Cute, low stress, and enjoyable: I urge you to not worry about poor reviews
This was a very simple, sweet series. The acting was very good (with maybe one excerption). I think Joy did a very, very good job. Her acting was both sweet and natural. I loved the fact there was no big trauma or pointless breakup or other tropes. Yes, the leads had sorrow in their past but it was very much in the background. If you are looking for someone that is relaxing and fun to watch, please try this out.Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Once upon a small town
It is cute and has a beautiful village views and that is it. My favourite character was Baek Sung Chul's and spoiler I was team BSC' character with Joy, I do not know it felt more right to end as a couple with.The beginning was pretty good, acting was pretty solid. I do not know what went wrong, was it script? plot? It was not Joy's debut I think, but it felt like it. It was not awful or anything, just not natural at all.
Also the scene of accident - it was so poorly made....
Good thing it was short, but still could have less episodes.
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A perfect show if your mood is down!
I mean, just watching Joy smile worth watching this 6-7 hour long Kdrama!I don't really know what could I say about this slice of life drama, because the story itself isn't what's important, it's the feelgood vibe you'll get while watching. One of my favorite genre is slice of life, because I can just enjoy everything without worrying about the writing or the unnecessary twists.
To be honest, I didn't have any big problem with the show, but I couldn't give 10/10, because I felt, they should've done more with Jiyul's parents and grandparents, not to mention Ja Young's parents.
There are many shows with 16 or 20 or even more episode, but in my opinion, Once Upon a Small Town deserve at least 5 or 6 more episodes. I could watch this s how for weeks, because it's just fun.
Thankfully the love story was well-written, it wasn't annoying, even the love triangle was handled well, and that actually surprised me. Usually, love triangles are really irritating.
The side-characters were also good, the secondary romance was a bit surprising, honestly, because that came out of nowhere, because we didn't see how it happened.
Anyway, if you want to watch a nice drama that you can just enjoy without worrying about anything else, you should watch this!
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For me, it's along the lines of Lie to Me where the plot is lacking but you want to keep watching for the leads. Though, Lie to Me had the lead actor/actress' raw and magnetic chemistry to run with while the chemistry was lesser in this one.
I'd still recommend OUaST for anyone looking for an easy, cute watch after an intense one. The visuals of the small town were nice. And the little kid and his story with his girl, who is a 'friend' was a lot of fun to watch. Watch this for a breath of fresh air watch if the synopsis interests you.
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So many better series out there with similar storylines
My rating is 8.5/10. This is a 2022 South Korean romantic comedy drama with 12, 30-40 minute episodes.First I provide a unique synopsis then review
Synopsis
When Han Ji-yul (ChooYoung-woo) is tricked by his grandfather to leave Seoul and come to a small community in the country, he thinks he will just keep his head down and run his grandfather’s vet clinic quietly. Huidong village is not a place to bring your big city attitude though, the people are close and everybody not only knows everybody but they know everything about each other. Ahn Ja-young (Park Soo-young) grew up in the village and is the jack of all trades helper. She seems to have a hand in about everything and this brings the village beauty into close contact with the annoying city man on a frequent basis. At first this “nosy” behavior annoys Ji-yul who didn’t want to be there in the first place. But it is not long before he too relies on Ja-young to navigate this confusing new social environment. Will the city guy find love in this very unexpected place? Can he win her love over the boy turned man she grew up with?
Review
A nice romantic comedy with a very linear, predictable storyline, If you are looking for something shorter and not very complex, this would be a good choice. It is worth warching once but I may never watch it again. I would not turn the channel if it was on but also would not seek it out. My 30 year old daughter, who watched it with me, said she would rate it 10/10 and we usually agree so that shows how differently people feel about this one. She said she could not think of anything wrong with it. As you can tell, from my review below, I found quite a bit wrong with the series.
Spoilers*
I felt like he was very unkind to her in the beginning for no good reason. He was bristly and aloof in general despite the towns people being relatively friendly. Then it flipped and there was a point where she was not very nice to him. Because of that it was harder for me to completely buy into their sudden deep love for each other. I think, had the series been longer, there would have been more time for them to have a slower build to romance which would have added credibility. For me just them knowing each other as kids was not enough reason for them to fall so quickly and completely as adults.
Ja-young expecting him to remember they were friends as kids and being so angry it took so long was unreasonable. He was obviously severely traumatized by his parent’s death and a mature adult would have realized that. So the anger she had over that was uncalled for. The writers did a poor job of providing that back story. There was not enough information about that traumatic event to understand why he went mute and how he recovered. The person he was talking to on the phone brother? Uncle? Friend? It was difficult to determine that relationship. And it was an important one because you never got to see him being close to anyone else, including the grandfather. When Ja-young got in the car accident and Ji-yul is in a panic trying to get her out I thought there would be a series of flashbacks that would explain his trauma more but there wasn’t. The car was neither on fire nor in the water so it was strange for him to find it that critical to get to her. It implied it was due to the past trauma but you had to make that connection mostly yourself.
I really did not like 2nd guy at all for her. He was mean to lead guy beyond what mere jealousy would have called for. He was pushy about his feelings. Not sweet and patient but it seemed like he took for granted and expected she should turn to him. He never effectively defended her when the others treated her poorly for being an orphan nor went out of his way to help her often. It just seemed territorial and not like he had true romantic feelings for her for a long time.
The whole situation with the ex girlfriend was so brief it felt rushed and not a valid insertion to the story so late in the game. Triangles are often used to reveal the character’s feelings for the lead. In this case the ex shows up and he does not waver at all. And, at first, you wondered what horrible thing she had done. But then you find out she was just going abroad. That separation trope is done often enough those of us in the know expect that separation does not come between true love. But it did. And he just broke up with her. Yet we learn he was so deeply in love with her it took a long time for him to recover. He wondered if he could ever love again. But she shows up and he does not even waiver from this girl he newly loves. The ex had everything, they shared interests and were both veterinarians, lived in Seoul and had history. For him to so quickly choose main girl did not ring true. It would have been more credible if the ex had done something horrible or was not a very nice person or something. Or even if he discovered he never really loved her but mistook friendship for lovel. It nade his love for anyone seem shallow.
When he gave up his life in Seoul to take over the vet hospital in that small town it felt like he was sacrificing a lot to be with her. There was never a sense he grew to love working with large animals it just felt like he adapted. When they were dating and wanted privacy they went to Seoul. So it appeared, as a young couple, Seoul would have more to offer them. Thus the choice to live in the small town did not flow logically. I think the point was the town people started to feel like a big family which is something he never had, but they did not portray that well. It never showed him developing deep relationship with town members. So it just seemed he was giving up a lot and she wasn’t.
Her being a police officer yet doing everything seemed weird. I have seen others about police in a small town and they still do police work. Here she would be, in the middle if a shift, helping to cover peaches. That would have made sense for maybe a town mayor or something but not for a police woman. And she came and went whenever it seemed. It did not make police in a small town look very good. And I do not think, based on a lot of other examples, it was an accurate portrayal.
#ChooYoungWoo
#ParkSooYoung
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Le plaisir de sortir des villes et de respirer le bon air !
J’ai vraiment aimé ce drama tout simple, parfaitement prévisible au niveau de l’histoire (citadin versus campagnards, couple improbable, conclusion attendue…)mais dont les personnages sont sympathiques, les dialogues bien écrits, et donnent tout du long la sensation partager la vie de gens simples et normaux, je veux dire par là sans tueur en série, sans psychopathes ou sociopathes, et si les héros ont leur part de trauma de l’enfance, ils n’ont rien d’extraordinaire non plus. le drama est court, les épisodes aussi, entre 30 et 40 minutes chacun, d’ailleurs l’histoire n’en aurait pas supporté plus ! Il y a de l’humour, de la tendresse de l’émotion, et la découverte de nouveaux acteurs est un plus certain, même si Choo Yeong Woo est encore un peu à l’étroit dans le personnage, ce qui tombe bien puisqu’on a affaire un homme peu sociable et introverti ! Nul doute qu’il a du potentiel, et les autres aussi !Je le conseille donc, c’est un délicieux moment de fraîcheur, suffisamment bien écrit pour qu’on en arrive à penser que les clichés ne sont en fait que l’image de la vraie vie !
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A VERY HEARTWARMING AND CUTE DRAMA!
Watching the trailer i have to say it didnt caught my eye at first, i wanted to watch it for Joy because i only have watched one drama she played and i wanted to see more, after watching the first couple episodes i really like this drama. Growing up in a village i could relate to many thing this drama had, like the non stop gossip between people etc and even tho i am not from Korea, its fascinating how this kind of behavior exists in every country. I really enjoyed watching this, it was so sweet and cute and also different from many dramas because it was based on a small town, i like that we got to see a traditional side of Korea more. The only thing i didnt really liked is the way they treated the poor animals, i think they took it a little to far, i get that animals are important for the plot but some things werent very necessary.The characters were very fun to watch and i liked all of them, especially officer Ahn and Ji Yul, they were very well written and their story was so cute, the actors had great chemistry as well. Officer Ahn and her need to help everyone, was so sweet and her friendship with Sang Hyun was sweet too, i am glad for the way this two ended. Ji Yul had a very interesting character and i love how he warmed up while staying in the village, he was my favorite and i have to say that Choo Young Woo not only is a very talented actor, but also a very hot one, he is 100% one of the most beautiful korean actors for now to me. Joy did a very good job here too, i think she is a good actress even tho i have see many people saying she cant act, they are clearly wrong, comedy suits her too.
Overall, this is a fun drama to watch. The love story is so sweet you shouldnt miss it...
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Sweet
It won't win awards, wasn't thrilling or outstanding, but, if you want a sweet, gentle, easy to watch romance, you cannot go wrong with this.Nicely acted, the usual mix of small countryside village characters, with the city lover who somewhat looks down his nose at their lifestyle. Until, of course, he meets a woman who changes his view.
With the ML being a vet who's thrown from treating pampered pets to large livestock, there are some witty moments and one particularly heart wrenching scene.
There's a bit of a love ? but no nastiness.
Overall a decent, relatively short (at 12 eps), feel-good series. Worth a watch to pass the time.
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Wholesome and fun
This was a very cute and wholesome kdrama show which I'd recommend people to watch; it's easy to get into, the female protagonist is cute and likeable and it has the charm of a typical korean small town story that it delivers quite well on. Some of the plot threads are predictable but this isn't always a bad thing. The chemistry between the lead duo was also good and this is sometimes all a show needs to compensate for the absence of an overarching plot that is wholly interesting.Overall, I'd recommend this show. it balances different tones quite well and I had a lot of fun watching it. I might feel differently rewatching it but on first glance, it was really fun for me.
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So Boring
I really wanted to like this one, but it was just so boring. The discription of the show made it seem like it would give Hometown Cha Cha Cha vibes (and it does to an extent), but at over half way through the series almost nothing has happened. The writing is just lazy and cliche to the point it is not enjoyable, and the cast have no chemistry with one another. The "cute" factor of the show does not save it from being one to skip. There are much better shows to spend your time watching with a similar small town wholesome feel.Was this review helpful to you?
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A sweet break but had more potential
once upon a small town was my wanted break from stressful dramas, it was short and sweet, filled with greenery and small town plots, in general, can really fill your heart up, but I can't help but think about how the plot, setting, and characters could have created something more.the drama starts off with Choo Young Woo's character visiting a small village while joy's character is sort of like the backbone of the village, she goes around helping anyone in need then we have the second male lead played by Baek Sung Cheol, despite contrary opinions, I didn't really find him annoying, I found him rather sweet but they dragged the love triangle too long, dragged the romance and that resulted in a lot of filler and cliche episodes in between when they should have explored the leads characters emotions and situations more. The drama had a lot of possible storylines that they could have explored more and made it more interesting so I was kind of disappointed when they didn't.
I would recommend it if you're not looking for anything extraordinary, it's a cliche love triangle plot and romance between a small-town girl and a boy who comes from the city.
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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.
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