Amor Rural (2022)

Just Might Be The Worst Korean Series I've Seen So Far--And That's Saying Something!

Someone decided to steal the plot from “Hometown Cha Cha Cha” and messed it up—badly! “Hometown Cha Cha Cha” is infinitely better than this plagiaristic story.

We have a veterinarian who is conned by his grandfather to come to his small town to take over the practice while he and his wife are off on vacation. That was a badly contrived reason, especially since it’s under the false premise that something dire had happened to the grandfather, which draws Ji-Yul Han to the town. Of course, he’s upset that he’s been completely duped. Who wouldn’t be? Especially feigning an emergency! I would have left the town right then and there! The writers should have come up with a much better reason to get Ji-Yul to come to the town. This was a weak element that simply felt ridiculous.

The first couple of episodes are decent, but then it’s all downhill from there as the very uptight Ji-Yul is somewhat cold and aloof toward nearly everyone. Of course, nobody bothers to realize how he’s been conned into the job. They simply expect him to “fall in” and do his job with a smile.

Next, we have Officer Ahn. A woman who has no police officer skills whatsoever. Someone took actress Joy—who smiles, bats her eyes, and gives her little, “Tee-hee!” sound like some blond, blue-eyed woman without a brain in her head. I guess this is the only expression that Joy knows how to use. She’s a very weak actress who makes her role very unbelievable. And, of course, she has that “pouty” face down cold, like a thirteen-year-old when things don’t go her way. Very professional for a police officer who is unable to even deal with a thief.

I’m not sure where they found actor Sung Chul Baek (Lee Sang Hyun) but he’s terrible. He delivers his lines with such flatness that it sounds like he’s standing in front of a school auditorium and reciting a poem. I think I groaned more than a dozen times during the first five episodes as I watched this talentless kid try to sound tough; try to sound concerned; try to profess his romantic feelings.

The love-triangle is cliched, overused, and tiresome. I’ve said it before in several reviews that “My Beloved Summer” is the best series about young love. This one may be one of the worst. Every single cliché was used within the only five episodes that I watched. I couldn’t continue with the series. It was just not worth torturing myself. Especially when there are so many much better series out there. I’m just relieved that each episode was only about 38 minutes long—which felt entirely too long!

Hometown Cha Cha Cha was an absolute gem of a romantic series about a dentist who finds herself immersed in a small seaside town. This series is a poor imitation of that rich story, and without the cliches and silly romantic plots that you might find in a junior high school. The three characters in this series are just not very likable. I certainly wasn’t invested enough to find out how three immature people—adults supposedly in their late 20s, but act like they're all about sixteen or seventeen—resolve their romantic issues. None of them are worthy of any consideration. Officer Ahn is a tease, which I very much dislike as she toys with one man's affections while pursuing another. She's easily the most immature of the three.

This is the first Korean series I’ve stopped watching in over five years of watching them. For me, it was that bad. The series needed much better writing, far better actors, and something more unique and original, rather than trying to copy another series; a series that was truly endearing. In the meantime, I’d highly recommend acting lessons for Joy and Sung Chul Baek, especially. Any series these two end up in, I’ll automatically skip.

Leia Mais

I LOVE IT!!!

I'm loving it so far! The casts are perfect for their roles, the fact that this is filmed in a countryside with greens everywhere is so refreshing to watch, the animals are also cute, it must been hard to film but i love that this also educates the viewers about the animals, I am all smiles while watching every scene. The love line is also good, Jayoung and Jiyul. The story is light and fun, this is gonna be my feel good/healing drama for sure. Watching this along with the heavy plot dramas that are also airing right now, so it's a perfect balance. Too bad that it's only 30mins per episode but I'll be looking forward for the next episodes!

Leia Mais

A feel good Romance!

How Adorable! I really enjoyed watching this! It was a all new cast for me and their chemistry was so cute!! I'll have to go see what else they star in. This is a lighthearted, funny romance with absolutely no angst or over the top drama, It was really rather refreshing. Sometimes it's nice to watch something without going through an emotional rollercoaster. This drama gives all the butterflies of a sweet first love. I couldn't get enough of the main couple, they were so awkward and then once they decided to confess their feeling all the akwardness melted away and they became something so beautiful. I definitely recommend this sweet little bit-sized romance, it will make you remember or give you butterflies!

Leia Mais

Just a really comfy vibe

I'm going to preface this review by saying that I prefer character driven shows to plot driven shows and that this is not going to be too in depth of a review. This show manages to not have any semblance of a plot but I think what got me hooked on was the feeling of nostalgia it evoked in me while I was watching it. I think most of us have experienced or at least can relate to having a really strong but short lived connection to someone when you were younger and wanting to reconnect with that person and I think that's the part of the show that will hook you in. If not that then the chemistry between the main leads is what will reel you in. If neither of these works on you, I think you will dislike the show. I will now proceed to talk about aspects of the show that I thought were well done and parts that were sort of a miss.

The Good:
1) The male and female lead are flawed but generally likeable characters who, in my opinion, have pretty good chemistry.
2) The backstory between the ML and FL was pretty believable and sort of gut wrenching to me at least.
3) The soundtracks in the show were really well done and did it's job in evoking a decent amount of emotional responses from me.
4) The understated visuals of the village were really pretty to me. The farms, greenery and other things just made me feel cozy and at home.
5) I hope this doesn't take away from my credibility but Joy was such a joy to watch, especially being a huge Red Velvet fan.
6) Last but not least, I'm a huge animal person and you get to see a lot of cute animals in this show. Yes, a lot of them are in pain but our loveable ML fixes them right back up.( except for that one time, RIP Mrs Cow)

The Not so Good:
1) The way the show starts was very unconvincing to say the least. Everything felt forced and was just shoved in our faces with no real thought.
2) The secondary characters were just not well developed at all, probably because it was only a 12 episode show. I don't think I was invested in anyone but the leads at any point except for the little kid.
3) The show gets way too loud whenever the two sets of ladies from the town and the neighboring town are on screen at the same time, especially because I didn't really care about them.
4) The secondary male lead was just the worst, classic nice guy who seems great but his only goal for all of the time you knew him was to get in your pants. Good job guy. I generally don't like love triangles but this guy was so bad that it wasn't really a love triangle at all. If this guy was supposed to be an antagonist hats off to the writers, they got the job done.

The Good( with the context of the not so good):
The secondary characters that are annoying get so little screen time, that it doesn't take away too much from the enjoyability of the show
The secondary male lead clearly never had a chance or never will have a chance with the FL, so that's a positive

Final thoughts:
Sweet, I managed to get through writing my first review on this website, I think. All in all an enjoyable watch for those who like the vibes that the show is throwing out, but is really not for everyone.

Leia Mais

Thankfully didn't go any worse, but could've been better

I start watching this just for Young Woo, Sung Chul and the veterinary background that they are displaying. At start, the whole chaotic city veterinarian boy who got pushed to live in the rural village was very enjoyable to me. Especially in every episode they kind of cover on few different cases of animals in the veterinarian world. The most memorable one for me was the old man with his old bull best friend, that was the most touching and heartfelt story.

Unfortunately, the string of cliches that they pulled on ep 8 - 9 has made this drama fall from a solid 8 to a 7, especially seeing how the story would've flow just nice even without the whole ex comeback plot. Not only is she manipulative, but also irritating and annoying throughout her screen time; I don't even like her final goodbye to Ji Yul bcs even then, she tried to twist things around. Fortunately, at least Sang Hyun came back to his sense towards the end and stop being an arse lol

But, they do pull through after that; ep 10 - 12 did not disappoint as I predicted it will, in fact, I really enjoy the moments of them dating secretly; the awkwardness, the struggle; they are soooo adorable during those sequences. Not to mention, her whole confession to the entire village abt their relationship lol. I also enjoy the bits of their long distance relationship; which I hope could've been longer to show their struggle in handling their first LDR etc

The ending was predictable, but adorable regardless. The only thing I dislike is the cliches in ep 8-9, and also the fact that after awhile, they start to lose focus on the whole veterinary plot and we didn't get any story related to the animals anymore, which is a shame bcs they didn't manage to balance that with the romance

Leia Mais

Best korean drama i see for a while

This drama is a drama that I finished in one day without stopping. I watched it over and over because the story is fun and simple, there are no long-winded things and there are not too many episodes so it can be summarized well. the main character is very suitable, I really like the combination of the two of them, this is the first time I have watched a Korean drama without stopping, usually I stop in the middle of the drama because sometimes I don't like the storyline or the storyline is very unrealistic or the characters are too stupid to watch, but for this I really like and am happy because it meets my expectations. If you want to watch a simple drama about rural life and romance that isn't too complicated, this is a very good drama, I highly recommend it.

Leia Mais

perhaps slices of life in a small town will become my favorite genre

After struggling to find a drama that interested me enough to finish the series, I finally decided to watch Once Upon a Small Town. Perhaps my preferences have changed and slices of life in a small town will become my favorite genre. I really liked the storyline and the filming locations were nice and had its own unique atmosphere.

The only thing that bothered me a little was the stiff acting that was noticeable at times.

This type of drama can definitely be boring for many people, but if someone likes similar dramas, I think they'll have fun watching it. I enjoyed it and will try to find something similar.

Leia Mais

Don’t waste your time.

Boring almost fall sleep. Find female caracter annoying was everywhere all the time. I dropped tried to finished too hard watch cliché lines.
The only thing was interesting that it’s shows country life of small village, lovely.
I wouldn’t spend time in this drama, unfortunately I did with four episodes uff!!
I find that the writers tried to convincing the us that this was a great love history with a small budget and small creativity.
The writers are the hart of the Drama if they loose creativity is impossible to fallow it, impossible to be credible and if they aren’t credible we get bored.

Leia Mais

Total Crap, Don't Waste Your Time

Some Manga should never be made into live action and this is one of those times. Good looking cast and perhaps they can act their characters, but the writing is horrible! The director should be fired; WAY too long pauses before either FL or ML react, that it's ridiculous. Production is bad too, with zoom in being way too close (I don't want to see their nose hair) and their heads are cut off at the top. At least they used a film stabilizer, unlike a lot of K-drama's brought to us by Netflix. Music is too loud, although fitting with the scenes.

I have liked the FL in other shows, but in this one she's too stupid and trying too hard to be cute, perhaps to match the manga character, but she fails.

I just can't watch more than what I already have. I don't recommend this to anyone, not even to teens, because you'll feel your brain cells die.

Leia Mais

A short, cold glass of lemonade in the summer heat.

The Good:
- Choo Young Woo (Han Ji Yul). His character was imperfect, but he looked and felt like a tall glass of water in every scene. He's got the physique and presence of the main lead to the point it's so glaringly obvious amongst all of the townsfolk. He really does look like a Seoulite, so the casting choice for him was well done. I also enjoy his acting; he's apt for physical comedy, and I often laughed at his facial expressions and awkward body contortions. I hope he gets a more serious role next time. He looks like he'd do well in a police thriller or a more mature melodrama. I can see him getting a lot of success, especially at his young age.

-The setting. The town is believable, quaint, picturesque, and so realistically presented within this story-book-like cinematography that I could feel the heat and the sun just by watching our characters uncomfortable squirm on their bikes or while picking peaches under the country sun.

-Episode/series length. It was just long enough. I wouldn't have enjoyed hour-long episodes or a full 16-episode storyline.

-Chemistry between Han Ji Yul and Yun Hyeong, and Ji Yul with her cop colleagues

-The animals! Han Ji Yul is a veterinarian and is not just used as a plot device! He's actually working throughout the series and handling large animals. I liked that, and it gave the story more heart. It felt believable, and I enjoyed how the animals were often intertwined in the story.

The Not So Good:
-Unoriginal, cliche-laden storyline. Don't go into it expecting the drama to reinvent the wheel. I didn't, and I enjoyed it for what it was (although I skipped the 2FL and 2ML storylines entirely). I'd just come off a few heavy horror/thriller dramas, so this was my calm respite.

-Joy is not a good actress. The positive reviews are laden with Red Velvet fans, and that's fine, but let's not pretend she can act. I lost count of how many times I rolled my eyes at the fake cutesy laughs. I understand it may have been how her character was written, but it was often overly forced and unnatural. She had fine moments, but even broken clocks are right twice a day.

-Out of 12 episodes, they're only dating for 2, so it took way too long. I liked them dating. They were cute.

*I had a hard time rating this drama because it offers nothing new or very memorable on paper, but I enjoyed it. I often laughed or smiled (and even shed a tear or two), and I'm looking forward to more projects with the ML.

Leia Mais