BY RACHEL TORRES
The perfect Netflix pick-me-up to end our stressful days with
After the hype of the thrilling series Squid Games, another K-Drama on Netflix immediately hit a buzz: Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha. This time, it’s a lot more feel-good and comforting — no gore allowed. Here’s why so many of us can’t get over it.
Don’t worry. We’ll keep our insights spoiler-free insights to convince you to start (and finish) the series.
The series is produced during the pandemic — so they get it. Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha is able to share stories that understand thoughts we may have pondered on when in isolation or in the midst of drastic change, grief, frustration, and acceptance of situations we do not have control of.
The Plot
The story is set in Gongjin, South Korea, starring Dr. Yoon Hye-Jin, who is a dentist from Seoul. As she moves to this seaside town, she meets the village’s well-loved and all-around man-of-many-hats Hong Du-Shik. This 16-episode series tackles more than the typical K-Drama kilig, but also touches on love in different forms such as for family, for friendship, for the community, new partnerships, and even loss of love.
Gongjin is a rural area, which means is quieter with an older population. The pacing is much slower than in Seoul, and the culture and relationship with and of the community are a lot more intimate. After days full of Zoom meetings for work, scrolling through fast-paced social media for leisure, and generally, on our screen-dependent lifestyle, the show feels like we get to take a break from all of that (even if we are ironically watching it on a screen).
Why We Recommend It
As compared to recent high-rated K-Dramas, like It’s Okay To Not Be Okay, Kingdom, Hotel De Luna, Crash Landing On You, and more, the plot of Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha is more relatable in terms of characters and their problems. Each character holds a story that we may relate to and brings hope to how we may also change our perspective towards what we may have struggled or been struggling with.
A good example is the situation of the main protagonist Hye-Jin as she mimics what many of our mindsets have been so used to when living in a globalized and technologically-driven time. We can all relate to being so focused on ourselves and our future, studying and working hard for a great and luxurious life of ‘success’— hence it is refreshing to see how people in Gongjin redefine or reteach her (and us) about success, happiness, and passion outside of a you-are-your-own-person city. This non-fiction series takes us aback as it brings light to a life forgotten and relationships we may have taken for granted.
Similarly, it is an easy series to indulge in, in spite of it being an-hour long episode each, because of the architecture of Gongjin in itself. The story allows us to live vicariously into the simple homey town as we have been stuck in the city for a long while now. The sight of the vast body of water and wide clear skies makes us forget that we are surrounded by traffic, tall buildings, and pollution, just watching the scenery is so refreshing we can almost smell the fresh air.
Lastly, it’s full of heartwarming kindness and hope. Admittedly, there are some pretty sad stories in different characters’ subplots, but the story goes on and shows how different people around us help us through our hardships and not feel alone in getting through life. There are moments that urge us to reflect on ourselves and how we may be similar to their shortcomings, as well as nuggets of wisdom that offer us alternate perspectives. All in all, as the chain of events, unfold we see how each character is welcomed into each others’ lives as well as to the loving town and home, Gongjin.
Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha is not just a trendy-cutesy series — it’s empathetic and timely. Not convinced yet? Try watching it for yourself on Netflix.
In the first minutes of the first episode, Dr. Yoon Hye-Jin’s exudes a girl-boss aura as she exits her apartment in a chic blazer and nude knit co-ord, looking fresh and powerful. You can cop the first episode look of Yoon Hye-Jin’s outfit here!