[Drama 2019-2020] Chocolate, ♥ 초콜릿♥

[Redpinkboxes]

3 hours ago, periwinkleblossoms said:

I’m with you :-) I know Yoon Kye-Sang is in a long term relationship with honey lee but I want him to break up with her and marry Ha Ji-Won right away. Whirlwind romance do happen after all :-)

 

Hahahah lowkey feels, but we shall just ship them onscreen for now since Jiwon seems like shes attached as well! That doesnt stop me from hoping that theyll reunite in another drama. Like with Jisung and Hwang Jungeum, both married, but their chemistry on screen is through the roof!

42 minutes ago, Dramafreak said:

 

haven't seen beyond the clouds but have you guys seen it? @Ameera Ali

 

I saw One perfect day... short and cute. Yoon kye-sang looked so young in that!

I've seen it! It has similar vibes but with ALOT more makjang. YKS feels very similar there tho.

 

If you guys loved chocolate, i would recommend Can You Hear My Heart by Kim Jae Won and Hwang Jung Eum. A very heartwarming drama about handicapped people around HJE. Really warm and touching human drama. Chocolate is the first since then that touched me like that.

[sadthe1st]

actually there is something that keep slipping my mind as i watched the drama..

LJ is supposed to be the big brother and LK the younger one, but i can’t stick that in my head whenever i watch the 2 adults in the drama.. it seems more like LK is the older one since he is more matured both in attitude and looks 

[Dramafreak]

 @40somethingahjumma I am not quoting your response because in general I see what you mean. I thought quite a bit and this is what I felt.

 

- I have seen Kang's healing process over multiple episodes but poor CY gets two episodes only to sort herself (even if her sorting meant moving away from Kang, it was a process that we aren't privy to). I think someone here (who said she/he was a fan of the actress) said that we only see Kang's point of View towards the end after she goes away except for her voice over message. I am not a fan of the actress but I feel that she deserved a chance to heal and it would have been nice to be a part of that journey (sorry if I repeated myself). 

Also, I was ok with no wedding or babies but a little more time on the three healed (or healing) characters would have been nice.

- When Jun says hospice changed me too, he sees CY in most of those shots. So in some ways for Kang and Jun see CY as being synonymous to the hospice and what changed them.  According to the last 1 minute when they show cooking and eating shots with Kang's VO, food is equal to hope.

I think the hospice as a place was important and also maybe a character. The story for me would have worked without the love story too but as the characters of the love story (Kang in particular, episode 9 onwards the POV is mostly Kang's. We are not privy to CY's thoughts except in episode 10 when she is hurt) were introducing me to the hospice+the characters there, I cant help but think that either the director forgot he only had 16 hours or the storyteller liked lots of stories and wanted to tell them all but somehow ended up having favourites too. 

- CY in episode 14 says that she wont wait for her mom and it seems like an end to that storyline then, was the introduction of the mom really necessary? If yes, then I cant help but go back to my old thought: poor CY deserves screen-time for healing too.

- Since hospice is the main character of this drama would it not have made sense to end it there? Was a far off place like greece necessary. Practically speaking, CY had literally emptied her wallet for paying for her mom's sins so how did she get the resources for it. And even I wondered like some person here... TH factor. Even if he doesn't accompany her, as he has learnt a few lessons too (I felt too sad to see that part so will go back to the scene of the lady in pain), still in ep 15 she says that they are family and it seemed like she resolved her stance with regard to him.

- I think I am a bit thing because the drama ended. I am sure, I wouldn't be happy any which way the director may have chosen to end this so my reaction can be ignored. I realized reading your post that CY's flight could be a natural occurrence due to her character and that it would depend upon how one reads the character, and I have found her a bit difficult to fathom.

 

She liked him so much then would she really want time away from him given anyone could die the next second and one would regret not having spent time with them-- the vietnam/korean couple?

 

Edit---

In episode 6, he does do that but I don't think this connection is from there, if it is then I for one feel it is too delayed. That connection would be as faint as when Kang hears the ahjumma and CY talk about chips and her saying I like one for cows. In the end, when Kang remembers her, is it connected to that episode 7 scene or not is actually left to our imagination.

Jun doesn't tell her anything about Kang. She has only ever asked people about why Kang is at the hospice and the nurse telling her that Jun's family member was in the collapse are some loose ends for me, which is both good and bad that they were left as is.

Is healing possible with half truths or little knowledge... I don't know.  

And Kang not reading or getting MS's letter was a given after her confession. I think you said it best: the director did not want to talk ill of the dead through CY, so that issue was left alone with the dead. She hid something, so he hid something (the secret that his mom helped her with chocolate remains with the dead too).

 

One more addition: It is not that I didnt like it, it is very difficult to create something beautiful that makes your heart heavy but still gets you to smile but... 16th one has its highs yet as a finale I think it falls short with regard to this humble viewers expectations. The wrapping up needed as many details (and love) as the context-setting.

[40somethingahjumma]

4 hours ago, Dramafreak said:

 

One more addition: It is not that I didnt like it, it is very difficult to create something beautiful that makes your heart heavy but still gets you to smile but... 16th one has its highs yet as a finale I think it falls short with regard to this humble viewers expectations. The wrapping up needed as many details (and love) as the context-setting.

 

Sure. I don't disagree that the drama could have done more to wrap up certain threads more neatly. They definitely could have. Could we have seen more of the OTP? I imagine so. So why don't they? That would be the more popular things to do. I certainly wanted more. So all I can think is that there is a reason for it. Time constraints? I don't think so because they could have easily scrapped HN and MS' arc at the end. Why introduce new people with new issues? Sounds cumbersome I'm sure many people would prefer that no new patients get brought in at Episode 15. After all it is a pre-produced drama, editing shouldn't be an issue. But they did bring in new people. So I ask myself why. I came up with the following possibilities: 

(1) To show that life goes on regardless whether one is faced with the prospect of impending death

(2) "Happily ever after" isn't static ie. a one time thing and a perpetual state of bliss. Realistically it's something that you keep working on because we are people who have baggage and we make all kinds of choices routinely

(3) This is a snapshot of what people do to survive in a given moment in time. Life is a series of moments and memories. It is we who put structure and a narrative into those moments. We give our lives meaning. (Very existential stuff.)

(4) In real life there are no fairy tale endings even for people who love each other deeply. They have to keep working at it to make it work despite obstacles and challenges. In other words, there can be no neat ending in the real world. All life ends in death anyhow in some form. Even the most happy couples must say goodbye eventually. (That's in keeping with the primary theme of the show... reference: bun cha couple)

 

Re: the lack of CY development

Why bring mother into the mix so late into the piece? CY had apparently moved on and bam... mother rudely intrudes into their happiness by surfacing. That's pretty nasty and late.

But isn't that what life is like... when you think everything is going well... something comes up and upsets the applecart. Life doesn't necessarily "get better" with time although we can become "better" people as a result of what life throws at us.

 

Many of the criticisms that you brought up were similar to ones I heard when I was blogging about Moon Lovers. My opinion regarding all of that has to do with clashing worldviews. I'm fortunate I suppose to have grown up in "the east" and now live in the English-speaking west so I've lived through and thought through the differences for a while. In the east, there is still a strong strain of thinking that suffering is an inevitable part of life and it is often the means by which we purge ourselves of evil and build character. Suffering can cause us to be more resilient and prepare us for more suffering ahead. In the contemporary west, the thinking has become that we should try and fix everything so that there's as little suffering as possible. Happiness is the endgame so suffering is a negative that needs to be rubbed out where possible because it interrupts life. It's a recent development and very much tied to the rise of humanistic psychology. When the west was much more culturally Christian, its general understanding of suffering was somewhere in the middle of this spectrum especially because of the centrality in the belief of a suffering saviour that saves people from their sins. 

 

On top of that, there is the part about death and the afterlife. Koreans are deeply religious and TBH so are their dramas. Fate comes up a lot, sometimes as a stand in for God. But they certainly believe that there are supernatural forces at work. Christian, Animist or Buddhist.

 

So why am I rabbiting on about this?

 

I personally think the role of CY is a fascinating one. On the one hand she's like an angelic figure that hovers around the hospice kitchen spreading cheer and healing to the people who reside there. However her angelic mission came at a great cost. She was abandoned and then she was in a middle of man-made disaster which left her mentally scarred. She's not healed but through her brokenness she becomes an effective conduit for spreading cheer. In effect, she's a broken vessel that is used by God to heal and restore others. Stoically she powers through adversity after adversity helping others. She's certainly no stranger to suffering... and clearly enough... suffering gives her new abilities like cooking better than ever despite losing her olfactory senses. Like all superheroes, she has an Achilles' heel. It's her family. Brother and mother. He doesn't understand why she bothers, making things harder on herself and the mother, what should we say, has a completely different philosophy on living.

She goes through a series of challenges and finally she helps the man who falls for her to get healed, to put it simply. She even sorts things out with the brother. But the mother... she's an entirely different kettle of fish. She can't do anything about Mother who doesn't seem to want to be helped so she collapses into a heap. Her life's mission hits a wall. To her, she's failed. It also causes her to realise that she needs a good long break because she's run out of steam.

 

Edited to add: Or maybe it wasn't a failure. Just her last big job... to pronounce judgment on a stubborn and stiff-necked, unrepentant soul. Whatever it is... she is exhausted from working one case after another tirelessly.

 

She's been going and going all alone all this time. Now there's a man who wants to look after her. Should she drag him along in her hard life? Does he know what he's getting himself into? She's not sure if she wants him to suffer along with her. Afterall she's been managing so far on her own.

She doesn't want to ask him to join her but happily he decides... what the heck... he volunteers himself. So whatever she decides to do, he'll be there to look after her and support her. Hence he wraps the scarf around her neck just as he did at his place when she asked him to run away with her.

So to be with her, it means he has to carry all of her baggage and her mission... so it's a happy ending because he is willing to share the burden with her. Not because she is burden free.

 

Her mission to heal the broken hearted most likely continues but now she doesn't have to go at it alone.

 

(Anyway, I really need to go now and do my own CY magic in the kitchen)

[sadthe1st]

came across this while browsing IG.. (yes, chocolate drama posts still appear often from my IG feeds cos of the frequent searches previously!! )

[strwbrry]

thank you Chocolate team for the warm stories  

[hank marvin]

To be honest, I have two more episodes to go.

But , like I posted earlier , I can not remember Ha Ji Won playing the sweet cutie like she did now.

And I saw all of her dramas at least twice !

( November has been Secret Garden-month ever after it aired )

She had her cute moments always ofcourse, but keeping the reigns in hand on the other side.

 

This comparisation I have made earlier in the past: English actress Diana Rigg was the legendary Miss Emma Peel in the also legendary TV-series The Avengers in the '60's. Together with Patrick Macnee as John Steed, they would be on secret missions.

Sometimes he would save her, sometimes she would save him. Never the underdog. ( Diana Rigg is trained in martial arts )

She had a great career in film , TV and theater till now. At high age she played in Game Of Thrones.

Around the year 2000 she was still voted to be the only actress in Western cinema who could fight as a man , be "the boss" and could be feminine to the core at the same time.

 

Ha Ji Won was already able to do that , the subtle but real widening of her way of acting in Chocolate really proved she can play the whole spectre.

 

( I follow Asians In Hollywood on Facebook , people with Asian roots working in the American movie-industry trying to change the stereotyping of Asian characters in the main American productions. Ha Ji Won signed a contract with a Hollywood-studio years ago, but did not appear there yet. Besides the (big ) money , why would she ?

Settle for a second- or even third leading role in some other two-dimensional Hollywood-thing ? No way !

This is a fact for some other Korean and other Asian AA-listers too, I think )

 

 

[mystory]

8 hours ago, sadthe1st said:

actually there is something that keep slipping my mind as i watched the drama..

LJ is supposed to be the big brother and LK the younger one, but i can’t stick that in my head whenever i watch the 2 adults in the drama.. it seems more like LK is the older one since he is more matured both in attitude and looks 

I have the same feeling but it was very sweet to hear  Kang saying "hyung" to Jun over the phone 

[drakelaw]

Hello to everyone in the thread! 

 

Chocolate drama is not only a gem to watch but coming here and reading thoughtful, introspective, funny insights is a treasure trove as well. Been a silent reader and decided to come out and join the party. 

 

My two cents...

 

The ending had mixed reactions from a lot of people but I was quite satisfied with it. The drama is a slice of life, deals with realities, and issues are not resolved magically and instantly. Even with CY still missing her sense of taste and smell, life goes on for her. There are two scenes that resolved this issue for me. It is when she said that, "I will climb the mountain with one leg," and when her brother confirmed that her food taste more delicious than ever. And now, she has Kang who can season and taste her food for her (have to throw that one in, haha). 

Kang's lying about his mom to CY  may be self preservation as well as protecting CY. Guess he believes it was the best thing to do at that time. They both have suffered a lot from the accident and chose to deal with the trauma in their own way. Kang closing himself off and CY living selflessly for others to a fault. But in the end, it is Kang's mother's legacy that brought them together. Actually, it was his mother who brought them together the first time when they were kids. Kang learned cooking from mom to make other people happy. He cooked for little CY and now as adults together in a relationship. Ironically sweet. 

The overall production is so beautiful and most of you have dissected thoughtfully. It is admirable how the scenes were more deep and heartfelt through the director and casts' collaboration especially HJW and YKS. According to HJW's latest interview with MCY (Haewadal YT Channel), she suggested that CY should stay with Kang and lay beside him because she felt that you don't want to leave some one you love in that state of exhausted sleeping. And, it worked beautifully (like the kneeling scene on the beach). 

Want to add that the music tied the story together too. We know that our leads have great chemistry in their on and off screen interactions, but these two make beautiful music together too. Just perfect! Their rendition of "You and I," is so soothing, cool, and sexy and the same time. Eargasm! 

It is hard to say goodbye to this drama. Re-watching pretty soon. Carpe Diem!

 

 

[Dundee]

11 hours ago, Redpinkboxes said:

 

Hahahah lowkey feels, but we shall just ship them onscreen for now since Jiwon seems like shes attached as well! That doesnt stop me from hoping that theyll reunite in another drama. Like with Jisung and Hwang Jungeum, both married, but their chemistry on screen is through the roof!

I've seen it! It has similar vibes but with ALOT more makjang. YKS feels very similar there tho.

 

If you guys loved chocolate, i would recommend Can You Hear My Heart by Kim Jae Won and Hwang Jung Eum. A very heartwarming drama about handicapped people around HJE. Really warm and touching human drama. Chocolate is the first since then that touched me like that.

I think his acting is better in Chocolate, imo he’s little bit overreacted in beyond the clouds. I recommend the good wife and his movie the outlaw

[AquariusMY]

I still have the final episode to watch but it is interesting to read your comments and feedback here even before watching it myself. Without analysing too deep, I want to think that many truths or untold stories will be revealed between CY and LK as they walk through life together. They have now just recently got together, so give them time to slowly reveal more and more. Hence, as disappointed as some of us are that there are some disconnection here and there, or some lack of telling, let's just tell ourselves that both have a lifetime to know each other. Surely she will know who his mom is, surely she will know what caused the tremor in his hand, surely he will know about MS' letter. When the timing is right, these will be told. Perhaps in a drama with 25 episodes?

 

What makes me curious is reading here that there is a possibility that HJW is seeing someone in real life? I watched her interview with CY (which I must say was nicely done!), I am not entirely sure which part that may possibly hint at her having a boyfriend?

 

By the way, I googled and googled but there really isnt much to read about YKS and Honey Lee or even nice non-paparazzi pictures of them together. Really low key, huh?

[mahika]

I wish  this couple,   Yoon Kye Sang and Ha Ji Won will  reunited in a romantic drama  comedy 

[yskj]

12 hours ago, 40somethingahjumma said:

 

 

So why am I rabbiting on about this?

 

I personally think the role of CY is a fascinating one. On the one hand she's like an angelic figure that hovers around the hospice kitchen spreading cheer and healing to the people who reside there. However her angelic mission came at a great cost. She was abandoned and then she was in a middle of man-made disaster which left her mentally scarred. She's not healed but through her brokenness she becomes an effective conduit for spreading cheer. In effect, she's a broken vessel that is used by God to heal and restore others. Stoically she powers through adversity after adversity helping others. She's certainly no stranger to suffering... and clearly enough... suffering gives her new abilities like cooking better than ever despite losing her olfactory senses. Like all superheroes, she has an Achilles' heel. It's her family. Brother and mother. He doesn't understand why she bothers, making things harder on herself and the mother, what should we say, has a completely different philosophy on living.

She goes through a series of challenges and finally she helps the man who falls for her to get healed, to put it simply. She even sorts things out with the brother. But the mother... she's an entirely different kettle of fish. She can't do anything about Mother who doesn't seem to want to be helped so she collapses into a heap. Her life's mission hits a wall. To her, she's failed. It also causes her to realise that she needs a good long break because she's run out of steam.

 

Edited to add: Or maybe it wasn't a failure. Just her last big job... to pronounce judgment on a stubborn and stiff-necked, unrepentant soul. Whatever it is... she is exhausted from working one case after another tirelessly.

 

She's been going and going all alone all this time. Now there's a man who wants to look after her. Should she drag him along in her hard life? Does he know what he's getting himself into? She's not sure if she wants him to suffer along with her. Afterall she's been managing so far on her own.

She doesn't want to ask him to join her but happily he decides... what the heck... he volunteers himself. So whatever she decides to do, he'll be there to look after her and support her. Hence he wraps the scarf around her neck just as he did at his place when she asked him to run away with her.

So to be with her, it means he has to carry all of her baggage and her mission... so it's a happy ending because he is willing to share the burden with her. Not because she is burden free.

 

Her mission to heal the broken hearted most likely continues but now she doesn't have to go at it alone.

 

(Anyway, I really need to go now and do my own CY magic in the kitchen)

 

This is such a fascinating read that I just had to login to click like :)

Looking back I had found it interesting that not a lot is made known of CY's backstory.. there were no details about her life as an abandoned child survivor of a disaster, suffering ptsd and yet overcoming all the odds to become a talented chef.. they didn't show any foster parents or teachers or caretakers from her childhood.. and I have a feeling that was all by design to give this character a sense of mystery.. which kind of fits with your take.. it adds to her aura as the angelic healer-superhero-culinary extraordinaire.. no wonder she got along so well with the little Iron Ranger Ji-yong ;)

 

[Dramafreak]

15 hours ago, 40somethingahjumma said:

personally think the role of CY is a fascinating one. On the one hand she's like an angelic figure that hovers around the hospice kitchen spreading cheer and healing to the people who reside there. However her angelic mission came at a great cost. She was abandoned and then she was in a middle of man-made disaster which left her mentally scarred. She's not healed but through her brokenness she becomes an effective conduit for spreading cheer. In effect, she's a broken vessel that is used by God to heal and restore others. Stoically she powers through adversity after adversity helping others. She's certainly no stranger to suffering... and clearly enough... suffering gives her new abilities like cooking better than ever despite losing her olfactory senses. Like all superheroes, she has an Achilles' heel. It's her family. Brother and mother. He doesn't understand why she bothers, making things harder on herself and the mother, what should we say, has a completely different philosophy on living.

She goes through a series of challenges and finally she helps the man who falls for her to get healed, to put it simply. She even sorts things out with the brother. But the mother... she's an entirely different kettle of fish. She can't do anything about Mother who doesn't seem to want to be helped so she collapses into a heap. Her life's mission hits a wall. To her, she's failed. It also causes her to realise that she needs a good long break because she's run out of steam.

 

@40somethingahjumma

Thank you so much for taking the time to write about this. As always i loved reading your take on CY.

 

And I wasn't speaking just about OTP onscreentime (i would love that) but I was thinking of more CY time with regard to her healing. But i guess, if her character is so clear for viewers then I need to revisit it to check out what I have missed.

 

Like i have said before, the drama experience wouldnt have been the same without some of the fun stuff shared here as well as your insights.

[Ameera Ali]

23 hours ago, Dramafreak said:

 

haven't seen beyond the clouds but have you guys seen it? @Ameera Ali

 

I saw One perfect day... short and cute. Yoon kye-sang looked so young in that!

yeah we are now watching it ( it’s quite good )  , we can’t move on from oppa after chocolate  

[scorpionflowers]

3 hours ago, Ameera Ali said:

yeah we are now watching it ( it’s quite good )  , we can’t move on from oppa after chocolate  

Until now i still cant get over kyesangie oppa haha..he is so cute and huggable in last few episode 

[sadthe1st]

the chocolate ost album in itunes has 28 tracks instead of 22 tracks.. haha i’m so tempted to buy and download the whole album 

[Redpinkboxes]

 

 ^^ NG from the serious part, cause the wind came and blew the chocolate bag away ...

 

And troll YKS was like "OMMAAA" pretending like his mum came with the wind and her presence is with the bag.

 

I love how Ji won and Kye Sang keeps calling each other "Kangii shiii and Chayoungsshi" so cute!

[ChocolateMei]

Hello everyone!! I realize that I’m very late to the Soompi Chocolate party. I don’t know why I didn’t join sooner when I made an account a few months ago. I actually forgot all about it! So anyway, I thought it would be appropriate if I made my first post in the Chocolate thread. First of all, I would like to say how much I appreciate everyone’s perspectives. Most of what everyone wrote already expressed what I feel. There’s not much left for me to say except how much I love this drama and how much it resonates with me at this particular season in my life. Looking at everyone’s posts, the videos, photos from the drama is such a welcome change of environment with a lovely and positive energy from everyone. I would like to say a special thanks to @40somethingahjumma aka Lilium in another site for being a definitive force that brought me here with her thoughtful insights. 

[sadthe1st]

and so, i did!! 

i think some of the photos that din appear in the actual dramas are used for ost covers instead

 

Spoiler

You&I with lyrics

https://youtu.be/FB4dpzwmljs