Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha (2021)

Jack & the Hedgehog Take a Bite Outta the Hood °8.4° °Excellent°

Yoon Hye Jin (HJin) loses it one day. Total Mariah-moment. She quits. She drinks. She trashes her boss online. HJin is a skilled dentist with a conscience. This, invariably, put her at odds with her greedy boss who expected her to prescribe unnecessary, but expensive treatment for their unwitting patients. She couldn't take the pain anymore, and extraction was necessary. Now she's jobless and no one wants to hire a ‘poison pill’. Going keyboard commando on her employer put all her potential employers’ teeth on edge.

What does she do? She goes for a ride. Her wandering takes her to a quaint seaside town. Her love affair begins with the sign over one establishment: Coffee in the middle of the day. Beer in the moonlight… But she ends up having a fateful day: She loses her shoes. Then her phone dies. She can't find her money either. At every turn she received reluctant assistance from a local yocal, Hong Doo Shik (DShik).

HCCC is a 2021 release that is rated 90 on AWiki. It is 1 season consisting of 16 70-minute episodes. Shin Ha Eun of Love Next Door and The Crowned Clown is the screenwriter who brings small town magic to life here. The deep-dimpled and lovely Shin Min Ah (Chief of Staff, Oh My Venus-7.4, My Girlfriend Is a Gumiho, Our Blues-8.5) is HJin. She's the hedgehog - get too close you'll get stuck. Kim Seon Ho (Welcome to Waikiki S2, 100 Days My Prince-5.5) is DShik, our Jack-of-all-trades. Since Start-up-8 and Strongest Delivery Man-6.6, I've been a fan. It's wonderful to see him play the romantic lead. Lee Sang Yi (Youth of May, When the Camellia Blooms-8, Han RiverPolice-7.4) once again shows his range as Ji Sung Hyun. The magnificent Lee Jung Eun has a guest appearance in ep1; I think she's my favorite actress right now. The rest of the cast is wonderful, and the music might even be better. After Shazaming ‘Wish’ by Choi Yu Ree I pulled the entire playlist up on Spotify. All of the music is sensational. It compounds the delight factor. HCCC is excellent. There's a little bit of filler in double-digit episodes, but it doesn't suffer much from it.

I'm a fan of the director, Yoo Je Won. He's brought us Oh My Ghost-10, and the popular Love Next Door, & Crash Course in Romance. This Director exudes warmth, has an appreciation for good food, and really “gets” good music, particularly jazz. Like OMG, the soundtrack for HTCCC is stellar. Top tier. After some bold & underlined question marks (CV overview follows review), I am so happy that he's settled back into his own and is cranking out such amazing stuff, like I know that he can.

The main character in HCCC is the home town. HJin is from Seoul. She is used to high fashion and upscale amenities. The people that live in her new home lead different lives and rely on eachother heavily. We have the young, the old, the men, the women, the silly and the wise. There's a full cast and wide variety of well-developed characters that help push the plot. They also like to sink their teeth into some juicy gossip. After taking the plunge and opening a dental practice there, HJin offends everyone with her unconsciously elitist attitude, but with DShik's help from the shadows, she eventually settles into small town life. The next closest dentist is an hour away, so customers begin to wander in.

When HJin & DShik finally start dating, she wants to keep it a secret. The town is full of busybodies, afterall. Most of it isn't mean-spirited, but that's besides the point. Every time someone happens upon a sweet moment they are sharing, she turns around and slaps or kicks him. She even gives him a bloody nose in an effort to throw the dogs off. He almost doesn't survive their initial secretive phase. As it turns out, none of it was working anyway. Everyone saw through it.

They run into relationship static at one point. She knows he's keeping hurts from the past bottled up. She wants him to open up. She comes to the conclusion that she should wait for him. She tells him that if he promises to open up to her one day, then she'll wait until he's ready. He can take as long as he wants to “open wide”. I think that's the right answer instead of drilling him for what she wants, when she wants it.

HCCC digs into the root of things once or twice. One of the characters gets a beautiful speech followed up shortly by quite a beautiful death scene. Rather than the sequence feeling sad, it is a triumph of a simple life, lived well, to the fullest satisfaction. That is the theme of HCCC: A simple life and being content with just enough is the key to happiness. We let our endless wants create discontent and dissatisfaction. Choosing simplicity and contentment is choosing joy and peace. Love will always follow Along those lines, HCCC is a pleasant trip to the seaside with nothing complicated or heavy. Quite the opposite.


〰 IMHO 〰

RATINGS
Directing 8.2
Writing 7.8
Acting 8
Romance 7.7
Flutters 5
Art 7
Sound & music 8.8
Ending 8

LEVELS
Warmth 6.5
Action/ Excitement 3
Laughs 4
Tears 3
Fright 2
Tension/Anxiety 2
Gore 1
Thought provocation 5
Snores 1

Re-watch? Likely

Age 12+
Language: PG-13, but there isn't much of that

Rated
TV-14: Parents Strongly Cautioned.

In order of ~lite&trite~ to ~heavy&serious~ you may also like:

Fish out water tales:
Live Up To Your Name-7.6;
Mr. Queen 8.5,
The Legend of the Blue Sea-7.2 - It's exceptional except for 2 episodes,
Touch your heart 8.2,
Crash Landing On You 9.1,
Hotel del Luna-8.4,


Modern Day Kromcoms-
Mad For Each Other-7.7 ~silly fun;
Crazy Love-7.8,
My First First Love-8,
A Witch's Love 7.8,
Love to Hate You 8.9,
Her Private Life 8,
Romance is a bonus book-7.9;
Oh My Ghost 10,
It's Okay Not To Be Okay 9,
Love Struck in the City 7.3,
Our Blues-8.7,
Descendants Of The Sun-8.3,
Familiar Wife-8.5,
Because This Is My First Life-7.7,
Hospital Playlist 9,
My Mister 9.5,
I'll See You When the Weather is Fine 9

Historical/Period -
My Only Love Song 8.7 ~ excellent comedy,
My Sassy Girl 8.5,
Saimdang 8.5,
The King's Affection 8.3,

Romance junkies only -
My Secret Romance 7 (if you ff thru overdone flashbacks),
99 days with the Superstar-7,
Boys Over Flowers 8 ~ melodrama to the max,
The Bride of Habaek 7,
A Korean Odyssey-7.2,
Heirs 7.3,
That Winter, The Wind Blows 7,
Something in the Rain 9,
C: Well-Intended Love 7.5 Rom-porn - extra points for the dopamine,
You are my destiny 6.8 cute, sweet & 1/2 padding, When I Fly Towards You-7.8, Find Yourself 8.9,
Hidden Love-7.8,
Wait, My Youth-8.4,
A Little Thing Called First Love 8.5.

{Yoo Je Won Career summary: The solidly rated High School King of Savvy is his first effort. Oh My Ghost, as highly rated as it is, is still under-appreciated. Not only are the 4 leads (as well as supporting actor Lim Ju-hwan) absolute savants, but there is not one wasted line of dialogue. Everything points to something else. There's constant use of foreshadowing, metaphors, and other techniques that don't stop. Every viewing of the show reveals only more. Furthermore, it's a laugh-out-loud delight in the first half and then gets genuinely teary later on. I suspect it suffers because things don't get rolling until the very end of ep1, so a chunk of viewers probably didn't stick with it. Nevertheless, it is a masterpiece and catapulted this director and the lead actors to super-stardom. Tomorrow With You-7, which also stars Shin Min Ah, was next. I liked it very much, but some of the logic is deeply flawed - so much so that I cannot rate it above a 7. The positives outweigh the bad, but it should have been better. The Smile Has Left Your Eyes was well received and followed up by Abyss-4.7, which is a complete failure in every way possible. It is a debacle and there is almost nothing redeeming about it, other than the good looks of the ML. It is over-rated by kind viewers, many of which are likely reacting to a dearth of good romantic content from Hwood. Abyss is better than most Hwood gunk, but it is not worth watching once, given the many better features Asia has to offer. Hi Bye Mama!-6.5 has plenty of positives, but I wouldn't choose to watch it again. It was intended to be a ray of hope for people that have suffered loss, which was exactly what I was going through at the time, but it didn't do it for me. With HTCCC, CCiR, and LND he seems to have recaptured his magic.}

Lire davantage

Like a hot cup of tea on a cold winter evening!!!

So I finished watching this just now and it took me just 36 hours to complete this ...the way I binged it..I started this show with no expectations at all.. I had heard about it and saw the rating quite high here on mdl so decided to watch 1 episode to test it and then 36 hours later here I am!! Words cannot describe how much I loved this show!! I can go on and on about the story acting direction etc but that is true for many other shows especially Kdramas..what made it stand out for me was the way it made me feel...like I am going through something right now personally and this show just calmed me and made me feel so warm from inside ...ultimate comfort watch!! I cannot give it a higher praise than this!! I could not find one fault in the show..like come at me me with a criticism and I'm sure I will be able to defend it!!! Kudos to the entire team!! Also thanks to this show for introducing me to the most adorable cutie pie/sexy man Kim Seon Ho!! 20/10

Lire davantage

a good watch

overall, enjoyed the story. What is striking to me is the stories of side characters and the wholesomeness of them. Was expecting a bit more from two main leads in terms of character development but personally they didn’t do much for me, their chemistry however sparks well. What I do dislike about the whole drama is the constant emphasis on how it’s a “healing” drama, which to me, it can barely scratch the surface of such genre. There are much more healing k-dramas out there to watch, but for those who might not know these dramas, Hometown ChaChaCha would be a good start.

Lire davantage

I like it

I've always liked Shin Min Ah. She's been acting for a while now and I've always felt she's been ahead of her time and this was a very good performance from her. Her character development was beautiful to watch. Even though she wasn't exactly who she was at the beginning compared to the end, she was still who she was. It's not like one of those dramas whereby someone's love interest completely changes their personalities, interests, likes, dreams etc. There was a bit of that but there's a balance to it.

The male lead did a good job as well. Not a job another actor may not have done better but he was decent. However as I watched I kept thinking to myself "wow, this guy is too good to be true" and that is exactly why I loved the character. The reason we love stories and clichés is because the characters do not only reflect who we are but they also show what we want to be.

I love shows with communities that yare bound together by love and loyalty be it family, friends, neighbourhoods etc and this show has a great collection of characters that deliver that. It was boring to watch.

Definitely recommended. Good laughs. Tears. A bit of mystery. Good show.

Lire davantage

I'm you and you've become me

I loved it!!!!! Everything about this series is amazing! From the story (though it's a remake of a movie), characters, actors/actress, sceneries, lines, OST, and just plainly camaraderie of everyone involved in making this wonderful series.

Every episodes are relatable, not far-fetched, well-acted, deliveries of lines, character's development and side stories are all heart warming, tear-jerking, sweet, funny, frustrating and just simply what it's claiming, a healing series.

Actors/actress gave their best, delivered their lines, showed us how to react: whether to cry, smile, squel, laugh, get angry, frustrated and just simply enjoy the series. I'm always a fan of Shin Min Ah and Kim Seon-Ho, and was happy with this great pairing.

I will miss my "Shik-Hye" couple and everyone in Gongjin neighborhood. It's like I've become a member of the community and now I'm saying goodbye to them.

Also, I love the OST of this series. I've downloaded it already so I can listen to it whenever I want to.

Anyway, if you haven't watch it yet, you better start it now. Definitely worth the time and effort!

Lire davantage

A breath of fresh air!!

I can finally breathe after watching the final episode! So full of life and rich characters and story plots. Absolutely love it!! A romantic comedy that is also full of drama! Real life drama! I love it as the themes of love and friendship spans across age and the script confronted well the complex feelings of grief, guilt and regret!

It gives so much hope to the darkness of life and offers the possibility of fate and luck that brings people and life together again!

I will recommend this 1000% and will definitely watch again many more times!!! Well done!

Lire davantage

A warm meal in a hometown by the sea

Lovely drama, the plot gave me so much emotion and that special kind of warmth; I smiled in every episode (15 sit quietly)
It was such a beautiful screening, all characters conquered my heart and I got to know three riddles of Gongjin hihi, I love this drama!
Shin Minah and Kim Seonho played wonderfully, especially Seonho.. those emotions, I'm really impressed.. I bow low in admiration for his acting!
and the most important!! all this aesthetics?!
/chief's kiss/ PARADISE FOR EYES, I LOVE
Gongjin became my home during this screening and it will have a special place in my heart forever..
AND ONE MORE THING!.
hometown soundtrack cha-cha-cha! this is literally the essence of small and large adventures in a seaside town, songs full of sunshine, joy, but also bringing out the emotions hidden inside, thank you for the next gems for my dram thistle playlist<3

10/10 and this title goes to my top favorite dramas!

Lire davantage

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.

Lire davantage

Simple, amazing and beautiful

This is what you watch when you are in a bad mood. This is what you watch when you are bored. This is what you watch anytime and anyday. This series is so good. The character are so well written and the plot as well. There is no single episode that is boring. Every episode will leave with a number of emotions. The cast did so well and they contributed to their roles so well. You can feel their raw emotions. They make you cry and be happy with them. The music is also so good, make me hum the tune everytime after I finished an episode. This review is late because it is a rewatch lol. I barely re-watch shows and definitely not shows with 16 episodes and 1 hour run time. But this is just that good, even tho I already have watched it but I still giggle, feel shy, my legs kicking in the air and biting my pillow like it is my first time. Def a 10 out of 10 romcom. One of the best romcom I've watched.

Lire davantage

Diamond in the rough

At first I didn't plan to watch this drama. But suddenly I started watching it when the airing started. The main thing that I want to share is that "Don't judge a book by its cover". This drama is the perfect example of this phrase. We all have watched many supernatural, horror, thriller kdramas, but if you want something out of the box then I recommend to watch "Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha". The story is simple and there's no supernatural things, but still it stole my heart. I never write a review. It's really not my thing. But see I'm here writing a review today. So, that tells a lot why should you watch this. This drama brings happiness and pleasure from our daily life that we found very boring. Still believe me after you watch this drama your boring life can become attractive. It will change your point of view.

Lire davantage

Decent drama, but it is overhyped...

Decent drama, but I would say it is overhyped. It's a slow burn so don't expect anything soonish. The character of Hye Jin got on my nerves A LOT the first couple of episodes, Doo Shik did as well at times... I don't know chemistry between the two was very much like a sparkler. Nothing grand, or fireworks worthy. The real saviors of this drama were the side cast of characters. I found myself more interested in Mi Seon and Eun Chul romance then the main couple. The heart and soul of this drama were the side characters. I feel bad for saying that because I'm sure that Shin Min Ah and Kim Seon Ho worked hard, but...I just don't know. I felt like the chemistry between Hye Jin and Doo Shik was kinda forced, it was there but it just wasn't 100% for me. The last half of the drama felt rushed as well. Felt like they forgot to do some stuff and then they rushed to tie up loose ends. I caught myself checking how much time was left in the drama, and I was like cool enough time for them to address some stuff and then the next thing I knew the episode was over and things still didn't get address, drama felt dragged out by at least 2 episodes. Anyway the drama was decent, but far from being a masterpiece.

Lire davantage