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?