This drama has touched my heart is so many ways that I wanted to share this gem with everyone. You can watch this on Netflix right now and binge-watch to your heart’s content. This 16 episode drama is a genuinely fantastic all-round drama. From the script to the acting, nothing falls short of delivery. I truly love this drama.
Sidenote: OST is fantastic and mesmerizing.
I hope it can bring you all some closure and healing through the stories and portrayals of different walks of life and the human nature of suffering and the question of why this happens to us? When we are good people. This drama is heavily focused on life and death and the people who desperately love one another. You will not cry, but you will sob! From happiness to sadness. Chocolate is an emotionally deep drama that deals with heavy subjects. But I can promise you; you will smile and laugh as much as you sob. I cannot get enough of Chocolate. Fingers crossed for a second season!
The Drama:
The story starts when Moon Cha young and Lee Kang meet as children. At that moment, both of their lives change forever. Moon Cha young falls in love with the comfort of food while Lee Kang despises everything from his old life, including becoming a chef. Years later, they meet again. And no matter how many times they separate from each other, Kang lee never finds out Cha Young is the girl he meets as a child on that fateful day. Someone’s fate has a weird way to bring them back together again and again. They both end up working at the same hospice, and there they learn to love and live their lives again. In a small hospice where; patients, doctors, families, and delicious food prepared by chef Cha young bring happiness to one another’s mundane yet meaningful life.
The Beautiful in the Drama:
There is a huge sense of longing in the drama. Even then, you can feel the love. Regardless of which couple is on screen. The love illuminates. From marital to family relationships, deep love is continuously present even in the eyes of death. There are so many sweet moments throughout the drama. It’s not a completely sad drama because every episode ends in happiness. I loved the last five episodes as it finally covered the relationship and romance between Cha young and Lee Kang! Wow, it’s worth the wait! Honestly, I don’t regret watching this drama as it’s incredibly healing and worth every second of it. There is a lot of redemption in Chocolate. Lee Joon(Jun) is a perfect example of this; he went from being greedy to wanting nothing even helping Lee Kang. Lee Kang as well changed a lot in the drama, which is visibly present when he returns to Wando and is a complete mess.
The Love in Chocolate:
WOW, I will say this drama love story is very slow-paced and a secondary aspect of the drama. Regardless, I love it so much. So if you’re expecting a cute love story, please refer to Love With Flaws(2019). The love between Cha young and Lee Kang is so beautiful and real. They meet so many times but never got together. They often heal each others wounds but most importantly they are never far from each others reach. Eventually they both learn to leave the past in the past and move forward with each other. In hopes of building a life together, just the two of them.
the Downside of the Chocolate:
I want to make it clear that although I thoroughly love this drama, it does have a few inconsistencies. The first one being when Cha-young and Min Sung end up dating each other. I am sorry, but she never accepted unless we gather this confirmation from the hug? And even then, it’s incomprehensible how she thought that is okay is she loved another man, especially considering it’s Kang Lee’s best friend. That still confuses me. The second inconsistency is what happened to her father? They often talk about being abandoned solely by their mother but not their father. Maybe I missed it, and they stated he passed away, but I didn’t catch it. The third inconsistency is why cha young cannot be with Lee Kang. She never truly gave a reason other than she can’t love him. The last inconsistency is what happened to Lee Kang and his family. In the end, even Lee Joon’s path is not clear. I suppose the viewers can only make assumptions about what will happen. They could honestly make a second season. However, I will end these inconsistencies actually being consistent with the drama because the ending mentions that it’s the end of their story, but it’s not the end because the future is not certain, and everything has its time and place.
the Beauty in the Drama:
There are so many amazing characters in this drama. We have characters ranging from 6 years old to 80 years old. Each episode is well put and aligns perfectly with our main leads. Food is often a representation of a form of happiness from memories each person lived that wished to relive again. The stories are thoughtful, heartfelt, and mesmerizing. We see everything from greed to selflessness. From hatred to acceptance and lastly, not everyone moves on and can close that chapter in their life just yet. And that aspect of the drama is the most relatable because sometimes we do need more time to heal before we can fully move forward with our lives. I hope you will watch this drama and love it as much as I love it.
One of the best 2019 Korean dramas.
CinemaDeJoei 