#like they must know ​Cha Dushik is

[iwillfightformydream]

If Cha Dushik now works for SW does that mean he checks up on Ijin while he’s working or Ijin is training.

[misscrawfords]

3 or 4 families in a seaside town...

I get big Emma vibes from Hometown Cha Cha Cha. Honestly, kdramas in general I feel have a lot in common with the plots of historical Western romantic comedies - it's something I find very interesting - but that's a tangent for now. But this show has a very particular vibe.

The thing that most strikes me is the setting. Both Hometown and Emma rely on the location of a small town to provide the basis of its characters and plots. Both Highbury and Gongjin are almost an extra character in their importance. The nature of the small town provides a reason for the characters to be there and gives them a strict hierarchy within village life. In Highbury, the relative class status between the Woodhouses, Westons, Knightleys, Coles, Goddards, Elliots etc. is key to the plot. In the same way, society in Gongjin is also highly structed from village chief to restaurant owners to landlords to grandmas and then to the incomers who are Hyejin and Miseon, the film crew, the actors, the pervert etc.

The other aspect of the small town location that is so similar between the two works is the aspect of a community knowing everything about each other, gossip, and care. In Gonjin, gossip forms the backbone of the community's life, including making things very awkward for Hyejin while also being used as a vehicle to hint at and resolve mysteries about characters' backstories. In the same way in Highbury, everyone knows everybody's business and one of the most clever aspects of the novel is the way in which Miss Bates' seemingly random gossip in fact contains all the crucial information needed to solve the mystery of Frank Churchill and Jane Fairfax. This same gossip and threat of it is also very hurtful in particular to Jane.

But both communities take care of each other and this is where parallels in characters start to emerge. In Gongjin, Dushik takes care of the whole village through his indiscriminate kindness and his many part time jobs and is consequently adopted as their child. In Highbury, Mr. Knightley as the richest and most significant landlord in the area also takes care of those in need, from sending food to the Bateses to offering his carriage to Jane. In return, he is respected above anyone else.

In both works the heroine is at least initially to some people entitled and dislikeable. Both Emma and Hyejin are snobs who believe themselves above the rest of the community and a major part of their character development is coming to terms with their mistaken thinking and reaching out to be a more worthy part of the community. Both make truly horrific public acts of prejudice and snobbery and must perform acts of genuine atonement before they can be accepted. (Insulting Oh Yoon's music in public for Hyejin and Emma's snub of Miss Bates.)

And yet both heroines have kindly intentions and are good, albeit complicated, people. Emma means well when she takes Harriet under her wing even if the outcomes are disastrous and her judgement of characters like Mr. and Mrs. Elton show her intelligence. Hyejin hides her kindness in acts she can be detached from such as giving charity from a distance. Both lack a mother in their life and have a complicated relationship with their father.

And crucially from the romance perspective, both are forced to confront their flaws by the hero who is the only person willing both to call them out and believe in their goodness underneath everything else. Dushik and Mr. Knightley have remarkably similar roles towards Hyejin and Emma despite their intial relationship being very different. Emma and Mr. Knightley have known each other all their life, after all.

There are various other parallels - the love triangle with the overly amiable rival, jealousy of whom helps the hero to understand his feelings; the way strange mysteries about the town and the characters' backstories are cleverly interwoven and revealed over the course of the plot... but I'd say these are the main ones.

I find it really cool to see such an Emma-esque narrative in a kdrama. Pride and Prejudice is such a straight forward type of inspiration (though tbh I rarely feel that things that people claim are obviously P&P inspired actually are - usually it's a short hand for "rich/poor enemies to lovers story" with little actual connection to the source material) but Emma is a bit different and whether there's any intentional connection or not, it's refreshing to see a story in this vein!

[0721am]

Homcha's lead actors, Kim Seonho and Shin Minah are saving my drought k-drama period with their impeccable acting. For the longest time, I couldn't concentrate on any K-drama and was very miserable. At one point, I resigned to the acceptance of the death of my K-drama passion.

Then, I saw a tweet of Seonho's comeback show, Hometown Cha Cha Chan. I became an admirer of his acting in 'Start-Up' (This show skewered through my brain, and I only watched it for Seonho) and immediately decided to add him to my must-look-out-for-new-shows list. He is handsome, talented, hardworking, and humble. His dimples pop way too hard and keep swooning my heart. I'm amazed at his understanding of a character and unparalleled portrayal because Han Jipyeong made me cry and yearn for him. Han Jipyeong felt real to me. I still remember when I watched 'Start-up,' I noticed a striking difference between his acting and others. So, this pretty much led me to watch 'Hometown Cha Cha Cha.'

And, I know Shin Minah from the show 'Tomorrow, with You' (Wait, this reminds me of 'Tomorrow by Together'). I was too young when I watched the show. The premise was intriguing, but the plot was complex and a little hard to follow. She did justice to the character she portrayed. Indeed the craftmanship of a veteran actress is always flawless and on point.

Thus, I was ecstatic about 'Hometown Cha Cha Cha.' It's like the universe decided to put two actors with brilliance and humbleness to create a chef-d'oeuvre. When I watched the pilot episode, I kissed goodbye to reality. I was immersed with every character, especially the protagonists. In all honesty, I didn't expect a frenemy to lovers trope. Dusik and Hyejin are polar opposites, yet similar in guarding their hearts. I had a major cuteness meltdown when I watched Dushik gushing over Hyejin, popping those dimples with shyness. I missed this cuteness, light-heartedness way too much. Also, I was swooning over the street smart and jack-of-all-trades Hong Dushik. Chief Hong has a nice ring to it. Hyejin is fascinated-annoyed at how Dushik is everywhere. That's cute too. Seonho's and Minah's fantastic portrayal of Hyejin and Dushik's bickering and silent support, along with their different perspective on life, are lively to watch. Hyejin and Dushi are real in my eyes, and this proves the impeccable acting calibre of both actors. I thank heaven and angels for this beautiful show and am excited to watch Sikhye's journey.

[grrrlsoverdramas]

(Skip this if cutesyness discourse is annoying you, and live ur life lmao)

Ok, not to contribute to a truly Pointless Conversation where people are like Very Defensive About Their Right to Complain, but I feel like the people whining about/defending/discussing the cutesy-ness in these eps of hometown cha cha cha are doing it in a weird cultural vacuum!!

Like, y’all, this is aegyo?? this isn’t some strange portrayal of a couple in luv??? Aegyo is a common way that people who date communicate in Korea -- and you might be like “not adults!!” but you would be wrong!!! It’s like ~~dating vibes~~. Which isn’t to say that a lot of people in Korea don’t find aegyo cringe or embarrassing, or even dislike it, but also that’s kind of the point? Like aegyo is this thing you do that’s lovey-dovey, pda, showing-off, etc... it’s kinda supposed to be annoying.

I also often don’t like aegyo and don’t love especially women having to use baby talk to seem cute, but on the other hand shin min ah is like an aegyo-heavy actress (like also major aegyo vibes in oh my venus!! and that character is way more mature than this one), and her character uses aegyo a lot throughout this show... she uses it on Dushik a lot. Personally, her aegyo doesn’t bother me too much because it isn’t overly infantalized? But maybe that’s just me.

But also people complaining about them dressing up as middleschoolers must never have seen a romcom kdrama before... that’s literally just a romcom trope where people have a “uniform” date, I’ve seen it so much!!! idk anyone who’s done it in real life? but maybe people do it, i dunno... but at the least it’s just one of those filmy things that you accept as something that exists commonly in fantasyland.

Anyway, all I’m saying is that these are just tropes that are happening to show us two people are in love!  It’s fine not to like tropey things but like the cringe factor is happening on purpose -- we are supposed to be curling our fingers/getting goosebumps at how cute they are, that is The Point. Honey’s supposed to be coming out of our eyeballs u know. I’ve never in my life Wanted to be the Third Wheel, yknow?