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A light watch
This was one of my first K-Dramas and it was also my first female to male cross-dressing K-Drama. I have re-watched it a few times over the years and it still remains the best cross-dress drama for me and I continue to be fond of it especially for light watching.The acting is good from all performers so that as I looked at the FL on screen, no matter how ridiculous I personally thought it was that everyone thought she was a boy (with her features) apart from one person, the story really carries in a way that made me binge watch it to the end the first time. The drama touches on real life issues and concepts but these are not explored in real and heavy depth and I don’t think it is the intention of the drama to do so. All four main characters go through a journey to explore their feelings and desires to find out where they are meant to be and with whom.
What I liked with FL character was that she was unapologetically a tomboy in the first place and remained so till the end. I liked that we went on the journey with the ML exploring his feelings and sexuality which was emotive, with frustrating and really funny moments.
If not taken too seriously, the drama is enjoyable one with a little bit of anxt that is not overly drawn out and tiresome, lol moments and you may need the box of tissues for maybe one or two moments.
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STORY
Girl dressing as a boy trope is my guilty pleasure. Naturally, I really enjoyed it in this drama because Yoon Eun Hye really looks like a cute boy. I don't want to go too deep into the story, but I'd like to point out that for a 2007 drama, it's an original concept. I would've wanted to know more about the side characters and less about the romance between Choi Han Seong and Han Yoo Juu (I found them to be a boring couple tbh). The angsty romance and quirky characters made it so enjoyable. The ending was cute, but left me with a lot of questions as well.
ACTING/CAST
I really have no complaints about the actors. All of the main roles done their jobs really well. There were some annoying characters and overly acted scenes, but I'm brushing that aside. Gong Yoo's chaebol character was my favorite. He frustrated me so much, but I loved him for it. Also, Kim Chang Wan's character made me die of laughter.
MUSIC
I was too engrossed in the story to pay much attention to the music, but listening back to the OST made me remember some scenes with fondness.
OVERALL
It takes some time to get involved in the story, but I promise it's worth it. It doesn't have tragic parts that make you so sad, I didn't really cry while watching, but I had so much fun and laughed so much. If you're looking for a fluffy romantic comedy and you're also able to watch them use flip phones without cringing, then this is the drama for you.
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Gong Yoo
It's mandatory you see this cult classic drama! As a die hard Gong Yoo fan, I am yet again not disappointed in his performance. I had to re-watch it to give a fresh and proper review.Anyway, if you love Rom-Com this is the drama for you! It's inspired several sequels in fellow countries proving it's worth in Top Tier Early 2000's K-Dramas. Speaking of early 2000's keep in mind this is a seasoned drama so if you're expecting camera graphics to be 'flawless' like now days, beware. Now, that doesn't mean it's tacky or poor quality but it's something someone might wanna be informed about lol
The storyline is amazingly accurate for so many hard working/blue collar citizens and I can assure you this "Rich Guy Poor Girl' theme is in a league of its own. As much as I love Gong Yoo...there's several times I wanted to slap him, along with the rest of the cast lmao So there's plenty of relatable content with some heart warming and even heart breaking moments. But don't worry, there's comedy for days!
If you love K-Drama's, are new to the Asian Drama world or simply want something cute and fluffy, you've come to the right place!
Enjoy...
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I was finally able to finish up Coffee Prince. The last show I watched shared the plot point of a rich guy falling in love with a girl who was hiding a big secret. Kinda funny how similar the storylines were.
I'm not going to go into a comparison (and no, it was none of the remakes), but I'm just glad that I was able to finish it up.
I feel like I'm making myself sound bored and relieved of the shows ending...
(Guess the gloomy weathers getting to me)
In actuality, It was a sweet show that I would recommend to anyone.
Here's some more about it...
Story 〆(・∀・＠): I'm not going to review the synopsis since... you know... it's right up there. I'm going to admit that the love story is so refreshing, and I adore it so much. It's not just about a guy loving a girl but two people loving each other despite their gender. Yeah, I know that it's still a story about a male and a female, but they started liking each other before one found out. They tackled the struggle some people have of same-sex relationships as well as not relying too much on the rich guy/poor women trope that is practically plastered in every show. The side characters were also lovable. All the staff at the Coffee Prince were unique and defined, which allowed you to grow attached easily. Each had their own desires and problems that didn't center around the leading duo. Even so, they had a connection with each other that made it seem like they're really just friends going through love troubles.
They were also pretty cute, so the girly side of me very much approved.
I wasn't a big fan of all the side stories though. Sometimes it felt like the writers wanted to keep side plots going along with the main one but didn't have enough material to do so. Therefore there was a feeling of repetitively to them. I would've loved it if the stories were a bit more diverse and exciting so that I wouldn't have had lost interest.
This problem started to affect the show in the latter half too—just the constant sense of being repetitive. But the show made up for it by providing cute squeal-worthy romance moments and friendly interactions that made you just want to sit and watch for hours.
Acting ｡゜(｀Д')゜｡: In my last review, I spent waaaay to much time talking about the actors, so hopefully I can keep this short and sweet. The two leads fit their characters perfectly. I'm already a huge Gong Yoo fan, so I had high expectations for him. Expectations that he met quite easily. He has a knack for playing characters that develop over time. His expressions and mannerisms match Choi Han-gyul to a tea. Yoon Eun-hye was also perfect for her role. She really was able to pull off the whole fake manliness thing. I've seen shows where the girl pretending to be a boy but looks too feminine and unbelievable. But Eun-hye had the body language, looks, and personality of someone truly resembling a male. But when she needs to, she can end up looking like a beautiful woman. Just the vast amount of possibilities with her appearance fits the character. Together, the two leads had fantastic chemistry and showed what love truly is. The side characters, as I mentioned earlier, all were interesting in their way. That's all thanks to the actors. I could see how comfortable they were with each other, which made the show feel more real.
Music ヾ(⌐■_■)ノ♪: Duh Duh DAH!!! Music time baby!
I'm not going to say I liked all the music. It was all average sounding to me. But the reason I'll give it credit is because it matches the setting so well. It wasn't just happy and sad music that played when needed. It had somewhat of a calming sense to it, which is something you'd actually find in a coffee shop. I'm sure there were different types of songs that I'm just not remembering, but that usually means that they were nothing special. The opening song was light and cheery, but one line kind of sounded like something else. Nothing terrible but every time I heard it I thought the singers were saying: ♪ Just how much did that mustard pray for you ♪
It doesn't make sense and isn't relevant to this review at all... but I nonstop thought of it, so now I shall spread the confusion. :)
Other (ง°ل͜°)ง: I usually use this portion of the review to voice my opinion on the show's topic. For example, I talked about the supernatural part of the show when reviewing Oh My Ghostess. I've never worked at a cafe or had a job in that type of business. But I'll admit that its nice to see the coffee shop rise from nothing. It's like watching a kid grow up (maybe not as life-changing, but still an enjoyable growth sequence). The show is pretty overdramatic with a few things, but it never makes it feel like too much. It's a very down to earth relaxing show that you never have to tear your hair out about. So a toast to that!
For the first time, I feel like my review is at a decent length.
Will that happen again? Let's hope so!
In all fairness, this show is nothing surprising and doesn't have much of a heavy bone. The romance is cute, and the characters are sweet. A perfect show if you just want to relax..... with... let's say a cup of coffee.
I recommend it to anyone interested in romance.
As for me, I'm gonna go catch up on some much-needed crime thrillers.
Happy Watching <3
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A pleasant surprise
I went into this drama expecting nothing. I didn't even read the synopsis and I landed on a gold mine!!Does this mean there are other good and moving dramas I have slept on and ignored?? I weep at that thought.
A drama that made me long for such a pure and young romance. Made me long to be in love, and be loved. That feeling of a first love, of sleepless nights, of long night conversations, of shy looks at each other, of the uncertainty on whether he loved me or not, of selfless love acts. In conclusion, I was smiling continuously with googly eyes glued to the screen, and my hands were either touching my face and awing(making all sorts of awwwwww expressions)or my heart because! BECAUSE!!!!, it was too much and sometimes too little.
This drama is and will always be my special sugar jar to open when I need something sweet in my life. I foresee a future of rewatchs! My special place in drama land.
It was raw and the acting was as realistic as it could get. I really believed it when they said the fl could pass as a boy. Her makeup, her fashion and what she would do, was trully believable (not like the usual elephant in the room, where we all know she does not look like a boy but we just have to close our eyes and believe).
I did not know kdramas were produced like this. Maybe this was common in dramas back then. Where you believe wholeheartedly in what you are seeing, it does not look scripted , the actions, the reactions, the set up. It looked like the real world and I ate it all up.
I loved the relations between all the characters and I found myself stary eyed at Kim Jae Wook's character. I loved that each character had their own story and goals they aspired to and not just an add on onto the main characters' lives. Each character had their lives to move about and their own stories and their own actions outside the main characters' love story.
I am grateful to that random user I saw praising Coffee Prince in the feeds and in turn prompted me to check it out. This drama will forever be my never-never land.
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Some infuriating relationships but overall a sweet "older" drama
This was my second "older" kdrama after "Boys Over Flowers", and I have to say this aged rather well in comparison. The acting from all of the actors was convincing and touching, the story progressive for its time and the execution was good too.What I liked:
- As I said, the acting was good. It felt natural, everyone had great chemistry with each other and the interactions were very fun. Yoon Eun Hye did a really good job playing a girl pretending to be a boy and Gong Yoo was very fun as Han Gyul too, even though his character could be a little mean sometimes.
- While I don't have a standout song from the OST, I find the music perfectly fitting for the series. It was feel-good vibes and very chill, perfect to be played in the background!
- The romance was nice too. We got some nice kiss scenes, the intimacy felt natural and the main couple looked very very pretty together. It was nice seeing Han Gyul accept his own feelings after struggling for such a long time, he fully embraced them and was ready to just openly love Eun Chan. Even after he found out and they made up, both of them were so perfectly in tune with their feelings, which I really loved seeing.
- Eun Chan's relationship with her little sister. While Eun Sae is a more of a girly girl, I loved how she didn't make fun of her older sister for being the opposite. I liked how both girls could openly talk about boys, love and their feelings. This showed that Eun Chan may "look" like a boy, but at heart, she's just as girly as her sister and capable of having a crush and daydreaming. I also liked that Eun Sae hat Eun Chan's back and never threatened to expose the big secret. I don't know why... I did not expect the sisters to be rivals, but it was nonetheless nice to see their sisterly bond.
What I didn't like:
- Yoo Joo. This woman was so confusing. I feel like she treated her relationship with Han Sung like an experiment, especially in the last couple of episodes. What do you mean you want to "try out" marriage and then just get divorced if it doesn't work out? She said that while pregnant...?? It seems that she had a miscarriage in the end and that the couple wasn't able to have kids, but it is nonetheless to messed up in my opinion. To make your kid a child of divorce just because.... Also, her not seeing the problem with staying up all night with a bunch of dudes, DRINKING after JUST getting married and finding out you're PREGNANT? Oh, but Han Sung was the bad guy for trying to hold her accountable that she was not taking care of herself properly?? I also did not like the way she literally threw away a 9-year relationship (after cheating for one year during it) because her feelings are so fleeting or whatever... only to break up with that guy two years later and crawl back to Han Sung. AND HE LET HER?! THEN she was mad that his world did not revolve around her anymore because he had this temporary crush on Eun Chan. I don't know if I missed that part, but when Han Sung kissed Eun Chan, she said that he "cheated" on her. Girl, did you ever bother putting a label on your relationship, or communicating your needs to the man? She was jealous while still having contact to her ex-boyfriend whom she left Han Sung for. The audacity I swear to God. Telling Han Sung that he has a victim complex when hers is even bigger?! I also did not like how Han Gyul said that she kept their relationship purely friendly but... that is not true in the slightest. She never drew the line with him. "Hey, I'm you cousin's girlfriend, please stop coming over and flirting with me. It's not okay", THAT is what she should have said. Instead, she was basically enabling his crush on her, calling it friendship or whatever. I think she really liked having the attention, but girl, don't get mad when your "man" (Han Sung) is doing the same then.
- Han Gyul flirting with his cousin's girlfriend and having an active crush for almost a decade? Get some distance, man. Him kissing Eun Chan against her consent in episode 11 was unsettling to watch, and I hate how the writer made him apologize for the wrong reason. "Sorry for what I said. I said something to hurt you on purpose"... he should have apologized for forcing himself on her, she was literally fighting him off :(
- Grandma was a bit of a misogynist. I don't know who the "harlot" was she kept referring to in the early episodes, but that was just mean lmao. She was also always mean and yelling like damn, calm down. I also don't know how many times everyone had to repeat that Eun Chan might be poor, but also independent only for grandma to say "I worked hard my whole life to be where I am, just like you"... girly, did you need to be told Eun Chan is dirt poor 10x before getting it??
- Sun Gi was a glorified stalker lmao... Kim Jae Work looked beautiful though!
- The conflictS between Eun Chan and Han Gyul in the last 3 episodes were dragged out a little, I would have loved to see them more like a couple instead of them running in circles and always fighting.
- Eun Sae and the mom: Eun Sae was a big brat to Min Yeop, who was just a doormat :( Just like Ha Rim said: she isn't playing hard to get. She was mean and bullying the poor guy just because had a big phat crush on her. The mom not having ANY working experience is wild because she basically let her 16-y-o daughter carry the burden of earning money with crappy jobs and then has the audacity (granted, that was only in like the first episode) to spend that money on shoes she doesn't need lmao. Eun Chan had to give up so much of her youth and in all those years the woman never seemed to have tried to get some job, idk... didn't sit right with me. She was a sweet mother and woman but this particular thing was a little annoying.
Overall, this may be an older drama, but I think it holds up well today. The romance is cute, the characters have flaws but they feel real and the chemistry between everyone felt very real and natural. I had a good time watching the drama :)
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Watch it for some amazing acting !
This drama made me cry , laugh and get annoyed along with the characters .TBH , watching it in 2022 , it felt like nothing special from the story perspective, as we have multiple such K-dramas available , with similar storylines , where the FL pretends to be the guy and stuff , but the execution was so damn beautiful , I bet in 2007 it would have blown people's mind ! I loved how they focused on the 2 main love stories , one being the matured and other the immature one ! the relationship building between both the couple's is beautiful .
I would have given it a 10 , if only the female characters were written a little better. All of them sucked and yet got whatever they wanted , without much pain ! I loved all the prince in the coffee prince , though !!
This is not just an issue with this drama , I can see this in most K-dramas , that the writers do not put much effort in building reasonable female characters ! They are all unreasonable and annoying poor girls who would first go for the money and then they won't respect their creditor and then suddenly develop this huge pride ! We want more strong female leads characters , like those in hotel del luna , its okay not to be okay for instance.
Here too the FL is immature , unreasonable , annoying and practically mooches off the ML ! She deceives him and then forces her feelings on to him , makes him accept his feelings only to turn down his marriage proposal , holding her stupid pride , when he becomes desperate ! on top of that people near her are not even holding her responsible or giving her proper suggestions !
Most will think that the ML was the toxic one , but I can totally understand him ! He agonised over being a homo , and practically overcame the fear of family and friends to accept his feeling (This was a beautiful moment for me , how he accepted his love even when he knew that he wasn't a gay), only to find his trust shaken off ! Moreover right after they get back together , the FL hardly spends any time with him or discuss anything with him ! She suddenly developed the feeling of being independent (she was asking 1 million won just to be standing with him earlier), so much so she can't marry him ! I mean people study even after marriage !! What ws the big deal ?? she gave him all the reasons of not leaving her family when he asked her to move to New York , but easily took his grand ma's favour to move to Italy !!!!! Though they have shown to discuss these moments fairly , but she gives in all the time , means that she wants it , doesn't it ? Then again why hold the stupid pride , respect people for their help and be available for them , that's what life is about , no one can survive all alone in this world ! Similarly with yoo-joo and Eun-sae , they get the guys so easily , even after being so ridiculously selfish and giving them the hard time ! I wish the k writers focus more on female character development in rom-coms as well !
Thats the only negative I had ! If I leave it be , I can just rewatch it for gong-yoo and Jung-an . I mean they are just so beautiful , it doesn't feels like one is watching a 15 years old series , they are so perfect in their attire ! And Kim jae-wook , he is so pretty here ! Loved the ending it was satisfactory for all the prince !
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Other shows, such as "To the Beautiful You" and "You're Beautiful," have a similar plot line, but in both instances, the gender of the girl trying to pretend to be a guy is revealed to the male lead fairly early on, so the struggle you see is more about whether they like the girl...period. There are side characters in those shows that struggle with feelings for who they think is a "guy", but not the main leads. The opposite is true here. I get easily bothered by plot twists that seem to do nothing, but just extend the show length because whatever the issue is can be dealt with with a simple conversation...but they don't have that conversation for several episodes. And that is what this felt like in "Coffee Prince".
The acting is good and the music is good. I have nothing to dispute on those accounts. It's just that plot piece that really truly turned me off in the show. So, if similar types of things bother you, I wouldn't recommend this series, but if you don't mind it, then you will probably really enjoy it.
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Suspend disbelief and enjoy the story play out
Coffee Prince is one of the mistaken gender identity dramas - in this case, Go Eun Chan, the head of a household because her father passed away, is working 3-4 jobs to support her mother and sister. She meets the rich grandson of a coffee empire and things transpire from there.There are 2 problems which prevent me from rating this higher. First, I'm not sure if others noticed it but either there's a lot of orange tone stuff in the sets, or they over-used the orange light filter in a lot of scenes so it looks like everything has a brownish Orange hue to it. This was rather distracting in some parts. Second, this drama requires suspension of disbelief because there's no way any one in their right mind would mistake Go Eun Chan as a male in real life, as I'd expect 98% of people would automatically guess she's a female. That makes some parts of her acting a little implausible.
However once the viewer gets past these flaws, the rest of the series is a joy to watch. The cast works well together, there's no real bad acting and as the story plays out it almost has a "fluffy" and innocent type feel even though there are several raunchy type scenes. There's genuine chemistry between the 2 leads, plus it's impossible not to love Gong Yoo. In one scene he even admitted he's a clothes horse, and he's right. Everything looks so good on him all I want to do is buy those outfits for my man even though there's no chance they will fit him or look half as good.
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Arguably the best gender bender out there
This is my all time favourite show. It's the most realistic gender bender out there, and Eun Chan is mainly just being herself. It's so refreshing to see an androgynous character done well and not in overly silly way. If you're tired of seeing girly girls in boys clothing, Coffee Prince is the gender bender for you. On top of that it's hilarious, has a neat little story line, well developed characters and amazing cast chemistry. It'll make you cry, it will make you laugh and it will make you all warm and fuzzy inside. Enough said.Was this review helpful to you?
My first 'old school' kdrama
Coffee Prince (CP) is really my first kdrama that it's before 2013. I will start by saying that I was a little hesitant to watch it, because I had read reviews and watched clips of other old school kdramas like boys over flowers and the heirs and these two seem quite cringey to me and that's why I wasn't sure if I will be able to finish CP. I'm a fan of Gong Yoo and I have already watched Goblin and Silent Sea and I wanted to watch another serries with him so CP was on my list for some time.Soooo I finished it and will gladly say I wasn't dissappointed, I actually binge watched it for the biggest part which is something I didn't expect since most of the times I take my time with romcoms. It doesn't have big cliffhangers but the story flows so smooth that I wanted more with each episode.
Now let's start with the real review. First I want to mention that it felt like a time machine, I felt a certain nostalgia from the early 2000s even tho I was only 10 years old in 2007, I have vivid memories of how the world was. The cellphones, the clothes the lack of internet and generally not overusing technology, was something that kept our days more carefree and simple. So CP is a simple kdrama the actors don't wear much make-up, the clothes are simple and there are feelings of warmth and intimacy. The acting of the whole cast is AMAZING especially the female lead, Yoon Eun Hye, did an excellent job. I aplaud her. Her acting was natural and stayed true to the character while there was development. Gong Yoo was also great, I can now say that this role (in serries) is my favourite for now, above Goblin for sure. The chemistry of the main leads was also great, I was smilling like an idiot to the romantic scenes. I have to mention I fell in love with young Kim Dong Wook, such a heartthrod. The only character that annoyed me a little was 'Yoo Joo', she seemed a bit immature. Before I started it I didn't see Jae Wook was also part of it so that was a pleasant surpirse, R.I.P. to Lee Eon everyone was such a memorable character.
Lastly I'm quite a tomboy myself and I often wear men clothes, so seeing 'Eun Chan' being herself so freely and not giving a fck about what people think of her, she gave me confidence to continue being myself as well. I also loved how 'open-minded' it is for such an old kdrama, even in more modern ones you don't see much talks about sexuality or gendres. I will probably rewatch it some time in the future.
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