El Amor es como el Cha-Cha-Cha (2021)

¿MEJOR DRAMA DEL 2021? SI

Empecé este kdrama con la idea de que sería un drama gracioso y que me haría pasar un buen rato, sin embargo fue mucho más que ello.

Es una historia que habla acerca del amor, todos los tipos de amor: romántico tanto en su etapa inicial como en su etapa más cruda y realista; amor entre amigos, amistades que están allí para apoyarte y guiare; amor familiar, de los padres a sus hijos y viceversa, amor de nietos; y un último el que le da la esencia al programa, amor de comunidad: Gongjin en si es un propio personaje.

De igual manera es una historia que nos habla acerca de las diferentes etapas de la vida y de las emociones que podemos tener en momentos muy específicos: arrepentimiento, fraternidad, tristeza, alegría, amor... Este es un kdrama que te hace sentir de muchas maneras: vuelves a creer en el amor, ríes, aprendes, creces junto a los personajes y lloras, porque las historias están llenas de un sentimiento único.

Adoro a esta serie y puedo decir que se ha convertido en mi favorita. No puedo dejar de recomendarla porque realmente me sentí sanada y espero que todos puedan ver la historia tan significativa de Dusik, Hyejin y de todos los habitantes de Gongjin, porque otro plus a lo anterior son los personajes tan maravillosos: mujeres fuertes, hombres serviciales, abuelas sabias, amigos carismáticos, personas reales.

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Un romance bonito y entretenido de ver, pero que termina siendo predecible y un poco cliché.

La serie, en principio, cuenta la historia de amor entre Hong Doo Shik (un hombre guapo e inteligente que sabe hacer muchas cosas, por lo que siempre ayuda a todos en Gongjin, su pueblo) y Yoon Hye Jin (una dentista de Seúl que, debido a algunas complicaciones, decide mudarse a Gongjin para abrir una clínica).

Para empezar, debo decir que es una serie súper bonita. Visualmente es bella, los actores son buenos, tiene personajes muy bien construidos y con un lindo desarrollo, etc, etc. Además, en general la disfruté bastante. Es cute, fresca y entretenida, eso no se puede negar, y algunos capítulos realmente me encantaron (sobre todo los que se ubican más o menos por la mitad). Entonces, ¿por qué no solo le tiro flores y ya está? Bueno...

Para empezar, no es nada original, y sacando algunos temas que se tocan a través de los personajes secundarios (los cuales aplaudo mucho, porque para el final eran lo que más me estaba gustando), no se aleja mucho de otras series coreanas románticas. Muchas situaciones me parecieron ultra convenientes o predecibles (el final lo sentí como un festival de coincidencias, real), algunos mensajes, aunque entiendo el por qué, me parecieron forzados, etc. Con esto no quiero decir que esté mal hecha, nada que ver, simplemente no me sorprendió de ninguna manera.

Pero bueno, para terminar con unas palabras positivas, la relación principal es muy bonita (excepto por una actitud de la prota que me molestó mucho), la pareja secundaria es todo lo que está bien, los personajes secundarios se roban la serie (sus conflictos son muy buenos) y el triángulo amoroso está muy bien planteado, es de esos que posta se disfrutan. Otra cosa que me encantó es cómo se retrata el sentimiento de "comunidad" entre los habitantes del pueblo, es muy bonito.

En fin, un kdrama lindo y entretenido que no destaca mucho, pero que igual les recomiendo ver. Mi única crítica real es que se alarga al pedo, podría haber sido más corto jaja

IG de reseñas cortas: @altoplottwist

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Ha sido bastante divertido ver este drama y ha sido un mar de emociones especialmente en los últimos capítulos cuando se iba descubriendo la verdad del protagonista.

La historia es increíble a cada uno de los personajes más importantes están conectados entre sí, desde inicio a final; como también son capaces de curar las heridas del pasado, empatizar y perdonar al otro que antes los hechos sufridos la pudo haber pasado igual de mal, ya que perdió a alguien muy importante en su vida.
Realmente los mensajes que nos dejan en especial en los dos últimos capítulos son emocionantes y me llegaron mucho, no soy de las personas que llora viendo dramas o series, pero está vez me las lloré todas.

Por último, el OST es maravilloso. En especial, "Romantic Sunday" es una canción que no pude parar de escuchar, sumamente relajante y tranquila, para esos momentos que uno disfruta de la vida.

Simplemente es una serie muy completa y les da un cierre a los personajes, sus historias y relaciones entre sí de muy buena forma, con un gran mensaje al final y te hará quedar seco por tantas lágrimas que botaste.

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El amor... no es lo principal en este drama, al menos no el de la pareja principal

Disfrute mucho viendo esta serie, no fue para nada lo que esperaba, me divertí mucho en todos los capítulos y el Jefe Hong fue simplemente encantador.
Todos los habitantes de la isla aportaron una gran dinámica a la serie y alguien tan contrario a ellos como Hyejin permitió que hubiera una evolución en ambas partes, más de parte de la protagonista pero como lo he puesto en el título lo que más me gusto de la serie fueron los otros personajes y las historias que estos tenían para contar; si bien el romance de Hyejin y Dusik fue muy lindo y creo que la desarrollaron de una manera muy bonita, me hicieron sonreír en más de una ocasión (principalmente por la sonrisa del actor), pero después paso a segundo plano y creo que incluso si hubieran permanecido como amigos la historia igual hubiera funcionado bien pero de igual manera no aburre en ningún momento y es un buen drama para ver en familia y si se quiere ver algo ligero, esperanzador, con paisajes hermosos y cosas que te hacen reflexionar de la mejor manera.

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Es cómica, romántica pero tiene drama...

Historia
Es romántica, entretenida, cómica. Me gusto mucho... Pero tiene drama. Ese drama que se anunció desde el principio pero para este tipo de historia no lo querías ni era necesario. Pero ahí estuvo y siento que solo fue porque tenían que hacer 16 episodios y bueno alargar la trama.
Para mí no hubo una transición homogénea entre la comedia romántica que fue y el drama que vino. Una historia más corta hubiera sido mejor, muchas situaciones relleno que sirvieron para cumplir con la cuota de capítulos. (Lo del parto lo sentí muy innecesario) pero de igual modo cerro bien las historias de todos los personajes bien y también los tres secretos del pueblo.

Actuación/elenco
Sus personajes, tanto protagonistas como secundarios tienen su encantó. Le daban vida al pueblo.

Musica
La música acompaño bien, no algo excepcionalmente memorable pero agradable.

Valor de repetición
Queda a decision de uno mismo. Fue una historia que comenzó bien, pero luego se sintió un poco aburrido. Y ese drama no ayudo. Más corta hubiera sido mejor.

Comentario especial: Se que los sponsors son importantes para ganar dinero para el k-drama. Pero adiós sutileza en el capítulo final (no es que hubiera mucha en los capítulos anteriores)

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"Miren bien a su alrededor, y se darán cuenta de que están rodeadxs de muchas cosas valiosas"

Lo recomiendo infinitamente si lo que buscas es un drama donde se hable del amor, pero me refiero al amor en general tanto de pareja, familiar, de amistad y de comunidad. Todos los personajes le dan un color único a la historia.

Mientras vez los capítulos no te faltaran las ganas de reír también puede ser que te enojes o que te salten unas lágrimas, pero sin duda lo vas a disfrutar cada segundo.

La frase "Miren bien a su alrededor, y se darán cuenta de que están rodeadxs de muchas cosas valiosas" dicha por la abuela Gam-ri te deja un mensaje claro en el que debemos apreciar lo que tenemos y no centrarnos solo en conseguir eso que puede que ya tengamos cerca en lugares lejanos...

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Hometown Chachachá

Es un drama bastante lindoooo. Me encanta mucho cómo todos los personajes son como familia y se tratan como tal. Eso hace que te encariñes de todos y que disfrutes cada escena del drama.

El jefe Hong es lo más bello, hombre con responsabilidad afectiva, amable, inteligente, trabajador, romántico y muuuuy tierno. Me encanta la rivalidad que existe al inicio entre él y Hye Jin, es muy divertido verlos pelear, pero al mismo tiempo no querer separarse el uno del otro.

Lo único que no me gustó es que es muuuy largo para todo lo que pasa. Pero de ahí en más, es perfecto.

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5. RESEÑA: Hometown Cha Cha Cha

Estoy tan enamorada de los personajes principales, ame tanto la química que tenían y sobre todo como empezó su historia de odio-amor, temo que me costara mucho soltar este kdrama, porque hicieron que cada fin de semana sea especial para mi, me gusto mucho verlo en emisión y sobre todo el ost es tan perfecto jsjs las tomas de los paisajes me dieron tanta paz , extrañare también a los demás personajes del pueblo :( hay muchas de razones por las cuáles ver Hometown ChaChaCha y una de esas es que tiene un final cálido, hermoso, emocionante y feliz, un drama sanador y que lo termine con una sonrisa y satisfecha! Fue un recorrido que disfrute y me emocioné...senti esa hermosa calidez de cada personaje en Gongjin uwu
Sin duda entro en mi top de mejores kdrama del 2021<3

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DRAMA OF THE YEAR 2021? YESSS!

Life is not all about pain and regrets, but about the experiences and learnings. The best thing about life is that it keeps moving forward. No matter what happens in our lives at one point, it keeps going on while letting us learn from it. This is my interpretation about the entire drama.

갯마을 차차차, literally, "Seashore Village Cha-Cha-Cha, truly is a story living upto it's title, giving justice to its essence while capturing millions of hearts worldwide. It is a combination of coming of age chapters and healthy, warm as well as healing RomCom, accompanied with numerous life lessons, portrayed in the form of various relationships that also throws light upon uncountable shades of life, love and living. So what does it become? A PERFECT SLICE-OF-LIFE KOREAN DRAMA.

Plot is simple as you know. Oh Hye Jin, a capable and righteous dentists resigns from work and unable to find another clinic decides to open her own in the seashore village of Gongjin, which she had gone to visit on her mother's birthday. There she meets Hong Du Shik, an talented yet unemployed man who willfully does all kinds of odd jobs to help out the villagers and wish to continue his simple life. As they encounter each other multiple times and find each other's presence during respective critical times, the bond between them grows closer making them fall in love. All these happens in the premise where lives of the villagers go on parallely, accompanying continuous build-up, growth, healing giving away love & care, as a community which is more like an extended or chosen second family.

This shit is indeed hell of refreshing because of the scenario the drama has choosen as it's set, i. e. the fictional city of "Gongjin" which in real is the seaside village near Daegu-Gyeongbuk of Pohang, a South Korean city located in North Gyeongsang Province. The seaside milieu, the village settings, the city architecture and the awfully ecstatic frame of nature are the elements that undeniably attracted a lot of people to it. And what made it even more eye-catching is the cinematography skills of the production; brownie points please.

What also makes this drama stand out is the method of execution and the very natural way of diegesis (plot narrative). Relationships, regardless of it's type, are unquestionably complicated but life becomes a lil easier when we put efforts make it simple, this also is an underlying message of this drama. It's so natural that i felt I have been there with those people. Obviously, melo is an important element of any show of any genre, which is here too, but events should be as simple as a glass of water that makes it realistic in order to be appealing and relatable to the audience. I feel the drama successfully achieved that outcome.

Another thing that made me go awe was the fashion sense of the characters, please give the stylists bonus, okay? T T. Not just the young and adult characters, the kids and the oldies wore beautiful clothes of different kinds all the times, no matter how simple or flashy they were. I loved the florals that Hongbajang wore and sometimes the loose fit shirts. Hye Jin's one piece long skirts made her look so beautiful. The 3 old women in their usual outfits looked cute. Village chief Young Guk's simple yet loose fit big shirts and pants oof. Hwa Jung and Nam Sook's country-side dotted tops and pants looked nice. Chun Jae ahjussi and his half pant outfit plus scarf, my goodness. Geum Chul's entite country bumpkin style outfit and hairstyle. Bora's peach creamy hair and I Jun's decent clothes toooo. Eun Chul in both police uniform and civil clothes (soooo hot) and Mi Seon in her different kinda outfits. Sorry for the terms Idk bcs of my lack of fashion sense TT.

One of the most notable things about the drama should be all the female characters who made us see various sides of life and learn from it. Potential & stupendous female characters is nothing new for Kdrama industry but this drama should stand out in this regard for perfectly creating and nourishing such beautiful-hearted women. Different women trying their best for people around them and struggling for them isn't something new but these women, from young to the old, understood it better, I felt. Extra points for that for sure.

Since it's a slice of life story where day-to-day happenings are portrayed, drawing a definite plot development in overall is difficult. So, what we can witness are 2 kinds of developments. First the relationship between the leads along with others and secondly the individual character development. Let's talk about that...

Relationship Development of Lead Couple:--
Well, healing romance troupe has become a common factor nowadays but this surely is unique and let me explain how. Not bragging or saying I predicted it but I sure had assumed the way the chemistry between Hong Du Shik & Oh Hye Jin will develop, which happened for real making me so happy. Both of them obviously cared for each other and had liking as persons despite all the bitter encounters but until the point they fell for each in their conscious, the romance was very subtle. It was like they grew onto each other unknowingly and that feelings were piling up bit by bit over time. One day the the sac of love got so heavier, it burst open into an love relationship bonding, that was meant to last for eternity. They were definitely opening up to each other lil by lil and healing the other's pain gradually in the process but in their subconscious, it was love that was blooming up inside their hearts which one day led to prosperity and nostalgic emotions of happiness.

What made me happy how they proposed to each other at the perfect point of the story and even after officially getting into a relationship, the story showed us the following development. This was a gesture that, our lives and stories don't come to an end when we become each other's life because we have a long way to travel together, parallelly healing each other while helping both individual and coupled growth. Tbh, I was worried their relationship will turn typical following the proposal but guess what? They made me and in fact all of us, learn an important lesson of life, i. e. continuity. Obviously, there were many fluff moment's but the way of executing everything through the storytelling method abd screenplay techniques made it maintain own's naturality.

We're at a point where we have run out of new ides about events and stuffs to showcase in a relationship but what matters is how they're showed to us, how natural & relatable they feel and how realistic the outcome becomes. I am cent percent sure, this drama gave off that vibes.

NOTE: HONG DU SHIK & OH HYE JIN, uri ShikHye or dimple couple are one of the best Kdrama couples with one of the best chemistry development and a healing romance.

CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT :--
This is probably the best thing about the drama. Not just the individual development, the buildup plus nourishment of different kinda relationships were also well drawn. The character arcs of different roles came out so well, making us relate and learnt. Let's talk about them now...

# Hong Du Shik (Kim Seon Ho) aka uri Hong-bajang, the definition of "Jack of all trades, master o̶f̶ ̶n̶o̶n̶e̶ at
all". Talented yet no proper job carrying numerous small job certificates can help fix any kind of situations of the villagers. Loved by all yet orpahned and loner with thanatophobia (fear of losing someone close), he doesn't let anyone into his heart easily. Cares a great deal about the villagers tho.

# Oh Hye Jin (Shin Min Ah), the perfectionist dentist and very righteous at workplace who is also very calculative about her life. A dating rookie and doesn't want to be easygoing abd never gives in to people easily. A definite development as she changes into a warm women who admired everyone and got love in return. Very sensitive to her life decisions and helps Hong bajang in the end in healing his heart.

# Ji Sung Hyun (Lee Sang Yi), a variety show PD and Hye Jin's university senior who comes to Gongjin to shoot his show. He really went from romancing with Da Shik (Da Hee) in Once again (2020) to bromancing with Du Shik in this drama, haha. I can't say he's a potential 2nd ML affecting the lead couple's storyline but ge surely helped them in his subconscious. Very simple and decent character he had.

# Kim Gam Ri (Kim Young Ok) halmeoni, village supervisor and Du Shik's closest who have fed and cared for him since a young age. Very stubborn because of old age. Doesn't like spending money but fond of trying different dishes. Loves Du Shik the most and liked spending time with him.

# Lee Ma Ji (Lee Yong Yi) and Park Sook Ja (Shin Shin Ae) ..wish these halmione-deul had some more story for themselves but they were basically used as sidekick of Ga Rim-ssi. Regardless, very cheerful and cute. Their annoying and active faces plus the halmeoni trio made me cry outta happiness even when they were just fighting, that was so cute uwu.

# Yeo Hwa Jung (Rang Bo Ryun), the zone chief, restaurant owner and owner to both the places used by Hye Jin. Divorced for reasons known only to her and a single mother. Very sane, humble and understanding person she was though a lil insecure about his ex-husband and has hidden stories to tell. Loved the way she walked in here hahaha.

# Jang Young Guk (In Gyo Jin), village chief and Hwa Jung's ex husband, a lone man living alone and a loving father to his son. Irresponsible and indecisive at times. Not knowing the actual reason of divorce he deviates from his path for a while but eventually finds himself back in the same spot.

# Oh Chun Bae (Jo Han Chul), a failed singer, coffee shop owner, a widower and single loving father to his daughter. Still brags about his past achievement and wants recognition tho still a tender-hearted person who cares for his daughter to a great deal and misses his wife.

# Cho Nam Suk (Cha Chung Hwa), Chinese restaurant owner, loner who misses her deceased daughter. She loves to gossip and is the most definitite source of all the rumours that revolves around in the village. Very lively and cheerful as person. Loved her nasal accent and acting.

# Choi Geum Chul (Yoon Suk Hyun), Du Shik's only friend and hardware store owner. Married with a girl child and another to come. Somewhat naive and stupid but loves his family so much.

# Ham Yun Kyung (Kim Joo Yun), Geum Chul's wife and Bora supermarket owner. Very cheerful and mature for her age. Loves and cares for her family a lot and continuously nags her husband to do better job.

# Pyo Mi Sun (Gong Min Jung), Hye Jin's BeFe and the dentist nurse. Very clever and straightforward yet falls for guys instantly. Her chemistry development with constable Eun Chul was surely a sweet thing to watch.

# Choi Eun Chul (Kang Hyung Suk), Police substation constable and Geum Chul's younger brother who's very determined at job but stupid when comes to dating. Mi Sun helps her learn about relationship and they form the cutest couple of the show.

# Oh Ju Ri (Kim Min Seo), Chun Bae's daughter, a high-schooler and diehard fan of the boy group DOS (fandom Hacker). Misses her mother whom she lost right after birth. Can be stubborn and annoying at times still loves her father. A wannabe stylist.

# Choi Bo Ra (Go Do Yun), Yun Kyung & Geum Chul's daughter who's good at studies but have hidden talents. Loves Taekwondo and a lil aggressive. Adored by the villagers.

# Jang Yi Jun (Yi Eun Yoo), Hwa Jung & Young Guk's son who's the definition of genius. Too humble, polite and rationale for his age haha. BeFe with Bora and is always with her. As thoughtful as Hwa Jung.

Other than these major characters are some other actors who justified their decent roles and are indeed notable; Yu Cho Hui (Oh Ji Hee), Ban Young Hoon (Kim Sung Bum), Kang Do Ha (Lee Suk Hyung), Wang Ji Won (Park Ye Young), JUN (Byun Sang Tae), Yoon Tae Hwa (Seo Sang Won), Lee Myung Shin (Woo Mi Hwa), etc.

OSTS:
"Romantic Sunday" by "Car, the Garden" is undoubtedly the best OST of this drama which is the remake of a 2007 hit by "JISLAND". I love all the other OSTs so muxh as well. The lyrics are all so beautiful and were relatable as well suitable for various moods of the drama. "One Sunny Day" by Kassy, "My Romance" by Cheeze, "Wish" by Choi Yu Ree, "Be the Light" by Kim Jae Hwan,
"The Image of You" by Sandeul, "Here Always" by Skz Seungmin are all good. Some of them are romantic and others are soft soulful ones.

Both the writer and director have done a very good job, individually and as partners. It didn't feel like the writer doesn't have enough experience. I mean the number of work she's done is less but who'd say so after watching this drama? The PDnim obviously have enough experience, in fact one of the best drama PDs in Korea and that shows. Cinematography, sound production, screenplay editing are also very well done. Kudos to the entire crew for this amazing outcome. Thank you so much.

Technically, I love the various colour palettes used to showcase the beauty and aesthetics. The subtle presentation of props to connect and relay the storylines are quite alluring. Story progression is smooth and relaxing with multiple peaks as perfect points. Not a single thing felt exaggerated or boring. No twisted and complicated factor except for Hongbajang's mystery; very simple. The 1st ep is basically the introduction so stick to it in case you think it's not good. The childhood and teenage encounter and destined-to-be-together trope might have become a cliché but it's fine as long as the present story is well painted and HomeCha successfully built-up a unique love story.

Let me also add important things included in the drama: mental health issues, loneliness, lgbt+ inclusion & acceptance, gender & clasa equality, dreams and determination to fulfill it, negligence to old parents as well as kids, ways of parenting & parental love, a kid's expectation from parents as well their hidden feelings, mutual understanding, overcoming past trauma, essence of aging and importance of old age, meaning of death, the art of healing other's pain, the difficulties of pregnancy, the urge of marriage, the hopes from your partner, community life & it's importance, self-love and it's vitality, process of opening up to your closest ones, learning to seek help from others, acknowledging the help and care you receive, understanding the gestures, facing life problems & tackling them, essence of independence, appreciating life, respecting other's efforts and their urge to do well, holding on to life, bringing out the best of you..... And many more that will cost me a notebook to mention.

NOTE: The last 3 episodes are the peaks of the episode where you might have to cry continuously, so make sure to take care of yourself if you're highly sensitive and very overwhelming to cry over small things.

Hometown Cha Cha Cha is definitely very realistic, refreshing and relatable with all the elements of a perfect slice of life Kdrama. I repeat, this is the best Kdrama year for 2021. Not only the healing romance of the lead couples, other side storylines that ran parallelly left us with lessons that we seek in our everyday life. Setting the rewatch value at 10/10 bcs this is something that can be easily watched as many as times you wish, even for random watch. PLEASE GO AHEAD WITH IT IF YOU HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR. THIS IS DEFINITELY WORTH ALL YOUR TIME AND INVESTED ENERGY PLUS EMOTIONS. *cries under blanket*. In fact been crying throughout while writing this review.

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realistic. relatable. refreshing.

ik we are here for the "dimple couple" Shin Min Ah and Kim Seon Ho (atleast I am) so I'll skip the introduction. I haven't seen the original work so i won't mention any comparison to it. the plot seemed like something new to me and trailer gave fresh vibes so I didn't hesitate to start (nor do I regret). I'd discuss some aspects in the drama I particularly loved so you may relate to it or consider watching :)

PLOT/PALETTE:
so. back to the drama. a girl leaves her job and goes to some rural place and sees a guy who's... everywhere? I thought it would be cdrama style cliché but it's actually far from that (thankfully). color palette of episodes are really relaxing to watch. I'm not an artsy person and I don't know much about palettes but it's really calming and definitely suitable for the picturesque sceneries.

CHILDHOOD CONNECTION DONE RIGHT:
what i really loved in the drama is that despite the leads having a couple of childhood interactions, they don't give much importance to it and (rightfully) move forward because it was simply a part of their past. it was refreshing to see such an arc because in most dramas, the leads who hate eachother suddenly fall in love because they "vowed to marry each other as 3 yo kids" or whatever, you get the idea.

BEST PORTRAYAL OF LOVE TRIANGLE:
the characters are written realistically and mature. props to the crew for including minor details that may seem unimportant but really adds on to reality. there's no over the top cheesy lines and exaggerated portrayal as seen in many other rom-coms. every single arc (including love triangles) is carried out so well that no part of the drama bores the viewers. I simply can't stop admiring how beautifully the love triangle was carried out because in most case it would simply ruin the overall drama experience.

SIDE CHARACTERS HAVE THEIR OWN LIVES TOO:
the side chracters had their own story to tell, not just being comedic clowns or matchmakers for the main leads. ofc their story slightly depends on the leads because they are centres of the drama but we can agree the writer gave justice to the supporting casts by not always placing them in scenarios where leading characters need them. EVERY character had their own situations and struggles but the way each person grew through the story made me happy and proud.

overall, the drama kept it charm throughout. 100% worth the watch! long story short, start watching now!!

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Meh

Is something wrong with me? Is it me? Am I the problem? Why can’t I see what everyone else seems to see in this drama?

Everyone was buzzing for this but I honestly hate having to wait in-between episodes and decided to not start this drama before more than 10 episodes were out. So I waited. And it just wasn’t what I wanted from it.
I wanted to love this so so so much. I needed this show, I needed a sweet, cozy, wholesome romance. There were days where I told myself to push through solely so I would live, to watch Homewtown Cha Cha Cha. And I can’t say that I was heavily disappointed, but I wasn’t impressed either.

I want to start off by saying this: Hometown Cha Cha Cha is fine. It’s okay. It’s not bad by any means. But it’s just not more than that.
There are plenty of things to like about this: A beautiful, charming setting that will hit you with homesickness for a place you have never been to. Two good-looking leads. A catchy OST. A fun premise. Lots of lovable side characters. I sincerely love Yeo Hwa-jung, she was my favourite character by far, and even though I am not too pleased with the conclusion to her arc, she had the backstory I enjoyed the most and all things considered, she’s probably my favourite aspect of the entire show. There were a few comedic moments that made me chuckle. It was an alright watching experience. But people are calling this the romance drama of the year and I’m just not on board with that.

The number one thing I read about this show was how refreshing and healthy it was. And I just don’t see it. This felt more formulaic than I expected it to. We have our male lead who is perfect in every single way and always correct. His one flaw is being too caring. We have our female lead whose only job is to be proven wrong by our male lead or get saved by him. This is fine, honestly, what are most romance K-dramas if not female wish-fulfillment? But is it particularly new or interesting? I don’t think so. This felt less like a healthy and realistic portrayal of adult relationships and more like a self-insert fanfiction. There are times when I want that from a story but this wasn’t one of them.
Surprisingly enough, even though I am easy to please in that regard, I wasn’t crazy about the romance between the two leads. I didn’t really understand the progression of them falling for each other, to me, that kind of came out of the blue. Which is a shame because I do think that the actors have chemistry. But it took ages for their characters to even become something close to friends. They had the same surface-level arguments every single episode, which always ended with Doo-sik proving Hye Jin wrong, and next thing you know I was expected to believe that the two were in love as well when I wasn’t even convinced that they liked each other.
I wasn’t impressed with the way this show dealt with Hong's past either. Since we only unpack his backstory in the last ¼ of the show, the first ¾ of the drama felt weirdly trivial. All of the sudden, the entire feel of Hometown Cha Cha Cha just changed and got way too depressing for its own good. And the extent of trauma our male lead had, was way too heavy to be resolved in the little time the drama had left. It really felt like this show bit more off than it could chew. The subject matters were a tad too dark and the writing a tad too clumsy. Instead of our male lead having this ultra-depressing past, I much would have preferred it if both of our main characters could have been just two regular people, with regular people’s problems that made them flee from their city lives (similarly to Lovestruck In The City for example). But sadly Hometown Cha Cha lost everything that made it feel realistic or relatable by that point. And I honestly had to force myself to sit through the last few episodes, something I definitely didn't expect.

Maybe I am being too harsh on this drama. Maybe I would have given it a higher rating if my expectations had been lower. I gave My Roommate Is A Gumiho an 8.0 out of 10, and on every level, objectively speaking, that’s a worse show. But I knew what I wanted out of My Roommate Is A Gumiho and it delivered exactly that. I wanted it to be dumb, harmless, cheesy, and cringy fun and that’s what it ended up being. But out of Hometown Cha Cha I expected more. Something more adult, more, fresh, more interesting. And it just wasn’t any of those things.

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