
Let’s talk about him before they got into the relationship – when Hye Jin first walked off stating that the villager ought to stop spreading rumours about them, Doo Shik went after her and told her “you have not changed”. After they got into a relationship, he said “you have changed.”
My question is why does she need to change? There was nothing wrong with her at all. Yes, she spoke her mind and was blunt, but it’s not like she never had empathy. She stuck to her business, did her thing. Yes he drew her out, helped her become closer to the villagers, but again, what is wrong if she chose to stay in her own zone?! Why does she need to fit into his expectations as a nice amicable girl who gets along with everyone like he does. Why not accept her the way she is? I hate how she was always proven wrong to prove him right.
Why was his past kept all the way to the end? Why wasn't it infused into the plot? For someone so guilt-ridden, I am surprised that they made him into such a sunshine character. Yes that was a disguise to hide his pain (as the show liked to call it) but I disagree. He looked pretty content to me. Again the show conveniently used his guilt as and when needed, and in the end, it was simply used as a plot device to create angst between the leads and probably add some mystery to the ML. SIGHHHH.
Once the past was revealed, everything went back to being hunky dory.
2 . What was the need to establish a childhood / past connection? Or that she saved him on the bridge that day? Why can't SK dramas move on from this trope especially if it serves nothing to the plot. Even if they didn't meet when they were young or she didn't save him on the bridge, it wouldn't change what they share or make their love any deeper.
3. Hye Jin – A character with sassy potential that was sadly tamed. Till the end of the drama, I never found out about her. Little details were thrown in about her- she had to earn her way to college, she got into an accident during college and suffered a herniated disc, she had a relationship with a guy who dissed her resulting in her taking off her specs and dressing better the next day, she came to Dongjin to make some money. But what do these details even tell us about her? Her dreams, her insecurities, her psychology? Nothing. How did she change from the girl who didn’t eat and focused only on her studies to a girl interested in pretty and expensive things? How did she turn out so vibrant having lost her mother at a young age and fending for her alcoholic father. Nothing was addressed. The only point the show made was that she “changed” as Doo Shik said and became more amicable. While I didn’t like the way she softly pressurised Doo Shik into revealing his past, was she wrong? Nope. But again, she came around, as she did with the other villagers which I’ll discuss below. I wish she took up the job opportunity in Seoul and had a long-distance relationship with him instead. Again, her ambition took a backseat for him. I refuse to believe that she will be happy living in this town all her life because that's not who she is.
Who styled Shin Min Ah in this? The clothes were way too loose for her and did not do justice to her frame and beauty.
4. The villager who slut shamed Hye Jin (said she was having a thing with both guys) and even referred her patients to another and looked down on her profession was justified in the name of grieving for her daughter and letting her do whatever she wants as long as that makes her happy. Are you kidding me?! Just because you are grieving. it does not give you a right to spread rumours about others.
5. The pregnant store owner and her husband – there was constant neglect in that relationship with him not caring about her feelings, or her needs to the extent of him saying shit like “Why can’t you undo your own shoelaces” to a freaking pregnant woman and the only redemption he gets is that “I’ll treat you better.” The worst is that till the end, he didn't even realise what the problem was. She gave birth and there, it's done. Everything brushed aside in the name of upholding the sanctity of marriage and the writer convenient blaming it all on her, showcasing her as the toxic one screaming at him in the last episode and him remarking that it was better when she was pregnant because she was drunk. Welppppp.
6. Similar thing with the landlord and her husband. Why did she even divorce him when she wanted to hold on to him all the way till the end? How is this woman ok with getting back with a man who confessed his love for a younger woman just a while back, and now suddenly wants her back because he got scared that she might move on with another man and not give him the attention he is used to. Her insecurities, his disloyalty and mistreatment was all just brushed aside in the name of love once again. In the end, I felt sad for their son (the most mature character on the show) to have to witness all this. Don't even get me started on the random LGBT angle with the young woman liking the landlord instead of her husband, and the landlord acting like she knew. If she knew then why did she ask this woman to not accept her ex-husband? Did the writers conveniently forget this scene HAHA
7. Hye Jin’s father was justified in the name of loving and caring for his daughter when he called Doo Shik a man with a flaw because he was an orphan. WTF?! How will her marrying into a rich family ensure that she's not lonely?! Just like your wife died, her to-be husband could die as well you know. Again WTF?! What about the father's flaws? Admitting that you neglected her is not good enough. Merely buying her a plant is not called making up for your mistake. Did he even try to do anything for his daughter after that or reflect on his behaviour? Just because you are a parent, it doesn't mean you do everything wrong and that's ok because you love your children. Love isn't something that is felt, it is something that one has to prove with their actions time and time again.
8. Why did we even need the second lead? What did he and his crew, along with the DOS boy group even bring to this drama? His character was too good to be true, and his arc brought nothing to the show. His bromance with the ML didn't feel sincere. Couldn't connect with his relationship with the FL either.
9. Grandma's son turning up at her funeral and acting like a great son who wanted his mother to stay with him when he just left her there and told her to get dentures instead of implants becuase he didn't want to spend a single cent. Sorry but admitting that you are an idiot is not good enough. And Doo Shik being the noble soul he is comforted this guy instead of punching him in the face for the grandma who loved him and supported him all the way. OK I'll accept that as his character.
10. Yet another SK drama that could have been 8-10 episodes, but they stretched it to 16 with episodes that were more than an hour each. SIGHHHHHHH.
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