Marshmallow-Chocoholic

Thanks for reading :)!

Thank you for taking the time to read. I’m interested to your opinions of the drama- what is it you didn’t like?

Thanks for reading and respecting my views. I appreciate that we have differing opinions on shows, that certainly isn’t something which should stop us from enjoying dramas!

Thanks for reading I’m glad that you found my review useful :).

Thanks for reading my review :). I agree that it was a shame with this one; it certainly did have a lot of potential but the end result was really messy :(.

I’ll try to keep this spoiler free as possible but yes, there is. The main lead initially starts off with a crush on the FL before developing a crush on second ML whilst the FL does have a side crush with ML’s childhood friend.

Hi,
Thanks so much for reading and I’m glad that I could help . If you’d like I can DM you some titles?

No worries. I’m glad you found my review helpful :).

I’m just going to agree to disagree as this is going to just be endless.I grew up a lot with Japanese productions as a kid from my late dad’s own love of the country. Whilst productions from Japan do hold a special place in my heart, I’ve widened my field of drama watching in recent years to understand and appreciate more about different Asian cultures and cinematography. I don’t really mind I’d we don’t necessarily see eye to eye and I appreciate that your review style differs from mine, as (after all ) it would be a very boring world if we all thought the same.

At the end of the day I believe it’s the finished product which counts ( regardless of country or production value). However I’m at a loss as to why this is being scaled further. You’ve offered your points and I’ve offered mine. I’m not entirely sure why you’ve singled my one review and then tried to escalate this by critiquing my writing , but I do appreciate that we have differing views and opinions on shows. For me this is a good rating, for you it is evidently a bad one. Whilst we don’t necessarily agree, I believe that we should end this on a respectful note and just accept that everyone has differing views and opinions.

I suppose that is a matter of opinion rather than a more objective view. I do not hold the country of origin into account when rating a drama nor its popularity nor am I going to write a review simply to boost a show if the honest criteria doesn’t match it . Of course I’ve watched Japanese dramas which have far succeeded Korean dramas and vice versa, but these are just honest critical thoughts on the drama. However if if we’re going to get into nitpicking about popularity one could argue your rating system of dramas upon 8.0- 9.0 for “ lesser-known” works or dramas may also present a similar problem with less accurate thoughts on a work. I have no problem for you rating these works and going through your reviews I can see you enjoy writing subjectively which is fine as these are your thoughts , but let’s just appreciate that I don’t write this way just as you don’t write my way either.

Thank you for taking the time to read my review.
I often take an objective and constructive-critical perspective during my reviews. This doesn’t mean that I did not like a show or have a bone to pick with the writers/ cast. If you look through my past ratings you’ll understand that 6.5 is a decent rating for me. I love to be “wordy” during my reviews in order to explain why I’ve given this rating and cover ground for the following points; the strengths or weaknesses of plot premise, the acting/ chemistry between the cast onscreen, how their characters were shaped, and/or prominent themes and messages which are apparent throughout as well as a final conclusion. This is my typical review style. It doesn’t matter upon ratings, as I’ll often go into more depth than just brush over matters in order to explain more objective and critical views upon a production/ drama.

No worries :).

High ratings on this website can typically occur as a result of users leaving 10/10 reviews across the board. This can typically cause inaccurate scores which is why ratings on mdl should sometimes be taken with a pinch of salt.

Thank you for reading and I’m glad that you found my review helpful 😁

Thanks Joyce Tyler for reading my review.
I see that you don’t see eye to eye with a lot of my points. I agree to some my views can often be seen as " harsh" or " critical" but I tend to take an unbiased perspective and constructive critical view to dramas. I’m guessing that you probably haven’t read a lot of my reviews beforehand to begin attacking me on my rating. For me a rating of 7.0 is a good show. My review ratings are low not because I hate or have a personal bone to pick with the actors or storyline, but simply because a show has to be entirely flawless ( from my objective perspective) to give it a higher rating. As for the last statement I believe that truly is a matter of opinion than a constructive-critical point. I’m guessing respectively you’re still pretty new to mydramalist. There’s a lot of fun here watching dramas but it’s also a good opportunity to learn about new writing styles and views.

Happy drama watching and I hope you’ll have a good time on this website,
Marshmallow- Chocoholic.

I’m glad that you enjoyed my review.
Thanks for reading!

Hi Kimsamsoom,
Thank you for reading this review and sharing your personal thoughts. I believe a lot of what viewers take from ‘ Hometown Cha Cha Cha’ is dependent on previous experience and opinions of dramas or genres in general. Whilst I didn’t bring it up in my review due to wanting to keep a critical objective and neutral view, I’ve been a long term fan of old slice of dramas from both Korea and Japan for years and so this genre can be quite fun to explore. ‘ Hometown Cha Cha Cha’ itself is based upon the old movie ‘ Mr. Hong’ in a decade where the slice of life genre thrived. As the storyline is given a modern update its evident to see how an old storyline can be perceived as fresh or new in the present day against more heavy-hitting or darker storylines coming out of South-Korea. There’s nothing wrong with that and as you said it does present a sense of nostalgia but critically the character direction was a little mismatched. My biggest personal problem with Hye-Jin was that there was a lit the series tried to present with her character arc rather than didn’t but there were a lot of moments left unexplained with her past and her actions. ( Even one of the most early examples being manipulating the truth in the lift to her future client in the first episode. Did she do this just to avoid small talk?, Was she embarrassed? It seems a small detail but tiny actions can reflect a lot about a character and many of them were rarely put together for Hye-Jin.)

I can understand your point upon the show wanting to focus more on Du Sik but in my opinion to write a symbiotic and dynamic character relationship in a drama and make them feel human, you need characters to have leverage. Yes, there are many drama examples of characters who have “more depth” or “darker pasts” and still can work as main leads. However thinking of some classics such as ‘ Orange Days’ or even more recently ‘ My Love From Another Star’ you can fall in love with this relationship because you’ve seen both main characters grow from their shells of prosaic writing .

Perhaps it is my cynicism getting to me but once you’ve seen a lot of ‘ Cha Cha Cha’ style dramas from different decades ,then the basic premise of ‘ Hometown Cha Cha Cha’ rarely stands out. (That is of course speaking personally . ) I’m glad to hear you can enjoy the drama for all of its flaws and strengths. However I certainly do agree that the rating system on ‘ Mydramalist’ should give you the ability to rate in between stars. My only guess is that the admins got rid of it due to complicating the average rating too much.

Happy drama watching,
Marshmallow- Chocoholic.

Thank you for reading and I am glad my review echoed similar thoughts for you :)

Thank you for taking the time to comment on my review ,
I find it interesting as to what you exactly see as ''inaccurate''. I respect that we all see differently and I know that my review style can come across as harsh, critical or draconian to some. Whilst I have written subjectively in the past with some reviews , typically I try taking an objective/ constructive-critical view. This might not necessarily be the most preferred of my own opinions or others towards a show but I am curious to know differing views also.
King regards,
Marshmallow- Chocoholic.

Agreed entirely. I was really looking forward to seeing where they’d take this storyline especially with the morally ethical questioning of the guards shooting one of their own, and how they got involved in the game as well. ( It really is a shame that they didn’t explore this more.)Additionally it would’ve been interesting to have found out more about the VIP members and their involvement in funding or supporting the games also.