Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha (2021)

Ms. Dentist should have brought more friends from Seoul

The show is part small-town ensemble comedy and part romance between leads attempting to overcome difficult childhoods. The foundation is there for a successful show. There’s some terrific actors in the supporting roles. Jo Han Chul, Lee Bong Ryun and and Cha Chung Hwa are excellent performers. It’s not uniformly great up and down the roster (In Gyo Jin as the district head and Lee Bong Ryun’s ex-husband flops badly), but it’s a serviceable group. Several of the supporting cast appear to function as comedic relief (Jo Han Chul’s Oh Yoon and Cha Chung Hwa’s Nam Sook particularly). The comedy, unfortunately, rarely connects. A great deal of it doesn't land because it relies on crudely portraying the locals as a group of hillbillies that has no fashion sense, no sophistication, can't solve basic problems, can barely operate modern technology and is semi-literate. Punching down isn't a good strategy to generate laughs and even if it were, the characters and cast used to attempt it here execute it poorly.

There's other issues too. Early, it appears that there’s some special connection between Chief Hong and Kim Young Ok’s Gam Ri, but her presence fades until there is a throw-in backstory moment near the end. There’s not merely one secondary romance, but a handful of relationships between supporting characters. None of them, however, get enough screen time investment to pay off. While Lee Bong Ryun’s Hwa Jeong is a strong character and gets enough screen time to develop an entertaining arc, the rest of this crew are not much more than one dimensional characters that only very intermittently entertain. Overall, the ensemble just never develops as it has too many characters, not enough character in those characters and a poor job of weaving the supporting arcs to the overarching narrative.

Which leaves it up to the leads to carry the show. And the leads are more than capable hands. Shin Min Ah is marvelous as the centerpiece character - a driven dentist with an inner warmth that isn’t visible through a normally prickly exterior. The character is far from perfect and frustratingly stubborn as she consistently finds ways to damage the tenuous relationships in her new seaside neighborhood. But the blemishes make her charms shine brighter as she begins to connect and find her way.

As for Kim Seon Ho, this is the most Kim Seon Ho style role ever. It is distilled, purest Kim Seon Ho and for viewers that are looking for what he's done in previous work only with more of it and taken to an even more natural, laid-back, "aw shucks" style, this role will probably never be surpassed. For viewers looking for something that would expand his range or show a new type of character, search elsewhere. But he works extremely well with Shin Min Ah and whether it was written with this intent or simply this actor found the right balance, his Chief Hong is the only resident character that doesn't end up being pigeonholed as a backwards simpleton.

Were it not for some missteps with the narrative setting up the conclusion, Ms. Dentist and Chief Hong would probably contend for best romantic lead couple of any drama this year. But the long-awaited unveiling of Chief Hong’s back story is teeming with cliches and reveals that should surprise exactly zero viewers. There’s also some uninspired dialogue in what should be a big emotional moment. It’s exactly when things should be building up to a grand conclusion that it deflates instead. To confound matters more, there's an explosion of crying and product placement in the final two episodes. Frankly, the last three episodes are a massive disappointment. While a less than stellar conclusion shouldn't completely negate what had been a worthy production up to that point, "Hometown Cha Cha Cha" nosedives badly. Badly enough that it does cast a shadow on the show as a whole.

Recommended but barely.

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High rewatch value

I usually don't rewatch dramas because I often watched mystery thriller, so knowing the story line I would not rewatch again.

However for Hometown Cha Cha Cha, I think the visual and tension between the leads were so strong that I kept rewatching the first few episodes, so that drew my attention to them.

After episode 8, I rewatched again because I got hooked by the side characters backstory and wanted to understand them better by rewatching.

After episode 12, I rewatched again for the comedy and the romance.

After episode 14, which is the latest episode I have seen, there is so much revelation to the male lead's story that I have to rewatch again from episode 1 and could fully appreciate his behaviour in the past few episodes and understand his weakness alot better.

Hopefully episode 16 will not make me rewatch again haha. But if I did, the writer has done an excellent job as well as the cast that executed the characters to make me rewatch upteem times.

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Comforting but a little boring

I think this drama would be good for people who enjoyed Run On, Because This Is My First Life, and Racket Boys — all dramas that were pretty mellow and comforting, where any romance was pretty simple, straightforward, and honestly a little distant. I do love good communication between characters and I also loved seeing strangers get to know each other but I felt like I never really felt giddy or that invested in them. The relationship is almost too mellow for me (as someone who just wants a little more playfulness and casual banter).

There are also some cliches in the plot that felt a little out of place for 2021, and the pacing was a little weird with not focusing on the male lead at all until near the last few episodes.

I'm also pretty on the fence about the side stories — there are some scenes that were very touching and heart-warming but overall I definitely wasn't that invested in their stories as much and I even found them a little annoying at times.

I know 6.5 might seem like a low rating but it's not and it's really more out of indifference than dislike; I've watched worse dramas that made me feel more.

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We can all agree this drama is dated

Shin Ha Eun:"Can you please put away the script under "Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha"'s folder so that I can later edit it and send it to final proofreading before it goes into preproduction?" She asked of her intern before getting up, and leaving the office until the next day.
Before her intern could even answer appropriately, the writer was gone.She grabbed numerous papers and headed for the indicated office. Before she could reach out however, a life-changing call came in, during which she completely forgot about her responsibility.Instead she crumbled to the floor and cried her eyes out. Important papers were left in the corner, all but completely forgotten. After a brief cheering up session, the aforementioned intern picked up the papers that belonged to the "Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha" script and in all of her chaos, instead of placing them in a folder, she decidedly left them on the table of a proofreader, who in turn sent it to preproduction next week.

This is how I feel a warm albeit surface level drama came about.

I always like to start off all my reviews by being thankful to all the writers, producers and everyone else involved in making drama. I have the upmost respect for fellow creative people in this field as I know that making a drama is anything but easy. As they say “Good news come first!” In that spirit I'll now list all of the positives I found while watching this show.

First off, the overall ambiance and mood of a small seaside village called Gongjin is stunning. It feels alive. The way they decided to shoot this fictional location as well as the way they decided to frame it makes for a very rich experience. It's fun to look at and discover new things and it almost feels like a character all on its own. Not only that but I am so glad that more dramas are being filmed and set in rural areas as opposed to urban ones. Not only does it make for a more original setting, but it also feels fresh and interesting. I'm glad smaller places are getting the hype they rightfully deserve. Because locations like Seoul have been used so many times before, now they feel uninspired and uninteresting. That's not to say that urban areas cannot be rich in content.Of course not, however it's nice to see villages and small towns get some limelight as well.The music felt appropriate though at times repetitive too.And that’s coming from me, who loved the OSTs to”One Spring Night”.
With that being said, another strong suit of this drama are its side characters. They are full of life. Almost cartoonishly so, But they are believable and layered. Geum-ri,a sweet but often pitiful matriarchal figure of Gongjin, will stay in my memory for a long time to come. Village and zone chiefs who are divorced and thus create a certain rift between the villagers are also stand outs. Not only that but they are probably the most realistic romantic relationship In this drama. I can confidently say that I've seen couples like this before.Oh Yoon,a washed up singer who is trying to take care of his daughter, run an eclectic Café, while shoving autographs down peoples throats,is yet another worthy addition and,to a degree,a wasted potential.Coupled with an gossipy owner of a Korean Chinese fusion restaurant(who also comes across as realistic when placed in village backdrop,I`ve known people like this),they all have presence and a way to pry into the hearts of the viewers of this drama.Do you see where I'm going with this? No? Then let me break it down even further.

Everyone's character and relationship is more interesting than the main leads.

In fact this aspect of the show made me so inspired that I wanted to come up with a suitable analogy to the way their relationship was written. What I've come up with is this: If you're familiar with the way jewelry was sold in 19th and 20th century, then this should come as no surprise to you. Word of mouth was everything. If you were to be told by numerous people about this rare emerald jewel, which can only be found in one specific area, over and over, you'd be more than intrigued to check it out. You’d hear about how precisely it is cut,how clear and vibrant the color is,not at all cloudy…So you’d prepare your boat or pay for a ticket to board one, go on an arduous journey and finally come across one such product. However instead of feeling incredible and relieved, you'd feel cheated because this gem resembles nothing original. Instead it’d remind you of those cheap trinkets you can buy a dime a dozen in the nearby market. This is exactly what I thought of the "Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha"'s principal romantic relationship.

From the very first episode, we follow a (materialistic? )female dentist called Yoon Hye jin(played masterfully by Shin Min Ah.Everyone`s acting was great across the board) and her inevitable move to this seaside village. I really liked her in the first episode. She was honest, cut to the chase, and resistant to the idea of sacrificing her own morals for monetary gain. And then she moved to Gongjin. And she became one of the most annoying female leads I`ve seen in SOME TIME. She was unnecessarily condescending and reminded me of an elitist. And basically did completely change her goal. Thankfully, the writers almost completely dropped this trait in favor of a brat trapped in the body of an adult, mature woman. Or was that truly some thing to be thankful for? Her reactions and even her subsequent relationship with Chief Hong were childish, shallow and nothing I haven't seen before. I would especially like to highlight the unneeded slaps and beatings he had to go through because of this completely normal occurrence of being in a relationship(followed by some light gossip coming from a group of people who have overall been a net positive in their lives) because it was too much for her to bear. This was played off as funny however in my eyes it was anything but.In fact it was chock-full of clichés. I was surprised there was no amnesia storyline. And that's not to say that clichés are never useful.If you use them sparingly and with a purpose they can be one of your biggest weapons when it comes to writing. Unfortunately here they were used clumsily and just because they worked before. I can honestly see some deeming this a future classic, I fail to see that touch of magic that made drama classics such as “Coffee Prince” what they are. What's more, both of these actors have great chemistry, which almost feels wasted in favor of repetitive checkpoints they have to adhere to.I`d honestly love to see both of them in a drama with a well-made script.What I'd also like to mention as many may have stated before,Chief Hong’s storyline seems tacked on with no real idea besides having a male lead with a bitter past. Just like so many dramas that came before.Trauma isn`t addressed and what is,is due to incessant and frankly insensitive pushing by the female lead.Seriously,she was walking a fine line between cracking his shell and berating him altogether.

Finally, many applaud this relationship as extremely realistic, when in reality to me it just feels like another romcom relationship put to the screen. Not great, not bad, just average. Or at times, below average.What works for me in this slice of life show, are the side characters who seem larger than life, and they are what ultimately saved it from dipping below fives.So what the end up with is a beautiful scenic village with interesting bits of information and funny dialogue from time to time, serving as a backdrop to a less than stimulating love story between beautiful people with mindsets that range from infantile to half baked.

In conclusion I love cheesy, sweet romcoms that can make me feel like love is worth something and can lead to victory. I've watched so many crinhy romantic Japanese dramas and loved almost every bit of them,bar some really outlandish scenes. So in theory I should've been the perfect demographic for "Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha". Not only did I enjoy romcoms in the past but I came from a dozen of horror, thriller dramas that have turned out to be just a tad much for the moment.

And still it didn’t manage to charm enough for me to give it a higher grade. At least we’ll always have surfing Kim Seon Ho to look at. At least that counts for somethingI think?

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Too slow and poor story

I didn't know what to expect when I started watching this. I mostly watched it because it was on Netflix and highly rated on here. It started kind of slow, but I figured it would get better. It did after a few episodes, but then it became really slow again and only got worse after that. It doesn't help that the episodes are 80-90 minutes long. The leads' relationship took too long to build up and then stalled for ages and it was boring.

Also, I wish this was tagged as "ensemble cast". I know there's main characters, but honestly, the side characters have just as much screen time as the leads. The fact that a dozen characters have around the same amount of screen time means the characters have a lot of depth, but it leaves no time for a real story. The most story happens in the first episode when Hye-jin quits her job and decides to move to Gongjin. After that, it's mostly slice of life for the rest of the show, with some drama that honestly feels forced. Du-sik's big secret was revealed way too late into the show and was hyped way too much for something that wasn't his fault, and Gam-ri's death at the end was really out of the blue and unnecessary.

That said, the acting was really good and I particularly liked Director Ji as a character. Gam-ri was another favorite of mine, and I would have given the show an 8 instead of 7 if they hadn't killed her off for no reason. I also wish they'd done more with DOS and with Mi-seon and Eun-cheol's relationship. Overall, not a bad show, but ensemble casts and slice of life are not really my cup of tea.

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Quite tiring

The cute became tiring very quickly. And from cha cha cha light fun it went full on angst on the last 4 episodes, without much preparation along the story.

The FL’s character developed from someone that made assumptions and judgements at the drop of a hat, to someone that struggled a bit when young, to a full on bunny boiler teen in love that demanded the ML’s full attention and life history disclosure on day 3 of the relationship.

The ML had a bit more of depth, albeit the whole of it pretty much on the last three or four episodes.

The stereotypical villagers were all there, and oh god how tiring the whole concept is - zero boundaries, gossiping, etc.

SPOILERS ———
Something nice was the refusal of the ML and the second lead to engage in the normal competition / rivalry trope.
The most beautiful part was the resolution of tooth issue suffered by the lesbian character, an allegory of healing the hidden pain she endured as she came out.

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Turning challenges into potential

At first this drama appeared to me to be quite light, even to the point of being petty, but as it evolved, not only the exceptional acting skills and direction, but the actual content was full of situations that are not merely relatable, but also enriching and educational. 'Yes, we've all been there', - might be a cliché response to many of the scenes, but it's much more than that, i.e. it contains a wealth of food for thought to adjust one's own behaviour and judgement of situations. 'Don't be quick to judge', and 'give people the benefit of the doubt' would be suitable mottos for this show, - and it's done in the most inspiring and beautiful way. Making things work, creating harmony, - the big endeavours of Eastern philosophies that the West could learn so much from.

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Its a average story but well written

For me, this drama is average. Nothing special from the story. But the drama writer can make this story become a good and mature one with good character development. Even though this drama didnt make me bored to death, but the story is kinda slow pace with nothing happened. Lack of heartwarming scenes also. Sometimes i just wondered what actually am i watching? Just seaside village usual life? Its different with reply series, hospital playlist and racket boys. They are also slice of life but there is more meaning and impression in the stories. There is destination in their stories. There is heartwarming scenes everywhere. I am sorry but this drama is not for me.

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The definition of over hyped

I hated this drama. I tried so hard to finish it just to see if I was missing something, but I wasn't. This show was full of all the tropes I hate the most in shows, and it wasn't even done well.

First of all, my number 1 pet peeve in dramas is whens someone falls in love with a jerk. This happens a lot in Kdramas, especially older ones, but can we please out grow that? Why can't people just fall in love with someone because they are actually a decent person? The ML goes to the ends of the earth and falls in love with the FL when all she ever is is snobby and mean. They try at some point in the show to "redeem" her by showing how she came to be such a total b***h (she was made fun of for being poor) but it doesn't change the fact that she is a horrible person who is materialistic and only cares about herself. She also never really changes. People just get used to her snobbery, but that doesn't make it OK.

Outside of the male and female leads every single character is unlikeable. Almost all of the supporting cast play annoying characters who are caricatures of anyone you might hate from your own life. Honestly the only redeemable character in the whole show is the girl who was a closeted lesbian and she didn't even get a happy ending (just goes to show how much this screenwriter hates a healthy relationship).

2nd ML and his plot line also makes no sense. He basically friend-zones a girl his whole career and when she decides to move on like a mature person he doesn't allow her to leave? Why is everyone in this show so selfish?

My number 2 pet peeve is when someone's big bad dark secret isn't bad at all and just a sign of their immaturity. The ML blames themselves for "killing" someone when in reality the person died in an accident that is in no way his fault. I get the guilt he must have felt but if after all those years in therapy he still blames himself, he needs to fire his therapist.

My number 3 pet peeve is when a screenwriter makes a character sexually assault women to be the bad guy. Can we please stop dramatizing attacks against woman? It's lazy screenwriting (there are better ways to write threatening characters), and it's traumatizing for actual women watching the show.

Honestly every single character in this show was either annoying, nonsensical, selfish, poorly written or overdramatic. If I could take back the hours of my life I spent watching this show, I would.

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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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started so well and promising, but then...

it started so well and promising but suddenly it was a complete drag and felt like it had LOST ITSELF and just could have definetely had 8 (or more) episodes less. what started off feeling bright, relatable, and refreshing, towards the end just became a frustrating, gratuitous and nonsense tearjeaker. such a pity and waste of potential and cast.
for the most part, main couple saved this thing with their adorableness. the character hong dusik raised my standards towards men to a whole new surreal level - just made me never want to date a man again unless it's him. but from episode 7 or so til the end, their story felt unnecessarily dragged and i think we all have had our fair share of that in dramas already. the comedy by then started to lose its pace too, and there was a running bit of overboard slapstick comedy between the couple that disgusted me.
the whole cast were definitely great actors and their characters felt realistic and funny, but some secondary couples - although cute - had their plotlines even more dragged until complete exaustion than the main one. i just blatantly skipped many scenes for some of them because of it, couldn't bring myself to care.
this drama had great cinematography, very clever choices of camera angle and movement.
i rated the music as i did because it hadn't really stood out to me, despite not sounding bad.
i wouldn't ever rewatch it as a whole. maybe just some specific cute scenes like of the relationship between dusik and the elderly ladies - which was adorable and reminded me so much of my own grandmothers.

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Scrambled eggs, not eggs benedict.

This drama is a slow simmer - not a hard boil. It's slow starting out and the pace doesn't really pick up at all. If you're looking for something that will keep you on the edge of your seat, this not the drama for you.

It started out well enough. I felt an emotional connection with the FL and it was good to experience Gonjin and it's townspeople with her. Because of that, I could understand what first drew her to Gonjin. But that's as far as good characterisation goes with the female lead. When I think about it, I don't think that she created any real relationships with any of the townspeople besides Gam-ri and Mr. Hong. In the end, she still felt more like a person who's in Gonjin as a result of circumstance rather than an integral part of the town. Moreover, Mr. Hong was an even more frustrating character to watch. His story was told in a rushed fashion with minimal tension. What a wasted opportunity! I believe more could have been said on trauma, grief, survivor's guilt and even about our ideas on how society defines success. It just felt like his emotional struggle was a plot device to keep us watching and once the drama had gone far enough, they just wanted to get it over and done with.

I also noticed that whenever Hye-jin and Mr. Hong had an important conversation, the camera would focus on their faces for a few seconds and it would feel like that awkward moment when you're done talking to someone but you can't decide whether it's okay to leave yet. They would smile at each other in a way that I found absolutely cringey. Am I the only one who noticed this?

I understand why some take issue with the relationship between Hwa-jung and her ex-husband, but I think the actors did a great job of portraying the yearning and hurt between them from the very beginning. And given enough time, more could have been done to flesh out their story. Ultimately, I still enjoyed watching these two and I wouldn't mind watching a drama based on a story like theirs.

All in all, relationships were a major problem. Some were resolved through the magic of TV happiness (Hye-jin and her stepmother) and others by simply forgetting and focusing on something else (Yun-kyung and her husband). Really, I'm tempted to start a #JusticeForSides movement.

Apart from all these issues, I can see the money that went into making this drama. The setting was ideal and it made me wish to see the town for myself. I can't really call it a light watch because you'll need a lot of determination to finish it. But it's great if you're looking for something that will not take too much from your mental faculties.

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