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Coffee Prince korean drama review
Completed
Coffee Prince
6 people found this review helpful
by JanuaryWonder
Mar 4, 2017
17 of 17 episodes seen
Completed
Overall 10
Story 9.0
Acting/Cast 9.5
Music 9.0
Rewatch Value 10.0
Does it deserve a ten? *thinks for about 3 seconds* Hell yeah, it deserves a ten. Of course, no drama is perfect, and Coffee Prince isn't either by virtue of belonging to the category (of a more broader category, which is - all things in life). But does it stand head-and-shoulders above the other things I've seen so far? Damn straight. The first refreshing thing about it was the absence of villains/antagonists who stole valuable screentime with their sleeked up hair and inane filler intrigues. No such filler here: all the characters were loveable (more or less so), the story got you invested in their arcs and you genuinely cared about them as much as they seemed to all care about each other. Though I liked all of them, two stood out particularly - Gong Yoo's Han Gyul and Lee Sun Gyun's Han Seong. I literally could not decide whom I liked better: I have thus far never fallen prey to the second male lead syndrome, but in the beginning of the drama I was all about Han Seong (possibly because he reminds me so much of my own boyfriend). As the story progressed, Han Gyul caught up in my affections and they ended basically tied. Both actors inhabited the roles flawlessly. My heart broke for Han Gyul when he found out about the deception, his pain and disappointment was so genuinely portrayed, with such evident vulnerability, I felt like hugging my laptop. On the other hand, I smiled every time Han Seong smiled because.. how could you not? That smile! I have to mention Yoon Eun Hye here as well: she was believable as a boy, and I found myself even forgetting on several occasions about the whole gender-swap plotline, it was that realistic. The way the story progressed between Eun Chan and Han Gyul was consequently also realistic: from their interactions, I could see why he became attracted to her even up to the point of being ready to accept that he was in love with a male person. (Can someone say swoon? That scene in the coffee shop, HEAVENS. The tension between them was palpable, and organically built up to that inevitable moment.) The final solutions for both female characters were also something I appreciated in this drama that I rarely see. They made their own choices, grew as independent people, and were the better for it. Kudos to the writers for this. Another separate kudos goes for the realistic depiction of adult (kind of) relationships, with all the s-e-x and other stuff, even if with the added cuteness/drama that I wouldn't expect to see between a 24-y-o and a 30-y-o or however old Han Gyul was supposed to be. They still followed through and I was both amazed and extremely happy that they did. Lastly, as a side note: I loved the music in this drama, it had a great vibe, from the Kings of Convenience I heard (if I'm not mistaken now) to all the rest of the soundtrack, it got me to discover some great music.
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