Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha

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.

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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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A Sanctuary

The beautiful seaside village of Gongjin, with its picturesque landscape, sandy beaches, rustic homes and a quaint red lighthouse that overlooks the vast openness of the ocean. It is the perfect sanctuary for weary travellers and those who seek refuge in its peaceful, idyllic setting. All visitors from near and far are warmly received by its friendly inhabitants with wide smiles, open arms and fresh seafood. Welcome to Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha (where the only thing that’s perhaps missing is a dental clinic).

This fictional village truly exists but goes by a different name in real life - it is actually the coastal town of Pohang in South Korea’s east coast. HomeCha is a remake of the 2004 film, Mr Hong, which in turn is based on the original screenplay written by Kang Seok Beom and Shin Jung Goo. The 2021 iteration is helmed by Yoo Je Won (The King: Eternal Monarch and Hi Bye, Mama!) and adapted into the 16-episode drama format by Shin Ha Eun (The Crowned Clown and Argon). Im Ha Young (Oh My Ghost and Search: WWW) serves as music director.

As it was in the movie, Homecha is a rom-com about a girl from the big city who moves to the quiet little village where she meets and falls in love with a local boy. Sounds like the typical fish out of water character in an opposites attract love story except there’s more than meets the eye. In addition to the romance and comedy, this is a healing drama that explores slice of life aspects, from the mundane to the extraordinary, amidst a backdrop of myriad colourful characters and mysterious backstories.

I haven’t watched nearly enough K-drama romcoms to qualify as an expert in this subject but I’m well aware of the associated tropes that are usually present in the genre. This drama is no exception and features a number of such cliches and plot devices in the storytelling, which I don’t really mind because for the most part, they are generally well executed and not OTT. Despite the plot being rather straightforward, it has to be said, it does start off brightly and remains steadily engaging along with a multitude of story arcs and sub-plots involving certain side characters, mainly the residents of the seaside village. It’s not all rainbows and sunshine, however, due to the inclusion of angst and tragic circumstances in the overarching story.

The production is of high quality and the scenic location of the principal photography affords the drama some utterly breathtaking panoramic vistas, largely attributed to the excellent all-round cinematography. The well-rendered night shots particularly at the waterfront and pier deserve praise as well as the art direction and overall interior set designs of the traditional village homes. The action sequences are minimal but the special effects for a significant event in episode 15 are very well executed.

As far as the cast is concerned, Kim Seon Ho shines the brightest as the affable and down-to-earth Hong Du Shik aka Chief Hong. He certainly fits the role to the tee and rounds off his performance with a powerfully emotional delivery towards the closing stages of the drama that is heart-wrenching to witness. Shin Min Ah portrays the FL Yoon Hye Jin who eventually falls in love with Chief Hong. I find the character somewhat lacking in depth and infuriating at times, while her interpretation of the role is merely adequate. She is certainly capable of more dramatic range but seems to be constrained by the limitations of the script. Nonetheless, both Kim Seon Ho and Shin Min Ah do complement each other visually and the chemistry that they share appears convincingly developed. It’s worth mentioning that the production takes full advantage of their similar facial features for viewers to assign the moniker of “dimple couple” to the leads.

Among the supporting cast, Lee Bong Ryun and Kim Young Ok impressed me the most, as Yeo Hwa Jeong and Kim Gam Ri respectively. These two veterans certainly showcased their nuanced portrayals throughout. Despite her limited screen time, Kim Ji Hyun is memorable in her guest role of Seon A, a testament to her stage experience indeed. The child actors are also deserving of praise, especially Ki Eun Yoo as Jang Yi Jun.

The drama features 8 OSTs, the most prominent being its upbeat main theme, Beautiful Sunday which reflects the overall tone of the production. The rest of the soundtrack consists of slow-tempo love ballads.

로맨틱 선데이 Romantic Sunday by Car the Garden 카더가든
어느 햇살 좋은 날 One Sunny Day by Kassy 케이시
My Romance by CHEEZE 치즈
바람 Wish by Choi Yu Ree 최유리
빛이 되어줘 Be the Light by Kim Jae Hwan 김재환
내 기억 속에 남아 있는 그대 모습은 The Image of You (Remains in My Memory) by Sandeul 산들 of B1A4
Here Always by Seungmin 승민 of Stray Kids
행복했으면 좋겠어 I Hope You're Happy by Lee Sang Yi 이상이

HomeCha is generally an easy and relaxing watch that provides sufficient heartwarming and entertaining moments to fill the weekend and in between more serious or darker dramas in the watch list, which was exactly what I did. The story did take a brief detour through a slightly melodramatic and angsty arc, but eventually everything worked out to deliver a much needed HEA ending for everyone involved.

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Beautiful, good at times, bad most of the time and annoying as...

This one is soooo hard to rate,almost as hard as it was to complete it...

I would say that the characters where about 65% highly annoying and 30% amazing, great and 5% ok then highly annoying followed by ok than highly annoying again (the Female Lead) all due to writing not acting the acting was fina most of it at least not much worse than other stuff, but what was extra troubling was that the awesome characters kept interacting with the highly annoying ones, making it hard to skip if you wanted to see the awesome characters but also hard to watch because of the annoying characters. Such a SHAME and here is why:

The cinematography was beautiful, the scenery was mmmmmmm.... the faces were beautiful, the abs where not bad either... The second couple was adorable ans well so was the second male lead was just the cutest guy ever The umbrella here was such a star and it was used soooo beautifully! really enough to bring up the score. The dimple couple did look good together but their interactions where 50% annoying 40% cringe 10% cute and fun. Making my love for him fade because he liked her...

Kim Young Ok is an international treasure may she live long and prosper! the kids acting AND characters were great and one of the shows most honest lines was delivered by one of the most annoying characters.... yes it did have a bunch of good lines here and there I will give them that, but it was ruined by all the cringe.

Back to the bad, the way they make suicide sound easily avoided bugs the hell out of me, people who are close to people who have commited suicide ten to have enough what ifs as it is, making it seem like a person can hinder an attempt if they just call is just mean. And so are a bunch of other parts of this drama... cringe, superficial, highly predictable, very highly predictable in a bad way sais I who loves cliches but honestly about 80% of the twists where soooo predictable it was as if they were trying to throw us off but it was so clumsy made that any one who has seen a few dramas would guess it. Also great use of product placement as well as village feel and the found family trope thumbs up there!

Story as a whole is 8-9
Character writing 1-10
Dialog 1-10 stars
Bingebilaty 5
Extra points for some well done stuff are unfortunately less than the stuff done bad...

It is not the cast acting (most of it) that is bad it is the writing! I will probably try avoid that writer in the future...

So in conclusion if you like cringe and grownups acting like stereotypical children (an insult to children out there), or just love Kim Seon Ho enough to put yourself thru this than all the power to you enjoy! Me I am happy it is over...

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Lala lala la lala la la wawa summer!

Midtown chachacha is a slice of life show.

Thus, it is boring as shit. There is no plot. Any random small problem was resolved pretty quickly. The characters were kinda annoying sometimes.
Besides like one random couple there is barely any character development. There were many missed opportunities and the main character was honestly abit of a bitch. For a relatively grounded show, the relationships were pretty fucked up. Like the main character straight up commits domestic violence but its funny because women hit man haha you must laugh now. There were 2 interesting plot points throughout the show, which failed to deliver (especially over such a long run time). The show could have been a 2 hour film honestly. It would have been signfiicantly better as one 2 hour film, instead of 20 ish hours of mid.

The acting is fine. But I just don't care about any of the characters. Except maybe that one boy that will 100% be abused by his wife in the future. The villagers yap too much. Watching at 1.5x speed turns them into animal crossing characters, which does increase the watchability of the show by fixing the slow ass pacing.

Besides the opening lalala song that they spammed the shit out of, there was one other good song. Which they severely underused. The clarinet meme song. They could have used this song much more effectively. The show did not deliver. I should not have watched this drama for shits and giggles. It was boring. It honestly kinda ruined the meme song for me.

I don't think I can rewatch this or recommend watching this unless you really just enjoy meaningless drama with 0 stakes. I guess it is boring and comfortable and cheesy and thats up to others preferences. But that shit aint for me bruh.

The peak ending would have been if Du sik had a family in the 5 year void. And on his daughter's deathbed, she says some shit like, when I grow up, I want to be an electrician, engineer or all the random ass jobs that Du sik learns. So that it actually explains why Du sik learns a million skills. Shit would have made the show somewhat worth it, after all the random fluff.

This show gave me indigestion

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Soothing to Your eyes...!!! For Sure.

In this era of all dark theme kdramas, this drama will sooth your eyes. This is one hell of a refreshing drama💚.
About the plot I thought it would be slow paced but I was wrong, it is not slow at all and evolves beautifully.💙
And the casting is just so perfect.Kim Seon Ho and Shin Min Ah did their job perfectly and put a lot of efforts.Their visuals are out of this world.Their chemistry is just adorable.Kim Seon Ho showing his perfect body in some shot are 🔥🙈.
There are many charecters, and they all have their own stories in life.
The people around them are so relatable like we all have these kind of people in our lifes.

In short the best healing drama of 2021.💚💙

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Oh man, I must be missing something

I really don't get it. I must be missing something or watching an entirely different drama than this because I don't understand the rave reviews on this drama. I was so excited to watch this but waited until all the episodes came out because I hate waiting for the next episodes. When it was finally finished, I was so excited to watch it alongside my friend but it just seemed so boring and slow paced. We ended up dropping it at episode 7. Fast forward, some months later, and my friend said he picked it up again and that it's such a good healing drama. So due to my curiosity, I decided to give it another shot. Now I'm on episode 12/16, and I'm just struggling through the rest of this drama. I already have it at 1.5x speed since I restarted because it's just way too slow for me otherwise. And honestly, if I could put it at 2x speed I would but Netflix only lets us go up to 1.5x speed. The main couple is finally together at this point and even though they are cute sometimes, they just seem so cringy on top of it. I must really be missing something because I don't find this refreshing at all. I just want to get to the end at this point. I'm hoping the last 4 episodes will save the rest of the drama for me, but right now, it's not looking too good.

Updated Review:
I enjoyed the last 2 episodes and that's basically what I watched the entire series for. It was a struggle getting there but I'm glad I watched all the way to the end. The two episodes were sad and heartbreaking but we ended with wholesomeness and warm, fuzzy, feel good feelings. However, I guess this drama was just not my cup of tea, it was too boring and slow paced for me. I get that village life is much simpler and slow paced complete with nosy and rowdy neighbors which Hometown portrayed beautifully. But I guess I just couldn't get into it that much which is sad because I wish I could have loved this drama just like how so many others did. Oh well, onto the next one I suppose.

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Unpopular opinion - This drama doesn't deserve the hype it's getting.

First of all, I've been a fan of Shin Min Ah for years and I love her acting a lot.

But I personally think this drama doesn't deserve the hype it's getting. The story is pretty lukewarm, nothing that keeps you hooked up to the story. This story reminds me of those 100+ episode weekend dramas, except they squeezed it into 16 episodes.

The story is laid-back, portraying the daily life of a rural village, and the string of events that takes place when a woman from the city comes to live in it.

The story is okay. The acting is better with a good cast. But it doesn't deserve all the hype it's getting.

I personally had a hard time watching it because it was too boring. I even skipped most parts and managed to finish one-hour episodes in 20 minutes. I didn't even feel like watching it at the end, but I did because I hate to do things half-ass and I was hoping things would get better but NO!! It doesn't!! It's boring until the very end.

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Hometown Cha Cha Cha? More like Hometown what the fuck

This was so boring. It's a ROM without the COM

Waste 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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Disappointing :/

I was really disappointed
This 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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