Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha (2021)

Oh come on

I was so convinced that Homecha would be my first 10 star of 2022 but it just didn’t happen. The first 10 or so episodes were absolutely incredible and I loved the mellow atmosphere of the show. It was hard to admit its faults even then because I was so in love with the actors and the overall vibe of a romcom set in a middle-of-nowhere seaside village. But the last 6 episodes, and especially the last 4, finally made me realize that Homecha was just a bit overrated. Obviously by my rating you can tell I still had a hard time giving it a lower rating, but that doesn’t stop me from complaining about everything wrong with Homecha (imo) in this review :). I guess let’s just start with the leads. I didn’t really like Hye Jin since the beginning of the drama but I kept telling myself that she would get better but she really didn’t? I felt so bad for Hong when she was dragging him around stores, making him try on suits and do yoga with her. Like ma’am you can tell he hates everything about your bucket list, why are you torturing him? I appreciate that the writers made her distinctly different from him and kept her like that throughout the drama rather than making her turn into someone else like a lot of romcoms do, though. She still kept her expensive style and her city-girl behaviors. But dang, you can do that without dragging your man into it. Hong? Hong’s too perfect. From beginning to end. I was SO hoping that his terrible backstory would include him doing something horrible to a person that caused him to change his entire lifestyle and move to a middle of nowhere town to work a minimum wage job. But no… he unwillingly sells stocks (or shares or something I don’t remember) to an idiot and just so happens to be the only survivor of an accident he didn’t even cause. And I get the whole survivor's guilt and I would have been more willing to believe that he blamed HIMSELF for it despite not really doing much to contribute. What pissed me off the most is the fact that other people blamed him for it. What right does the son have to blame a company employee for being begged into selling only a small portion of the stocks/ shares/ whatever that made his dad broke? Anyways I hate to admit it, but the backstory was the biggest reason why this drama is just ruined for me now. I probably got more angry about it than I should have, but I just couldn’t enjoy the drama after that. Like many kdramas, it got really weak towards the end and I was watching it mostly for the sake of being done with it at that point. I still really enjoyed the beginning parts of homecha and got a bit emotional when everything ended. I definitely think there’s better dramas out there, but this one isn’t bad either.

Leia Mais

Originally written on Feb 24, 2022

I have always found comfort in things like Animal Crossing. The feeling of moving to a new town, getting to know the people who live there, and slowly settling in always makes me feel warm and cozy. Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha perfectly replicates this feeling with its main character, Hye-jin, who moves to the coastal town of Gongjin to open her own business.

After a couple of episodes, I wasn’t too sure if I’d finish the show. I remember telling my friend Koen that it was a fun, but pretty generic watch, riddled with clichés, and while this stays true for pretty much the whole series, Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha is so much more than that. It’s fun, wholesome, and heartwarming, but it also knows really well how to tug on your heartstrings. They should’ve just called it Hometown Cry-Cry-Cry, because even though most of the time this is a very wholesome show, this shit will absolutely wreck you.

These K-dramas are usually very long, with episodes more often than not being over 75 minutes, which often keeps me from investing my time in them. But after watching a couple of them over the last couple of years, I also realize that a runtime like this makes you really feel invested in the lives of the main characters, as well as all the supporting characters a show like this throws at you. While the show sometimes drags a little just to fill the runtime of an episode, more often than not, Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha makes great use of these precious minutes to really make you feel like you’re there in the fictional town of Gongjin, getting an iced Americano at Oh Yoon’s café, sitting front row at the DOS concert, or eating squid with the elderly. Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha is a big investment, but it’s well worth your time.

Leia Mais

A feel-good escape from the stresses of everyday life

Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha is a heartwarming and delightful Korean drama that explores the power of human connections, community building, and the beauty of small-town life. The drama offers a refreshing break from the typical fast-paced and often melodramatic Korean dramas, providing a more relaxed and feel-good viewing experience.

The drama revolves around the life of a skilled and well-known dentist, Yoon Hye-jin, who decides to leave her successful career in Seoul and move to the seaside village of Gongjin, where she meets a kind and friendly handyman named Hong Du-sik.

The drama portrays the beauty of small-town life, the importance of human connections, and the healing power of nature. Gongjin village is a peaceful place, where people live in harmony and help each other out. The locals are warm and friendly, and they embrace Hye-jin with open arms. Du-sik, the village handyman, becomes her confidant and best friend, and their relationship gradually develops into a heartwarming romance.

The characters are the backbone of the show, and the actors' performances are superb. Shin Min-a's portrayal of Yoon Hye-jin, a skilled dentist who leaves her successful career in Seoul to start a new life in the seaside village of Gongjin, is relatable and charming. Kim Seon-ho's portrayal of Hong Du-sik, the village handyman who becomes her confidant and best friend, is equally impressive, bringing a kind and endearing energy to the character. The supporting cast also delivers strong performances, bringing depth and nuance to their roles.

One of the most striking features of the drama is the emphasis on community building. The villagers come together to help each other out during difficult times, creating a sense of belonging and togetherness that is often missing in urban settings. This theme is particularly relevant in today's world, where many people feel disconnected and isolated. The drama highlights the importance of human connections, and how they can be a source of strength and support during challenging times.

Another notable aspect of the drama is the portrayal of the beauty of nature. The seaside village is surrounded by mountains, forests, and the sea, and the characters are often shown enjoying the natural scenery. The show highlights the importance of preserving the environment and the need to appreciate the beauty of nature.

Overall, Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha is a well-executed and heartwarming drama that celebrates the simple joys of life, the power of human connections, and the healing power of nature. The show's relatable characters, beautiful scenery, and feel-good vibe make it a must-watch for anyone looking for a break from the typical fast-paced and often dramatic Korean dramas.

The drama is a must-watch for anyone who wants to experience the beauty of small-town life and the warmth of human connections.

Leia Mais

"Miren bien a su alrededor, y se darán cuenta de que están rodeadxs de muchas cosas valiosas"

Lo recomiendo infinitamente si lo que buscas es un drama donde se hable del amor, pero me refiero al amor en general tanto de pareja, familiar, de amistad y de comunidad. Todos los personajes le dan un color único a la historia.

Mientras vez los capítulos no te faltaran las ganas de reír también puede ser que te enojes o que te salten unas lágrimas, pero sin duda lo vas a disfrutar cada segundo.

La frase "Miren bien a su alrededor, y se darán cuenta de que están rodeadxs de muchas cosas valiosas" dicha por la abuela Gam-ri te deja un mensaje claro en el que debemos apreciar lo que tenemos y no centrarnos solo en conseguir eso que puede que ya tengamos cerca en lugares lejanos...

Leia Mais

A beautiful love story that can be light and fun but also emotional and deep

This was amazing. I mostly watch BLs but this has quickly become one of my favorite shows of all time. Almost everything about it is finely executed, the cinematography, the acting, the plot, the side characters… I felt like I was really a part of the small town and I got attached to basically all the characters presented. Every storyline was interesting and different, but they still managed to not overshadow the main couple. They are perfect for each other and I love seeing them together, but I have one critique to make. Their relationship was presented as cold, but lovely I’m the begging, they would always tease each other and that was what kept it fun to me. However, when they eventually got together they lost all their chemistry in my opinion. They were just too sweet and I don’t think that really fit their personalities, especially for Hye Jin, so I wish they would have kept the dynamic that they had before a little more. Nevertheless I still love this show so much and I will always remember it in the best way.

Leia Mais

Came expecting nothing and left surprised to have found a drama I enjoyed

I originally decided to watch this drama mainly because Seungmin (from Stray Kids) is part of the OST, but I ended up enjoying it more than I thought I would .

I must say that i enjoyed the ‘angst’ and everything leading up to the climax of the show more than I did the ending. I still loved the ending though, it was really cute.

The entire backstory of Dusik was also a bit meh in the sense that I would've preferred it to just be a sweet love story with some comedy and angst, but it was still good. Being someone who's lived in a village their entire life, it was heartwarming to see the dynamics between all of the characters in this drama (even if they did feel a bit annoying sometimes lol). I also enjoyed the fact that there wasn't a huge dramatic conflict/misunderstanding between the main characters like there tends to be in most romantic dramas.

Overall a really enjoyable show to watch.

Leia Mais

Relaxing drama full of emotions

l don't know where to start with.

l just finished the drama and l really loved this one. It has to be my most favorite drama of year 2021 coz' it just has everything l expect from a drama.

Starting with the story , l think the kdrama writers really know how to just play with our minds. sometimes they just make us feel so overwhelming that you just cry along with the actors but thenext minute there comes a character with enough humor to just make you smile.the only thing l didnt liked was the backstory of du-sik as that wasn't in need of being so harsh but still the end neutrilizes it.

The cast and chemistry is the best thing this drama has. l love all the couples and even the kids.Every character involved is worth appretiating. I have not watched any work of both the main leads but l seriously love the dimple-couple and now, l'm really a big fan of shin min-ah. And not to forget the best part , ahjumahas' trio. they are literally the best one l have seen after from the one in reply 1988.
Their chemistry was awesome and their story literally made me cry.

The only thing which at first attracted me towards the drama was the gongjin village.
l love nature , especially the water bodies. Everytime the sea or the mountains were shown in the scenes paired with so relaxing and calm OSTs, l just use to rewind those for like most of the times.

Overall a relaxing drama to watch when you want to feel some realstic emotions and some lively time alone but l would really recommend to watch this one with your partner!!

l don't mostly advice rewatching it coz' l know sometimes we just feel to skip after we watch like 4 to 5 episodes when you already know the plot so when you are watching for the first time , relax and enjoy watching it peacefully and don't worry even if you missed the premiere coz' that really doesn't matter!

These were my honest opinions by the fangirling drama-addict part of me.

l really don't bother about budget and all coz' it doesn't even matter to me and l am sorry but l'm not well known with the directors and writers.
This was my first time writing a review and l think this was is a good one to start with.

Have a great time watching !!

Leia Mais

For the longest time I’ve been looking forward to this show to finally finish airing. Having looked up some spoilers in the comment section, things seemed more than great, yay happy ending, yay no breakup, yay wholesomeness. As such I could not help myself and hopped on the hype train and so I ended up having too many expectations leading to some disappointment. Don’t get me wrong HomeCha is a great kdrama, but it’s not nearly as great as I hoped it would be.

About the Kim Seon Ho - Shin Mina OTP pairing, I can only say that I have seen onscreen couples with better chemistry before, but it was fine. The rest of the cast did a phenomenal job. I liked every single supporting actor with one exception and that exception is only due to my personal bias, so I won’t elaborate on that. Even the child actors were surprisingly good.

The story is typical romcom story, without the downright magical setting I don’t think I would have praised it, but It worked very well for the most part.
I have two major problems with the story. Firstly the love triangle felt very artificial. Yes it’s great how and how fast they wrapped it up, it’s also great how civilized the characters were about it and even the bromance aspect of it was decent. I felt the only point of the triangle is that Soompi could write an exciting article about how we should look forward to it. Oh well, I realize I’m probably being unfair with this statement. So feel free to ignore this point, overall this triangle execution is still above average. The bigger issue is episode 15, or more specifically the reveal of the main mystery, why is Hong Doo Shik living the life that he is living, why did he retire to his hometown. Frankly the whole explanation made me angry. It’s beyond nonsensical. Not only did he turn the other cheek again and again whenever someone blamed him, but he also blamed himself for such a stupid noble reason. I guess I could say that I had my concerns about his characterization before, but when the final reveal came I could only roll my eyes in frustration. I think the writer herself had no idea what tragic backstory she is going to go with up until that point, so she kept procrastinating as long as she could and in episode 15 she handled it like a technician, by then knowing that the show was already an unbreakable success. I wish I had known in advance, I would have just fastforward buttoned all those flashbacks, oh well.

The product placements were often pretty immersion breaking. The writing interns were not on top of their game, at least when it comes to the smart incorporation of product placements. PP should be out of the way, not directly influencing a main characters personality and that’s exactly what happened here. The whole explanation about Hye Jin liking brandname stuff, designer bags, designer shoes is just too much. There is also that scene, when she bought a 5 million Won necklace, despite being in the red. (and later on said necklace reappeared again in a comparably stupid way) So yes the drama is so full of product placement related content, that at times I felt I should be paid for watching it, not the other way around.

The most comparable kdrama that I’ve seen is When the Weather is Fine. The story is pretty similar overall, but I think that drama is much better up until the production team COMPLETELY ruined it somewhere near the end. Homecha despite not being quite as good in the early episodes at least provided us with a nicely wrapped up happy ending & I can grumble about ep15 all I want, but that’s not nearly enough to ruin the drama for me, so with that in mind I’ll go with the rating of 8,5.

Leia Mais

A very good time spent!!!

Is it possible to have a drama without so many clichés and be wonderful? I think it is.
Even this drama has the boring love triangle (very slightly) and a criminal (also dispensable), the mais story is simple. And, in this kind of romantic dramas, simplicity is the best.

STORY - an heart warming story, with two beautiful people surrounded by nosy, loud, crazy but wonderful neighborhood!
And that's it! Even if the main couple is sweet and interesting, the other couples and people are amazing.
We have the girl that is a k pop fan, the old singer with dreams of fame, Hye Jin best friend and the police relationship, Director Ji and the filming stuff, and lots of friendly characters and stories...

ACTING - wonderful acting by almost everyone

MUSIC - good music also

REWATCH - why not, in front of a fireplace and a glass of wine and good company

OVERALL - a nice and cosy drama to have good feelings. As I always knew, I don't have to be stressed by criminals, love triangles or squares or pentagons or other boring clichés to have fun.
Please watch

Leia Mais

Just the right amount of everything

I had to wait until it's last wk of showing to watch this series on NF. At the time i was watching Squid and Mad Dog, both heavy in their genres. So when i was done i was quite ready for a refreshing, light watch. Hometown couldn't be any more perfect for that!

And i found it to be really refreshing, first literally. I mean views of the sea, surfing, laidback country life are my absolute definition of refreshing. Of course there will be plenty of old folks, gossip and cliches. The series made sure each episode has all of those. Emotionally, there is nothing overpowering until towards the end. We should all cry at that point if we are human! But we don't dwell and soon flowers are abloom again!

I have to confess i wanted to watch this so i can finally feel at ease knowing Good Boy (Start-up) can get his girl. I wanted so bad for him to get his love! I have a feeling it's not just me. This actor can really effectively win you over to his side to root for him. His overall visuals in this show is also quite refreshing.

The lead actress in her role here is a far cry from the mischievous Gumiho, chubby Venus, and brokenhearted wife in Tomorrow with you. She's a more regular person here, and very relatable. I mean we all had to run away at least once in our lives to get away from so much stress. And we all are guilty of being snubby at least once too. So i could very easily see myself in her.

The things that our minds can do to us! And the things that our hearts can do too! That's why i love this series.

Leia Mais

Satisfied!! Loved it!!!

I have no words to describe what im exactly feeling after i had finished the 16th/final episode. All i can say is im satisfied....there is a relief that all end well in du sik's life (chief hong) !!!!

What i loved is it stick to its story conceot didnt drift away...its sure a healing drama but one of my reasons overall and rewatch value,i gave 9 is because triggering scenes like especially 14 and 15 i could only watch twice time but then at the end i wouldnt watch that part after a certain times (i hope you can understand)....i cried with hye jin and du sik those who have watched it may relate to this.

Story concept and its direction and production was very good. No doubt that all actors and actresses put their level best in their respective chatacters.

Each character in this drama had a story or something to learn from and the story had everything it didnt leave out or miss out any characters story plot till the last episode. At first i found loop holes some questionable doubts. Tbh at the 16th episode i dont even remembers those loop holes or que....it doesnt matter too. At the end that didnt matter coz i felt satisfied. This is like for me one of the kdramas i see in which the finale episode is so precisely shot. In 16th episode , we get to see almost characters ending plot as some of them had their in few episodes early but at the they all have a scenes which makes it special....everhthing is special.

This drama will gives you happiness, cringiness or shivers or hair standing on your hand ( coz of cuteness overload of hye jin and du sik which is still so CUTE) ,overload cuteness and love but also a trigerring points or downfall of that person too...what they are always outside cannot be always be same in inside. Everyone has different healing methods. And this story/kdrama showed it PERFECTLY!!!

I at first didnt like when du sik kept on blaming himself but in 15th ep i was able to connect the dots and understand well well. The story was detailed and very nicely written. Even if you find loop holes ,it may be not important or doesnt bug you much.

Ost is just amazing matches very well with the scenes. This songs are so soothing , jusg live it!!!! All im wanting is the cute dimples of the main leads.

From 1 to 16th episode ,idk how it went by tbh. I wasnt even planning to watch but when i saw multiple clipping od hometown cha cha clipping i just couldnt resist but try out the 1st episode and hear i am, I actually wait for drama to finish but for this i waited eagerly for weekends to watch this. It kept my mind light but at the same time what happened to du sik made me sad but i was happy for to hye jin at the same time. And du sik influence hye jin's life.

Its worth watching, ome of the best healing kdramas you can find...try it out once if you havent and you wont regret it!!! There is more to write but if i keep on writing it will turn into a book. So try it out. I hope you all like it !!!

Leia Mais

So good but that's it

I was the only cast-off here who didn't watch "Hometown cha cha cha" but finally I did.

While everyone was whizzing over this show , I wanted to feel head over heels, I wanted to be mad like everyone else but
honestly, I loved this drama it was so good but that's it.
The hype doesn't make sense to me the way people call it a masterpiece trust me I wanted to get that feeling but never mind.
First, let's talk about the things I like :

-FL's character was my favorite
-The simple yet cute story
-The forwardness of the story
-The cinematography was so serene
-Romance that was so sweet and cute

_The things I don't like ;

-Hong's backstory and the way they legislated his past were mythical.
He was so traumatized by it during the whole show and they covered it in 30 to 40 minutes !!!!!!!!!!!

-Secondly, hye-jin's character expanded throughout the show as we all know and that was conceivably the plus point of this drama but at some time it surged and kinda pressed ( to me ) like the confession and the proposal.

-Lastly, the lesbian facet I mean what was that tho ( ?!?!?!??!? )
That was so undue and hasty ( for me )


Overall I loved this drama couple was so cute and the romance was wholesome, there was no negativity in it and all caressing.

Leia Mais