Once Upon a Small Town is full of cheese and drama tropes, but at the end it felt well worth the watch.. even if I could guess what was going to happen because of it's tropy-ness.

One of my favorite drama plots is moving from a city into a small village and this one is all about that. It gave me Hometown Cha Cha Cha vibes where a smart, city doctor comes in and being in a village is the last thing they want in the world. The town itself is so beautiful and I loved getting to see the scenery with all the cinematography shots they give.

What added to my rating of 9 was I felt that some plots/tropes were added, but not really needed. I still don't really see why they added in his tragic backstory with the town + Officer Ahn other than having that as the mystery.. which didn't really make sense to me seeming he didn't even remember the trauma until the drama was almost over. It could've been fine without it and them just met for the first time when he came then, or just of had him remember earlier into the show rather than drag it out.

Joy's acting is amazing in this and was one of the main reasons that drug me in. She gave such life to Officer Ahn and helped me feel all the butterflies and feelings she was as it was going on. Her chemistry with the male lead as well was so good and I loved seeing the relationship blossom.

Watching the animal stories itself was emotional and I loved seeing all the pets/animals in the village. Some of them even made me cry... It's just a beautiful, cheesy romance story.