To run for a dozen episodes, kakao TV’s new webtoon-based series aims for a healing route with hints of romance.
Set in a small town, the friendly vibe and subtle humor are evident and perfect for people who like a swift-moving story that does not have a complicated plot line.
abbyinhallyuland watches Once Upon A Small Town on Netflix
Opening Week Rating:
abbyinhallyuland watched Once Upon A Small Town on Netflix
Episode Recaps: 01 – 03 | 04 – 06 | 07 | 08 | 09 | 10 – 11 | Finale + Review |
Once Upon A Small Town Opening Week Story
Han Ji-yul (Choo Woo Young) a city veterinarian was asked by his grandfather to man his clinic in the countryside. His grandfather went to accompany his wife to her dream vacation.
Left with no choice, he accepts the deal and moves to his grandparents’ abode.
In his grandparents’ hometown, he keeps bumping into Police Officer Ahn Ja-young (Park Sooyoung/Joy). She seems to be the town’s go-to person in almost anything. Thus, he always meets her everywhere, whether he’s on vet duty or is raising privacy invasion complaints.
He also meets the capable peach farm owner Sang-hyun (Baek Sung Chul) who runs a quaint coffee shop near his farm. Sang-hyun is also Ja-young’s best friend who secretly likes her.
Unknown to Ji-yul, Ja-young has kept him fondly in her old memories as her secret friend owing to a summer memory they shared when they were young. But he doesn’t seem to recognize her.
In the second episode, Ja-young solves a case about petty thievery in the neighborhood that was done by a young man in the neighboring town.
As Ji-yul’s grandparents’ house was burglarized, he was roped in unintentionally to the two neighboring towns’ dispute. His frustration inadvertently gets directed to Ja-young as he declares his honest thoughts that he does not want to be bothered while carrying out what he was tasked to do.
Respecting his personal space demand, Ja-young, unfortunately, gets into a situation where the neighboring town ajumma blatantly picks on her mother, disguising their comments as worrying about her. The conversation was heard by Ji-yul which makes Ja-young feel uncomfortable.
Later, she finds her at Sang-hyun’s coffee shop and Ji-yul ends up doing work at the peach farm when he only wants to ask if he can buy one of Sang-hyun’s trucks.
Sensing Sang-hyun’s emotion towards Ja-yeong, Ji-yul successfully negotiates. Later, she tells Sang-hyun that Ji-yul is her “secret friend” from years ago.
Once Upon A Small Town Opening Week Musings
Straightforward in its small-town story, Once Upon A Small Town did not strongly cast a charming bait in its first two episodes.
Everything was done prosaic yet tolerable. But there’s room for the plot to move at the very least. However, manage your expectation as a viewer since the narrative is done in simple storytelling, especially in the first two episodes.
Accordingly, the third episode is packed with emotions as the lead characters’ introductions presented more back stories shared by the townspeople.
If there’s one striking scene that left a lingering nudge is that moment when Ja-yeong asked her friend Sang-hyun about the oldest memory he can remember.
That aligns with Ja-yeong’s core story development in the series. Of keeping someone in her heart because of an old promise and getting a blast of reality that the person does not have a recollection of it at all.
She at least knows that shared memory might have different lasting effects on people who had it. Her story of being raised by the hometown she loves has a deeper meaning as there is unresolved pain in her heart yet to be appeased.
Ji-yul confronting a 180-degree life change in a town that does not care about boundaries intends to draw some healing notes for people especially career people with a fast-paced life.
In a span of three episodes. we saw him grow from being grumpy to empathetic in realizing he has gone overboard with his rude attitude toward Ja-yeong when she’s just trying to help.
His line reminding Ja-yeong how busy she is taking the townspeople’s concerns when no one’s taking care of her resonates with the message of self-love, a perennial prod prevalent in this generation.
With nine more episodes coming up for the series, the preview already hints at a love triangle and refreshing moments typical of small-town set series.
Joy, Choo Young Woo and Baek Sung Chul have so far done a great job painting their characters and connections vividly.
Once Upon A Small Town airs one episode from Monday to Wednesday for four weeks on kakao TV. International viewers can watch it on Netflix.
Photos: kakao TV
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